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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
Come & Get It by Kiley Reid
This book is among the most anticipated of 2024 and for good reason. WOW! It started as a slow burn for me, but when it accelerated I was caught off guard and then blown away. The characters, primarily college students from the University of Arkansas, and descriptions of their dorm life are relatable and the dialogue is impressively believable. There’s a lot of tension and bad behavior (the RA’s! the visiting professor!), the kind where I watched characters make terrible decisions and gasped NO!
This book is among the most anticipated of 2024 and for good reason. WOW! It started as a slow burn for me, but when it accelerated I was caught off guard and then blown away. The characters, primarily college students from the University of Arkansas, and descriptions of their dorm life are relatable and the dialogue is impressively believable. There’s a lot of tension and bad behavior (the RA’s! the visiting professor!), the kind where I watched characters make terrible decisions and gasped NO!
reflective
sad
medium-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
Come and Get It is about people in a college setting (specifically the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville) confronted with terrible decisions they have made, the consequences of which shatter their sense of self-worth, and how they use economic transactions to paper things over. It is such a grounded novel, where the characters come to life with their patter and habits. The novel suggests that its atomized, lonely characters may have to find their only solace in trips to Target.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book so perfectly attuned to my interests as a former RA who still works with young people and is obsessed with stories about women’s interior lives. The writing here is so sharp while also being fully hilarious, and honestly for most of it I did not know where the author was going to take me. It didn’t matter because I was 100% in it from the first page. Definitely a character > plot book but the prose is at such a high level it still feels propulsive.
This was my first book outside the Maas-iverse this year and what an absolute banger.
This was my first book outside the Maas-iverse this year and what an absolute banger.
I probably should’ve just stopped reading this one. The whole thing felt like a big waste of time.
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book about a bunch of losers disguised as a novel about more intense themes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When I was a freshman in college, I lived in the only all girls dorm on campus. In a suite with three complete strangers and we shared a connected bathroom with four other strangers. My roommate's high school BFF lived down the hall. I completely understand what Reid is writing about in 'Come & Get It.' While I didn't love any of the characters (Tyler!), I did find that I was invested in their stories because of their motivations and desires to moving forward no matter where they started. 'Come & Get it' is call for second chances, but at what price.
Maybe it’s because I, too, work for a university, but watching these characters consistently make the worst decisions was STRESSFUL.