SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid

Poor Emira. All around her people are telling her what to do, expecting things of her, managing her life for her. This would appear to be nothing new to Emira, now 25, and very undecided about what she really does want to do. University has not really done it for her, unlike her peers who all seem to be well on the way to career success, financial stability. She is very luke warm about her transcribing job which brings in much needed cash, and which she is incidentally very good at. She lives in a flat with one of her best friends, social life is average, and things just seem a bit blah. The best thing going on in Emira's life is her 3 afternoon a week baby sitting job with the most adorable child, and for me the best character in the book, Briar Chamberlain. Emira is an amazing carer, her employer - Briar's mom Alix knows this. Which is why she calls Emira one night at about 11pm to take Briar out of the house for a short while, away from a bit of domestic drama. Emira, bless her, in her best going out gear from celebrating a girlfriend's birthday, goes to the house, collects Briar and they walk to the local grocery store. There Emira has a confrontation with a security guard who accuses her of kidnapping Briar. Oh, did I mention Emira is black? Now we have a story. The confrontation, which Emira handles extraordinarily well, ends but has been filmed by a young man. Who miraculously or otherwise, turns up on Emira's train not long after. And bizarrely has connections to Alix. All this is revealed as the story rolls along, all these people inlcuding her own girlfriends all seeming to be the experts in how Emira should manage her life. Alix is particularly annoying, and for me not a likeable character. She is an influencer, having figured out when she was in college she could live extremely well by scoring free stuff off absolutely anyone as long as she promoted it in some way, this taking off big time once social media exploded - Instagram and the likes. Since a move to Pittsburgh, her on line profile has taken a bit of a hit, and she is struggling to get herself out there again. Her employment of Emira is supposed to free up her time to get her 'career' back on the road. She ends up instead, plonking on the 'white saviour' hat, with her well intentioned but wretched nterference in Emira's life. Naturally it all comes unstuck, Emira's life ends up taking quite a different turn, better yes, but she may well have got there herself. The point is that there was never too much wrong with Emira's life. Sure, she needed some more money, and her 26th birthday is approaching when her free health insurance runs out, but these are not insurmountable obstacles; she is smart enough to get there. I found how everyone wanted a piece of this lovely, smart, kind young woman unnerving, annoying, definitley stalkerish, and way too interefering. Despite my misgivings about the story itself, this is really quite good. Easy to read, characters full of personality, very relevant to our times, leaving you with a lot to think about.