Hello Everyone,
Today I will reviewing Say You’ll Remember Me by Katie McGarry. On the top of my most anticipated reads of 2018. I have been a huge fan (check my Instagram if you do not believe me) of Katie McGarry books since I read Pushing the Limits, back when I was in grade nine. Her books always bring a smile to my face and the happily-ever-after feels I want to have. When I got the email that I get to have a early advance copy, I screamed and erupted into tears. Her books are well-loved on my bookshelf. I love gushing about her books to everyone! I did feel a bit nervous to know there was going to be a new cast of characters since I dearly love the TPL cast and NBH cast. However, this book ruin me forever. I devoured this book in hours. Its such a heart-breaking, electrifying and delightful read. I promise you.
Enjoy !
ARC Kindly provided by Katie Mcgarry & Inkslinger PR thru Netgalley for Blog Tour*
Say You'll Remember Me
Katie McGarry
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published January 30th 2018
Harlequin Teen
4.5 / 5 Stars
From critically acclaimed author Katie McGarry, comes SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME—a story of two people from different worlds pushing themselves, and each other, to get what they deserve!
SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME Synopsis:
"Doesn't matter who did it. Not anymore. I did the time. It's over." When Drix was convicted of a crime--one he didn't commit--he thought his life was over. But opportunity came with the Second Chance Program, the governor's newest pet project to get delinquents off the streets, rehabilitated and back into society. Drix knows this is his chance to get his life back on track, even if it means being paraded in front of reporters for a while. Elle knows she lives a life of privilege. As the governor's daughter, she can open doors with her name alone. But the expectations and pressure to be someone she isn't may be too much to handle. She wants to follow her own path, whatever that means. When Drix and Elle meet, their connection is immediate, but so are their problems. Drix is not the type of boy Elle's parents have in mind for her, and Elle is not the kind of girl who can understand Drix's messy life. But sometimes love can breach all barriers. Fighting against a society that can't imagine them together, Drix and Elle must push themselves--Drix to confront the truth of the robbery, and Elle to assert her independence--and each other to finally get what they deserve.
SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME is now available. Grab your copy today!
Personal Thoughts
It’s like every time we try to dig out of a hole, someone’s shovelling more crap on top of us. There will never be a way out. - Drix
Say you’ll remember me is a unputdownable young adult novel that is riveting, emotionally exhausting and effulgent. It went beyond my expectations. The characters are beyond their years, supportive, raw and organic. The premise was compelling and realistic af. Its soul-touching and a reminder to every reader that even if you are broken or feel lost in trying to find yourself, there is always a will and way.
Katie writing style is engrossing, heartbreaking and on the ball. The romance is such a typical angsty love story, however Katie makes it just right. The build up for Drix and Elle relationship was perfectly plan out through out the book. A spoonful here and there. I love the sweet little innocence moments, like when they first met at the midway, the moment when they both say a puppy from drowning and of course, when Drix showed Elle how the drums work. I awed and felt too many butterflies in my stomach. Too much cuteness. Even though the relationship soundly heavenly, it was definitely not perfect. Elle is a politician daughter and Drix comes from a child deprived of caring parents and making up time from a crime he did not commit. Very forbidden. Their relationship blossoms over the course of weeks of parading Elle fathers second chance program that helped “redeem” criminals to have a clean slate and Drix is the model of the outcome of the program. Drix battles to find the truth of the night he was convicted and with finding solace and comfort in each other, they enter each other lives fighting to get the future they so badly want. Even thought both are shouldering a lot, it does not overshadow or overwhelm the other characters. Also, Thor the puppy is the cutest thing ever!!!!
“Elle, it’s okay.”
That’s the thing— it’s not okay. I’m seventeen years old, I don’t know who I am, and I don’t have any idea how to get my parents to take me seriously. I’m trapped, and I can’t breathe. – Elle
Elle illustrates such a great character. Elle lives in politician daughter role. She has it all; wealth, beauty and privilege. Underneath the pressure of perfection and controlled is taking a toll on her. Hair, make-up and fashion and perfect smile must be on point. Everything she does or says is control and calculated. When she home alone and able to pull off the makeup, she just a vibrant character. She loves finding stray animals off the streets to find better homes, find the good in people, and wants to pursue in coding. She wants to make a difference in the world. Her parents are tyrants for what they think is best for Elle. There not villainous or cruel. Her parents grew up in harsh conditions that only wanted to shape their children future to be better than theirs. Her parents are humble, inspiring and devoted people yet their position of power does overshadow. Elle loves her parents dearly and wishes they would take her side of things.
"Music was the only good thing about me before the arrest."
"The rest of us know how to play, can do the counts, but none of us can hold it steady like you. We can’t shift fast enough with the change up in rhythms and still keep the beat. We couldn’t release the sticks like you do to get the same sound. When you played, Drix, it was all emotion, all heart. It was the type of beat I could feel in my blood.”
