This book may appeal more to “new adults” than it did to me. The wording/writing was difficult for me to follow. I felt that it was very generational and I am definitely of the wrong generation for this book. The slang went over my head. I believe that the writer had intended a very subtle, tongue in cheek humor which I normally love but since there was so much I didn’t understand it went right over my head. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Putnam for the ARC. I am giving the book 3 stars because I honestly feel that my age was the problem.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Kiley Reid's Come and Get It. This book follows Millie, an RA at the University of Arkansas, Agatha, a visiting professor and writer, and several students/residents over the course of a year. There's plenty of workplace/friendship/roommate drama, but I'd definitely say this is more of a character driven rather than plot driven novel.

I feel like I might be in the minority in that I really enjoyed the book! The characters are well written and the dialogue is so true to life. I'll also say that part of my enjoyment may have come from the fact that I'm from Northwest Arkansas and graduated from the University of Arkansas, so it was fun to see the names of places I know so well in print. I can definitely tell Kiley Reid spent some time here!

Come and Get It is definitely not going to be for everyone. I was interested in reading it after enjoying Such a Fun Age a few years ago. It is character-focused with a very strongly developed cast of characters. Kiley Reid sometimes spends time going in directions that feel off-topic, but add to the story she is telling. She comments on race, class, grief, ethics, and more. I appreciated Reid’s attention to detail when it came to describing college and living in a dorm/living with roommates in a dorm. It captured those feelings so well that I felt like I was back in college. I literally laughed out loud at some of the characters and the outright ridiculousness of what was happening. I knew this was a good book because whenever I was not reading it, I was thinking about these characters and couldn’t wait to get back to it.

CW: racism, classism, suicidal ideation, injury detail, grief, bullying, animal death

As much as I hate to admit it, I ended up DNFing this read about 45% of the way through. When I saw the title, I was excited because I enjoyed Such a Fun Age and the blurb seemed interesting. The way I understood the blurb was that Agnes offers Millie some sort of lucrative deal, but I never made it to that. I might revisit this eventually, but I just couldn't get into it.

3.5 🌟

If you lean more into a character-driven storyline but still like some tension and surprises, you’ll enjoy reading this. The pacing will frustrate readers who think this is more about secrets/twists/turns.

While I had a hard time keeping track of the ancillary characters, I did really enjoy the inner dialogue of our main POVs (Agatha, Millie, Kennedy) and how frustrated and empathetic you could be toward them at different times. It may be more accurate to describe this book as a character study on privilege, which is why the reviews so far seem to be polarizing.

Overall, I’m glad I read this and am more encouraged to check out her other work. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you the the publisher! I LOVED Such A Fun Age and I couldn’t wait to start Come and Get It. This book has a lot of main characters and there’s no real connection to each other. It felt like a college documentary where you’re following different students and facility at random times and interactions. I was engaged but I felt the lack of plot was a bit of a speed bump. Read if you enjoy coming of age character driven novels!

Come & Get It Review

This book just really wasn’t for me. In my opinion, it was a 400 page book that could have been cut in half, and even at that had essentially no plot and way too many characters, none of which were likable. It was hard to grasp what point Reid was trying to make given that none of the characters really had a redeeming moment and all seemed very immature in their treatment of each other. I felt like the story meandered by spending so much time telling the history of several of the characters without the backstory really mattering because there wasn’t really a plot for any of the information to contribute to.

Loved Such A Fun Age so was looking forward to this but it’s just a lot of character development until the very end. I really liked the peak of this plot and the way it unfolded (it was very dramatic I could not stop reading) but until then nothing really happens and it all felt like satire to me.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kiley Reid’s newest book, Come and Get It. I feel the author has really hit her stride and I loved her writing style. I was invested in all of the characters’ stories and rooting for them all in their own ways. I would have loved a little detail into the end of Kennedy’s plot line with her mom, and to get another glimpse into Millie’s future, but those are my only small complaints. Thank you to NetGallley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

