THE PLOT: ‘Come and Get It’ by Kiley Reid is a contemporary novel set on an American college campus c.2017. The novel follows a professor, Agatha, and a student, Millie, who meet when Millie helps arrange interviews with students for Agatha’s research project. But when Agatha offers Millie an unusual opportunity to make some extra money for somewhat unethical research into the lives of young students, the two women become embroiled in each other’s worlds.

SUMMARY: Let’s be clear upfront – this is a character driven novel. The story alternates perspectives between Agatha, Millie and Kennedy (another student in Millie’s building), but also gives you a character study of several other students and residential assistants within the dorms. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I liked it at first. After a strong start it seemed to meander into disconnected backstory and get too bogged down in the minute details of college life. However, the last 100-pages are very dramatic and it all came together in a satisfying resolution.

Overall, this novel is a social commentary about wealth, race and power dynamics, and includes lesbian representation. But the pace is extremely slow and it lacks the bite to truly deliver its message, leaving readers a bit confused about what the point is. For example, the 2017 setting feels poignant with the election of Donald Trump and knowing the social and economic tensions to come – but I don’t know if the author truly conveyed that, or if it’s my assumption.

I read this as a buddy read with other bookstagrammers and many of us felt like nothing happens in this novel. I’m not sure I agree – stuff happens but it’s about subtle tension and creeping unease. However, this ultimately feels insignificant because the novel keeps getting side-tracked and never sticks the landing. On balance, I’m giving it four stars because it’s an interesting, original and thought-provoking book. But it’s more of a 3.75, if you want to get specific.

GOOD BITS: For me, this novel is all about the writing. It’s satirical and observant, there’s witty and realistic dialogue, and I love the insightful relationship dynamics. Although her inclusion as a POV character surprised me, the standout character for me was Kennedy. Despite the slow pace, her vulnerability and how her actions could be interpreted in different ways made me excited to get back to her chapters and see what happens next. She felt very relatable and I almost wanted to give her a hug. Although Millie is the main character and ostensibly comes of age into sexual and emotional maturity throughout the novel, I felt Kennedy actually has the biggest and most dramatic journey.

NOT SO GOOD BITS:  The opening chapter intrigued me about the lives of the students but then the book jumps into the past and we get around five chapters of Agatha’s backstory. Although it was interesting, it was confusing and I couldn’t follow where the story would go or how it connected. In hindsight I now understand what the author was attempting but I fear many people would DNF at this point. I think it’d be stronger to tell a linear story about the main plot and weave the backstory in later / in another way. A small point that annoyed me was that each character is introduced with a ton of description, long psychological profile and a chunk of backstory. It’s a stylistic choice but it weighed down the story and made it feel even slower. Finally, the author included a lot of detail about being a residential assistant in college. Either she was an R.A. and trying to lend authenticity to the story, or she interviewed R.A.’s for the novel, but this needed to be deleted in the edit.

OVERALL:  I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘Real Life’ by Brandon Taylor, ‘The Rachel Incident’ by Caroline O’Donoghue, and ‘The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois’ by Honorée Fanonne-Jeffers. I’d still read this author’s other work but I’m not sure she got it quite right on this occasion.

Thanks to Bloomsbury Creator Circle for sending me a #gifted copy and to my buddy readers @readwithsabs (DNF), @katieisreading and @busbys books.

You can purchase this book (with a discount) and support @aminasbookshelf via my bookshop.org. page.