Such a Fun Age book review- How to Reinvent Yourself

If you reinvent yourself, you take all your lessons and decide to present them differently. Keep reading to learn about reinvention and the book I'm talking about today. 

Today, I am writing about the book Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. The genre of the book is fiction, and the theme is African American literature. 

I had to read this book three times. The first time I read it, I did not like Alix. I did not. I was really upset. It was on a list of books I don't want to read again. The second time I read the book, I listened to the audiobook; everybody said this book was amazing, so I said, let's give it one more chance. I fell in love with the book the third time I read it. Keep reading to find out what happened each time I read it and why I decided to enjoy the book. 

Okay, so for one, you should not read a book just because everyone tells you to. Read what I have to say about the book, and if it sounds remotely exciting to you, consider picking it up. There's nothing wrong with not enjoying a book or not reading a book; for every New York Times bestseller, there's somebody who hates it. 

From the title, Such a Fun Age, you know your kids are at such a fun age. They always say, "Oh, three, that's such a fun age," okay. There is a child in the book. Briar's a little kid, but I think the book is about reinvention. So when Alex reinvents herself, she's at a fun age. She's in her mid to late 30s and decides she's not going by Alex anymore; she is now Alix. She creates this online company, becomes this content magnet, hires people, does all this, gets married, and has a child. She has reinvented herself. I did not realize until you found out that Kelley used to date Alex, and then you're just like, those are entirely different people, right? No, she reinvented herself. Wow, okay. 

There's also reinvention when it comes to Emira. She has to reinvent herself because she settles for a long time. Now, don't get me wrong. Emira loves Briar. When we first meet Emira, she is babysitting Briar. Alix and her husband had an event, and she's out with Briar, and that's when she ends up meeting Kelley accidentally. But Emira is okay with barely paying her bills and caring for Briar, and that's the only bright spot in her day. 

Through the course of the book, you find out that Emira comes to terms with the following: do I enjoy child care? Would I want to become a full-time nanny? Could I get a degree in this? Does the enjoyment of child care mean I want to be a teacher, counselor, or anything else? You get to see Emira come to terms with this is something I enjoy, and I'm not ashamed that I like hanging out with this kid. Briar is a cool kid, and Emira wants to hang out with her. But she still has to get over the fact that, oh yeah, I'm just the babysitter.

And if I could just say if I could be a fly on the wall for that Thanksgiving dinner, before Alix opens the door, she's like, "I invited my babysitter over. Oh, look at me doing good for the world." Then she opens the door and realizes Emira's dating her high school boyfriend. Spoiler alert. What?! So good, so good! 

But let me tell you, Alix is such a stupid name. I think that's why when I read it the first time, I was reading it as Alex. And then when she turned into Alix, I was like, I don't get it. And then when I listened to the audiobook, I was like, she's pronouncing it Elix. So in my head, I'm like Alix, Alix, Alix, Alex, and then I could see, okay, those are different people. 

It wasn't until the third time I read it that I was like, okay, there's got to be something here, right? I've added Kiley Reid's other books to my list so that I can read them. She's an excellent author; it took me a long time to understand what was happening here. It's Emira's story, along with Alix's story and kind of Briar's story, too, because you see a lot of change with Briar. 

Eventually, Amirah finds her feet. She becomes big and strong and can stand up for herself once she decides what she wants to do. Once that reinvention, she's like, this is who I am; I'm not just settling for just any job; this is really what I want to do, and then she can move forward. I would absolutely reread Such a Fun Age again because everybody was at such a fun age, and they were having fun and doing all the stuff. 

Until the next book review, Kyla