The title of Kiley Reid's debut, Such a Fun Age, works on so many levels it makes me giddy—and, what's better, the title's plurality of meaning is echoed all over the place within the novel, where both plot and dialogue are layered with history, prejudice, expectations, and assumptions ... a page-turner with beautifully drawn characters and a riveting plot ... This is a book that will read, I suspect, quite differently to various audiences—funny to some, deeply uncomfortable and shamefully recognizable to others—but whatever the experience, I urge you to read Such a Fun Age. Let its empathic approach to even the ickiest characters stir you, allow yourself to share Emira's millennial anxieties about adulting, take joy in the innocence of Briar's still-unmarred personhood, and rejoice that Kiley Reid is only just getting started.
... a bold, urgent, essential exploration of race, class, labor, friendship, identity and self-delusion, both deliciously readable and incredibly complex. This smart, quick-paced novel tracks the fallout and triumphs that follow its characters’ slightest gestures and impulses. Without ever resorting to didactic tones or prescriptive proclamations, Reid portrays the way different bodies are read in public spaces ... each page of Reid’s prose is a faceted prism ... From a craft perspective, Reid’s debut is an exemplar novel: Each character’s voice is perfectly distinct in dialogue; each text message is plausible, powerful. There is humor and not a small amount of suspense. Every element of back story is tied to a relevant future moment ... Not a word is wasted, and not a nuance goes unnoticed in this masterwork.
What a joy to find a debut novel so good that it leaves you looking forward to the rest of its author’s career. With an unfussy, witty voice comparable to American contemporaries Curtis Sittenfeld and Taffy Brodesser-Akner, in Such a Fun Age Kiley Reid has painted a portrait of the liberal middle class that resonates far beyond its Philadelphia setting ... It adds up to a tantalisingly plotted tale about the way we live now: about white guilt and virtue-signalling, but also about the uneven dynamic between domestic staff and their employers ... Unlike Brodesser-Akner, whose debut last year was lent heft by her reputation as a New York Times writer, Reid, 32, is only just emerging into the public eye. Such a Fun Age, however, speaks for itself; I suspect it will turn its writer into a star.
... novels such as this powerful debut by American author Kiley Reid are integral to society’s understanding of nuanced race dynamics in our time ... Reid excels at dismantling the complicated relationship of mother, child and babysitter and holds the emotional labour of parenting up to the spotlight for fearless scrutiny ... One of the most powerful impacts of this novel is the poignant observation of the explicit but also sometimes more casual, implicit racial discrimination that happens every day and everywhere to people of colour ... The book is unsparing but never didactic in this regard—so masterful is the storytelling that these insights intersect seamlessly with the fast-paced plot, great wit and the scrutiny of the complex interplay between a cast of utterly compelling characters ... Reid is exceptional at recognising and delivering authentic details throughout a narrative that creates such vivid pictures of setting, time and place that every moment of the novel rings true
... In the end, Such a Fun Age delivers on the wave of excited hype that precedes it by offering the reader a book that hits the literary bullseye: a thrilling tour de force of humanity with something important to say. Something that we all need to hear.
... witty and biting ... Reid is writing smart, accomplished satire here. The prose is so accessible and immediate that it seems to turn transparent as water as you read, but it’s laced with telling details about liberal racial politics. Most vicious and precise of all is the portrait of Alix, who trades off with Emira in narrating alternate chapters, and whose entitled, aggrieved voice serves as a biting indictment of banal, corporate-friendly white lady feminism circa 2016 ... is willing to allow Alix to be nearly lovable while still letting us feel exactly how gross and terrible she is to Emira because its satire never overwhelms its empathy toward its characters. That’s what makes them feel like fully realized people—and what makes their casual bourgeois racism so painfully, cringingly familiar to read.
... [a] standout first novel ... There’s something a touch too tidy about the way Alix’s character develops, and it’s true that the plot pivots on an almighty coincidence. All the same, Reid writes with a confidence and verve that produce magnetic prose, and she’s a whiz at dialogue, whether it’s the African-American vernacular that Emira slips into with her girlfriends or Briar’s bold toddler-talk ... While race dominates, Reid is far too engaged a writer to let it define a narrative that has equally incisive observations to share about everything from maternal ambivalence to dating mores and dining fads. Hypocrisy and forgiveness get a look in, and in some respects, this is a novel that’s as much about money and class as anything. All in all, it’s a cracking debut – charming, authentic and every bit as entertaining as it is calmly, intelligently damning.
