Come and Get It

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racist behavior, a relationship with an imbalanced power dynamic, depression, thoughts of self-harm and suicidal ideation, and accidental animal death.

“Agatha actively rejected the claim that she didn’t like things, partially because it came from a person who owned thirty pairs of high-end leggings and subsisted on iced coffee, but she mostly rejected it because of moments like this: sitting inside a dormitory in Arkansas, feeling wildly inspired and obsessed.”

Reid uses this passage to characterize Agatha in contrast to her ex-partner, Robin. Where Robin might be described by a penchant for high-end living, Agatha is drawn to the curiosity that finding new interesting things in unexpected places stirs up in her.

“Coming off of so many summers living in dorms and cabins and rooms that weren’t hers, and after becoming mildly addicted to TV shows featuring tiny houses and youngish owners, the idea of owning a home came down on her like a dream. With six thousand dollars in her bank account, Millie allowed herself to entertain the idea that maybe, if she was very, very good about it, she could make a down payment in two years.”

In this passage, Reid draws out the primary character motivation that drives Millie throughout the novel. Her desire to own a home comes from the fact that she has lived in so many different places that many of them feel transitory. To own a home for herself is to lay down roots, which hints at The Complexities of New Adulthood as a theme.

“Standing in the mirror, she reached for the bill. The corners and folds were tucked so neatly that Millie didn’t want to unwrap it. She opened her closet door and dropped the money inside her boot. Then she bent and felt around. She took out a nonfolded twenty, placed it in her pocket, and considered what she should get.”

Millie’s relationship with work is complicated by her access to money. When Tyler unexpectedly gives her a 20-dollar bill for helping to switch Peyton and Kennedy’s room placements, Millie observes the neatness of the bill, which symbolizes the neat lifestyles that affluent people like Tyler seem to have. She reasons that if she takes Tyler’s $20, she will merely use it as a cleaner-looking replacement for one of her older bills, using it as an excuse to indulge in her expenses.