I actually enjoyed this book more than her first. Reid addresses her favorite topics, race, class, and people's relationship with money, but in a college setting. The social situations in which the characters found themselves felt very believable to me and much like many college situations...tight groups; those with concerns and challenges who struggle on the fringes with most surrounding them too inner focused to notice or care; independent confident individuals; those excited to be free from home rules; those finding it hard to leave those connections behind. The full gamut of personalities in the petri dish of college social life.

There are several older adult characters mixed in, the main character being one, who flirts with the edges of appropriate behavior and gets herself and others in trouble. I found the storyline complex and interesting.

Finally a spilt perspective novel done well. It’s been so long since spilt pov has been done in a completing and intriguing way. The background information on each character was necessary to fully understanding how the events unfolded. It is a character study essentially taking place over the course of a semester with some flashbacks throughout. I was so hooked from the very beginning and could not put it down. It examines race, gender, and privilege without being heavy handed. Just a really good book overall.

I was disappointed in this because the author's first book was so good. This had structural issues, with lots of time spent on backstories and introducing characters, so that it took more than half the book for it to get going. Also it felt like there were frequent descriptions of people putting their fingers and hands places that were meant to signify something, but what it was was unclear. E.g., somebody puts one finger under her mouth, someone runs two fingers through her hair, waves a hand next to her face ...
Once the plot started moving, I was more into it, but the plot itself involved everyone making messes of their lives, which was sad.

I received this e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to read this because I loved Such A Fun Age and I like Reid’s writing style. I think she’s funny and writes great observations of people and their behaviors. That said, this book was a lot different than SAFA in a few ways.
Come And Get It takes place at a college in the South and centers Agatha a visiting professor who connects with Millie, an RA in a scholarship dorm. Agatha initially sets out to interview students for a project but she gets wrapped up in the drama involving a group of senior students. Reid does a great job of capturing college dorm life and culture but the plot was lacking. I’d say this was a character driven novel that touches on big social themes like class, race and social hierarchies. I wish that Reid would have gone more in depth on this themes. The story was very slow and it took me longer than usual to finish this one. I’d definitely read more from this without but this one was just ok to me.

I liked this book about a struggling professor who gets enmeshed in the lives of a RA who is struggling in her own life.

Kiley Reid hit it out of the park with Come and Get It. Set in a university in the south, it’s a perfect encapsulation of the ways class, money, education, and good old-fashioned racism (from people who probably think themselves “colorblind”) intersect.

Some authors go through a sophomore slump when their first book (in Reid’s case “Such a Fun Age” which was long listed for The Booker Prize and a critical and commercial darling) is a success. Reid proves that doesn’t have to be the case with this novel. The characters are richly drawn as is the setting. You can almost see the chintzy signs and messy dorm room, almost feel the splinters of the old house under your fingers.

This book is very character driven with the relationship of a writer/professor, RA, and a few upperclassman college women. The women rooming together (Peyton, Tyler, and Kennedy) were one dimensional but still relatable. Their interactions brought me right back to living in the dorms and how it felt. It was difficult to tell what the story was building to at first. When we dove into more of Kennedy's back story I found I would like to read an entire book with just her POV. The ending felt a bit abrupt after the slow build up.

I'm still not sure what the main message of the book is or if there is supposed to be one. It felt like a collection of short stories which interestingly mirrored Agatha writing fictional profiles based off the characters. It seemed like the messaging is that life is messy and be careful that even little selfish actions can change your future.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC.

A couple of years ago, Kiley Reid's 'Such a Fun Age' had me hooked, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on her new work. But after digging in, my feelings on it are ... complicated, to say the least.

To be candid, this wasn't quite a hit for me in terms of of plot or style, yet it was compelling in its own, peculiar way. Imagine watching a chaotic movie that doesn't quite make sense, but you just can't seem to switch it off – that's what this book was like. The plot wasn't too gripping, and despite the story centering on character studies, I just couldn't connect with any of them. However, there was something strangely magnetic about it that kept me turning the pages, even though I felt the characters had a lot of unfulfilled potential.

This novel is neither a favorite nor a regrettable read of mine. A more honed plot could have elevated it to a firm winner. Yet here I am, still considering its nuances a day after finishing it. And, as I write this, perhaps that lingering thoughtfulness, the novel's uncanny ability to stay with you as you're weaving together experiences and replaying conversations, is the whole point.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC!

I thoroughly enjoyed this follow up to Such a Fun Age. I loved the focus on the women in a small Southern college town and how money was a throughput of the story as well as miscommunication (or lack thereof). I think Reid is a smart writer as the themes of her work aren’t super in your face but make you think. She creates relatable characters and situations. This did not disappoint!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I’m sorry to say I did not enjoy this book at all. I’ve seen this author mentioned a lot and was excited to receive a book by them. However, this was a character driven book. I still couldn’t tell you if there was a plot or what it was. The problem is, I had a visceral dislike for each of the characters. I’m from the south so I was turned off by all the “ahm” for I’m dialogue. I also hated the influencer-esque, valley girl dialogue characters.

Wowwowwow. I have to admit I wasn't a huge fan of Reid's first novel, Such a Fun Age - it felt trite and predictable. Her sophomore take is the exact opposite. An incredible novel I stayed up reading until all hours, it's the story of several women - a Resident Assistant at the University of Arkansas, a writer/professor who moves to Arkansas from Chicago to teach, and a transfer student from Iowa. Each of the women's lives, of course, intertwine, but in entirely unexpected ways. The character development is subtle and incredible...add this to your TBR immediately.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I was a fan of Such a Fun Age, so I was excited to read Kiley Reid's second book. While I can see why people would enjoy this book, I was not a fan. I didn't connect with the characters (I was very frustrated by all of them), BUT...I think they were realistically written and were definitely micro-aggressions that you would hear in college. I did not like the idea of the plot very much, especially since I wanted more at the end.

