DNF. After reading over a third of this book, I'm still trying to figure out if there was a point to the story, and I seem to be missing it. Set on a college campus, Millie was the most memorable character. Working as an RA in a dorm, she has college graduation in her sights. The rest of the characters were a jumble. No one person stood out.

I rated this book a three and felt generous. Perhaps other people will be able to see what the author is driving at, but as for me, I just could not find anything or anyone on which to focus.

Thank you to the publisher, PENGUIN GROUP PUTNAM / G. P. Putnam’s Sons, and Netgalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

I throughly enjoyed this book, much like I did with Reid's previous book, Such a Fun Age. This book is super character focused and isn't really plot heavy, which is something to keep in mind. All the characters felt super flushed out and complex, as well as the decisions they faced. there was no point where I felt like any of the characters were morally perfect or that I could fully agree with all of their choices, which I really enjoyed.

The timeline of the book is sort of nonlinear, which can be really hard to follow especially when no dates are given. With this book though, it was easy to tell where in the story we were and who we were following, because every character had such a distinct voice and each time was clearly pointed to.

One of the things Reid did so well in Such a Fun Age was create these situations that make you so uncomfortable, but aren't necessarily outright anything, and this book was the same. The setting of this book is drastically different to Such a Fun Age, but Reid was still able to impart those underlying societal differences to create a really interesting and complex environment.

I was given an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am also a librarian at the University of Arkansas, which may or may not have had something to do with how much I loved this book, and how excited I was to get my most anticipated read of 2024 a few months early!

After reading and loving Such a Fun Age, my favorite thing about Reid's writing continues to be how completely well-rounded and realistically flawed her characters are. Her dialogue in this was spot on, particularly with the student interactions (again, professor and librarian at the U of A here) and it was an absolute blast to read something that hit so close to home. As someone that shares the point of view of a Chicago native turned NWA transplant, I found the descriptions of Fayetteville to be really spot on for me, though I'm interested to read this with some of our library's book clubs to see if native Arkansans agree. Her writing continues to provide astute observations about human behavior that are instantly relatable and that completely suck you in, whether you have a connection to the setting or not.
I do feel like it got a little lost in itself in the middle, and some plot points that were introduced didn't wrap up as much as i wanted them to.
Overall, I was hoping that this book would deliver on setting and Reid's now trademark morally grey characters and their messy interactions, that often adeptly address things like microaggressions in such a realistic way. So excited to add her to my list of auto-buy authors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the eARC! This is a character driven novel set on a college campus which sounds like my cup of tea but unfortunately all of the various characters (upwards of 8 in total I believe) left me confused. I enjoyed some arcs more than others such as Agatha’s - but overall I wasn’t as satisfied as I had hoped. I certainly recognize that this just may not be my cup of tea and can see how this would be ideal for others.

Enjoyed this much more than SUCH A FUN AGE. With such a large ensemble I was impressed with Reid's ability to keep the characters relatively interesting even tho sometimes I would get confused with names but that is more of a me problem. Saw some less than favorable reviews talking about the lack of plot but I implore people to NOT make plot the be-all and end-all for how you enjoy art! I see this argument happen in film circles but I digress.

What personally kept me interested in this story was the surveillance and ethics aspects of Agatha's arc. In a time where we are seeing people post videos of private conversations for clout on TikTok, I would have loved for the book to explore this a little more. We live in a surveillance state so for us to essentially spy on each other hinders our ability to build trust within communities and as this story unfolds, eventually ends in a mess.

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC!

This was an interesting deep dive into the lives of a Black college student and a Black professor at school in the south. I was intrigued by the way the author played with cliches, and turning things (like adults sleeping with younger girls and money and basic white girls) on their heads for new perspectives. There wasn’t a huge plot here, but I was interested enough in Reid’s characters to not mind.

I unfortunately found Kiley Reid's newest book to be pretty disappointing. I love a campus novel, I love character-driven stories - but this just didn't work for me. With 8 different characters featured, it felt like you couldn't get to know any of them well enough as the reader to feel any sort of investment in how their story lines played out.

I gave up on this at 41%. I couldn't really find any discernible plot. My favorite characters were Agatha and Millie although I found each of them grating at times. I also was confused by the way the characters were alternated... there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. We met Agatha, and then flashed back to when she wasn't at the school yet, but the rest of the characters were in the present? And not interacting together? I loved KR's first but was disappointed by this.

I couldn't get into this book - it was the writing, plot, and frankly, the other reviews. If I was already not liking it, adding more characters, not much of a plot, etc. would not have helped.

************3.5 stars***********Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. I read Kiley Reid's other book, Such a Fun Age, and enjoyed it enough to request Come and Get It. Its been decades since I was in college and I didn't live on campus so this was a chance to get a look at living on-campus life, even in fictional form. Come and Get it was an entertaining read - I got to know and like the characters and even though I'm a lot older than everyone in the story, I was still able to relate in some ways. Come and Get It is a light read for anyone looking to pass time or relive their college days.

This turned out to be fairly complex, and maybe not quite believable. As in "you can't make this up?" It was very hard to like most of the characters, except for possibly the RA's as a group. They seemed the most real and struggling. I found Agatha very difficult as a character, and I wonder if I would have liked or disliked her as a teacher. There was some cute conversation in there, but the book felt remote somehow.

Review: Come and Get it by Kiley Reid
Release date: January 30th, 2024

Basically: a gay! Sally Rooney-esque! No plot just vibes (and some plot??)! Book!!

