Loved this novel of college life in Fayetteville, Arkansas that is a commentary on race, sexuality, university life, materialism, journalism and more. Somehow Kiley Reid touches on all of those topics but does so with a light hand, drawing the reader into the dorm, the lives of students, and a professor and an RA. It took me back to dorm life. I felt like I knew the characters and cared about what they were thinking and what happened to them. I also really enjoyed Reid’s first novel, Such a Fun Age, and am eager to read whatever she writes next. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced readers’ copy.

I don't think this book packs quite as much of a punch as Reid's debut, Such a Fun Age, but Come and Get It was really enjoyable. The dialogue is sharp and funny, there is so much cultural commentary and criticism happening throughout, it's just a really interesting book that is saying something cloaked in a mask of super easy, enjoyable reading. I really had fun with this.

Millie Cousins is an RA at the University of Arkansas in 2017. Agatha Paul is a visiting professor who wrote a book about grief and seeks to interview undergrads for an upcoming book. Kennedy, Tyler and Peyton and suitemates on Millie’s hall, Kennedy is having a tough time adjusting, Peyton is the only Black student on the hall and Tyler is a bit of a troublemaker. Tyler and her two friends, Jenna and Casey, go to one of Agatha’s interview sessions.

All of these lives (and others) collide in this smart, witty slice of campus life. I absolutely loved this book. There was just so much here: sex, race, class, gender, all set on campus, a setting which always appeals to me. Highly recommended.

Come and Get It was a little bit slow to engage me. I thoroughly enjoyed Kiley Reid’s debut novel, Such A Fun Age. I recommend reading her first novel, but I will be looking forward to her next book.

Come and Get It features fascinating character sketches, authentic relationships, dorm room drama, difficult truths and complicated consequences. Kiley Reid generates a real-world college campus setting, where we meet visiting professor Agatha Paul as she conducts a series of interviews with young people in hopes of generating ideas worth writing about. Privilege, income inequality, entitlement, and a variety of other themes are first introduced in this clever approach as the writer tries to narrow down the scope of her project. Come and Get It manages to capture and comment on each of these issues as well as venturing into even more complicated areas of consent, prejudice, and jealousy.

The lives and circumstances of the primary characters, MIllie Cousins and Agatha Paul, are intriguing and worth reading. One of the more notable aspects of this book are the immersive characterizations of the supporting cast. We learn something unique, noteworthy, or troubling about each of the young women who cohabitate in this university dorm. Kiley Reid uses character description, dialogue, and carefully calculated drama to create a story that keeps readers interested and invested. Readers will be inspired by Millie, enamored with Agatha, perplexed by Taylor, intrigued by Jenna and Kacey and the other young women in this novel.

After loving Kiley Reid's debut, Such A Fun Age, this unfortunately fell flat for me. I loved the themes in this book but felt like they weren't used to their full potential and, while I often love a plotless character-driven novel, I was left wondering when the book was really going to get going with some plot and purpose. A lot of the characters, especially the group of students, felt indistinguishable to me. Having said that, I love the topics Reid chooses to explore and I'll eagerly follow whatever she writes next.

This was just an OK read for me. It was very character driven, which typically isn't my favorite. There was very little plot until the last 20% of the book, which made it seem very slow moving. While I didn't particularly like any of the characters, they were very realistic and well written. The audiobook narration was well done, though.

Kiley Reid is a genius. Her astute perspective and social commentary never misses, and that remains true for both of her books. However, whereas I found her debut to be a win across the board, my enjoyment of this one was a little more nuanced. This character-driven novel took me on a journey, but I truly struggled with a lack of engagement with and connection to the characters. I’ll still read whatever she writes, but this one was a bit more middling for me.

I got about 1/3 of the way in on this book but the storyline just did not click for me. I couldn't identify with the characters and was not interested in them. Rarely for me, but I chose to DNF this book.

Come and Get it follows a group of individuals for a semester at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins is a 24 year old Resident Advisor in the Belgrade Dormitory, home to transfer students, people with a housing grant and one of the least popular places to live on campus although it is near the sorority houses. She arranges for a writer, Agatha Paul, to meet with students from her floor about weddings. Several of them, including two of the three suite mates who live next door to Millie signed up and Agatha is amused by their take on life. Overall, this is, as others have said, a character driven book about ways that the lives of the women in the suite, Millie and Agatha intersect, sometimes in ways that cross boundaries and also how some college settings can include "mean girls" redolent of middle school. My problem with it is not that people did disturbing things or acted against their better judgment or were downright creepy. I can really enjoy that in a story. It's that I never really got the point. Yet, this was a beautifully written book. Great vignettes, great dialogue, good concepts strung together. It just didn't end up being the whole package for me. I think this book has an audience out there and I did finish it due to the writing, to see if something would draw it all together for me to make sense of it as a story. Nothing really did.

I liked this one a lot. Kiley Reid is giving a character study with all the details you could ever need. This is social commentary and a good ass time.

Come and Get It

By: Kiley Reid

Publish date: 30 January 2024

Publisher: Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam’s Son’s

General fiction(adult)/ Literary fiction/ women’s fiction

#ComeandGetIt#NetGalley

100 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader

I would like to thank both Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Book Review:

I gave this book 3 stars. This book was just ok for me. I did think it was better than her first book. I came really close to dnfing this book at the beginning because I was having a hard time following one of the girl’s and how she talked. I know she was from the south but oh my that was a rough section.