I'm having trouble forming the right things to say about this book. About a quarter of the way in, I was thinking that there really isn't any plot, it's all about the characters. And I absolutely did not care, I wish this had been so much longer, I was so completely invested in the characters and what was going on with them. 
*
To try to summarize, this takes place on a college campus -- we have a dorm RA who is saving up to buy a house, a visiting professor who is doing research for a book, and a handful of students who live in the dorm. They each have their own things, their own struggles, and are just trying to do their best, but that doesn't always work out.
 *
Kiley Reid writes people SO WELL. The dialogue is so real, the awkwardness that comes up in some situations, the people talking over each other, misunderstandings. It was so believable, so real. And these women were complex and flawed, and they made bad decisions but you still wanted to root for them. 
*
Instead of plot, this is focused on characters and themes, and there's so much to unpack here. It deals with race, socioeconomic status, sexuality, and grief. Just as real as the characters are, so are the microaggressions, and I can 100% believe these situations happening. (The convo about the twins was hysterical)
*
If you enjoy character-driven novels, this is so well done, and I cannot recommend enough.
 *
Trigger warnings: racism, suicidal thoughts, pet death

I really wanted to like this book but it was not for me. I kept waiting for something to happen and it was very anticlimactic. I didn’t like any of the relationships between the characters. I felt like there was a lot happening but at the same time nothing.

After absolutely loving Such a Fun Age, I was pumped to get an advance copy of Come and Get It! While I enjoyed Kiley Reid’s usual writing style, this plot line just didn’t keep me as interested. I liked the college campus setting and feeling like I was part of the gossip and drama, but the story just moved a lot slower than I was expecting and I found myself putting it down to read something else several times. Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

I had high hopes for Kiley Reid’s Come and Get It after loving her masterful debut novel Such a Fun Age, and I was certainly not disappointed! Loved it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/GP Putnam Sons for gifting me a digital ARC of the sophomore book by Kiley Reid - 4 stars!

It's 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant, has a plan. She wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. Agatha Paul, is a visiting professor and writer, who offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity to earn some money, she jumps at the chance. But she never could have envisioned the way things would turn out.

I was a huge fan of Reid's debut - Such a Fun Age - and while this one seems to be getting mixed reviews, I personally enjoyed the slow, character-driven look into college student life. It's about friendship, desires, wanting to fit in, all of which are so prevelant especially at this vulnerable stage of life. I love Reid's writing and I felt the pain of some of these students. It also looks at class and racial divides. Can't wait to read more from this author!

This novel takes place on a college campus in Belgrade, a transfer student dorm with an interesting mix of student personalities. Millie, a senior RA is back after a few years off helping her parents and wants to save money and buy a house after the school year. Agatha Paul, a professor who is on campus for the year (and having her own personal issues) wants to use the student body (and more specifically Millie’s students) as her research pool for her articles for Teen Vogue. But after the first interview session, the way Agatha wants to observe the students is unconventional, and somewhat unethical - but Millie doesn’t think twice and allows Agatha access. This novel looks at race, class, microagressions, depression and the desire to fit in.

This is definitely a character driven novel, which I am totally into but it just read so slowly and the characters were too unappealing for me to become engrossed in their development. The decisions the characters made were bad and cringey and I didn’t understand much of the thought process behind many of them. What salvaged the book for me was the last 20% which I did read with interest and wished the rest of the book had been as engrossing. I think this book is for a specific reader and unfortunately it was not me.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and GP Putnam for the ARC to review

Reid’s newest novel takes place on a college campus and revolves around a myriad of characters. The beginning of the novel incorporates the perspectives of numerous characters, which got a bit confusing at times. Though narratively demanding, the characters in the novel are diverse and, for the most part, developed well. I definitely am a fan of character driven novels — I love to see their progression and evolution!

However, Reid’s novel did not leave much room for the characterization that is much needed in the lacking plot. Overall, not too much happens in the novel. What keeps the reader involved are the characters. We observe complex character relationships within the friendship, professional, and romantic realms. While queer and racial representations were included, I would have loved to these representations fleshed out more.

