I was a big fan of Kiley Reid's first book 'Such a Fun Age', so was excited to read this one as well, but it fell flat. It's a character driven story but nothing really happens in this book until you are 80% in, then the ending felt a bit rushed, with minor consequences for the students involved.
Millie Cousins is an R.A. in her senior year of college, and is looking for a good way to make some extra money. Enter Agatha Paul, a visiting professor that quickly inserts herself into Millie's life. What follows is lies, deception, power struggles, and race and class distinctions. Reid does a good job tackling these big themes in the eyes of the college students, but there is very little plot to be had here. Reid loves to use flowery prose and it's entertaining at first, but then gets tiresome. For example: 'I eight and eight until I was six on the floor'.

This book could have been so much more, expanding on race and classism in the context of the university system, especially in light of the recent Supreme Court decision to banish affirmative action.

After reading and loving Such a Fun Age, I was disappointed by Come and Get It. I didn’t understand the need for so many characters and the underdeveloped plot. Jumping from topic to topic, Reid takes a stab at many different things but doesn’t quite nail down any of them. I was really hoping to enjoy this one more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Come and Get It was a big fail for me. The writing itself moves quickly and is compelling and kept me reading until the end. Unfortunately, there as no substance to the book itself. So many odd tangents, but nothing important occurs and the ending is such a dismissive way to explain away an incident that could be so triggering to many.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

"Come & Get It" centers almost entirely around a dorm and it's various residents, hinging on 24 year old RA Millie's link with an anthropologist/ professor/ journalist in her research process. The multiple characters are well-developed with full backgrounds and life stories that converge in the novel. Reid deftly blended the multiple storylines and I liked the slow reveal of the link between all the women of the novel. I loved "Such a Fun Age" and this one was just as engrossing. I wanted to overhear all of the dorm room gossip and conversation, cringed at what certain characters would say when they thought no one was listening, and I appreciated the funny banter between the various RAs. Reid is talented at humor and drama, but there were still gut punch moments and social commentary about exploitation and the lengths we are willing to go to to get what we want, and how that can vary based on race, power, social status, and capital. Explores how relationships, even friendship and romance, can be transactional.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin/Putnam for the e-ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was really excited to receive it as I was a fan of Such a Fun Age, the author’s previous novel.

There were times I was sure I would give a positive review to this one as well. The characters, while a bunch to keep track of, were interesting and compelling. I kept waiting to see how their stories would merge into a coherent theme or direction. Unfortunately, that never really happened. Their secrets were not all that shocking and not much really happened.

I’m not sure what the author was intending with this novel but I’d still be interested in reading her next.

There is A LOT going on in this book. Read it with that in mind. Prepare to possibly take notes to keep track of characters and their stories. Writing is enjoyable but I’m not sure that the journey was totally worth it.

Thank you for the ARC!

This book will resonate even more due to the Supreme Court rulings on Affirmative Action and the Student Loan Debt Crisis.

The story had too many stories at once. There were too many characters to follow. I did not feel the themes met the setting. The setting should have felt more amplified. The ending was also abrupt.

I appreciated the setting of a residence hall and all of the intricacies and identities of young adults figuring out life while caring for people their age. Millie is an interesting character. Following her story was great.

Kiley Reid’s sophomore work was anything but a slump. She has such a genuine, intimate understanding of modern humanity that translates effortlessly to the page. I know these characters, I know how they feel, I know their struggles and their worries.

This was, chef’s kiss, perfect. 🤌🏼

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this title.

I’m pretty bummed about this one. I enjoyed Such a Fun Age and was surprised at how much I did not enjoy Come & Get It. For starters, I could not tell you what the title has to do with the story at all and that really annoys me…

This story fell flat in every way for me. The characters were so one dimensional, uninteresting and unlikable. The only ones I actually enjoyed were Colette and Rhyland although they do not escape that same description. This felt like Reid was just testing the waters for different subjects, but eventually abandoned them all. There are themes regarding race and class, but they remained unexplored and undeveloped. I mostly felt uncomfortable with the relational dynamics of nearly all the characters. And maybe it was because I didn’t feel like I really knew the kind of person any of them were.

The big event of the book took 300 pages to get to and I was so underwhelmed. It felt convenient and messy and rushed. The ending, particularly Kennedy’s storyline, left me a bit mad to be honest. There were some challenging subjects written about, but I don’t think they were done in a constructive, insightful/thoughtful, or educational way.

To top it off, I cannot tell you how exhausting it was to repeatedly read through dialogue riddled with phrases like “Yeah, no. Sorry.” “Homygosh!” and thick southern accents where “I’m” is replaced with “Ahm”. Wish there would’ve been more ways to represent those aspects of the relative characters.

While I didn’t enjoy a lot about the book, the pace and writing itself stayed true to Reid’s previous work, which I did enjoy. It made it easier to get through despite not meeting my expectations.

"Come and Get It" by Kiley Reid is a gripping exploration of race, privilege, and ambition. Sharp and thought-provoking, it challenges societal norms and keeps you hooked until the very end.