This book is about an older lady, Agatha, who is preparing to write a book about weddings. She is asked to teach at a college in Fayetteville for a semester. While she is there, she is able to interview some of the students in a dorm about her topic. During the interviews she discover she doesn’t really want to write about weddings.

One of the dorm RA’s, Millie, helps sets up these interviews with three of her charges.

Both of these ladies discover some things as they go forward with different areas of their lives and eventually end up together for a while.

This book goes into some of the students and how they ended up at this certain dorm and what they are going through. It goes into the background of both Millie and Agatha.

Like I said it was just ok for me. I had a really hard time even trying to review this book. I struggled picking it up, but once I did, I was able to read and enjoy it. I think part of the problem is that I think the book read too young for me and I couldn’t connect to the characters.

Sorry. Didn’t finish this one. Just not the quality I was expecting. I enjoyed her first book, but this one fell flat.

this is a 3.5 ⭐️ rounded down for me — mainly because a majority of the characters are absolutely vile, and there really wasn’t a plot here. there were several key characters, all with well developed back stories, but really no connection between them outside of time and place. Kennedy’s storyline was really emotional and sad, and mostly I just wished the whole thing could have been about her experience and resolution. it’s very slice of life, but with a super minor beginning and an ending with no emotional resolution or closure.

also, i kept on hearing that this was about money. money money money money — and yes, there’s a lot of money talk but it’s so surface level. the way i walked into this expecting there to be some kind of dramatic heist or scheme and then there was none was kind of disappointing. it was very college though!

i also saw someone else call the characters unlikeable but compelling and agree — it was like not being able to look away from a car crash.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a DRC in exchange for my honest review!!

Loved how the perspectives were split 3 ways. Found all three narrators incredibly interesting. The way the whole big scene happened felt a bit confusing for me but overall good book.

Unfortunately this book was a miss for me. I got about 35% of the way through and was so bored. This is a character driven novel with little to no plot and there are quite a few characters introduced right away. I think the author did a good job of developing the characters but overall it just couldn’t keep my interest. I do tend to love character driven books but still need at least something of a plot to keep the story moving, which this was lacking.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC for review*

Come and Get It is a nuanced character study, reveals dribbled out in slowly peeled away layers. There's more to each of the individuals than we first perceive, and Reid's sneaky buildup shows a lot more empathy for most her subjects than that first impression. She pokes fun and ridicules, showing both the ridiculously inane musings of young college women, their biases, their (mostly) sheltered upbringing and their vulnerabilities. She makes you care. Conversely, those you think reliable may not be so trustworthy.

There's a gradual increase in tension as the paths of the students, residents, admins and professor all merge into a very unpredictable mess. I was vested.

My thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC.

Kiley Reid is so talented at writing characters that feel like real people I’ve encountered, and this book made me so nostalgic for being in college in 2017 🥺

the book alternates between the perspectives of college student Kennedy, her RA Millie, and journalist/visiting professor Agatha Paul. What begins with an innocent interview for a piece on weddings and what college students think of them becomes an unhealthy obsession with the lives of a group of college girls, unethical journalism, and very messy interpersonal relationships. I also really appreciate Kiley Reid’s ability to demonstrate how seemingly minor and insignificant moments can alter the trajectory of your life and that every small choice you make matters and contributes to the big picture of what makes a person whole.

I saw a lot of mixed reviews of this book and I think it’s because a lot happens in seemingly innocuous exchanges between characters and overall it is more of a slower-paced character study. I really appreciate how this book touched on sexuality, racism, classism, and the socioeconomics of academia without feeling forced. Millie’s character development in particular was so heartwarming and relatable to me—she is a flawed human that makes frustrating decisions but ultimately I want to be best friends with her. I would’ve liked a little more resolution of some minor layers of the story in the ending, but overall this was such a strong second book from Kiley Reid and I’m so excited to read whatever she puts out next!!

If you liked Such a Fun Age, I feel really confident that you’ll love this book. Thank you @netgalley and @putnambooks for the eARC of this book 🤍

I loved Kiley Reid’s first novel SUCH A FUN AGE, but her new book was a huge miss for me. I’m DNFing at 14% after trying to book both digitally and on audiobook. I’ve seen lots of reviews saying that nothing happens in this book and unfortunately I have to agree. I wasn’t invested in the characters, nor did I care about any of their decisions. I’m really confused about what the book was supposed to be about anyway and don’t have any interest in continuing. Thanks for the ARC.

Hot take, but I think I liked this better than Such a Fun Age. This book is a smart and observant social satire of wealth, class, and power at a midwestern university. It follows several students (and one very sketchy professor) over one semester, as their stories gradually build toward a disastrous convergence.

I know some people have critiqued the lack of plot, but honestly I would have read 200 more pages of plotless observations about these college girls (cringing through my fingers all the while), much the way people watch reality TV. Reid is so observant, her dialogue feels so real, and she manages to simultaneously mock every character while (usually, though not always) giving you enough to root for in them. To me, what worked least well was actually the climactic turn of events — it felt too dramatic, too soon, and then dealt with too quickly. But overall, a very fun and quick read.