I think it is well-written, but I was just not a fan of the characters or plot/overall content. I would definitely read an additional book by Kiley Reid!

Come and Get it follows three women who’s lives interconnect on a college campus. Agatha is a guest professor and author who interviews female college students for their perspectives on money. Millie is an RA who is good at her job, but has trouble making friends and is saving for a house. Kennedy is a transfer student struggling with fitting in after a personal tragedy made her leave her former life behind.

I really enjoyed this one. It is definitely character driven (not a lot happens plot wise) but I loved getting into the different characters heads. The “twist” at the end and how they all come together was also very unexpected. Really dives into how money/authority/racism can affect relationships. I will say - no idea what the title has to do with the book (not a gripe, just an observation). Out 1/9/2024, add it to your TBR!

Thank you to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for the ARC!

Extremely character driven novel with multiple povs - much like Kiley Reid's first book, this touches on race and class. The window into the Southern dorm life and how emotionally charged people can be coming from different walks of life were intriguing - with that, it's still very sluggish until the 75% mark.

Reid is a novelist for our times. Her characters are emotional, fully fledged, and modern. While the domestic campus story was filled with her effervescent prose, it’s the story of Millie and Agatha that cements this book as a modern classic. Pitch perfect and entertaining, it’s a sure fire bestseller, and I’m thrilled for the next one.

Fans of Kiley Reid’s first book will enjoy this one as well. It’s well written. Very readable. Good character depth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

Enjoyed this way more than her first book. It was super smart and hilarious, and also relatable as a former RA at a southern school. The characters felt so real and developed which is hard to do with such a large ensemble. Her craft really shines through in this book.

In the follow-up to her wildly successful debut Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid once again looks at class and race in an off-beat way. This time she dives into the collegiate world following a professor, a dorm RA, and one of her residents at a small southern college.

Agatha is an author and professor who moves to Arkansas for a new teaching position. In her first weeks there, she connects with Millie, an RA of the Belgrade dormitory, to see if she might be able to interview some of her residents about weddings for her next book. However, what Agatha finds in these young women is more than she intended and her focus soon shifts to some questionable practices as she learns more about their worldview and how she may or may not exploit it for her gain. Kennedy, another resident of Millie, meanwhile is struggling to connect with her roommates having transferred to the school in her junior year. As the novel goes on, these 3 main storylines begin to intertwine and result in one climactic moment that will leave everyone affected for life.

What I liked:
Kiley Reid is funny. She clearly has an eye for the hidden layers of people, and she does a great job at exposing them in a way that makes you cringe but laugh simultaneously. It's a train-wreck you can't look away from, and the book is very readable for that. I think the exploration of money, particularly, in this book was interesting. I wish it had gone a bit further and made more connections, however there is a lot to discuss in terms of money as power, especially through the lens of race, that would make this a good book for book clubs (which I'm sure it will be when it comes out in 2024).

What I didn't like as much:
There is almost no plot to this book for about 80% of the story. It's a character driven story that hints at something coming, but it takes so long to get there that when it finally does it left me with a, "That's it?" feeling. I'll also say, while Reid is funny, this book felt even more like a parody or satire than her first novel, in a way that I just didn't enjoy as much. It kept me from feeling like the characters were realistic, believable people with motivations I could understand, even if I disagreed with them. Early on we get a decently long chapter about Agatha that explained her backstory in a way that had me excited to keep seeing more about her, but that felt like all the groundwork Reid laid to try and 'explain' who she was, and it just didn't feel like enough. Same thing with Kennedy: her backstory was delivered so late in the book and felt almost laughable instead of sympathetic because of how it was delivered that it took away some of the power the climax of this story for me. There were also just some strange descriptions or choices of language that felt awkward to me, but this is an early uncorrected proof copy so there's potential that will change (not typos just stylistic choices I felt were stilted).

Ultimately, I feel like the pieces were all there in this book. I could see what Reid was trying to say and do with the story, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Perhaps if we had focused only on one or two of the 3 main characters, or eliminated some of the side characters that distracted from the core of the story, I would have felt more connected to what was happening and understood why things occurred how they did more. I wanted to love this because her debut novel was so fun and thought-provoking, but this one felt a bit cheesy and over-the-top in a way that I didn't enjoy. I think others will like it, and maybe some of the kinks of the writing and characters will be worked out before it's published, resolving some of my issues with the technical aspects.

Millie is a senior resident assistant anticipating graduation. With plans on purchasing a home and acquiring a well-paying job, she feels she has her future figured out.
Visiting professor and writer Agatha Paul offers Millie an opportunity that will help with her future endeavors. But distractions from new friends and dorm life, in general, may sideline her from following through with the job.

This novel made me focus on specific dynamics between the characters and the setting. While each character is on the same campus, they come from different backgrounds, which I feel the author wanted to touch base on. With the cultural, social, and economic differences highlighted throughout most interactions, it was clear what messages Reid was trying to portray at times.

I enjoyed each character’s story but dislike it when authors jump around too much. It feels as if they’re trying to fit as much as they can into the book, which can be distracting from the central theme. Otherwise, I enjoyed this college-life novel and all the drama that came with it. In reality, though, I’m thankful I’m done with that part of my life.

Quick and fun read.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This would be a great book club pick— it was immersive, seamlessly interwoven, and tense. Kiley Reid continues to be the master of characterization, and I felt like I knew exactly who these characters were with the few lines I read about them. The ending was a little anticlimactic for me, but overall I found this to be a strong sophomore novel. I’m excited to see what Reid will do next.