This One Missed the Mark for Me

This is a book about privilege, race, and the choices we all make in our lives that have an impact on each other. Set in Philadelphia, Such a Fun Age chronicles the Chamberlain family and their nanny Emira. The Chamberlains appear to be an upper-middle-class white family who recently moved to Philly after living the big life in New York City. Relatively new mom Alix missed her life and friends in New York City, and on her Instagram, she pretends she never left. Emira is the family’s nanny. She is black, works two jobs to make rent, and doesn’t have a plan for her future quite yet.

One night, there is an incident in a grocery store where a security guard accuses her of kidnapping Briar, the Chamberlain’s daughter. The entire incident is horribly racist, and a bystander catches the whole thing on camera. Emira and the bystander end up running into each other and connecting. However, the grocery store incident thrusts Emira into the middle of a lot Alex’s insecurities and past relationships.

I don’t know why, but I didn’t like this book. It started off so promising, but I was left wanting more resolution. But with a story involving racism and people stuck in their ways, I don’t know if there can be a truly happy ending. For tackling such heavy topics like race and bias, I never really felt the depth of the issues at hand. The main characters seemed to gloss over so much.

On a positive note, the writing was great and it was an easy read, and I am interested to pick up the author’s next novel when it is published.

Some stats, as I like stats very much!