Readers can engage with this second novel by Kiley Reid (2019’s SUCH A FUN AGE), about dorm life at the University of Arkansas during the 2017 Fall semester, on a merely superficial level but if they dare, more adventurous readers can begin to suspect the deeper and more complicated fault lines that begin to appear in the relationships between Millie, an African American resident advisor, and Tyler, Peyton and Kennedy, suitemates with very different needs, desires and personalities. (Kennedy, a white transfer student from Iowa, a champion baton twirler and devoted Target shopper, who’s experienced the most bizarre fall from grace imaginable, is perhaps the novel’s loneliest, strangest, and most fascinating character.) Add to the mix a new creative writing professor named Agatha Paul, who, with Millie’s help, begins to interview the undergraduates in Belgrade about their relationships with money, sessions that lead to Agatha dispensing with consent and merely eavesdropping from Millie’s room. This a slow-burn social satire in which author Reid subtly ratchets up the tension between Agatha, Millie and especially mean girl Tyler, until a strange act of violence in the suite disrupts the lives of everyone involved. Reid is especially great with dialogue, capturing both the inanity of everyday talk and how it so effectively disguises the wicked negotiations of power and control in the most casual of conversations. A very funny novel (wait for the hilarious, nearly three page monologue about getting free food at Chik-fil-a), COME AND GET IT is also a terrifically insightful look at how money, class, race and power affect every relationship. Readers might not want to invite these characters to dinner but like Agatha Paul, they will certainly want to watch and observe the increasingly bad behavior.

I came very close to DNFing this book about 1/2 way in. It took me a couple of weeks to get through this one because I was constantly frustrated with the lack of plot.

The two main characters Millie and Agatha cross paths at the University of Arkansas where Millie is a RA (resident assistant) in the dorms and Agatha is a visiting professor. I became invested in both of these characters by page 100 and that may be the only thing that kept me going. In addition, the book examines socio-economic themes and character dynamics which are very well executed. As I stated earlier, the book has practically no plotline and I was constantly longing for something to happen.

Read this one as a character study and examination of socio-economic issues if the lack of plot is not a hinderance for you. 2.5 stars.

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for allowing me to read and review Come and Get It on NetGalley.

Published: 01/30/24

Stars: 1.5

Not for me. The blurbs and descriptions list best this and book club that and frankly I didn't find any part of the book interesting. When I was reading complete sentences I was as confused as when I started skimming. The story never evolved. There was whining, more whining, complaining, more complaining, and childish banterings. Young adults with middle grade conversation skills are not appealing.

I didn't connect with any part of the book.

There is foul language and use of the N word. Why?

it was a book about nothing going on but with multiple characters to keep up with? no thanks for me.

Thank you to Libro.fm for this audio galley. I also thank the publisher and Net Galley for the ebook. I love a story of college life and I was excited to read it. While it was a quick listen, the book was really kind of dull and the characters not very interesting. I was disappointed in the actions of the visiting professor, her older and should be wiser personality was dashed when she became involved with a student. Also in question was the student RA who didn't keep the best interest of her residents in mind. So much young adults behaving badly and unkind young women.
This book was just ok for me, and while I'll still be lookin for Kiley Reid's next book, I'm cautiously optimistic.

Sadly this just wasn’t for me. I loved the author’s first novel, Such a Fun Age, but this was the first book for me to DNF.

I very much appreciate the opportunity and I’m confident that this book will be for many other readers.

Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley.

I absolutely adored Kiley Reid's debut novel, so I was already excited going into this one and it did not disappoint. Once I got into it, I simply couldn't put it down. I love a character driven story, and when you have that take place on a college campus? Chef's kiss. I'll be a Kiley Reid fan forever.

This is the first book by Kiley Reid I've read, and overall I really like her style of writing; The plot was engaging for the most part, and included a cast of characters that was highly relatable as someone who graduated from college not tooooo long ago. I appreciated the alternating perspectives of the same events which allow the reader to get into the heads of the people involved, and how the tension builds throughout the story and keeps you guessing as to what the "thing" is that will essentially blow up multiple people's lives, While that tension is present, I did have some trouble figuring out why I should care about it...
Things moved a little slow for me in this story, and while I appreciated the commentary on race, racism, and it's role in higher education and academia across different students and staff/faculty members, some of the more jarring plot points felt like they had nothing to do with the core message of the story. While it was easy to read and digest, I think the novel falls flat in it's messaging, in favor in engaging the reader in more "dramatic" plot points.