... a funny, fast-paced social satire about privilege in America ... Beneath her comedy of good intentions, Reid—in setting these four women on different class and life trajectories—stages a Millennial bildungsroman that is likely to resonate with 20-something postgraduates scrambling to get launched in just about any American city.
Ms. Reid...blends black horror, satire, and current events to create a scathing critique of white, middle-class America. Her social commentaries land like a series of swift kicks to the ribs; tokenizing, fetishizing, and every microaggression you can imagine are blown up to proportions too large to miss, unless you’re in denial. Watching Emira navigate dangers of which she’s largely unaware creates dramatic tension ... Invoking Jordan Peele is more than fair ... It’s a portrait of dangerous white womanhood that could hang in the same gallery with The Picture of Dorian Gray ... Not that Black America is left entirely off the hook ... a nuanced portrait of emotional danger both inside and out ... Highly recommended, especially for fans of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere and Kaitlyn Greenidge’s We Love You, Charlie Freeman.
Reid’s clear writing style is the perfectly invisible backdrop to the action. Her dialogue is witty and authentic, both for Alix and Emira, whose varied backgrounds contribute to their subtly different English vernaculars. As the drama unfolds, Such a Fun Age sucks you in and surprises you. With this debut novel, Reid provides a fresh look at how racial anxieties can drive both healthy and heated conversations about race, while exposing toxic relationships.
Briskly told and devilishly well-plotted ... Although strewn with emails, tweets, blogs and texts, Kiley Reid’s game-changing debut novel is rooted in classic dialogue-driven storytelling and is a marker for precisely where our culture is today ... hits every note just right—from Alix’s self-righteous frustration to Emira’s ambivalence about accepting help. What takes the book to the next level is its willingness to go beyond where the story naturally leads. This is a tale without a heroine or villain; instead it’s a clear-eyed look at the complex transactional relationship that exists between mothers and nannies, while never shying away from the tender closeness that often grows between babysitters and their charges ... Smart, witty and even a bit sly, this penetrating social commentary is also one of this year’s most readable novels.
... a refreshing take on an age-old question: can we connect across barriers of race, gender, wealth and privilege? ... a caustically funny skewering of the sort of well-intentioned liberal who congratulates themselves on having black guests at dinner ... Language styles of toddlers, yummy mummies and Emira’s homegirls are captured pitch-perfectly in the novel while true understanding flickers always out of reach ... to call this a novel about race would be to diminish its considerable powers, just as to focus on race alone is to diminish a human being. It skillfully interweaves race-related explorations with astute musings on friendship, motherhood, marriage, love and more, underlining that there’s so much more to us than skin. This is the calling card of a virtuoso talent, a thrilling millennial spin on the 19th-century novel of manners that may call to mind another recent literary sensation. I had thought of ending this review by predicting that Reid may be the next Sally Rooney. But Such a Fun Age is so fresh and essential that I predict instead that next year we’ll be anxiously awaiting the next Kiley Reid.
From this simple premise Reid constructs a plot so beautifully intricate and real and fascinating that readers will forget it’s also full of tough questions about race, class, and identity ... Meanwhile, she consistently challenges readers’ expectations ... With this entertaining novel, Reid subverts our notions of what it means to write about race and class in America, not to mention what it means to write about love. In short, it's a great way to kick off 2020.
... surface sparkles are secondary to the book’s far weightier currents: an exploration of race and racism and misguided perceptions of the issue, executed with wit and a sharp edge ... The plot is occasionally schematic and the second half hinges on a massive small world coincidence that feels contrived. Still, while there was perhaps a more realistic collision course for Emira, Alix, and Kelley, once you buy into the path Reid chooses, she deftly ratchets up the tension and the characters always ring true ... Whether they’re interacting with toddlers or lovers, Alix’s, Emira’s and Kelley’s behavior and dialogue always feels organic, even (or especially) when they are making the wrong choices and saying the wrong things. Reid also makes Alix and Kelley seem complex and sympathetic only to turn around and show the damage their casual white privilege can cause in ways small and large.
...darkly funny and often sincere ... The book feels purposefully of-the-moment, with references to fast fashion, trap music, and Lean In–style feminism. Reid also has a knack for the rhythm of dialogue. She delights in modern linguistic tics like vocal fry, upspeak, and the singsong cadence of rappers that has seeped into everyday speech ... Reid overlays a serious analysis of the ways in which race, class, and gender interact ... Reid’s novel captures something important about race and the inexorability of whiteness, upward mobility, and the inescapability of digital life.
