Tense story but the dry, detached prose completely turns it off. Not for me but I'm sure the gen fiction crowd will eat it up

This book is SO GOOD. I was already a fan of Reid’s after Such a Fun Age, but this is even better. Millie is a complicated, layered character but ultimately so compelling that you never consider not rooting for her, and Reid has such an ear for dialogue. This book made me laugh, cringe, and mourn when it was over.

QUICK TAKE: Kiley Reid definitely knows how to open a book. She follows up the fantastic SUCH A FUN AGE with another sharply-written coming-of-age story about a group of women living in and around a college campus and the micro- and macro-aggressions that inform their relationships and conflicts. Very character-driven, which I love.

To say I loved this book is an understatement. I related to it so much despite the fact that I am a GenXer. I’ve come to realize that I love books like this. Just a flash of people’s lives and how they live in the moment. Kiley Reid is so, so good at this! The characters are so diverse, that you can’t believe one person is giving them their voices. So many of the characters are unlikeable, but I still liked them, she made them so human, that you can’t help but want to know more. I definitely want to know how some of their lives turned out. It shows how much people can make mistakes but actually redeem themselves in the end. I wish all people were like that. Isn’t wit for more from Reid! She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

I know this will be a popular book based on Kiley Reid in general (and I get it!). I somehow feel like I missed a few things in this one and I’ll be curious if others feel the same way I really loved the beginning, felt like the middle of the book was super jumbled and loved the end and somehow I couldn’t put it down. I was excited for a storyline that is unique and this one definitely delivers. I’m eager for my friends to read all about Agatha, Millie, Tah-ler, and Kennedy (the names in this book just hit the nail on the head) and the stories that weave them together.