Play Book Tag discussion

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid - 3 stars - My Review

Emira is a twenty-five-year-old African American woman who works babysitting and typing jobs. She feels she should have more of an idea of what to do with her life, but she enjoys taking care of three-year-old Briar. Briar’s mom, Alix, is a white social media personality who is in the process of writing a book. Kelley is a thirty-something white businessman who goes out with Emira and knew Alix in years before. Both Alix and Kelley try to “help” Emira in ways that are manipulative, condescending, and self-aggrandizing.

The initial scene in this book is absolutely spot-on and, for me, the best part of the entire book. I can easily picture the situation. A white security guard becomes suspicious of a babysitter for racist reasons, and it almost gets out of hand. A customer takes a video, which we know will play a role somewhere down the line. The author also does a great job of crafting the relationship between Emira and Briar. It is touching and realistic.

I liked the premise of this book, depicting casual racism in the US. I did not care much for the melodrama. Though the characters are all supposedly mature adults, they act like juveniles. They continue to re-hash ancient history from high school. I think regular readers of contemporary fiction will appreciate it even more than I did.

Good review. Thanks. peace, janz

Agree on all counts with your review, but I am a sucker for hot gossip and drama so I was very much into this.

Like you said, this obsession with age old, high school beef was so bizarre to me. I couldn't relate, but it was still fun.

Meli wrote: "Agree on all counts with your review, but I am a sucker for hot gossip and drama so I was very much into this.

Like you said, this obsession with age old, high school beef was so bizarre to me. I..."
Yes, drama to the max!

I think I was a little disappointed because it is such an important topic. I felt it could have been so much more impactful if it had not focused so much on the teenage years. These people were ten to fifteen years out of high school!

I liked that aspect, that it was this mild kind of racism that exists in daily life that isn't as much in the social dialogue. I also liked that what had happened in their past (Alix and Kelley) shaped who they were later and how they dealt with certain situations. It was interesting too to look at that past incident and consider if Alix was racist or just misunderstood, and was Kelley fetishizing Black women. We had some good conversations about it at my book club. I thought Alix and Kelley were both bad / wrong in their own ways at different times. Kelley liked to use Alix as a measuring stick for how much better he was as a white ally and that was in its own way problematic.

Good for you, Meli, you make valid points that made this book worthwhile. The subtle racism and the mind gameplaying that so many people do. "Oh, I have a black friend. I see her at the grocery store." Having a friend means going out to eat with them, having them in your home discussing issues with them. I liked that the book showed the superficial life of so many people. peace, janz

Meli wrote: "I liked that aspect, that it was this mild kind of racism that exists in daily life that isn't as much in the social dialogue. I also liked that what had happened in their past (Alix and Kelley) sh..."
Yes, me too. It happens constantly.

The way I read it, Alix thinks of herself as "not racist" but then exhibits the casual racism of trying to control Emira by doing what she (Alix) think is in Emira's best interest (regardless of what Emira wants).

Kelley is, I think, being portrayed as someone who fetishizes black women. He serially dates black or mixed race women, and is not particularly aware of what might be offensive to them (remember him taking Emira to that bar showing John Wayne?) He is also somewhat controlling and thinks he knows what's best for Emira. All these people trying to "help" her is really just getting in the way of her figuring out what she wants out of life.

I can see how this book would make a good discussion in a book club, and I think I may have appreciated it more if I had someone to point out these types of things while I was reading it.

You make an excellent point about their histories. I definitely see a reason now for going back to their views in high school to figure out how their casual racism developed.

Oh yes! The John Wayne bar and using the N-word, hard R, puke! He got on my nerves. But he does what a lot of controlling men tend to do in that he thinks he knows what is best.

It wasn't a coincidence that Emira was darker than girls he usually dated. I thought the author dealt with colorism in a subtle way (most of the time).