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Reviewed in Australia on 26 January 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

In this story of a young black babysitter working for a well off white couple Kiley Reid gives us nuanced insights into not only racism and class but also the American health care system and more crucially, the ways people build their narratives. We lock them in, unwilling to stare truth in the face. This occurs particularly with Alix Chamberlain, the mother of the babysat child, who’s built a betrayal myth around the 17 yo who dumped her in high school and who emerges in her current life as the boyfriend of Emira, her sitter. When Alix discovers this at a Thanksgiving dinner, it throws a monkey wrench into the works. What really motivates us to do things is always an interesting question. Alix tries to separate Emira from Kelly (who’s white but who only dates black women) - out of the best possible motives of course. It’s a tricky thing, being a rich white liberal doing your best to be nice to black folks. Emira knows racism through and through and it erupts spectacularly when a security guard tries to prevent her leaving an upmarket grocery store with 2yo Briar at 11pm. She’s there with Briar because the Chamberlains were egged, and a window broken. Alix doesn’t want her child to be frightened by a police presence. Emira knows that if she and Kelly had a son, someone is going to have to explain to him that black men have to be careful of their behaviour: around police and white women, for example.

Other great things about this book are the brilliant representations of the language used by each social group, particularly Emira’s friends, and the savviness of everyone about media. This is not a book that could have been written last century. In its exploration of the human condition though, it delves into themes that are millenia old. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was that it kind of peters out at the end when Elmira has moved on, but possibly I’m being too narky about that. At any rate, Reid is working on a film script of the book, so hopefully it’ll become an excellent movie.

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Aimee Dow

Boundless dichotomies

Reviewed in Australia on 29 January 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

There is a lot to like about this book. Race is a big issue, but at the same time it highlights the fact that you really can’t know a persons experience, no matter how sensitive you try to be. The book also highlights the paper thin line between what you ‘think’ is right and what happens when you let underlying motives go unchecked. Certainly an eye opening read.

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kim porter

Was Afraid Of The Approaching End

Reviewed in Australia on 11 February 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Thoroughly enjoyed this, though was concerned there would be tears, (mine), at the end - I had to keep sneaking up on it, half a page at a time.

I don't think it's giving anything away to say that the Harry Potter-style catch-up finale was a nice touch.

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ben

It takes some warming into

Reviewed in Australia on 5 February 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Great coming of age story, particularly loved reading how Emira’s strength and character grew over time. It sometimes felt a little like it was missing an ingredient, or there wasn’t enough twists or turns. Overall fulfilling and a well rounded novel.

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Reviewed in Australia on 8 February 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Such a great read, and will be re reading it!

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Jo H

Reviewed in Australia on 8 February 2020

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Internal dialogue on paper is refreshing.

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Debbie @storiesandstacks

Such a fantastic novel that remains light while approaching such important issues

Reviewed in Australia on 9 January 2020

Format: Kindle Edition

I finished this one recently it was just fantastic! The premise was so interesting and unique and I loved the consideration of race and class.

Emira Tucker is a babysitter for the Chamberlain family. One night, at 11pm, she has a call from Alix Chamberlain asking her to go over and take her daughter, Briar, for a trip to the supermarket as a distraction due to events in the family home. While she is out, she is accused by security of kidnapping the toddler and the story takes off from there. Soon after this, Emira has a second chance encounter with a man she met at the store that evening, Kelley, who witnessed and taped the incident.
📖
When I started this one it immediately made me consider issues I hadn't previously considered. It made me so thankful we do actually have free healthcare in our country and benefits that we do. I have had some opportunity to consider race and class from working and volunteering in not-for-profit organisations here in Australia and for that I am also thankful. What I loved about this story were the emotions and Emira's role in little Briar's life, which was so touching, along with the pieces the author slowly revealed about Alix and Kelley. The way the author intertwined all of the facets of this novel was fabulous and I can't wait for more.

My reviews can be found at my Instagram page @storiesandstacks

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for my advance review copy.

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BookLover

Had me hooked from page 1

Reviewed in Australia on 8 January 2020

Format: Kindle Edition

4 stars. This book was certainly entertaining and really held my attention. Not only thought provoking, it looks at various issues such as race and class. Thoroughly enjoyable and a great weekend read. I cannot said to read more from this author. Highly recommend.

