Such a Fun Age | Books

4/5 Stars

At times this book made me angry. In the beginning, it was the general outrage you feel when something unjust is being done, which then morphed into anger at the relief I felt for the two white men who would have to save Emira. As the story progressed, I also felt a little anger at myself for relating to the people who thought they knew better than she did about what choices she should be making. This book does a great job of examining different perspectives and giving a nuanced depiction of being mostly well-meaning, but ultimately wrong. And then doubling down.

One aspect I did not love about this book was the big arcs of coincidence or happenstance driving the story. I know everyone has different preferences, but one of my pet peeves is when things happen like the character accidentally meeting the son of their New York doorman on spring break in Spain. I don’t like too much of the improbable to happen in the books I read unless it is done very well.

Overall the high points for me were the depictions of female friendship and the exploration of the need to feel relevant. The low was that the climaxes of the book fell a little flat. While it is not in my top favorites, the story resonated with me enough that I will think of it from time-to-time.  Most likely when I find myself judging someone else’s choices for their life and need a reminder that everyone has agency and that just because someone else’s decisions are different than I would suggest does not mean they are bad choices.