** spoiler alert ** Kiley Reid follows her debut novel Such a Fun Age with another great character-driven book. Come and Get It is similar in a way it explores the relationships between the classes and touches on casual racism and little and big things that some people don’t recognize as issues while others see as deeply offensive. The book also explores different characters relationship to money and shows great character development as they grapple with ethical issues.

What I loved:

📚 character descriptions and back stories really bring them to life. I’m seeing some reviewers saying there isn’t much plot to the story but I disagree. This is a well thought through book where no loose ends are left in the end and everything makes sense, in my opinion. Every single detail was included for a reason and it all comes together nicely in the final pages.
📚 the story is female driven and features multiple lesbian characters
📚 I loved Millie - she is a very likable and relatable character and I was rooting for her. She is also not perfect and makes mistakes but then takes an effort to make things right. I am happy she got the girl even if it was very much in the gray area ethically and it’s for the best that she did not get the guy. (Was he just nice or was he too flirty? We will never know.) I hope she gets whatever/whoever makes her happy in her little yellow house.
📚 Agatha is a great character and a pleasure to read about because she is far from one-dimensional. Did she lose her moral compass just because she is heartbroken? Why is she fixing everything with money? There is a nice irony in it, given she is writing about the younger women’s relationships with money, yet she clearly has a complicated relationship with it herself, from the dynamic with her gf/wife Robyn to giving heaps of cash to Millie and Tyler (that was a weird part that somehow still worked? I guess the author really wanted to bring them face to face one last time.)

Overall, a great read and a wonderful story. Thank you for the eARC, NetGalley!

Honestly giving my review is a bit difficult.

For the most part, I enjoyed the story and was interested in reading more as the story unfolded. However, I had trouble figuring out who the story was really about AND I did not like how the book ended. There was no real explanation for why Kennedy’s situation was left as a lie?

Otherwise, I loved the dorm scenes, the conversations were so realistic and the setting was wonderful. Lots to love, just somewhat confusing.

Millie Cousins is a senior resident assistant at the University of Arkansas in 2017. Agatha Paul is a visiting professor and writer who has left her wife at home and taken a position for a year. They meet when Agatha comes to the dorm to interview students about weddings as research for her next book.

This meeting creates an opportunity for Millie she cannot resist until an accident from a prank gone wrong threatens to ruin everything for Millie.

Reid's sophomore novel has a cast of characters that fell a little flat for me. The beginning chapters about Agatha and Millie are promising but ultimately, didn't fulfill my expectations. The other characters like Tyler, Casey, and Peyton seem to fit stereotypes rather than dynamic characters.

Kiley Reid tackled many subjects in this book such as racism and socioeconomic status all while having LGBTQ representation in a college setting. I appreciate what the author tried to accomplish in this character-driven novel but for me, it didn't quite hit the mark. I look forward to more from this talented writer. #gifted

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy of Come & Get It! I loved Such a Fun Age and was excited to read this book. This book is based in the south with all our southern mannerisms, so I felt the need to rep all my universities. You get the POV of Millie, a young adult trying balance, work, savings, relationships, and lots of college-aged drama. You also get the POV of Agatha, a renowned author who moves to Arkansas as a visiting professor who is struggling with her own relationships and work. Overall, this was a 3 ⭐️ read for me. Because it’s just women’s fiction, there’s not much of a plot or final ending. It took about 30% of the way in for me to get interested too. I think it would’ve been more enjoyable as an audiobook for me.

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid transported me back to a period of time that I have had a few years to reflect on: my college years. This book centers around Millie, an RA at the University of Arkansas, and the messy interactions that weave into her life. Full of recklessness, money, and Southern flair, Come and Get It is a fresh and real take on what it's like to feel disconnected while simulteanously be thrust into madness.

To start, Reids descriptions of her characters, down to the vernacular, are so spot on that I had this weird sense she was writing about my time at Texas State University. The interactions that Millie had with the girls in Belgrade named Tyler, Kennedy, Casey, and Peyton, so closely reflected people that I had interacted with and were friends with in college that it almost spooked me how well-done it was. I think that Reid did an excellent job introducing us to the characters separately before showing us how they eventually are all apart of and impact each others lives throughout the novel. Agatha being apart of the narrative but not being fully behind the wheel was a great touch because she was more of an omniscient point of view while still adding to the chaos and complexity of the story. Tyler, Casey, and Peyton's friendship was so lighthearted and funny and made me reminisce on all the conversations I used to have with my friends in my dorm. My favorite character overall was Kennedy because I closely related to her feelings and experience as a college student. Despite her struggling to make friends, she often made no effort to introduce herself or talk with her roommates or classmates. She was in a constant state of loneliness and pity and, as odd as it sounds, it was refreshing to see considering I had the same feelings when I was her age. Despite going to a class with 300 people in a room and having people around you at all times, college can truly feel like the loneliest time in your life if that's what you make it.