"Come and Get It" centers on Millie, a Black senior RA at the University of Arkansas who is hyper responsible and dreams of buying her own home after graduation. Agatha Paul, a distinguished Black author turned visiting professor, decides to write a book about how money drives college students. She approaches Millie with an easy/unethical business opportunity that would allow Agatha to spy on the mostly-white and monied residents in the dorm for new book material. Millie obliges, and we watch as the drama unfolds.

The students living in the dorm, the professor and Millie (plus her co-workers) exist in a tit-for-tat state, with varying levels of pettiness, aggression, race and class warfare barely hidden under the surface of their relationships and conflicts.

I could read anything Kiley Reid writes — the novel flows so beautifully and her character development is spot-on. Each is lovingly drawn with sympathetic edges despite having severe flaws, which is masterful.

The characters' relationship with money is a microcosm of the capitalist mind-set of the United States as a whole, and it's both enlightening and damning, culminating in an event that has the capacity to destroy some lives but not others, and the fallout of this event feels like a slap in the face to some of the most sympathetic characters.

I wanted so much more justice in the end, but hey, that's life. It's rarely fair, nor resolved in a satisfying manner.

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid. Thanks to @netgalley
for providing me with a digital ARC of this one!
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I listened to the audiobook version of Kiley Reid's very buzzy first novel "Such a Fun Age" a few years ago, so I was keen to pick up a copy of her latest release. "Come and Get It" is much more character-driven and less plotty than "Such a Fun Age", but is in keeping with Reid's particular interest in class and racial dynamics, particularly within blurry personal and work relationships. Reid has a penchant for dialogue, and is a careful observer of subtle shifts in social and economic power between and amongst her chatty characters.
Pick this one up if you're interested in smart social commentary on American neoliberalism within the microcosm of a campus dorm, and can tolerate characters making a lot of down-right cringey decisions. Skip it if you think the lack of a strong plot will bother you.
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#comeandgetit #kileyreid #netgalley #recommendedread #bookreview #bookstagram #literature #bookpost #bookworm#booksofinstagram

First, thank you so much to Penguin and NetGalley for sending me the e-ARC of Come and Get It. I was thrilled to receive it. I loved Reid's debut—it was the first book I read in 2020 and remained a favorite throughout the year. Unfortunately, Come and Get It didn't land for me. I started it before the pub date in March and wrestled with whether to DNF or push myself to finish even though I wasn't enjoying it. Ultimately, I've landed on DNF. Here's the good: Reid's writing on a line level is sharp. The word "sharp" really encompasses so much of what I mean: it is precise; it can cut. However, the specific tensions explored here didn't keep me engaged. Some readers whom I respect loved this book, and because of that I may circle back at some point in the future. If I do, I'll be happy to update these thoughts. But for right now, I'm setting the book aside. I'll look forward to seeing what Reid writes next, as she continues to be an author whose voice and perspective interests me.

Really wanted to like this one, but unfortunately it did not work for me and I made me want to DNF. However, I can see the appeal for others.

It definitely falls more in the literary fiction realm, which can be hit or miss. I found the pacing to be very slow moving and not much to keep me captivated enough to draw me back to the book.

There is alot of commentary on racism and socioeconomic class that readers may find interesting. Also, for readers that love a university setting, this offers that and you get to meet many of the students on campus. Though, for me, I found many of the commentary on the students uninteresting even as character studies.

It could have been the authors intent to create a low stakes, slow moving read which is also fine, but it just did not work for me.
I would still encourage others to read it to form their own opinion as others might enjoy It much more than I did.

I enjoyed Reid's debut, Such a Fun Age, so I had really high hopes for Come and Get It. Unfortunately, I was bored with the story and this just did not work for me at all.

