I was very excited for this book because I enjoyed Reid's previous novel. However, my expectations fell short. I found the main character Millie to be immature and generally not enjoyable. Agatha Paul was also a disappointing character. It seemed like the characters crawled toward an avoidable problem throughout the book. Which was ultimately resolved in an unrealistic way. Although some of the characters are interesting (I really enjoyed Kennedy) the story line did not do a good job at holding my interest.

This is a solid 3 stars for me! I really enjoyed the vibe, characters, and academia setting but the story and details fell a little short. I don't feel like a lot happened and I kept waiting for more.
I struggled to keep engaged and wanted to love it, but I didn't find enough substance. It's very character driven and not a lot more, so if that's your thing, you'll love this!

Thank you, NetGalley and Putnam for allowing me to review this book.

Kiley Reid is out with a new book after Such a Fun Age. It's a life on campus novel that is very funny at times and also is a mirror or what is going on in the world in the 90's and today. The novel doesn't really have a flow through plot. It's mostly the main characters Millie (a student) and Agatha (journalist/professor) telling us how they got to be where they are. We also meet the Millie's contemporaries Tyler, Kennedy, Casey and Peyton. Each comes from a different walk of life and they all deal with the issues affecting them. It's an easy read but at times frustrating because you are waiting for things to kick in and become soemthing more than just voices telling you their stories. I hate to be a grump with this novel but just expected more from the author. I usually love campus novels and especially ones that take place in 80's and 90's. Thank you to #netgalley and #randomhouse for the ARC. Look forward to what the author will publish next. Love her voice and what she has to say about the state of things!

This didn’t work for me. I can recognize what the author was trying to do, but the execution wasn’t well done.

This lacked plot- the entire story was mainly dialog. All the characters were unlikeable and insufferable. This was a short book, only 291 pages, but yet i struggled to get through it.

10 points for the stunning cover colours

Come and Get It is the story of three women on the University of Arkansas campus: a professor, an RA, and a dorm resident. Their lives intersect when Agatha, the professor, visits the dorm to interview women about weddings. After talking to several interviewees, Agatha is intrigued by how they talk about money. She pivots her research and decides to write about that topic instead. Millie, the RA, helps her out, giving Agatha access to the dorm, where she's able to listen to conversations between the roommates next door to Millie, including Kennedy, a socially awkward woman who left her last college because of an incident that's hinted at but not disclosed until later in the book.

Chapters alternate between the three women, revealing their backgrounds and their current journeys. I found the novel's first quarter to be quite slow, as Reid takes her time fleshing out her three protagonists. As the story progressed, I enjoyed it much more, though I ended up disappointed by the book's resolution and wished the characters were more interesting.

There are moments in Come and Get It where Reid shines, particularly during humorous scenes. Reid can be darkly funny, and she has thoughtful commentary on class and race, but those thoughts were more potent in her debut, Such a Fun Age, than in this novel. I liked this book, and I'm glad I read it, but the slow pace and the lack of character development will deter some readers from loving this one.

Millie is a hardworking RA at an upperclassman dorm in Arkansas. She takes her job seriously, cares about her students, and is saving up responsibly for after graduation. But after a mean prank by some of the girls living in the dorm, some misguided advice from friends, and a possibly inappropriate offer from a professor experiencing a midlife crisis, could all her hard work be in jeopardy?

This is a character driven with characters who are, at times, incredibly real and, at other times, caricaturized. I love the authors astute observations on the power dynamics present among these young adult women. The way the other dorm mates artfully exclude Kennedy, usually without actually being mean to her, and Kennedy’s anxious inner monologue responding to this are all so perceptive and truthful. I also noticed this in how Millie felt she was only regarded as an RA, and not a person, by the residents.

Millie was an incredibly lovable MC. She’s so genuinely nice and her mixed up thoughts were very relatable. But the other characters didn’t feel as fleshed out. They were portrayed in such a caricature way, most of the time, that it was hard to understand their motivations or see them as multifaceted characters. Agatha just constantly keeps making bad choices to the point you want to just shake her and the trio of popular girls were so annoying. Peyton and Kennedy seemed more two-sided but it was still very hard to nail down their personalities and motivations.

Overall, there were some really insightful moments but I wanted either more plot to this book or a better understanding of the characters. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

First off, you must understand this was a character-driven, slow-moving story. This was not a book that hit the ground running. This was a book you read on a slow weekend where you just want to sip a warm beverage while wrapped up in a blanket with a pet on your lap.

