‘Come and Get It’ Review: A Meandering Portrait of Young Adulthood

“Come & Get It” amuses and captivates from the first page. After striking success with her debut novel, “Such a Fun Age,” bestselling author Kiley Reid returns with a character-driven commentary on youth, passion, and maturity. The narrative follows three points of view, but it can hardly be said to restrict itself to three main characters. The plot focuses on Millie, a 24-year-old resident assistant at The University of Arkansas; Agatha, a 38-year-old visiting professor at the same university; and Kennedy, a student on Millie’s floor with a traumatic past. While the story is told through these interwoven voices, the histories, actions, motives, and desires of this sprawling cast of characters give the narrative its power. Through this lively roster of realistic individuals, Reid crafts a witty and moving vignette of college life, the challenges it poses, and the women who endure them.

The novel truly is a series of vignettes more than anything else. The reader is dropped into an intersection of vague hopes and dreams with little other driving force. Reid reveals pages of fleshed-out backstory and little else until about halfway through the novel. While filled with lively and vivid descriptions, the plot feels aimless until this point, leaving the reader interested in the past but less so in the future.

With that in mind, the character development is nothing to scoff at. Much of the novel reads as a sort of literary portrait, an entertaining glimpse into the psyches of the three main characters and beyond. Through well-placed free indirect discourse, Reid reveals the inner workings of each narrator’s mind. Because of this transparency, the leading ladies stand out as genuine, imperfect characters that are easy to love. By the end of the novel, when the stakes are heightened, Reid has done the legwork to ensure that exigency has been established.

Much of this success is found in realistic, interesting dialogue that captures the voices of college students and the professors who instruct them. The first page sets the tone with a frivolous — yet accurate — conversation between two undergraduates lauding the health benefits of oatmeal. It perfectly recreates the inanity of conversations overheard in a college dining hall or while walking the streets of a college town, and the seriousness with which they are spoken. “Nalgenes” are carried by “narps” through dormitory halls; the vocabulary of the undergraduate in-group rings true throughout the novel. The lighter moments are sure to inspire genuine laughter, if only because of the opportunity to reflect on the most ridiculous social aspects of college life.

Stylistically, this descriptive realism is bolstered by zany figurative language and synesthetic elements that push word association and make for a thought-provoking read. A woman’s body evokes “a satisfying math problem,” with her movements “a decimal point.” A facial expression reminds one character of street signs that read “controlled burn.” Reid’s writing stays interesting until the very end. The book is anything but a slog, despite qualms about the plot.

Still, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. The very elements which usually create meaningful and realistic dialogue at times feel forced. One character has a southern accent written in obnoxious eye dialect for the entire book. While the occasional dialogue choice adds an endearing element to a character and brings their voice to life, the overwhelming amount of these touches starts to bog down the page. It isn’t always interesting to read conversations that are too realistic.

This slow pacing is exacerbated by the intertextual references throughout the novel, of which there are many. While these allusions help to ground the book in the specific year 2017, and more broadly in the modern day, they can be more of a barrier than an aid, as they require previous knowledge from the reader. To the less informed or less interested, these allusions will not land, and the immersion will have failed. They threaten to interrupt the flow of the prose and distract from its beauty and wittiness.

Kiley Reid’s “Come and Get It” is as relatable as it is colorful. Her dedication to ambience and description makes for an enjoyable read and memorable characters. Flowery prose punctuated by bold choices compensates for a meandering plot. Of course, risk does not guarantee success, but the stylistic shortcomings of this novel are outweighed by a clever, accurate portrayal of the immaturity and growth of young adulthood.

—Staff writer Aiden J. Bowers can be reached at aiden.bowers@thecrimson.com.