This is our Feb book club pick and I'm so thrilled we picked it because it is RIPE for group discussion. Reid's exploration of the ways in which money, the exchange of payment in particular, affect our relationships and inform our development, privilege, and choices is the central focus of this quasi-coming-of-age novel. The pace really hits a fever pitch around 2/3 through and I could not put it down. I also really liked the resolutions or lack thereof for some characters at the novel's conclusion.

At the University of Arkansas, Millie works as a resident assistant who develops a complicated relationship with a visiting professor. We follow the story of Millie, the professor, and three of her residents as they navigate issues of class, race, power dynamics, and desire.

I wanted to enjoy this story, but I could never quite get into it. It had a very slow beginning, and by the time the plot came together, it had lost some of my attention. By the end, I did find moments of interesting social commentary, and though I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likable, I was compelled enough to see how it ended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another stunning novel from Kiley Reid! If you liked Such a Fun Age, you’ll love Come and Get It. A character-rich exploration of power dynamics, ethics, race, class, and desire, this book was unsettling in the best ways. It was like a car wreck you can’t look away from.

The main characters include an RA in a college dorm, several of her residents, and a visiting professor. This book felt especially raw to me because of my own experiences as an RA in college. I know I’ll be thinking about this story for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC.

Kiley Reid is a master of capturing dialogue, and in her second novel, her sights settle on campus life at the university of Arkansas. The book centers on Millie, a 24-year-old RA intent on scraping up enough cash to put a down payment on a house, and her group of charges, all women who landed in the transfer and scholarship dorm. The focus here is on relationships with money—who has it, who is being gifted large sums by their parents, who takes it for granted. One of Millie's residents, Kennedy, is a transfer who immediately puts off her suitemates with the sheer volume of stuff she has, mostly home decor accumulated from Target. That's all complicated and documented by Agatha, a 27-year-old visiting professor who becomes fascinated with Millie's residents, and eventually, with Millie herself. Come and Get It doesn't have quite the giddy, propulsive energy that Such a Fun Age has, but Reid's sharp character observation carries it through.

"Come and Get It" by Kiley Reid is a deliciously witty and sharply observed novel that offers a fresh perspective on contemporary relationships and society. Reid's writing is both insightful and entertaining, exploring themes of love, race, and privilege with humor and nuance. "Come and Get It" is a must-read for anyone craving a dose of literary escapism with a side of social commentary.

Reid’s debut novel “A Fun Age” was my favorite book the year I read it and I was looking forward to this one. Not going to lie, it took a while for me to get into it because I couldn’t get the characters straight. Reid follows the lives of 4 roomates – Tyler, Casey, Kennedy and Peyton, Millie, Millie’s friends, Collette and Ryland, her bosses, her parents, Agatha, Agatha’s girlfriend, Robin. Okay I’ll stop but you get my drift. It was just a lot of people to keep up with.

I eventually got a handle on who was who and what the backstory was and while I still wasn’t sure where the story was headed, my intrigue was held because Millie lets Agatha stay hidden in her room to listen to the roomates’ conversations as fodder for her new book. Agatha does ask Millie if she is sure it’s okay but Millie is so casual when she says of course it is that I too was like “oh wait, is it?” With more thought, of course it wasn’t okay and because I knew nothing good could come out of it, I was on the edge of my seat wondering how this would play out.

I don’t know how Reid wanted us to see Agatha but she came off as unlikeable to me. I think Reid tried to include layers of race into the story without making it the focal point but I don’t think it ever quite took shape. Any plot that could have led to that was treated casually. Kennedy’s back story seemed to come out of nowhere and it seemed unclear whether we were dealing with a lot more than was led on.

So yes, while I admit that there was a lot going on, I think it’s a book you’d enjoy more if you aren’t looking for a neat ending. Think of it like the show Seinfeld – a show about everything and nothing. It worked for me, but I’d be curious to know what you think

I will say this book was compelling. Even though the plot took a LONG time to come together… it did make me want to keep reading.
However…. It was kind of a mess. MANY characters in this whole college dorm environment.. four RAs, three roommates and then friends of the roommates, oh and a professor. Not a single one of them is really likable. Maybe Millie is a likable character but her behavior doesn’t make sense. No one’s actions really make sense. And it felt like it was all going to come together and make sense and the end… but it really didn’t.