Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Come & Get It by Kiley Reid

22 reviews

quilana's review

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Racism

cadence99's review against another edition

4.25

Come and get it is a character driven, slow burn of a book, and while that may not work for every reader, it certainly worked for me. We have SUCH rich characters. They’re messy and imperfect and deeply human, and I think the flaws are what make this book so great. You are not going to get a cookie cutter story with a fairy tale ending and that is my FAVORITE kind of book. My only issue in my reading of this book was that I neglected to check CW and got hit REAL hard with one part in particular- so I definitely recommend NOT doing what I did and checking those warnings!  Otherwise, I HIGHLY recommend this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

madybreadz's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

‘It was very easy to have sex in college, but it was even easier not to.’

I liked this! It turns out all I need to read again was pneumonia and being relatively bed-ridden. I think Reid’s writing is brilliant and I loved the characters. I had some trouble with the pacing and plot (it all felt like it happened in the last 80 pages or so), but still a really good read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation

bellsdixon's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ittywitty's review

challenging emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hiddenfallacies's review

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This novel is hard to describe. Even harder to sell to other people as a recommendation when all you can think to say is "it's really good." So I'll try my best to do so here. 

Come and Get It follows three perspectives over the course of an undergraduate fall semester, with glimpses into the past added as necessary to explain how they got into their current situation. Agatha, a mid-30s journalist working a year of residency at the University of Arkansas. Millie, a super senior RA looking to finish her degree, land a job, and buy a house. And Kennedy, a junior looking for a fresh start as a transfer student. As the innocuous moments of their lives intertwine, a descent towards their ruin begins. Its arrival is sudden and swift, the kind of downfall that makes all too much sense in hindsight. 

The greatest strength of this narrative lies in these characters, who are written so realistically that they feel as if they walked out of your life rather than the mind of Reid. Crafting this kind of realism is supremely difficult, so the fact that even minute dialogue and quirks feel true-to-life is an accomplishment. This makes you, as the reader, feel as if you've truly participated in the scene rather than acted as an observer. 

Rather than construct the plot around traditional forms of conflict, Come and Get It is propelled forward through the interpersonal lives of its characters. At no point does it feel like a scene is wasted, even if it only serves to capture simple moments of life such as dorm conversations or a trip to Target. Although this structure might not work for everyone, I found it a natural extension of its focus on the inner lives and decisions of its main characters.

Themes of class, race, sexuality, and gender are all on display within this novel, engaged with in the same way you'd talk about the subjects with friends - without formality and with a certain level of disdain towards the world. What it has to say is layered and worth discussing. 

If none of this interests you, I urge you to at least give the first chapter or two a go. The writing pulled me in before I realized it - it might do the same for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Self harm, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Professor/Student Relationship

sakisreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I absolutely adored ‘Such a Fun Age’ and had high expectations for ‘Come and Get It’. 
Kiley Reid did not miss 👏🏼

Everyone is unmistakably human in this book.

Agatha starts a relationship with Millie when she shouldn’t, Millie is compliant in moments and feels the aftermath acutely, Tyler is just the worst kind of human 😂

I thoroughly loved this though and I felt myself being drawn back to the book often.

I can imagine this becoming a stunning series 😳
4 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

adearajean's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Quick read with intriguing characters but as someone who works on a college campus this book made me anxious. The characters are not likable and make terrible professional choices. It's hard to root for anyone in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Classism