Come and Get It follows a cast of 3 characters, set at the University of Arkansas. Agatha, a professor and author, is researching for her upcoming book. Millie, a resident advisor who works at the dorm nobody wants to be in, is saving up to finally start her adult life. And then Kennedy, a transfer student who lives next door to Millie, and shares her room with her roommates.

I know from the sound of it there seems to be no plot, but the girls that get it get it, and you need to just read it and enjoy the ride. The book is so funny, a bit violent at times, and packs in so much social commentary on money, race, power, and the lengths at which we go to get what we want. The writing is so effective too because everything is written so starkly, that the contrast in the tone of the writing to the actual subject of the writing makes everything so shocking to read. I was consistently left with the “what wait??!” feeling (in a good way of course).

I’m also a bit confused by how many people say the book follows so many characters, when it really doesn’t. We only read through the perspectives of 3 girls, and every single supporting character is super fleshed out and memorable. The only part of the book I was a bit confused by was the end. It just felt too abrupt and out of place considering the pacing of the story. I also felt like sometimes the book left a bit too much to unsaid and up to the readers interpretation, but that was definitely an intentional choice and I still really enjoyed the book regardless!

This is for the people who love a slow book, and I’m so excited for everyone who still gets to read it for the first time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

I'm having a hard time with this book because, while it is written leaps and bounds better than the average book, I didn't particularly like it. I think Kiley Reid is very perceptive and can write the human condition, human emotions, human subtlety very well, I just don't think this was executed as well as it could have been in this book.

By the end of this book I hate almost all of the characters. The whole thing felt disjointed and no one's motivation made any sense. I wanted to like this book because I really liked Such a Fun Age, but I just didn't. I do think Reid captured how lonely and weird young adulthood can feel even when you're surrounded by people, but most of the characters just felt stereotypical and contrived. Sub-plot seemed to appear out of nowhere. And what kind of college dorm suite would have one single and one double. That doesn't make any sense.

I was really excited to read Kiley Reid's follow up to Such a Fun Age, and while I did enjoy it, I was also very confused by it at times, namely with the pacing and plot. We follow a number of characters over the course of a few months at the University of Arkansas. We have an RA, some students in her dorm, and a journalist/professor writing articles about the students. Honestly, that is pretty much the entire plot.

What I liked: the details writing style (similar to Curtis Sittenfeld), we get very detailed brand-specific information about each character, really grounding the reader in collegiate 2017. I really liked this meandering writing style and just let it flow. But it really did flow and flow, because...

What I didn't like: the lack of plot/weird pacing. There feels like a lot of set up for not a lot of plot, and a lot of false starts and things that don't really pan out. I can see this really bothering a lot of readers. I didn't love it, but it wasn't a dealbreaker for me.

I think overall I enjoyed the writing style and academic setting enough to be able to ignore the many flaws of this novel. This will definitely not be a book for everyone, so please don't expect a tight story, resolution, or any sort of intricate plot.

I was looking forward to Kiley Reid's new book Come and Get It because I enjoyed her first book Such a Fun Age. I enjoyed this book and grateful for the chance to read an advanced copy of the book. As most people mentioned in the reviews, there were a lot of characters in the book. I did like the college setting at the University of Arkansas. I do think a few scenarios in the book were a bit far-fetched but that did not really bother me in this book. The book did touch on many topics that are prevalent today on campus' and in society in general. Overall I did think the characters were well developed.

I will recommend reading Come and Get It.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book! #NetGalley #ComeandGetIt #KileyReid

This was a messy, character-driven book with little to no plot. I disliked many of the main characters, but really identified with Kennedy until her backstory came out (way too late in the story). I probably wouldn’t have stuck with the book if not for her relatable experiences. Sharing a dorm or apartment with other girls in college is not easy, and it’s so hard when some of them become fast friends and leave you out for no discernible reason. I somehow found her part of the story comforting, but that was the only thing I enjoyed.

Even though I could clearly see how it related to the rest of the events of the book, the opening still felt so convoluted and irrelevant to the rest of the story, and I really could have cared less about Agatha’s story, even though I feel like she was supposed to be the main character. I think this needs some tightening up before it can be published.

I loved Such a Fun Age, so I was excited to read “Come and Get It”! It took a little bit for me to get into, but I am glad I stuck with it! I definitely felt transported back to college life and found the characters entertaining!

It pains me so much to write this, because I loved Such a Fun Age, but I had to DNF this one from Kiley Reid. As someone who loves character-driven novels, I wasn’t turned away by other reviews that say there’s not much of a discernible plot. That being said, if you are relying on characters to drive your novel, they can’t be as flat and one-dimensional as these ones (which is interesting, because one of the things I loved the most about Such a Fun Age was that the characters were so alive).

With no plot and unoriginal characters, this book was just boring. Maybe I’ll revisit it when it’s published, because I do think Kiley Reid is a talented writer based on her other book, but more than likely this one is a skip for me.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was the most fun I’ve had reading a book in a minute. These characters were so funny and interesting and authentic.

So many reviews say that nothing happens in this book, and I see why they say that, but I feel like SO MUCH happens. There is something so satisfying to read about all of these various characters oscillating around one another to finally get to the moment where they’re all in the same room. The climax of this story had my heart racing.

And of course I cried. I love the way Reid depicts different dynamics and relationships. I love her characters because they never hang on one thing. There is always something else going on, another layer to their personality.

It was all really well done and I was very excited to read it and to talk about it. Give it a chance! It’s very different than Such a Fun Age but expands on Reid’s strengths. I liked Such a Fun Age a lot and I think about it all the time. But I LOVED come and get it.