Ambition and Privilege
It is hard to believe we are nearly halfway through the year! How is your reading for the year going? Did you have a goal in mind? Did you have a list of books to read or are you normal?
I set myself a list of books to read this year because last year I kept getting derailed by new releases with really good marketing and then I would read said new releases and be disappointed, and many didn’t live up to the (well paid) hype. I think there is a lot to be said for a wait and see approach to picking up bestsellers. If people are only talking about the book shortly after it is published, you can almost put money on it that someone has put money on that book to get it in front of the people. And me being an ultimate consumer (but trying hard not be an ultimate consumer (refer: environmental degradation, and cost of living crisis) who also has FOMO (fair of missing out) I tend to get sucked in to wanting to read the book everyone is reading. Whereas if you wait until a decent number of people have read, rated, and reviewed a book, you can get more of a sense of whether a book is any good.
Some of the books that are still all over social media, and are still commonly reviewed even though they were released YEARS ago – those are the ones we should be trying to pick up. What do you think? Do you like to be in the know or do you stick to the modern classics? Or a bit of both?
At the start of the year my list for 2024 had 150 books on it. Since that time, I have removed a few of the books but I haven’t added any others. When writing this week’s review, I have read 107 books, have three others which I have started, and have 60 books remaining on that list. If you do the math, that is 20 books which I have read so far this year which were not on my initial list!
This week’s review is for one of those books. Published in January 2024, this week we take a look at Come and Get It by Kiley Reid. You may recall this name from Reid’s debut novel, Such a Fun Age which was longlisted for the Booker Prize. The Booker tends to be heavy literary fiction which sometimes isn’t for mass consumption but Such a Fun Age is definitely not one of “those” books. It is a very accessible read. I found it really hard to put down, fairly easy to read, with great character development. Such a Fun Age was a four star read for me. I wasn’t sure whether Come and Get It would be for me but I read a couple of rave reviews and this is why it usurped “the list”. I was very glad to have picked it up – I loved this one, even more than the debut.
Reid does character development so well. These characters were complex and compelling. I love the way Reid blends social commentary into her narrative. Reid has a real skill of being able to present thought-provoking and confronting social issues in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re being lectured. Come and Get It delves into the complexities of ambition, privilege, and our relationship with money.
The story centres around the protagonist Millie, a young woman who becomes entangled in the lives of her wealthy friends and acquaintances. Set in a university town, the novel navigates the intersecting worlds of academia, social aspiration, and personal loyalty. Millie is a keen observer, often finding herself at the crossroads of her friends' ambitions and insecurities, all while grappling with her own desires and the harsh realities of socioeconomic disparity.
Millie is smart and quietly determined. Around her we have a supporting cast of students who are all flawed, irritating and endearing in their own ways. We also have the idealistic but extremely flawed professor. Together, these characters navigate a landscape of privilege and power which is engaging, relatable and makes you question your own ideals and beliefs.
“A fresh and provocative story about a residential assistant and her messy entanglement with a professor and three unruly students. It’s 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant, wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. So when Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity, she jumps at the chance. But Millie’s starry-eyed hustle becomes jeopardised by odd new friends, vengeful dorm pranks and illicit intrigue. A fresh and intimate portrait of desire, consumption and reckless abandon, Come and Get It, is a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behaviour.”
Thank you Good Reads synopsis!
Although this may seem heavy, this book was so hard to put down. The writing is clever but not taxing and there are plenty of laugh out loud moments and this probably means that it won’t be nominated for any literary prizes! I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. Humour – tick. Rich character development – tick. Engaging plot – tick. Social critique – tick. This is well worth putting at the top of your TBR because life is too short to read bad books.