Book Talk

 I need to start practicing my book talks so I’m going to use this forum to discuss books that I’ve read. I just finished reading Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. I’ll start by saying this book was not at all what I expected.  The premise of the book that I went in with is that a babysitter is accused of kidnapping while on the job at a grocery store. That happens in the beginning but that starts a chain reaction pitting two old flames against each with the babysitter stuck in the middle. 

Emira is out celebrating her friend’s birthday when she gets a call from her boss, Mrs. Chamberlain asking her if she could take her daughter, Briar out for a little while.  Emira takes Briar to a grocery store around the corner to hang out for a little bit.  While they are there, a customer alerts a security guard that something may not be right.  You see Emira is black and is dressed for a night out with friends and Briar is white and from an affluent neighborhood.  The security guard harasses Emira while another customer records the scene on his phone.  Emira is eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.  

A few days later, Emira encounters the customer who recorded the event, Kelley, on a train.  Maybe I read too many thrillers but I kept thinking in the back of my mind that this was not a chance encounter.  

As it turns out, Kelley and Mrs. Chamberlain (Alix) have issues with each other from the past.  When Emira and Kelley start dating, that starts a tug of war between the old flames over Emira.

This was not at all what I expected.  I kept expecting a more sinister plot twist.  In the end it is just two misguided adults trying to influence a young woman on their way of thinking.  Maybe if the characters were more likable I would have been more emotionally invested but after the grocery store scene the rest of the book seemed to fizzle out for me.  I found it realistic and I was sad to realize that it is realistic but the book itself climaxed in the early pages.