I loved the premise and was excited to read the book. I found parts of it to be a bit confusing, especially towards the end. The pacing was a bit slow at times and felt like the book could have used a bit more editing. Overall, I enjoyed the story and writing.

With some of the best “feel like I’m in the room with the characters” dialogue “Come and Get It” by Kiley Reid (4.5 stars) (Pub Date: Out Now!) is a tide pool view on characters that are both easily recognizable, but also quirkily unique in their decisions and actions that drive the story to crescendo, with the inevitable silt-settling. This wave of events, decisions, and actions (or lack there-of) picks everybody in the story up and sets them down again somewhere else and subtly changed.

Good Things: The dialogue, the dialogue, the dialogue. Did I mention the dialogue? These characters are sitting next to me and I’m just watching and listening as they talk their way around and into ‘situations’ and then bounce back out again. It’s like being that proverbial fly on the wall, which also mirrors how every one of the primary characters feels about their role in their own lives. This layered “light and breezy, but underneath amazing commentary on how we are all living our lives right now” story is simply amazing.

Opportunities: What happened, happened, and in the happening I could see the shape of things to come but, I think the author wanted us to feel like we were walking with the characters into their situations and that we couldn’t steer or back out of them even though we (and they characters themselves) sort of knew where they were headed. What I’m trying to get at is…I knew things weren’t going to be pleasant all the time, and because of that I shied away from reading it in the middle. I just didn’t want to experience what I knew was coming. But then…that’s what the characters were doing too, so Bravo to Reid for making her characters uncomfortable and relatable enough that I too felt uncomfortable.

Final Thoughts: I really liked it, and honestly I didn’t think I would…but I loved the reminders of dorm life, the way young people live in this liminal “whatever…” space where real life hasn’t started but childhood is done. I loved reading the dialogue between the friend groups, and the inner monologue of some of the individuals. It was slick and clever, and in the end I highly recommend it. But I still don’t get the title, or the cover imagery and it’s driving me bonkers that I have missed some cool cue that I should be able to pick up on, so if you know what the author intended to imply or explain with the title and the image of a Pig on the cover…please comment and tell me.

I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to have an early read of this story by netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons The opinions in this review are expressly those of ButIDigressBookClub and are intended for use by my followers and friends when choosing their next book. #butidigress #butidigressbookclub #comeandgetit #kileyreid #suchafunage #jordymademedoit #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #arc #arcs

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Review Shared on Goodreads - www.goodreads.com/leah_cyphert_butidigressbookclub
Publishing Review 2/22/2024

such an interesting novel. i loved her first book and this one lived up to my expectations. i cannot wait for her third book

this book made me so anxious that when i read it before bed i had actual nightmares.

that's a compliment.

everyone in this book is such a bad person, and also not a bad person. literally nothing that anyone says is 100% true or fair. it's awesome. this is peak unreliable narrator book — it has about 100 characters and none of them can be trusted. you don't realize how often books have a voice of reason until you can engage in the chaos nightmare that is nobody doing so. how exhausting and stressful

I had high hopes for Kiley Reid's new book. Come and Get It follows the lives of college students at the University of Arkansas, the relationships of college students sharing a dorm room, of college RAs, and of a professor who becomes intertwined in their lives. It takes a very long time to get to a point in the book where there's some direction to the story. But in place of plot movement, the story really is about strong character development instead. There are themes of racism, classism, sexual identity, bullying, ethics, mental health and overcoming tragedy. While I finally did get invested in reading further to see what would happen, it was because I got connected to the characters, even if I didn't like any of them! But there isn't much that really happens in this story in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the pubisher for a copy of this e-arc.

Ultimately, I liked this book but I really struggled getting through the first half through 3/4 of it. If you have patience with a slow burn, then this might be a good book for you. Reid did a good job creating realistic characters and the plot feel very real and real-time paced. At the beginning I had a hard time caring about the characters because it was so slow, but by the time the plot quickened I had become invested in them.