Thanks kindly to Netgalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

One person found this helpful

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Top international reviews

G Cooper

I couldn’t put it down

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 January 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I very rarely leave reviews on here but had to make an exception for this novel. It is absolutely phenomenal; engaging, important & refreshing. The characters are great, it’s accessible and deeply thought-provoking all at once. It deserves to be hugely successful. I only wish I could read it for the first time, all over again. I’m sure I’ll return to it in the future.

9 people found this helpful

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Lina R

Loved it so much

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2020

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

What an amazing book, I truly enjoyed reading it from start to finish. Kiley Reid has such a sharp eye and brilliantly describes the world we live in. With compassion she examines love, trust and the longing for something - as well as race and class divide. I very much looking forward to read more from her in the future.

5 people found this helpful

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Donny Rock

Society today

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 February 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A novel of the Philadelphia of today dealing primarily with the topic of inter-racial relationships both from an employment viewpoint and from a social aspect in the lives of young ladies, well educated, of both black and white origins. The story does wander a bit at times but quickly reverts to theme. There may be a coincidence too many too conveniently. The topic of 'who can you trust?' rears its head and is covered well. The ending, as it is, is a tad glib and maybe unnecessary.

2 people found this helpful

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M J Angel

Do Not Believe The Hype

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 February 2020

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is my first Amazon review, I felt so passionately after reading this book that I had to post. Do not believe the hype, I really do not get how this book is top of so many publications "Books of 2020". It makes me lose confidence in all these review writers, have they just been paid off or jumped on a bandwagon? I found it cheesy, immature and at times I literally cringed, it feels best suited as a teen read. The only reason I can see behind the books success so far, is that it addresses topical issues... but not very well. Save your money and buy Educated, Where The Crawdads Sing or any Zadie Smith instead.

3 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Just...excellent!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 January 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

So original, so poignant, and so insightful. Emira Tucker and her girlfriends are entirely real...high achieving black young women, ambitious and loyal to a fault. And, confident in their skin, they are only too aware of anyone who makes a conscious decision to be overly "trying to be black". The very real dilemma of modern race relations among the professional classes is snidely and craftily portrayed...prejudice is absent...or is it? The white.people in this story don't come out so nicely, but Alix and Kelly are two deeply flawed and complex people with serious chips in their shoulders.
The writing here is superb, and the characters drawn with love and tolerance. And who could not fall in love with little Briar?

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Courtney

What Was This ?

Reviewed in the United States on 1 January 2020

Verified Purchase

I pre-ordered this and had high hopes! Premise was very interesting, and I was anticipating a satisfying read. This book was very poorly written. The author makes sure she lets you know that she attended some prestigious workshops, but I honestly didn't see any evidence of that. Her African-American characters were almost caricatures! Even down to the syntax in the way they spoke in the book. All the characters, white and black, were outrageous parodies, it was almost comical. This read like a cheesy young adult novel !! Tantalizing premise, good early beginning -- but this is just swamped in juvenile writing and rife with racial stereotypes. I don't want to reveal spoilers, but this wasn't a good book. I felt as though it an especially egregious attempt to be "politically correct" ...and cover all those bases.. It failed miserably on several counts. What a waste of a pre-order. ..!!

223 people found this helpful

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Dib

Sharp and intense

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 January 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I loved the pace of this book, the way it whisks you along from one conundrum to another, the characters were wholly believable and funny too, but mainly I enjoyed the way the book was written, sharp, logical, controlled. Will be looking out for more from Kiley Reid

2 people found this helpful

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Zoe

Fantastic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 January 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Very easy to follow but with interesting complex characters. The themes running throughout this book were thought provoking although if have liked more time to addressing that at the end of the book. Overall = excellent

One person found this helpful

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cultured shopper

Gripping ....but ultimately forgettable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2020

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I bought this because of the rave reviews , and because I wanted to be in the cultural loop.
It was an easy read , indeed an unputdownable book and yet I can't say I'd recommend it to any friends...

One person found this helpful

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D. Lye

Such an impressive debut

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A closely-observed social satire focused on Emira, a young black woman's experience of white liberal guilt and selfishness while she is trying to plot her own path into adulthood. Happily, Emira turns out to be the smartest person in the novel. Engaging, honest, slyly funny and touching. Kiley Reid is a young author to follow.

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Nikki Roberson

A great depiction of white "saviorism," entitlement and racial stereotypes for weeks

Reviewed in the United States on 4 January 2020

Verified Purchase

I pre-ordered this book because of the premise. The complexity of what happens at the cross-section of racial stereotypes, especially with differing points of view, seemed compelling.

