I really wanted to enjoy this book, but it simply didn't work for me. The change in POVs is a little jarring, and it was oftentimes rather confusing who was speaking and when the action was set.

This book felt like "nothing is happening all the time" and it just did not work for me. This is rather disappointing, as I was a big fan of Such a Fun Age.

After having loved Such A Fun Age I was very optimistic about Reid's second novel and I was not disappointed!

What I loved most about this, was how unique this story and the way it was told was. I never knew where we were gonna end up and was constantly questioning our main characters motivations. Talking of characters, there's quite a lot of them here and they all feel real and fleshed out - not an easy thing to master.
I think I can safely say I will pick up anything Kiley Reid comes out with.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Millie is a 24 year old student who has returned as an RA after taking time out from her studies. She’s conscientious, wants to well at her job and is trying to save to buy a house.

Three of her students in her dorm are forced to share a suite and could not be more different.

Tyler immediately comes across as wealthy and entitled, forcing a room swap when she doesn’t want to put up with the slightly socially inept Kennedy and her moutains of stuff. Instead she swaps to share with Peyton, the only black student in Millie’s dorm who obessess over kitchen cleanliness. It’s clearly a recipe for disaster.

Meanwhile, Agatha, a professor who has recently taken up a position with the goal of investigating attitudes to marriage is going through her own complex relationship. She crosses paths with Millie and her students while conducting interviews for her research, interviewing Tyler and her friends about weddings. But quickly her original research becomes distorted, leading to something very different as she becomes more embroiled in their lives.

Come and Get It is a fascinating exploration of money, society and obsession. It makes us question the entire notion of ethics, and what it actually means to ‘take advantage’ of someone.

This novel is so multilayered and complex it’s almost difficult to really come to a single feeling or opinion on it. It’s certainly a satire, at times derailing into farce, and when it’s not making you cringe, there’s an overriding sense of unease.

It’s grossly compelling. You know it’s going to be a complete car crash, but you can’t help wanting to know exactly how that will play out.

And the book certainly does come to a violent climax, but in the end leaves you wondering exactly what was it all for?

Reid certainly knows how to make her readers feel uncomfortable, and it makes for clever and compelling writing, but this time it didn’t quite live up to the promise of her debut. However, if you like books with complex characters but not much plot, Come and Get It might be just your cup of tea.

I loved Kiley Reid’s first book so I was excited to read this one, even more so when I realised it was about money - one of my favourite topics. I flew through this book. Reid’s writing is so easy to read and while a couple of the characters got on my last nerve, I rooted for Millie throughout.

Personally I didn’t gel with this one at all I’m afraid. I just couldn’t seem to settle into it , I wondered if I were in a slump but having read something else then come back to this it’s just not for me

SO FUN! A great follow-up to Such A Fun Age with the drama I loved from that book plus a new topic and new characters to despise or root for. Definitely recommend!

I don't really know how to review this book in an insightful and nuanced way because I just could not click with the story which is so disappointing for me as I really enjoyed Such a fun age.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for sending me an advanced copy.

"Come and Get It" by Kiley Reid provides a fresh and intimate look into the life of Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant at the University of Arkansas in 2017. Millie's aspirations are clear: she wants to graduate, secure a job, and buy a house. When Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie a seemingly easy opportunity, Millie eagerly accepts, only to find her ambitions entangled in a web of new friendships, vengeful pranks, and illicit intrigue.

Reid's writing shines in her portrayal of campus life and the complexities of Millie's journey. The setting is vivid, and the dynamics of university life are captured with authenticity and nuance. The character of Millie is relatable, and readers can empathize with her struggles and desires. The tension between Millie's straightforward goals and the chaotic events that unfold around her adds a compelling layer to the narrative. Reid's exploration of themes such as desire, consumption, and reckless abandon provides a thought-provoking backdrop to the story.

However, while the novel is engaging, it occasionally falters in its pacing and character development. Some of the new friends and antagonists Millie encounters could have been more fleshed out, adding depth to their motivations and actions. The plot, though filled with intriguing twists, sometimes feels rushed, with certain events occurring abruptly without sufficient buildup. Despite these minor flaws, "Come and Get It" is a solid three-star read that offers a captivating and tension-filled glimpse into the interplay of ambition, temptation, and the complexities of young adulthood. Reid's talent for crafting relatable characters and realistic scenarios makes this novel an enjoyable and reflective read.

While I enjoyed the characters in this book and their detailed backstories, I struggled to find any relevance or plot within this, because nothing seemed to relate to anything. I wanted the depth of these characters to relate to each other, but it never seemed to happen. This then left the book feeling like a mess of plot lines that were just left hanging.

If Zadie Smith and Meg Wolitzer preside on your bookshelves, then Kiley Reid is absolutely for you.

While there isn’t a tonne of plot, Come and Get It is a character-driven story about trust, betrayal, and nail-biting tension. Each sentence is lush with description, and Millie and Agatha feel as though they’re in the flesh rather than on the page. I loved every second of Reid’s new title and I cannot wait to see what she does next!

A massive thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this ARC!

I loved Riley Reid's previous novel so I was really keen to read her new one and I'm so happy to say that it didn't disappoint - I loved it! Come and Get It is a very character focused novel so there isn't a huge amount of plot but you really get to know the characters and I very much enjoyed that. We follow a mix of people and see how they interact with each other and how a small action by one person can lead to a domino effect through so many other lives. We mainly follow Millie, an RA at a college dorm as she navigates her responsibilities but also deals with micro-aggressions from other girls in the dorm. We also follow Agatha, a writer and professor who is interviewing college girls for a book she is working on but it becomes something different from what it was meant to be. Then we see Kennedy, a new student who really wants to make friends but can't seem to figure out how to just be and to let things happen. I loved following each of these women and seeing how their lives intersected. This was such a good read and I already think it will be on my favourite books of the year list! I highly recommend this one!

