I really wanted to like this book because I loved “Such a Fun Age” but this really fell short for me. It felt disjointed and the characters are so unlikeable.
It was a struggle to finish.

This was very character driven. I liked the characters, but it kept switching the characters we were following, and I got bored. It was slow. I did like the writing, but not enough to keep reading. However, I would like to give it another chance at another time. It's not a true DNF-but at this moment, I need something quicker and more plot driven to satisfy my reading. This to me felt like a bunch of short stories stuck together, and short stories are not my jam.

This book is for the girls that get it, truth be told... I'm not sure I do? Normally I might think that this is a bad thing... like the book set out to do something and it failed to accomplish that. Here... I'm not sure that it set out to do something, nor did it really fail, an the experience that I had in all of that was overwhelmingly positive, but having finished the book and slept on how the story played out so much of what happened feels as though it has dissipated. In some ways adjacent to cotton candy, but definitely more thought provoking.

The book is set at the University of Arkansas and we follow five women as their lives converge on the campus in various ways. We have Agatha Paul a new professor and celebrated author, Millie Cousins the RA at the least attractive dorm on the campus; and Kennedy, Tyler, and Jenna three girls who live in the dorm that no one wants to be in. The way the novel brings these women together, and the exploration of their lives is interesting. It's not quite slice of life there's a little something happening. If anything book toes the line of commentary, all of the pieces are present for that to happen but then it's mostly left on the reader? Not a bad choice, one that I think works at most points in the novel.

For the most part I think the book tells you where it's going to go. Agatha is here to teach yes, but is also working on another book and so the direction her writing is going does dictate the direction that the book overall goes in; with the other characters serving as the muses essentially. Even with a generalized idea of how the book was going to play out after the first twenty or so percent, Reid still managed to keep me invested. Up until the end, which felt very abrupt? A lot of that has to do with how the characters behaved overall, and the way that the story itself unfolded. It realliy did feel like there were missed opportunities.

Overall though the reading experience was really positive. I spent a lot of time highlighting passages of the text and feeling really connected to hose these characters were interacting with one another. If anything I think the book being just a little longer might have helped. As someone that really enjoyed their debut I didn't feel let down by this at all, and I do look forward to purchasing a copy for myself when the book comes out in January. I do have a hard time knowing how else would enjoy this though, as recommending this feels slightly harder than knowing who to suggest their debut to.

Come and Get It is an in-depth character study of the many people and myriad of experiences that convene on a college campus. The plot takes a back seat to the personal narratives which drive the loose plot. Reid's descriptions of the characters and the setting transports you into campus life and at times feels so realistic it brings back awkward college memories.

This book was very character driven, with not much plot involved, but I still enjoyed it. I think a big part of the reason I enjoyed it as much as i did was because it’s set in the town I live in, so it was fun to recognize the coffee shops and restaurants they went to. It was super different from Such a Fun Age, but I really like Reid’s writing style and I’m excited to read anything else she has to write.

I couldn't put it down!

Reid's follow-up to her stellar debut doesn't disappoint. Like "Such a Fun Age," "Come and Get It" follows a youngish adult woman struggling with romances, jobs, friendships, uneven power dynamics, race, and class. Reid has an astute understanding of why regular people make flawed choices, and she transforms the subtle drama of being a dorm's RA into Greek tragedy.

We get to know the 24-year-old RA, some of her most problematic residents, her best friends, and a visiting writing professor who's recently broken up with her wife. The tension slowly builds as we see how the gap between the characters' inner and outer lives results in misunderstandings and manipulations. Small cracks in the characters' morality widen, getting deeper and more dangerous. Then it all blows up on one unfortunate night, forcing the women in the dorm to reckon with the consequences of their actions.

This is an incredibly well-executed slice of modern life. Reid is phenomenal storyteller, and she's got important things to say. Don't miss this one!

I enjoyed Such a Fun Age and was excited to get to Come and Get It, and was blown away by how fun and compelling this book was! Reid shows off her superb ability to render characters in such believable, relatable ways. The dialogue was a real strength in this book, it felt very natural and like it was coming from real, distinct people. It’s one thing to get me to cry while reading a book, but a completely different thing altogether to get me to laugh, and this book did that consistently. So many little quips and situations in this novel made me laugh, Reid reveals something so silly and petty about the undergrad dorm experience while also showing how quickly these things can escalate into very real problems. This is a great book for people who love character driven stories, funny dialogue, and books that subtly pick apart the complexities of class privilege.

Okay, let me start with the obvious: this is a character-driven book. If you’re looking for a plot-heavy book, this may not be the right read for you. What’s left off the page is almost as important as what’s on the page. Reid does an excellent job of crafting these characters who feel incredibly real, flaws and all. I really enjoyed watching the pieces come together as the characters’ lives became more and more intertwined, and I couldn’t stop reading because I wanted to know what they would do next. It’s like a reality show on a college campus. Plus, as a former RA, I enjoyed reading a book that featured a protagonist working as an RA.

This is the kind of book that makes you think a lot after you finish reading it. I feel like I need some time to process what I read and reflect on everything that happened because there were so many morally gray areas.

Definitely read if: you enjoy character-heavy literary fiction, you loved Such A Fun Age, and/or you want a book that makes you question what makes someone a good person

Probably skip if: you want a book that’s plot-driven, you’re looking for fun escapism, and/or you don’t want to follow a lot of characters

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for providing me with an ARC!

Assumptions , appearances and adolescence are the themes that most stuck out to me in this book. While it was kind of a humdrum plot, it was still interesting to see how these young (and not so young) women present themselves to the world.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Millie is the RA to an eclectic group of residents in the dorms at the University of Arkansas. When Agatha Paul wants to interview students for a new piece, she finds some students through Millie. The project turns into more that Agatha or Millie ever expected, but Agatha follows where the story leads her.