With that being said, the characters and the world in which the characters existed in were well developed. The characters were real with flaws and bad decisions. The world was tangible and nostalgic; I was immediately brought back to my college days. As a person with a sociology minor, I was fascinated with how this story unraveled and the characters interacted with one another. I found the ending to be rushed, and I’m not sure I was satisfied with all the consequences that happened or the lack of discussion around a certain situation.

I would classify this one as fitting into the New Adult genre. It read a little young at times because we were following college-aged girls, but I found that to be nostalgic.

If you are a fan of character-driven novels, college settings, and/or books that transport you to a past experience, you will enjoy this one.

Ughhhhh, I hate that I didn't enjoy this one much after how much I enjoyed Such a Fun Age. I think this book heavily relied on a fostered connection to each of the characters that never bloomed for me. I applaud how unique the setting was (modern and relatable, but I've never read a story based on the collegiate experience of an RA and residents), but it just couldn't make me care. That really seems to be the feeling that Come and Get It left me with overall: I really don't care.

To the heart of it: the book lacks a plot. As a literary and plotless story FANATIC, I can really vibe with this - especially when sitting inside a character's head is SO much more interesting and chaotic than a storyline. While I appreciated the diversity represented by the characters (LGBTQ+ rep, socioeconomic differences, and exploration of patterns of racism), the lack of connection and chemistry between the characters' and their storylines left something major to be explored and desired.

Unfortunately this was a bit of a flop for me compared to the author's first book. It settles at 2 stars for me.

I loved Such a Fun Age, Reid’s 2018 debut so much so I couldn’t wait to get her second book! Set in current time and not a sequel, it is about college and dorm life in Arkansas. Millie is the RA who is hard-working, independent and wants to buy a house. She helps Agatha, a visiting professor, get in contact with several dorm residents who provide information for a book Agatha is writing. The book is supposed to be about weddings but instead Agatha finds the young women focused on money so she switches gears. Agatha ends up eavesdropping from Millie’s room to get fodder for her Teen Vogue articles leading to a cringy relationship between Agatha and Millie. A crazy dorm incident changes everything for everyone. It’s about nothing and everything and Reid’s writing is perfect for this. 4.5/5

Kiley Reid is an incredible storyteller and writer. Such a Fun Age is a story that stayed with me long after I finished it. And I have a feeling that this will be the case with her latest, Come and Get It, which is out on Tuesday.

On its face, it’s a novel about several women at the University of Arkansas, balancing different roles, backgrounds, and identities. There is Millie, the second-year senior who is an RA and trying desperately to save for a house and get ready for life after college. There’s Agatha, a visiting professor and journalist whose personal life is spiraling by the time she makes it to Fayetteville. And then there are the other RAs and residents on Millie’s floor, who each are wildly different and bring their own baggage and perspective to the school.

It’s a fascinating look at money, privilege, ambition, temptation, and the complications when these all mix. Reid is such an accomplished writer, and it turns the story of these women into a powerful social commentary. I finished it last night and even though I’m halfway through another book, I’m still thinking about these characters. A true testament to Kiley Reid’s talents and craft.

A massive thank you to Net Galley and Putnam Books for this advanced copy. Make sure to add to your TBR lists and pick up on Tuesday!

Will post on goodreads, my bookstagram @scottonreads and retail sites.

First I’d like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC. This book was a solid 3 stars for me. I really enjoyed some of the characters and I really do love a university/collage/academia setting like a lot of other reviewers mentioned not much happens in this book.

Sometimes I found myself struggling to pick it up because it was just a little slow for my liking. This is a very character driven book and if that is your thing then I definitely think you should pick it up. I was just wanted a little more to happen by the end of the book. #netgalley #comeandgetit

I don’t think I liked any of the characters in this book but I was invested in their stories and seeing how everything turned out.

I enjoyed getting some of the backstories of the characters and how they ended up where they were. The way most of the characters talked drove me nuts but maybe it’s because they are college aged and I’m much closer to Agatha’s age.

I love Kiley Reid's writing. What an interesting novel this was about listening in on conversations and finding your way - bending both your own and other's rules. I love a novel with a college setting where a diverse group of people live together and meld their lives in a forced way. This book was filled with deceit and cliques and feeling left out as well as what we do to be part of something. It's character-driven. Most of the plot unwinds slowly which may frustrate some. This will be a great choice for book club because there's so much to talk about (I could write 10 papers on different topics from the book). I loved how Reid was able to meld all of this in one book. Brava.

I’ve loved Kiley Reid ever since reading SUCH A FUN AGE four years ago. Slow burn of a novel. I related most to Agatha, the 38 year old, but also to the college kids - I’ve never forgotten the loneliness of being a new college student and struggling to make friends. I rarely see homesickness depicted so well in literature, and Kiley Reid does it well. The cliques in dorms. Passive aggressiveness of roommates. Assumptions about others without knowing them. The thin walls and pranks on RAs. Crushes. Being too old for the environment but here we are anyway. I love this book.

