Such a Fun Age: Reese's Book Club (a Novel)

This book is so good! It’s thought-provoking and poignant without feeling pretentious or forced. The characters are deeply imperfect and the book discusses topics of race and class so effortlessly. This book makes us reflect on how we see others and the repercussions of our seemingly minor miscommunications and the misconceptions we have of each other.

In the beginning I loved the back and forth of perspectives. I loved Emiras character but also it gave off the vibe that she was well educated and calm and collected. And yet, at times of needing to be those things she just sort of slides through conflict without standing up for herself. The last few pages helped but at the same time she’s in her 30s and still doesn’t know what she wants to do (that’s okay) but don’t put so much emphasis on her figuring it out and then not elaborate on saying it’s okay to still be figuring it out. Characters were included that were absolutely irrelevant to the story but given emphasis for filler.

Page turner

I looked forward to reading this, especially as an African American woman, I was very disappointed. The story starts out pretty good only to go downhill. The characters are not fleshed out and at times stereotypical black women. Honestly, I found it hard to believe that a black women wrote this. I kept waiting for that something to happen and it never did. There are characters that are mentioned as if they are important to the story but never delved into. Then, as the story is ending it seems that everything is rushed because the story starts out with her being 25 years old, a couple of pages before the end she is in her thirties! The story makes you believe that the big issue is the video, it then takes a back seat to a lot of other stories in the book. There is a lot going on but nothing seems to tie together. I found myself just wanting to get it finished, a good book you are usually disappointed when it ends, this one, I was just glad it was done. I did not understand why the story was so dependent on an incident that happened almost 20 years earlier and was not actually THAT terrible in my opinion. I will stick with Terry McMillian and authors like that.