If you have been around a while, you know I am not big on character driven books. They generally don’t work for me, but with this book that was not the case! For most of it, I wasn’t really sure where this book was going, but that did not stop me from fully enjoying every minute of it! This seriously felt like my college experience. I think each character had something I went through during my college years, especially living in a dorm room and with roommates! You legit could not pay me enough to going back to living with another girl in a single room, and this book was a good reminder why! I truly loved every second of this book and highly recommend it!

This book was very character driven and not quite plot driven making me realize I need something happening plot-wise. Set in a dorm at the University of Arkansas, it followed students (residents and RAs) as well as a visiting professor along with some of their backstories. I think Reid covered a lot of social issues with this book and younger readers may be able to get more from this than I did. There were definitely a few thought provoking moments while reading this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books (Penguin Group) for a chance to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It’s always a thrill to get a NetGalley ARC, and I was extra excited to receive this new one by Such a Fun Age author, Kiley Reid. She is a writer pushing the boundaries of modern discourse, and in some cases, her work reads satirical.

By happenstance, this one also takes in a college setting, mostly in a scholarship hall. A visiting professor, Agatha Paul, late 30s, visits the University of Arkansas (I’m assuming the book cover is partly in reference to this) to do research about marriage. Once she arrives on campus, her story takes a different angle as the topic organically switches to money - who has it, who wants it, and what it means to different people.

Since this book doesn’t come out until early January, I don't want to say too much about where the story goes. But what I will say is Reid nails the setting and description, maybe too much for those looking for an actual beginning, middle, and end type of book.

And though I pictured my own college days, which were quite a while ago, I was quickly assured this is a contemporary story, as there was Gen Z language I had to look up. Ex. I was not aware of “lampshading” as a clothing term. It’s when you wear a baggy shirt with tight, short shorts, making you look akin to a lampshade.

Nearly every character is deplorable (and that’s not all negative; I don’t watch Real Housewives because the women are saints): Millie, the senior RA, who wants to get her ducks in a row but has a weird way of showing it; Casey and her distracting Southern accent; if you’ve ever watched Yellowstone, I pictured it the way Teeter talks; and Kennedy, one of the dorm girls, who I was most drawn to with her strange ways and her close relationship with her mother, because authentic strangeness beats vapid cool girls any day.

That’s only a fraction of the characters the reader is introduced to, which made the storytelling feel a little like a social experiment or mockumentary, but the “subjects” were fascinating, and I like where it went in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I tried really hard to get into this book but I just couldn't. The timeline of the story and the characters left me confused and wanting to skip thru the book.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

I dnf'd at a little over 50%. I was unconnected with the book. The plot was just lost for me. Yes, it is a heavily character driven story but I just felt something was lacking. There was no real *intrigue* to keep me connected to the story.

It took me a while to get into this one. The beginning background chapters had some confusing timline shifts. I love a book that swaps characters, perspectives and timelines, but was a little confusing at times without chapter headers. After the initial meeting between Agatha and Millie, their story lines didn't converge again until halfway through so that had me wondering where it was all going. Once I got halfway, I was hooked. Kennedy's "backstory" was a little too disturbing for me though. Overall, I was entertained, but not my favorite.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Come and Get it by Kiley Reid is funny, approachable, and utterly lacking in plot. She has a good eye a la Anne Patchett for exploring relationships between one another that exposes the sheer vulnerability of it all. Yet, this book until 80% through was utterly lacking in pace and plot.

“Come and Get It” is by Kiley Reid. I’ve decided that, unfortunately, Ms. Reid’s books aren’t my cup of tea. The characters are interesting and the storyline also interesting, but something never seems to quite grip me - or I see a huge error in the plot that makes me wonder about the entire story. In this book, we meet a cast of characters. Ms. Reid delves deeply into those characters but there’s not a lot of plot. If you want a character driven book, this would be great. This was too much character driven - without a lot happening other than backgrounds being provided for a number of characters who, while connected, aren’t really doing much more than existing or providing background information.

i found reading this quite pointless.

as a character driven story, i expected it to be slower paced, yet there was little to no intrigue and even less excitement. true that college life can be boring, but it is actually lifeless here! where is the soul? also, i found the plot to be aimless and without proper direction or structure.

this needs more edit

It was probably lack of critical thinking on my part, but I didn’t really get this book. I felt as if there was not plot and it took so long to get anywhere with any of the many characters that the ending felt like a let down. I didn’t buy in to anyone’s character arc because did anyone have one? Again, it’s extremely likely that I just missed the post entirely.

I did like the writing/language style and I thought the book was very funny in some parts. I’m southern and some of the women were portrayed really accurately! I haven’t read Reid’s first novel, but this one wont turn me off from it.

I don’t know, it just didn’t do it for me. It was a quick read, but not satisfying. 2.5/5 stars from me. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I enjoyed Kiley Reid’s debut novel, Such a Fun Age, and was delighted to realize that her latest contemporary fiction, Come and Get It, has a similar tone and many of the same themes.

I love a realistic campus setting (primarily dorm) and a coming-of-age story. Make it super character-driven and I’m even happier; if you throw in some sex, status, and very nuanced race issues, I’m all set!

What I like about Reid’s writing, which may be the very reason others don’t care for it, is how she allows the reader to decide what it all means, these characters and their thoughts and motivations, and how they’re interacting and the choices they’re making. There’s a lot of food for thought if you allow yourself to sit with it all.

Icing on the cake: there are a lot of very funny and relatable elements.

Steer clear if character-driven is not your cup of tea or plot is essential to you. Otherwise, I recommend!