For me, this novel picked up pretty quickly from the beginning and through the middle, but I did feel as though towards the end it slowed down significantly and did not feel complete or well wrapped up when I read the conclusion. It wasn't until I had finished the book and reflected on what I had read that I realized Millie was actually the protagonist. Throughout my reading experience I actually was not able to pinpoint a specific protagonist and I honestly thought it could've or perhaps should've been Agatha. I also did not understand why despite Kennedy being cut and almost dying purely out of accident that it was penned as if she had tried to commit suicide. Not to mention Peyton didn't tell anyone the truth either. It really threw me through a loop and agitated me that it was not mentioned to anyone and I would love an explanation why that is and what that added to Kennedy's story overall.

All that to say, I liked this book and found it to be enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this to a friend!

I love a campus setting in a novel - I made so many connections to my own college and dorm life experience, including connections to money and that time in my life that I didn't have a great understanding of back then.

I'm a fan of Such a Fun Age. In that book, I was drawn in from the events in the first chapter. It's instantly compelling. Come and Get It is a slower ride. But both are introspective reads with characters that are thought out and well written.

My first five-star read of 2024! I loved this book but I know it won’t be for everyone. This is for the people who love character development and moral gray areas and don’t mind an open-ended plotline or two.

The book is essentially three separate character studies that occasionally intersect. Reid crafts characters with heart and humor and delights in putting them in impossible situations. She masterfully builds tension, while also providing a solid background to explain why characters are making their decisions, even as the reader you can see it will end in disaster. I wish I knew how she pulled it off!

My first through after finishing Come and Get It was that this won’t be a book for everyone, but the people who love it are REALLY going to love it. I fall into the love it category, and I’m super excited to discuss why.

Kiley Reid is incredible at building a clear portrait with vivid, sometimes humorous, descriptions of characters. Come and Get It does not have a very clear plot; instead, it relies on the development of three main characters - and a handful of minor characters - to strong the novel along. Each of these characters are flawed, and some are straight up unlikable…yet each one fits into the ongoing narrative of life at college.

It almost felt like I was reading three separate vignettes that tied together through the minor characters they all interacted with and the shared setting, and it was a really effective way to tell a story where there isn’t really a central plot bringing everything together.

I love the way Reid writes; it’s at times quite funny and wry, while also having many moments of deeper reflection and complexity. The character focus made me feel intimately involved in the events of the story, even when the events were seemingly small or insignificant.

There were some loose ends I wanted more closure on, and some moments that felt a bit over the top and/or unnecessary. For those reasons, this is more in the 4 star range for me than a 5 star.

Basically, if you’re a fan of character-driven stories that feel a bit meandering in terms of plot, this would be a great fit for you. If you need a bit more of a straight forward storyline, I could see this boring or frustrating you. Me personally, I am thrilled to be in the group of folks this was perfect for & I will be eagerly awaiting Reid’s next book!

4.25 stars. I’m aware this is getting mixed reviews, but I don’t really get why. I loved it! It’s both character driven and highly readable, and I found it compelling from start to finish.

It is mostly set in a dorm at University of Arkansas and follows a professor, an RA, and some students there as a way to explore dynamics of race and wealth. The characters each felt real to me, and I loved that she explored those topics through subtle interactions and micro-aggressions, rather than beating us over the head with the themes.

I think my enjoyment of this also stems from my college experience. I lived in a dorm all 4 years, was on financial aid, and worked jobs on campus. I was surrounded kids who came from both a lot more and a lot less money than me, and yet in some way living in the same dorms and eating the same dining hall food helped equalize us. I spent a lot of time thinking and money and different people’s relationships to it. All that to say, I was fascinated by Reid’s exploration of this topic.

If you don’t like character driven books or you’re completely bored by the beginning of this, it might just not be the right book for you. But if those themes sound interesting to you at all, pick this one up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wanted to love this one but was slower than I’d hoped. Explored the dynamics of college, relationships, friendships, and dorm life but would have preferred deeper connections to the character and a stronger plot. Okay read.

(4.5 stars rounded up) As a person who works on a college campus, I LOVED THIS. There were a lot of characters that we followed, but for me, it didn't feel like overkill. I felt that each character had a purpose in driving the story forward and each characters' actions resulted in adding to the growing conflicts between them. Ultimately, this was a wonderful coming of age and character driven story that revolved around the inner conflicts of a college dorm.

Really enjoyed the writing and the concept. Such a unique idea to provide social commentary on college students and employees and how everything is amplified in that environment. I think for me personally I needed the plot to head in some sort of direction but this was almost completely character driven.