I had a really good time with this. Gay, messy, college RA content that i could not put down!! The drama was crazy. Sometimes the characterization felt a liiiitle heavy handed but i thought Reid did a good job at fleshing out so many characters in not too much time.

I really liked Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid and was so excited to read her newest book. I enjoy a book set on a college campus- brings back so many memories and I end up picturing my former dorms and classrooms as I read. I thought all the characters were believable and flawed in different ways (like real life). I liked how you learned things about each character along the way. If you like to read about roommate drama and people finding their way in life I think you would like this book too.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

With the caveat right up front that I read and didn’t love Such A Fun Age, I’m afraid this one was also a disappointment.

My biggest issue is Kiley Reid’s writing (like the prose itself) is compelling and page turning. It’s especially evident here because nothing of note happens for almost 85% of this book. I kept reading, kept waiting, and when the big event finally happens it’s a huge letdown.

And yet somehow even thought nothing notable is happening for the vast majority of the book, there are still way too many character and threads to keep track of. And as far as any kind of message - it reads like she’s so close to the point, and then she takes an abrupt U-turn.

The concept of racism in academia, especially in a town like Fayettesville, is such rich soil to mine. I’m writing this review on the day the Supreme Court voted to overturn affirmative action, so the potential themes in this book are as relevant as ever. However, Kiley Reid spends a lot of time setting up the stakes and then…literally nothing comes of it.

2 stars. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book is a lot! I loved the writing and was sucked right in immediately (wow can Kiley Reid write dialogue and develop razor-sharp, well-differentiated characters that *immediately* feel real and rounded). The last fourth of it was...less successful for me, but it was still very interesting (when it wasn't zany-levels of over the top). Reid's commentary on micro- and macro-aggressions and just run-of-the-mill white mean girls was top-notch, as in 'Such a Fun Age,' too. (Minor spoiler, but I wish I had known: content warning for a discussion, including narration of, dog death at around 2/3 of the way through.)

Come & Get It is a horrifically accurate look into the petty, opinionated, and problematic lives of undergraduate women.

The first half of the novel reads like a classic Jane Austen novel, a slice of life where you feel like a “fly on the wall”. As the characters’ lives become more and more tangled, the true conflict of the story becomes blindingly clear.

Reid has crafted a beautiful modern classic that leaves the reader, devouring its pages behind covered eyes, but unable to put it down.

What can I say? I didn't love Such a Fun Age, but I'm always willing to give an author another shot. I was excited to get the chance to read this early, but sadly, I was let down. I don't really know what the point of the story was? The relationship between Millie and Agatha wasn't all that messy. I mean, the part at the end with the house was absurd. Millie didn't need that. What was up with the link between Kennedy and Agatha? The back stories of the main characters were really the best part. The extra characters didn't really add to the story in any way. Why is there a bit about some random wanting to win free Chic Fil A? I gave an extra star for the drama that saw me through to the end.

AMAZING!!! Wow, another fantastic novel by Kiley Reid! Come and Get It is set over the course of a semester at the University of Arkansas, detailing the life of resident assistant, Millie, and the relationships she builds with a trio of residents, her fellow RAs, and visiting professor Agatha Paul. It's funny, poignant, and fraught with tension due to the burgeoning relationships, the discussions of money, and what, exactly, led everyone involved to this specific 2017 fall semester at UA.

The deal: An RA, several students, and a professor get into a messy entanglement while at The University of Arkansas. I am keeping it vague here on purpose. (I got an ARC from NetGalley. This is out in January 2024).

Is it worth it?: Yep, I think so. Not sure this is ending up with a “Reese’s Book Club” badge like Reid’s debut, but I’d argue that’s a good thing. It’s entirely character-driven, little-plot-lotsa-vibes, while also being compulsively readable. A rare combo! Like, “What if Winesburg, Ohio were set in 2017, written by a Black woman, and actually interesting?”

Pairs well with: Haribo Peaches, Googling “Amy Adams/Jessica Chastain/Julianne Moore Grocery Store” or “Blake Lively old nose,” a Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl, Aula Internacional 4, The Pioneer Woman, Refinery 29’s Money Diaries, disassociating at Target

B

I LOVED Such A Fun Age and was excited for this newest novel by Kiley Reid. While I didn't love it as much as her first book, I did love the character-driven story. I wish the plot had been a bit more expanded, but the social commentary on money and power, especially when it comes to race, was fantastic.

Thank you to Net Galley and Putnam
Books for the eARC of this book.

This book has 8… yes 8 main characters. I actually at one point had to start taking notes to keep track of who everyone was. It’s a lot.

Here’s what I like: The opening of the book. And again, Reid does a fantastic job highlighting race and class in America. Something that she also did so well in Such A Fun Age. That part really makes the reader think.

What I didn’t like: A lot of the characters. They just weren’t great people. The lack of direction for the plot. It felt like it was a jumbled mess. The constant intention misspelling of words to emphasize the southern drawl.

2.5 starts (rounded up) to 3/5.