Reviews with content warning for Classism - Such a Fun Age

The lesson I learned from this: white people need to stop meddling!! And they should also stop trying to outdo one another in an imaginary competition of "Who is the least racist" (unless it's for my personal amusement).
For real though, I LOVE the writing and the story and the characters. I feel like I was reading about real people, not made-up fictional characters. Emira has my heart. I enjoyed myself the whole time and I felt so satisfied with how everything came together. So glad I picked this book up :)
Part of me wants to recommend this to everyone I know, but the other part of me knows not everyone will get invested in a slice-of-life story with this type of writing. I also want to hear what other people took away from this book! I'm curious to see what other interpretations of the story might be, and what I may have missed!

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juleskr02's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

i absolutely loved the fashion in which this novel was written!! reid does a fantastic job at writing both in multiple points of view but also in third person narration. the subtle changes of how she addresses the character make it clear which experiences belong to which person within the entire novel, and i surprisingly found this writing style easy to read.

lost a bit of star-age because i’m not quite sure if i enjoyed the ending. i sort of wanted more between briar and emira, or even a better ending for kelley’s and emira’s relationship, but i could see how the ending can be appreciated. the last line of the book was beautiful.

this book tackles race and class in a way that allows you to think while being fully entertained. there was drama at every point, but also reflection and happy moments too. i think it’s so important to note that rich and upper class people do sometimes tend to ignore the ways of the world, and are many times oblivious to the fact that their upbringing impacts how they live their own lives, and how that then impacts their relationships with others who might not have as much wealth as them! any scene with briar made my heart so happy. i love to see a relationship between an inquisitive child and loving caregiver. briar being emira’s favorite aspect of her life rings so true with me, especially since my aspirations are to work with children.

i also enjoyed the lowkey plot twist that reid included, with showing the truth about alix’s past and how that relates to the present. i really think this book was paced very well!

a fantastic book!

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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective

4.75

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uppercasenoises's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really enjoyed the perspectives of both characters and liked the story overall. Something felt lacking for me plot wise, but I haven't been able to put my finger on it. Definitely would recommend this book to anyone looking to gain perspective on the experience of being a Black young women, specifically working as a

Spoiler

nanny

. Also deals with a romance, although it is not the primary focus. Dual POV, limited third person.

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