I spent 80% of this book FURIOUS. For context, I’m a black woman, and that influenced how I read this book.

Almost all of the characters in this book were infuriating. The character of Emira, the 25-year old college graduate with no real future, comes across as undeveloped. She’s written with three different personas: the sweet and seemingly only woman to understand and cherish three-year-old Briar (who’s complex personality is confusing for such a little person but okay); the quiet and almost uneducated employee of Alix (some of the interactions had me wondering about Temple’s degree program); and a partying, mid-twenties friend and girlfriend that is depicted as the “real” Emira. The problem is, none of the personas are written well – they all felt like underdeveloped caricatures that needed more complexity. Emira stresses about job security and health insurance the entire book, to the point of being jealous of her friend’s successes and having valid fears about paying bills – yet she didn’t start applying for ANY jobs until her friends made her? It’s one thing to not know your place in life after college; it’s another to seemingly not know how to put yourself in any position to better your situation. This is made clear over and over again. Emira, despite being surrounded by resources of all types, knows nothing about how to do better for herself. This mindset is exactly what Alix preys on, and where the complex of saviorism comes into play.

Moving on to Alix. The entitlement and saviorism had me livid. I will say that I appreciated the insight into her thinking, especially when she was talking with her friends. Alix’s perspective is one that I know exists, but never will truly understand. I will never know what it could be like to be a white woman with the world – and people - at her fingertips. The best writing in this book was with Tamra, Jodi and Rachel because in those moments, I could truly appreciate the dilemmas that Alix felt she had. Otherwise, she was selfish, unaware, entitled and absolutely disgusting. Her depiction of the hell of her senior year felt overexaggerated for her to still be affected 15 years later. She’s clearly done well for herself - get over it. To find out that *spoiler alerts in the remainder of this paragraph* Kelley was right about the letter after all, and that she chose to play out a victim narrative for FIFTEEN YEARS is exactly what’s wrong with the world today. Before I found out that she invited Robbie to her house unintentionally, I didn’t have a problem with her calling the police. In that moment, those kids were trespassing on her property without her permission. But knowing that SHE KNEW at the end? GAH.

I’m so furious I almost can’t finish this review. But here are a few shorter thoughts to wrap up what’s quickly becoming a novel.

Kelley: I can’t decide if Kelley truly fetishizes black people/culture. His only interactions with white people were always negative – is this why he gravitates to black people or the othe way around? I don’t know. Alix went out of her way to find out that Kelley’s other girlfriends were all “lightskinned” or “exotic” and that Emira was the exception. Yet another white person in this novel who wants to save a black person, especially one with darker skin.
Tamra: Yet someone else trying to save Emira, but this is supposed to be okay because black on black saviorism is okay. Yeah, no.

Emira’s friends: love the support system but the characterization of slang, dress, affectation, etc. is over the top. It’s possible to be relaxed with your friends and speak properly, I promise.

And then the ending? *SPOILER ALERT* What was truly resolved? Emira’s still undecided what to do with life, even after her boss literally told her to move up and on. Briar is seemingly still ignored, although it’s unclear if there’s a new black nanny in the picture. No changes from Kelley either, just back to his standard black arm candy to make himself feel better about his life choices.

It only gets a two for the friendship stories – those were well written. Outside of that, I’d give this zero stars if I could and I could have done without reading this book.

210 people found this helpful

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Jenny W

I tried!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 February 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I really wated to love this book however, sadly felt quite underwhelmed. It covered some big topics but just seemed to skim over them in not as much depth as I would've expected. Such a shame!

One person found this helpful

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Joanne

Easy enjoyable read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 February 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Life is busy for many of us and I’ve found it hard to get into a book for a while.
I loved this instantly and found it an easy read.
Racism never fails to sadden and astonish me! Aside from that I really enjoyed the relationships of the characters. Friendships, love, children, motherhood... and how our experiences from adolescence can impact on us for a very long time!

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Kindle Customer

Racism & other buried emotions

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Steadily builds the plot describing the characters actions & underlying emotions. It was a page-turner, I could hardly put it down... my only complaint is the number of references to American brand names and other cultural refs which meant nothing to me (in England)

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m hayes

Meh

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 February 2020

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Strange book. The writing was okay but the story was weird. It is written in the form of a story that reads like huge judgement on differing opinions and if you have the same opinion as the one expressed you may like this book. But if you don’t, like me, it feels awkward. It might be an American thing I miss understood but I don’t see what the fuss is with this book really. It didn’t float my boat at all.

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