Kiley Reid's characters are no doubt well-developed in her novels (I previously read "Such a Fun Age.") In this book, we meet Agatha, a published author and gay, white woman whose relationship has imploded and who has moved to work as a professor at a Southern university. We also have Millie, a young African American woman who is working as an RA in the dorms to pay her way through college.

The book is radically different than Such a Fun age and I do have to recommend "Such a Fun Age" as a better book. Although I did enjoy reading about the college students whose dorm Millie supervises as an RA and each of their lives, the book just didn't hold together as well as her previous novel. Read it for the characters, especially the students, whose lives and backgrounds couldn't be more different, but if you read her first book, don't expect as much. Worth reading, however.

I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy this storyline. It felt like a YA novel. I became quite frustrated at the lack of direction in the plot. It just meandered. I appreciate the advanced copy and can say I read the entire book, so it was entertaining on some level.

"Come and Get It" by Kiley Reid is a captivating exploration of power dynamics and societal inequalities, woven through the intertwining perspectives of Millie a 20-something college student and Agatha a professor at the University of Arkansas. Reid skillfully navigates the complex terrain of race and wealth, shedding light on the pervasive microaggressions faced by black individuals and the unequal distribution of wealth along racial lines.

I was expecting a more plot driven narrative however this book is more of a character driven exploration, delving deep into the nuanced experiences and internal struggles of its protagonists. Through their eyes, Reid exposes the corrosive nature of corruption, illustrating how money and power can distort human relationships and moral compasses.

One of the book's greatest strengths lies in its unflinching examination of the systemic injustices that plague our society. Reid fearlessly confronts uncomfortable truths, challenging readers to confront their own biases and privileges. By shining a spotlight on the insidious nature of wealth disparity and the subtle yet very damaging effects of everyday racism, "Come and Get It" serves as a powerful catalyst for reflection and dialogue.

However, it's worth noting that this might not be a book for everyone. Its lack of a traditional plot driven narrative might deter some readers like myself who seek fast paced action. Nevertheless, for those willing to engage with its thought provoking themes and richly developed characters, "Come and Get It" offers a profoundly rewarding reading experience.

Overall I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a deeply insightful exploration of power, privilege, and the human condition.

I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam Books, all opinions are my own.

Really enjoyed this new book by Kiley Reid. The dynamics of the characters kept me turning the page. Definitely a slower paced book but a great read nonetheless.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC copy in exchange for a review.

This was my first novel from Kiley Reid. I've heard great things about her debut so I was very curious about this one as well. I would say I ultimately enjoyed this novel as the writing is very good but I'm not sure the story was my favorite. The writing style is great so I'm excited to check out Reid's debut novel.

I really loved Reid's debut, Such a Fun Age, so I was excited to see her coming out with a new book this year. Come and Get It was a propulsive read but ultimately left me disappointed.

Come and Get It is set at the University of Arkansas and focuses on a small group of students and adults. Millie Cousins is arguably the main character of the story, but the POV jumps around between other students on a single dorm floor and a visiting professor who Millie befriends. Reid tackles a lot of different topics through these characters, particularly race and class disparity, similar to what she does in Such a Fun Age. But with the jumping around between the characters, some of this thread is lost.

The drama of this book is subtle but feels very real. There are microagressions everywhere, some more obvious than others. I got drawn in by that aspect of the story, curious to see where the story would take us and how everything would go up in flames (because you assume it will).

Where the story lost me was in the number of characters that we ultimately spent time with. It felt like there was a certain primary plot that Reid wanted to follow, but she kept getting distracted out of an obligation to flesh out other characters. The timing of certain POV shifts felt a bit questionable, too. One of the big reveals that had been teased for so long in the story finally comes out after the halfway point of the book. But it was so drawn out that it felt anticlimatic (not to mention a bit bizarre regardless of the timing).

Overall, I appreciated with Reid was doing here and I was intrigued by the characters. But the story felt messy and not as well-done as Such a Fun Age. I have hope that this was just a sophomore slump for Reid and will certainly read another book by her.

I wanted to love this, but didn't finish. As an Arkansas native I did love the references to my home state!