For those who enjoy reading about juicy gossip, this book is for them. I was hooked because I needed to know what happens to Millie and if she, a struggling RA, achieves her goals; if Agatha successfully publishes her secretively-acquired research findings; how the dynamic of Tyler, Peyton, and Kennedy functions. This novel felt very much like a new adult novel, maybe even leaning a bit towards older YA. Overall, I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it. I’m curious how Reid’s previous and future novels are!

This was a highly anticipated read for me, especially since I loved her previous novel, Such a Fun Age. Come and Get It revolves around characters living in a college dorm, especially the RA Millie, and Agatha, a visiting professor.. Over the course of a few months, we meet these college students and their terrible behaviors and how Millie and the other RA's deal with them. In addition, there is the relationship between Agatha and Millie: Agatha asks Millie to help her with her writing project and Millie is only too happy to comply.

To be honest, I'm not sure what this novel was about. I found none of the characters likable and there was no discernible plot. Sadly, this follow-up novel was just ok.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Putnam for a digital review copy of this novel. It is set to be published on 1/30/2024.

I was a big fan of Such a Fun Age that I was delighted to receive Come and Get It as an ARC from NetGalley. This coming of age story follows Millie, and RA in Belgrade Dorm that skipped her senior year to be with her mom after a glaucoma diagnosis. She is now back at school hoping to carve her own path. It follows Kennedy, who is struggling with grief that remains concealed through most of the book. She has transferred to a new school for her senior year and struggles to find her niche. It also follows Agatha, who has come to Millie and Kennedy’s university as a visiting professor. She’s coming off a bad break up and makes seemingly poor decisions because she feels a little lost. These women’s stories are interconnected and, as the tale gut wrenchingly unfolds, we see the dynamics of power, money, and loss. This is a book about finding yourself and not realizing it until you’re so far gone, then hoping that you’ll find yourself again one day. While the story was, at times, slow moving, the payoff in the end was worth it to me. It ended with a sense of hope, a reminder that we can always be better than we were, and that our mistakes don’t have to define us, even when we feel like we’re drowning in them. I enjoyed the open-endedness of the ending and I like to think that each of the three women in the story, plus the surrounding cast, was able to reach their own version of a “happy ending.” I do t think this book is for everyone, and there may be some triggering components to some, but it’s one of those books that makes me feel like a better person by reading it. Thank you Kiley Reid, NetGalley, and G. P. Putnam’s Sons publisher for this e-ARC!

I think I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I really liked Reid's first novel, Such a Fun Age. This was a lot more character driven and I didn't find any of the characters all that interesting. The book is written from the perspective of a couple different characters. Millie is a senior resident assistant at the University of Arkansas in 2017. Agatha is a visiting professor and writer. This was supposed to be a "fresh and intimate portrait of desire, consumption, and reckless abandon" and a "tension filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior." Ultimately, I think there were just too many side characters and nothing really interesting happening. It just kind of fell flat for me. Of course, every book is not for everyone, and I look forward to see what Kiley Reid does next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Putnam for the eARC.

I don’t think I’ve read books like Kiley Reid writes. They are complex and deep. Nothing really happens but so much happens. They are testaments to real life - making the reader reflect on who they are. Feeling wildly impossible while also being so realistic.

Come and Get It focuses on racism, grief, morally grey people doing morally grey things, and socioeconomic status all wrapped up in the setting of college life. College doesn’t feel real sometimes but all of the things that happen in this book have real life implications. I hated every single character and was also so invested. My jaw dropped so many times and I also laughed out loud.

1) Casey’s entire accent but especially when she called 911 (the murder suicide comment killed me)

2) this “I’m not making light of this,” xx said. “But I love how you went to therapy to learn how to just like . . . be a white woman in the world.” DEAD

I think the grief and socioeconomic parts of this were some of the most compelling. And it made Kennedy and Millie especially really interesting characters to read. Agatha also was just a mess - making bad choice after bad choice, so solidly living in her privilege but using her sexual orientation and bad experience as a way to look at herself as singular. Everyone is a mess. And yall, I love Mess.

CW: for teacher /student relationship (kind of)