Title: Come & Get It
Author: Kiley Reid
Publisher: Putnam
Genre: Contemporary Literary Fiction
When I closed the last page of this book, I thought to my self, “I don’t know… I THINK I liked it!” I’ve really had to sit with this one and the more I did the more I’ve come to the conclusion that I really loved it. If you read more about the author, Kiley Reid’s, style she says she loves to write the best and worst parts of a person on the same page so the reader can make up their own mind. And my gosh, if that isn’t it and truly genius!
This book is character driven and at times feels like it’s about nothing, but when you peel back the layers it really is about so much. It puts a sharp lens on our desires, consumptions and sometimes bad behaviors. It take place in the South at the University of Arkansas and casting this at a college allowed the author to have so many people with so many different backgrounds. You have Millie a senior RA who is quite a bit older having taken a gap year due to an ill mother. She is motivated by her future to graduate, work and buy a house. Money makes people put on blinders sometimes so when writer and visiting professor, Agatha Paul, has an easy proposition for Millie, she immediately thinks of her house fund. Then, of course, you have all the girls in the dorms. Some are on academic scholarships, some on diversity scholarships, others three to a room, which always makes someone feel left out; especially if that someone has a past.
The author, did immense research having interviewed personally over thirty people, and at least a dozen that are currently college students to get this book right and it really shows. Sometimes the dialogue in books, especially in character driven ones, can get bogged down, but this one was sharp, fresh and witty. Just really smart and vibrant overall.
I know the reviews are all over the place, but I’m team Kiley Reid. I really enjoyed this one and her first book Such a Fun Age. Can’t wait to see what she writes next!
What do you guys think? Have you read it? Do you plan to read it?
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