I thought the characters were really well written - I liked Emira's voice throughout the book, and Alix's creepy weirdness. And Briar was perfect for a three-year old!
This was a super quick read that kept moving, even as it addressed a lot of hard issues.
I can see a lot of people in their 20s really enjoy this book - it seems very in tune with how I imagine young people live now (I am old)!

Compelling and timely. I couldn't put this book down and literally gasped out loud more than once while reading it. The characters are real and believable and have stayed with me after reading. Recommend if you want a fun but also thought-provoking read about motherhood, race, childcare, and emotional labor.

I think this book was meant to address the generational differences between young adults (20's vs 30's) and also the socio-economic, and racial divide between people. The two main characters are both sympathetic to the reader, but are not quite genuine. The setting is reminiscent of many other modern "women's fiction" novels, and rang fairly true. The plot seems like it's going to take a deeper turn to explore racial injustice, but it doesn't pull it off successfully. Instead it goes into the age old trope of pitting women against women over a man.

A wonderful book -- it explores important timely issues of race, class, and privilege, but as serious as these issues are, the narrative never gets dragged down or overly heavy. In short, it's that rare book -- one that has something important to say, but also keeps you turning the pages with an engaging plot and great characters. This is one I plan to recommend for book groups.

This emotional and engaging debut novel explores race and class in Philadelphia. Emira, a 25-year-old black woman, babysits for ambitious white mommy blogger Alix Chamberlain. The well-developed characters hooked me, and I couldn’t put it down. Would make an excellent book club pick. For fans of Celeste Ng and Liane Moriarty

I am loving all of the nanny books that keep coming lately. This is a very powerful debut that touches on a lot of complex and touching points. I am currently working as a nanny, and could relate so strongly to Emira’s feelings of being torn away from and drawn to her job.

Sharp, quick writing gives way to ultra-relevant topics in this contemporary, realistic novel. The story is fun without being frivolous and so candid when bringing up real concerns like health insurance, it was refreshing. It was also great to see topics like interracial relationships, underemployment, and socioeconomic status covered with frank storytelling. Loved this one, can't wait to recommend it to young adult readers looking for themselves in stories.

This is a promising debut from a much-needed voice in contemporary fiction. The dialogue and events come across as real and believable.

Emira Tucker, a 25-year-old black woman, is the part-time babysitter for a wealthy white couple and one night she gets a call while she is at a party to come and take 3-year-old Briar out of the house for a while due to an emergency. She takes the young girl to the grocery store and is then accused of kidnapping the child and her interaction with the store security guard is videotaped by a fellow grocery shopper. The rest of the book builds up from that first chapter and goes back and forth between Emira's point of view and the viewpoint of Alix Chamberlain, the mother of Briar.

There are some flashbacks (all from Alix's viewpoint) but the story is told in a completely understandable way and easy to follow along with. This was a book I could not stop reading. The writing style is sharp and authentic and draws you in. You will not regret giving this book a try.

I read this as an ARC through NetGalley.

This fresh, juicy novel grabbed me from page one and I flew through it, fascinated by the complex, hyper-realistic dynamic between the two main characters. Emira is a smart, savvy, but directionless black postgrad nannying for Alix, a young white mom whose privilege, narcissism and ambition turn into a toxic obsession, setting off an explosive, racially charged and class-driven chain of events. Don't miss this acutely relevant debut from Reid, a new talent to watch.

I featured this book in a what to look for at BEA post -- but I'll refeature or review closer to pub date

In an era of so many white savior narratives, it’s so refreshing to see a story written by a black woman that directly challenges and upends that problematic narrative trope.

Alix Chamberlain is the textbook well-meaning rich white woman: She has black friends. She’s read everything Toni Morrison wrote. She’s trying to land a gig with Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Emira Tucker is the 25-year-old black woman who babysits Alix’s two young daughters. She’s aimlessly trying to figure out her life—preferably before she turns 26 and loses her parents’ health insurance.

One night when Emira is at a grocery store with Alix’s daughter, she’s confronted by a security guard who accuses her of kidnapping the young girl. A white man named Kelley films the incident, and he and Emira begin dating.

Horrified that this happened to Emira, Alix resolves to make things right, but as it turns out, Kelley is someone from Alix’s past, and things start to get messy.

While the central conflict of the narrative rests on a premise that is perhaps unrealistically coincidental, the fact remains that this book is compulsively readable. The characters are so well-developed and the dialogue so authentic, with tons of little details and observations.

Emira becomes the reluctant target of both Alix and Kelley’s well-intentioned but problematic white saviorism, as they both try to do what they believe is best for her, pushing her life in what they perceive to be the right direction. But Emira doesn’t need to be saved—especially not by these two.

Laced with important commentary about race and privilege, this is ultimately a story about owning one’s own life. Emira may be the aimless one, but she’s true to herself—something that, we come to find, isn’t the case for Alix, despite how much she seems to have it all together.

I really enjoyed this and never wanted to put it down while I was reading it. I have no doubt that it’ll get a ton of buzz when it comes out.

*Thanks to NetGalley for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*

This was phenomenal. I'm not surprised that the movie rights have been sold even before the book was released.



Review copy provided by publisher.