Thematically cautious, Reid’s novel is also stylistically uneven ... there are moments of lyricism...but these run up against over-determined details of siblings winning latte art competitions and running successful Etsy shops. There are some very bad jump cuts, and though Reid has an excellent ear for dialogue, her textual padding can fall flat ... The real star is little Briar, who potters along throughout, astute and idiosyncratic, easily the best-written toddler of recent years.
What an appealing debut this is. Reid’s first novel is a fresh, funny, insightful assessment of how one young African American woman navigates her life between the Scylla and Charybdis of white privilege and inherent racism ... Reid brings energy and balance to the juxtaposition of these perspectives, Alix both self-critical and unaware, Emira insightful but non-confrontational. Meanwhile the dialogue crackles and snaps, both in Emira’s social group and Alix’s ... Nuanced and highly readable—and visual—this is a novel that treads deftly through a contemporary minefield. Reid’s perceptive, warm-hearted work will make waves, and deservedly so.
... thought-provoking ... Reid imbues Such a Fun Age with characters that, while not necessarily likeable or morally perfect, prompt the reader to critically reflect on their own role in and experience with racism, both direct and implicit ... By the end of the novel, the characters’ destinations look much the same as their starting points. Despite all they have been through, personal growth remains elusive and accountability is all but ignored. (This is a missed opportunity—and reality.)
...the relevance of this book cannot be overstated. Reid has constructed a complex tale of twenty-first-century millennial life that scrutinizes racism in America today ... eid has a light touch, and she excels at using small details to convey character ... With its memorable characters and sharp portrayal of millennial life, the novel feels in some ways like it was written for the screen. But the novel is also filled with complicated ideas. Reid’s straightforward prose and sharp eye for social satire allow her to demonstrate clearly how race and privilege are inseparable from the way we structure our sense of self and our relationships with others. Such a Fun Age deserves a place on every reading list this summer.
This debut novel is engaging and smart, with great characters and a riveting story that deals with class, race, female friendship and the work we do ... The genius of this novel is that it tracks the subtle eddies of racism with steely even-handedness.
... many lapses in credibility that beleaguer Reid’s plot ... an interracial love triangle whose convoluted dynamic lets some of the steam out of its worthy message ... Reid writes scenes and dialogue with a contemporary lilt that feels deliberately styled for a screen adaptation, inflected throughout with cringe-inducing 'holup holup's and 'ohmygod's, heavy-handed attempts to mimic millennial parlance. Over all, the characters’ melodrama is unwarranted; the final climactic event that Alix thinks 'felt like the plot twist of a horror movie' is actually quite predictable. But the simple prose and story line belie a more nuanced moral hierarchy ... Out of Reid’s often cloying vernacular, then, emerge some surprisingly resonant insights into the casual racism in everyday life, especially in the America of the liberal elite.
Reid, who is black, has an acute understanding of well-meaning white people's sometimes squirmy racial sensitivity ... A lesser writer would have taken the book's powder-keg material—which does, of course, ultimately explode—and set it off with too-easy satire. The strength of Such a Fun Age lies in Reid's even hand with both Emira and Alix, whose points of view switch off fairly regularly throughout the novel. Neither character is archetypal: Emira is levelheaded but frustratingly aimless, and Alix is entitled without being risible—well, until the book's end.
In her debut novel, Reid illuminates difficult truths about race, society, and power with a fresh, light hand. We’re all familiar with the phrases white privilege and race relations, but rarely has a book vivified these terms in such a lucid, absorbing, graceful, forceful, but unforced way.
In her smart and timely debut, Reid has her finger solidly on the pulse of the pressures and ironies inherent in social media, privilege, modern parenting, racial tension, and political correctness.
Reid’s debut sparkles with sharp observations and perfect details—food, décor, clothes, social media, etc.—and she’s a dialogue genius, effortlessly incorporating toddler-ese, witty boyfriend–speak, and African American Vernacular English. For about two-thirds of the book, her evenhandedness with her varied cast of characters is impressive, but there’s a point at which any possible empathy for Alix disappears ... Charming, challenging, and so interesting you can hardly put it down.
In her debut, Reid crafts a nuanced portrait of a young black woman struggling to define herself apart from the white people in her life who are all too ready to speak and act on her behalf ... Reid excels at depicting subtle variations and manifestations of self-doubt, and astutely illustrates how, when coupled with unrecognized white privilege, this emotional and professional insecurity can result in unintended—as well as willfully unseen—consequences. This is an impressive, memorable first outing.
