Book Review: Come and Get It

It's 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant, wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. So when Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity, she jumps at the chance. But Millie's starry-eyed hustle becomes jeopardized by odd new friends, vengeful dorm pranks, and illicit intrigue.

A fresh and intimate portrait of desire, consumption, and reckless abandon, Come and Get It is a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior—and the highly anticipated new novel by acclaimed and award-winning author Kiley Reid.

This novel will be published January 30th, 2024. Putnam and Sons, an imprint of the Penguin Group, provided an early galley for review.

My initial draw to this one was the mention that it took place at a college campus; I have fond memories of my own college days. As far as the author goes, she was new to me (I had not read her debut novel Such a Fun Age from 2019).

First impression: Reid likes to provide a lot of details (in descriptions, background, etc.). She uses those details to ground her story in a very contemporary reality. After an opening chapter which, for me, I was not sure where it was leading, we jump to some flashback chapters to give us Millie's background and how she came to be an RA. I did like the way Reid introduces the other staff members via a game at their first meeting; that really rang true to the whole college expereince (even though mine was nearly four decades prior). And the move-in day brought back major memories for me (I was on a student orientation volunteer who helped move in hundreds of new students each year).

Second impression: lots of characters are introduced with many only having tangential connections. It was like the first chapter dropped us in the center of a spider's web, and then we are shunted to one side for some backstory only to be shunted to another side for different backstory. Just as I was starting to get my bearings and into one groove, I was jerked around and lost again. Not the way I like my stories. Eventually, things settled into the here-and-now part of the plot, but my vested interest had already waned.

With the right audience, I am sure this book will hit. I just don't think I was the right audience for it.