I really enjoyed Such a Fun Age when it came out, so I was excited to read Come and Get It…and it’s a bit of a falter. Reid’s sharp prose and solid characterization flails in the complete absence of plot - a plotless novel isn’t bad, but there was a lot of tension and nothing happening. Such a Fun Age was more focused, while Come and Get It stumbles in its own vagueness.

COME AND GET IT by Kiley Reid (author of Such A Fun Age) is about wealth- or lack thereof- among female college students living in a dorm, and how far they will go to get it. This is a purely character driven novel and even though the writing is fantastic, nothing really happens, so I had a hard time connecting with this read. It may appeal more to readers who prefer character stories. Thank NetGalley and Penguin for my earc.

This book was a bit weird, and I don't mean it in a bad way. It's mostly character-driven, which I love, but at the same time felt all over the place. On this book, we are introduced to some characters who go to the University of Arkansas, who then end up connecting with each other. I enjoyed the writing a lot, which made read this book fairly fast. The storytelling didn't drag at all, I just felt a bit lost along the way. The ending was a bit off too. I feel like I got interested on the characters and then, everything ended without much consequence. I don't know. I would still recommend it just for the writing and I will definitely read the author's future books, but this one just wasn't for me.

3.75/5 I’m a bit of a sucker for campus novels, and this one was getting mixed reviews from my bookstore coworkers, so I had to give it a try. It was a pretty easy read which didn’t take a long time. And it’s undoubtedly funny at times. Throughout, though, there are moments when the dialogue and the description doesn’t match up, and the writing feels a bit unpolished. I feel like the best section was the long one about Agatha, the adult in the book. I enjoyed some of the “nest of vipers” dorm intrigue, but it was a too rambling for the climax to be effective. Interesting, but I’m not sure the students were believable.

This is a story about the outsized impacts of small choices.  In 2017, Millie is entering her senior year at the University of Arkansas.  After taking time off to care for her mother when she was diagnosed with glaucoma, Mille has returned to her job as a residential assistant.  Older than her fellow students, she often feels like she does not fit in and is disappointed that she has been placed in an undesirable dorm.  But she decides to make the best of it and stay focused on her goals — graduate, get a job, and, perhaps unusual for a college senior, buy a house, if she can save enough money.

Early in the school year, Millie's boss asks her to help Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and a writer who is working on a book about weddings and wants to interview current students.  Millie arranges for Agatha to meet with three students in her dorm.  In Agatha's conversations with the students, she realizes that there is a much more interesting story than weddings — one focused on the students' relationship with money.  When Millie later runs into Agatha, she ends up offering to help Agatha interview more students at her dorm.  This fateful encounter sets off a series of events that sets both Millie and Agatha off on surprising courses — and changes the directions of both of their lives in ways neither could have expected at the start of the school year.  

This book was excellent.  It creates rich and nuanced character studies in Millie, Agatha, and Kennedy, one of the students in Millie's dorm who has a surprising connection to Agatha, as well as other students and RAs.  The author excels at revealing elements of characters’ back stories that make not just the other characters in the book but the reader as well reconsider the first character's choices and how they present themselves to others. 

The author also deftly captures how small choices can have the most significant impacts, often sending one's life in an entirely different direction.  I particularly appreciated Millie's evolution from the ultimate rule follower to someone who finds herself breaking the rules in ways she convinces herself are harmless — and the unexpected impacts of that evolution.  Finally, the book is an interesting and thoughtful examination of money and the explicit and subtle ways it can shape relationships and how one moves through the world. 

Very highly recommended.

Come & Get It by Kiley Reid

This book is among the most anticipated of 2024 and for good reason. WOW! It started as a slow burn for me, but when it accelerated I was caught off guard and then blown away. The characters, primarily college students from the University of Arkansas, and descriptions of their dorm life are relatable and the dialogue is impressively believable. There’s a lot of tension and bad behavior (the RA’s! the visiting professor!), the kind where I watched characters make terrible decisions and gasped NO! 😱
I can’t wait for more people to read this so I have someone to talk to about it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Coming 1/30/2024

Thank you to @NetGalley and @PutnamBooks for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Come and Get It will make you uncomfy so if you are looking for a feel good read or a book where the characters are black and white, look elsewhere. If you want shades of gray, complicated and complex characters, then this book will be for you. Like her last novel, Such a Fun Age, this book is provocative and will lend itself to lots of interesting discussions.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for the electronic advanced copy of this much anticipated book.

DNF after the first 50 pages, it was beyond dull and wordy. After reviewing other reviews on goodreads and seeing the lack of love it’s not worth it to force myself to continue