It's quite evident that Kiley Reid has a unique talent for crafting characters like no other. "Come and Get It" unfolds a compelling depiction of diverse and intricate personalities within the University of Arkansas. Kiley Reid's brilliance shines in her ability to create vivid characters, undeniably the novel's strongest element. Her writing sparks a curiosity that compels you to keep flipping the pages. Despite a relatively sparse plot, the narrative kept me thoroughly entertained.

3.5/5
Thank you #netgalley for the ARC. Kiley Reid is an obviously talented writer…the writing, characters, sense of place….all beautiful. I struggled with unpacking the plotlines, and when it was finished I felt I had missed something. Despite that, snapshots from the story will stay in my memory for a long time. 3.5/5

💚 Come & Get it 💚

Oh my gosh what a good and important book! Kiley Reid has done it again.

Set at the University of Arkansas, Come & Get It follows a visiting professor, a group of RA’s and residents. Through their relationships and interactions, Reid weaves themes of race, class, and right and wrong when things “just happen”. How you treat people matters, asking for permission is important, and people are never quite what they seem.

I highly, highly recommend this one! Much like Such a Fun Age, it made me think and made me question. I truly enjoyed it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Putnam for the ARC!

A fun and thought provoking book that depicts young women, and not so young women, thinking about money, love and academia. I read this on vacation, and it was a good pick. Light enough for an airplane read, but still had a lot going on and interesting characters. The college girls and RAs in the dorms were all quite engaging, while Agatha, the conflicted professor/author/journalist/flawed/conflicted character, interested and repelled me.

I didn't enjoy this as much as Such a Fun Age - not a lot "happens" in the book, and at the same time there's almost too many characters to keep track of. The most interesting part to me was Agatha's Cat Person plot (Cat Person was based on a real person who later came forward and said that both the premise and specific details were lifted from her life) because we are starting to confront more accountability in what we post online, even if it's "anonymous." I felt like the rest of the book was pretty standard college drama, minus any characters to root for.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing me with an eARC of Come and Get It in exchange for my honest review!

Kiley Reid's debut novel, Such a Fun Age, was such an enthralling and thought-provoking book back when I read a few years ago. It made me anxious for Reid's next book, and now it's here in the form of Come & Get It. While I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did with Such a Fun Age, it still boasts some worthwhile meat. It's just that the first half of Come & Get It struggles to connect with me. I understand that the whole narrative is intending to be character-driven, so I can't really criticize it for being plotless, but it needs to present interesting layers within the characters and their relationships if it's going to embark on that route. And this isn't something that I was finding for much of the first half.

Once we entered the second half of these college campus shenanigans, though, that's when it drew me in much more deeply with its coming-of-age facets, with its lens on the rocky experience of adulting that felt evocative of the touching themes in Such a Fun Age, with its examination of the incredibly sketchy dynamic between Millie and Agatha. Same goes for the way that this unpacks race and class on small levels and on large levels. And that's why, overall, I'm officially rating Come & Get It 3.25 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding down to 3 stars on Goodreads. Again, it's not the shining follow-up that I'd hoped for from Reid, but hey, it's got that second half of the book to compensate for the first half. I'll continue to be interested in reading more of the author's work.

I think this story was simultaneously brilliant and bat-shit crazy (in the best way!). Not a single character gets the full story. It is truly so chaotic, with layers and layers of misunderstanding and assumptions leaving every character with a different impression of every event that occurs throughout the novel. And I ate up every bit of it. It takes a special type of writer to pull together this type of story with layered and complex relationships, intertwining in unique ways that provide such a payoff for the reader. That’s as specific as I can be without giving spoilers but, trust me, you won’t want to put this story down.

The story begins with our most prominent characters, Agatha and Millie. You learn about characters through interviews, through eavesdropping, from different perspectives–it’s so creatively written. I feel like there’s a strong theme of gossip and assumptions throughout the novel and then to have us learn about some of the main characters of the novel all second-hand was really intriguing. We witness all these bad decisions, misunderstandings, and eavesdropping to the point that, at the end of the novel, we have to ask ourselves: do we even really understand what happened? The characters certainly don’t, so why should we assume that we do?