How 2 People Can Try To Do the Right Thing and Both Be Wrong

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same.

So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket.

The store’s security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.

But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life.

When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.

This book has been on my reading list since it came out in December 2019, but I never got to read it. And so I decided to read it in February to celebrate Black History Month.

Such a Fun Age is a masterclass in writing. It’s one of those books that are written so well that you forget that you’re reading a book. The descriptions are so vivid, that you feel as if you’re there.

The situations that it grapples with are complex.

There is no person who’s 100% right. And there is no person who’s 100% wrong. It’s this kind of weird middle ground where both people make mistakes.

The book starts with Emira Tucker, a black woman that babysits for a rich white family. When she’s in a supermarket with the child that she babysits, the security guard stops them and accuses her of kidnapping the child.

And that’s just one of many situations that this book depicts and then unpacks.

One of the main themes of this book is the issue of never actually being able to get inside someone’s head and understand their true intentions.

What I Liked About This Book

The strength of this book is how it brings awareness to the grey area between right and wrong.

You might think that you know what racism is. But you might only think of it as the extreme that you see on the news or online.

You might think someone is racist when they do or say truly horrific things.

But the problem lies in the racial microaggressions in everyday life.

The small comments, the looks, the way they hold their bags, or how they move away from people of color.

And this book brings attention to that. It points out the fact that someone’s intentions are more important than their actions.

It makes you question the intentions of seemingly nice people.

I liked how it presented things as not having one right answer. It made me think about how not everything is black and white. How there’s not a clear line between what is right and wrong.

One particular topic addressed in Reid’s book is the white savior complex.

Reid addresses the white savior complex in 2 different ways, with 2 different characters.

This way, the author presents the idea that 2 individual people can try to do the right thing and both be wrong. And even end up damaging each other in the process.

This is the perfect book for the cancel culture era.

Final Thoughts

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid is a contemporary book about privilege and discrimination. Focusing on the nuances of these issues.

It explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone family, and the complicated reality of being a grown-up.

It grapples with the idea that you can try to do the right thing and still be wrong.

And that it’s not what you do that’s important, but your intentions behind it.

Kiley Reid’s writing is amazing, and this book is definitely a new favorite of mine.

I loved it and recommend it to everyone.

If you’re interested in reading this book, get it here.

Let me know in the comments if you’ve read this book and what you think of it. Did you enjoy it?

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