I absolutely LOVED Such a Fun Time when it came out a few years ago, and was really excited to see that Kiley had a new novel out this year. I really appreciate getting an ARC and did enjoy Come and Get It, but I didn't find it as page-turning or thought provoking as SAFA.

Kiley Reid is such a talented writer, and I raced through this book. It reminded me of a documentary or reality tv, where you’re looking in and seemingly fixated on the every day details in someone’s life, and I think she does that so brilliantly.

It’s potentially the point of the book, but I found that not much happened at all (until the end) so it’s not very plot driven, but it’s also a struggle to really like or connect to any of the characters. The money and financial dynamics explored are interesting but felt both complete and unsurprising, so didn’t necessarily pique my interest all that much, and because the whole book hinges around that, it stopped it from being as compelling a read as I’d hoped.

Thank you for the early copy!

Having enjoyed 'Such A Fun Age', I was intrigued to see what came next with this novel, and I did find it compulsively readable and engaging, as we follow the various comings and goings of a group of students, where class and politics rub up against each other. Reid's ear for dialogue is great.

However, I struggled as this novel went on with what it was trying to convey, and found some of its key points to be slightly weaker than the same ones made in 'Such A Fun Age'. For example, the discussions around the abuse of power and how money helps it run were interesting but felt less believable and less fleshed out than in her previous novel. I also felt it became more bombastic as the book went on, ultimately becoming quite farcical towards the end, which I think undersold the interesting premise of the book.

Still an enjoyable book, but I think undersold its core ideas.

I wasn't as immediately hooked by Reid's new book as I was her debut, but I'm so glad I pressed on - what a layered look at the role money plays in our lives, with Reid's signature empathy, dialogue, and wit!

A great book from Kiley, I really enjoyed her debut novel so I was excited to read her next book! The plot was interesting and I found the characters likeable and I found myself hooked when reading. Thank you netgalley for the review copy!

I really enjoy Kiley Reid’s writing, and so it’s taken me a while to determine and articulate exactly why I didn’t click with this book in particular.
There are some very interesting storylines for each of the characters here, which I would have loved to explore in more detail, e.g. Agatha and Robin’s marriage of convenience and Millie working as an RA, going to university and renovating a house (I don’t know if it works differently in America but I worked full time while I was at uni and could never have afforded to buy a house then). Kennedy’s entire storyline captivated me the most, which is odd as she was definitely a side character and she wasn’t as heavily featured as Millie or Agatha. Her co-dependence with her mother and in particular, chapter 15, which would have been a great short story alone, was the star of the show.
I think there was too little of each storyline and so many interesting concepts which each could have been a separate book. There was a lot to focus on which detracted from the overall reading experience. The characters are all well written, you get a clear sense of who each one is as a person, which was lovely. I do think the book would have benefitted from more focus on the actual story. I can look back at the book now and explain the story and how it all came together, but AS I WAS READING, that was not the case at all.
I will absolutely read anything the author writes next, just think this one was lots of great ideas layered on top of each other. Like a lasagne, but made with jam instead of bechamel sauce.

Interesting characterisation pulls you through this novel. It is gentle in many ways and is a novel which is heavily based on dialogue and interactions rather than a fast moving plot.

Like Such a Fun Age, this is astute on matters of class, race and privilege, all of which are reflected in attitudes to money. It also benefits from equally snappy dialogue and some terrific characters. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 20-page segments per day. But somewhere around page 200 I thought to myself, “Is this actually going anywhere?!” Because I realized that what we had was a lot of interesting interactions between college students and RAs and a professor, but no discernible plot.

It wasn’t until I got to the acknowledgments and saw that Reid based her central characters on nonfiction books, and the novel as a whole on 30 interviews, that I realized why it feels so scattered. I even wondered if she should have written an oral history of sorts, or a short story collection. That’s not to say that this fundamentally doesn’t work, but it doesn’t have the tight plot you’d expect from Reid (or anyone, really). What the synopses I’d read made sound important wasn’t particularly.

Still, I was engaged enough with the characters’ voices and stories to keep reading with interest. I had a little trouble believing in Kennedy and her predicament, but Agatha and Millie (and secondary characters Colette and Ryland) are great, and their paths connect in an unexpected way. (3.5 stars)

It took me a while to get into the book and I will agree with what most people say, if you're looking for action packed plot, this book might not be for you. Having said that, I massively enjoyed the writing, the characters felt very real and the 'fly-on-the-wall' element was brilliant, once I managed to form a clear idea in my head of who is who (for some reason that took a while for me), it all came together and I felt that I wouldn't mind spending a little bit more time with the characters. Millie is very likable and I can definitely relate to the hunger and drive of wanting to stand on your own two feet and prove to yourself and the world that you can make it on your own. I found Agatha interesting to observe but wasn't 100% convinced about her decision-making. The Belgrave suitemates and observing their life was my favourite bit and it felt like watching a reality show, Tayler, Payton and Kennedy were all very distinct and well portrayed to me. this was overall a fun book to read but I'm not sure it will leave a long lasting impression.

thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy, all opinions are my own.