I loved this book so much. The writing is brilliant. I admit I didn’t really know where the plot was going there for awhile but I didn’t care because I was so immersed. And then it became clear and I couldn’t put it down. I will read anything Kiley Reid.

Thank you so much to Putnam Group for the advance copy!

This book will be published on January 30th.

I have been sitting on writing this review because I have no idea how to begin. This book was very different compared to other books I have read. Kiley's prior book Such a Fun Age was one of my first books I read when I started reading again as an adult and I loved that one.

I think the biggest thing was I was waiting for something HUGE to happen. Yes things occurred and it was climatic but it wasn't that jaw dropping for me. I don't read many books that are primarily character driven and now I understand what that means because this book definitely was that. I can't really articulate what it was that was missing but just something to really give it that umph. Either way I couldn't stop reading because I wanted to see what was going to happen to the characters.

I definitely was interested in each of the interviewee's backstory and that to me was my favorite part. Especially after I got to Kennedy's story - man oh man did I verbally gasp when I got to a certain part (those who know, know). I was also very interested in Millie and Agatha's relationship and could've used more. The dynamics between all of the girls was so interesting and just thought it could've been explored more.

The book itself was well written and I thought Reid did a great job with setting the scene and really describing the characters.

I will continue to read her work because of how well Reid writes and the complexity of her characters. .

If you are a fan of literary fiction, character driven book, college setting and a cast of characters - check this out!

3.5

I didn't love this as much as the author's debut but it was still an interesting college campus tale about the dynamics of life in residence between both the dormmates and their RAs. Told from multiple POVs, this was a complex tale about race, class and the fine line between morally questionable acts that can get out of control in unexpected ways. Good on audio narrated by Nicole Lewis. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Millie Cousins is spending her senior year at the University of Arkansas as an RA, dreaming of graduation, a job, and buying a house of her own. Enter Agatha Paul - a writer and a professor visiting the university. She offers Millie an easy but unusual (and maybe not 100% ethical) opportunity. Somewhat swept away by Agatha, Millie agrees, but her intended hustle risks being jeopardized by her odd new friends and fellow RAs, vengeful dorm room pranks, and illicit intrigue. At its heart, this is a story of desire and consumption, and the reckless abandon that comes with chasing those.

First, let’s talk about the fact that Kiley Reid’s colorful covers alone make me want to pick up whatever she writes. Second, let’s address the fact that this is a character-driven story. Very light on plot. I think it’s important to know that going in and stave off disappointment. For that reason, it won’t be for everyone. But let me tell ya, I was really into it.

I cannot overstate how well Reid absolutely nails the idiosyncrasies of college life. It is such a strange time and there’s a particular lifestyle that goes along with the schedule and the living situations. I felt like I was reliving that time all over again. The vernacular. The insecurities. I felt the shame and anxieties all over again through her capture of these female characters.

Did it also give me the ick at certain points? Definitely. But human behavior is often kind of icky. It also made me giggle out loud and held up a mirror to issues of race and money without being preachy. Thank you to Netgalley and GP Putnam’s Sons for the ARC!

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid focuses on the lives of several students living in a dormatory at University of Arkansas. I struggled to finish this book. While I enjoyed the prose, the characters were generally one dimensional and the plot was lacking. I really struggled to make it through this book. I really enjoyed Ms. Reid's debut novel, Such a Fun Age, and I felt that Come and Get It was not of the same calibur. I will give her third novel a chance when it publishes in hopes that it will challenge my thinking in the way Such a Fun Age did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnum for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A coming-of-age story about a RA at a college university and her involvement with a professor, the other RAs and the dorm residents under her watch. Millie Cousins is an older than average resident assistant worrying about life after school. When a visiting professor and well-known author, Agatha Paul presents her with an opportunity, Millie is more than willing to help. What she underestimates are dorm residents with their own issues, problems and agendas.
I think the author has captured some of the unfortunate but realistic down sides of college living. She brought together a diverse group of very flawed and immature characters who must all find a way to live together. While I appreciate this is probably a snapshot of actual dorm living these days, it was a lot of self-absorption and pettiness. And while the story hinted at several deeper traumas, I don’t feel like it adequately explored them. For me, there wasn’t much happening plot wise until the very end of the book. And that made it slow going for me.
However, that being said, I’ve seen some great reviews for this book. So, I do think it’s because I’m not a fan of books with unlikeable characters. If you like messy character driven books, you might very well like this one.