Reviews

Come & Get It by Kiley Reid

ruthab's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

hanbart19's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This one was a bit meh. It tries to follow several different characters and dive into their backstories, and while some of them are interesting, I don’t feel like they ever collided in a way that was satisfying or meaningful. 

colleen_be's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

read_with_jill_and_simba's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.5

carleesue's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Amazing writing of characters. This book is ambiguous in a way that feels very authentic, as if these characters could be us or anyone else in our lives. Somehow it managed to tell stories of bad decisions and poor judgement without casting judgement on the characters. Nobody in this book is morally superior.

kasvi_mavani's review against another edition

4.0

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: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

hmonkeyreads's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Loved her first book and was looking forward to this one.  It’s easy to read but filled with truly unlikable people and a plot that doesn’t make much sense. I kept waiting for something to happen that would pull everything in to focus but it never happened. 

courtsd's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

anngracia's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

3.0 stars. I was hoping for a little more plot as I loved Kiley Reid’s first book, Such A Fun Age, but this was a great character study. I’d also recommend listening to this as an audiobook because hearing the way the characters talk helps to keep them all straight and characterize them, which plays a huge part in the book. The college and residence atmosphere resonated with me as someone who attended a very similar university and lived in a dorm in 2017 - this was a great snapshot of that time and the characters felt like people I knew in college. However, if that was not your experience, this book might not resonate with you in the same way.

However, the book moved really slowly and the characters’ backstories and small plot lines didn’t really overlap until the very end - and even then, just a sentence or two (when Kennedy explains “what happened” at her first school and how she felt like having a roommate obsessed with dogs felt like she was getting her karma). I was slightly puzzled and maybe a little frustrated that the pizza cutter incident was never mentioned after it happened - why wouldn’t Kennedy or Peyton explain what happened and let everyone, including their parents and the res life staff, think Kennedy did it on purpose, especially when Kennedy’s mom told her to never do something like that again? It also felt like everyone’s plot lines ended very abruptly - what happened to Agatha and Robin? Agatha (who only got more problematic as time went on) had a lot of wrongs to at least try to fix, with the university, teen vogue, her own ethics, etc., but did she try or did she just run? What was next for Kennedy (I felt like the text from her old coach maybe hinted at her returning to Iowa?). Why was Tyler out to get Millie from the beginning? There wasn’t much on her background other than that her dad was incarcerated and maybe that lack of detail was on purpose. Again, I felt like this was a fantastic character study and I enjoy Kiley Reid’s writing style. I’ll be thinking about this book for a while because it felt real in a lot of ways, but I would’ve liked a little more plot and a little more resolution. 

hannahc46's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0