Drix is one of the best male characters I have read in a long time. I am totally in love with him (Sorry, Noah!). I love readers get to see parts of before and after Drix the night he was convicted for a crime he did not commit. He real and protective. He used to be the bad boy. The one who uses people without feeling not even a inch of guilt. He drank, used and fought without an ease of consequences. When he was arrested and given a chance to pull his act together and start fresh.
That’s who I was before: the smooth talker, the guy who made girls laugh and caused them to light up with a few specially chosen words. The right smile dropped at the right time, and panties would be shed. But I don’t feel up for conversation and I don’t feel like manipulating anyone anymore. Crazy—I used to thrive when surrounded by people. The more, the better. But after being in juvenile detention for seven months and spending three in the wilderness taking part in an Outward Bound program for troubled teens, I’m more at ease by myself in front of a fire.
He just righteous and tough. He sacrificed himself to save his family from going to jail. He rather play hero to something he did not commit than have someone he deeply cares get hurt. When he released he unsure where he fits in society? Is he still the corrupted, haunted guy before the arrest or the guy who wants to just be left at peace and work hard toward his passion of music. He aches to find where he fits He is also devoted to his family which I am a fan off. His family is so cool and I wish I could attend their awesome birthday parties.
I can’t afford to take risks anymore. I’ve changed, and it’s time to play it safe. It’s time to realize I can’t chase anything that makes me happy anymore.
He just breaks my heart. When he with Elle, he creates such a warm and comforting space that not if yourself could not be tempted to snuggle in. He just makes perfect boyfriend material.
Everyone says you have a blank slate.” My brother Axle sits beside me on the ground, arms resting on his bent knees, and he stares at the bonfire I built with my own two hands with only f lint and sticks. It’s one of the many tricks I learned over the last three months. That and how to survive on my own in the middle of nowhere.
“This is a good thing. A blank slate. Not many people get one of those.” Blank slate. That’s what I’m scared of. I may not have liked parts of the person I was before I was arrested, but at least I knew who I was. This blank slate, this chance to create someone new, scares me. This is a new type of pressure. At least I had a good excuse for being a delinquent before. Now, if I mess up, it’s because I’m truly broke.
I truly enjoyed my time reading this novel. It is worth the read !
~Hendrix~
Holiday smacks my arm and wrath owns her eyes. “Why didn’t you talk to her?”
I glance around at my family—Axle, Holiday, my best friend, Dominic, and his younger sister, Kellen. I’m searching for at least one of them to have my back and tell her to step off, but instead they’re curious for the answer. Even Axle’s giving me a questioning gaze, and the last thing my womanizing brother deserves is an explanation from me in my decisions regarding women.
Last time I was home, his reputation was as bad as Dad’s, minus the progeny. There are three siblings in this family, and we have three different birth mothers. Dad not only didn’t know how to use a condom, but he didn’t know how to stay true to one woman.
“I talked to her.”
My younger sister throws her arms out and drops her voice to what I’m assuming is to mimic me, but I don’t sound like an idiot. “You’re good at this.” She resumes her normal tone which is entering high-pitched. “Seriously? That’s all you’ve got? Did you get some sort of amoeba that eats your brain while hanging out in juvie?”
I fold my arms over my chest and wonder if my sister can read pissed-off body language.
“You can still catch the girl and talk to her,” Holiday continues, proving she doesn’t care I’m silently informing her to quit. “Don’t make me chase her for you because that would be embarrassing. Embarrassing for you. Not me. I’ll have to tell her you sent me, and because you’re a wuss, I’ll have to ask her out for you like we’re in sixth grade.”
I find myself missing the middle of nowhere. Trees, bonfires, mosquitos, mud, bears…. company that didn’t talk.
“She’s out of my league.” I haven’t spoken truer words in months. She was beautiful. She was poised. She was a cool breeze after a hot humid rain. She was that first ray of sunshine in the dark woods. She was the smell of honeysuckle in bloom. She was the first damn thing that made me forget who I am and what I’ve gotten myself into over the past year. That means she was out of my league.
Granted, she was out of my league before I was arrested. Everything from her manicured nails, to her brand-name clothes, to her high-end purse, to the way she held herself said she was about a hundred times higher on the social and economic spectrum than me, but the person I was before would have made the play because I was smooth—just like my father.
“She is not out of your league.” Holiday hounds me. “She smiled at you. I know when a girl likes what she sees, and she liked what she saw in you.”
Tension builds in my neck. Yeah, the girl smiled, but she didn’t know what she was smiling at. I’m a pretty façade on the outside. On the inside, I’m a house of cards teetering on a bad foundation.
About the Author
Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.
Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.
Links :
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2mydpUL
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2juPunZ
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2sWO9cg
Do not miss this order campaign !
Order Campaign
Order SAY YOU'LL REMEMBER ME, register and you will receive AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER, a novella that features your favorite Pushing the Limits and Thunder Road characters!
From the Pushing the Limits series, Noah, Beth, Isaiah, West and Logan are all grown up. Catch up with your favorite characters as one of them finally says, I do.
Pigpen, Eli and Addison from the Thunder Road series: Three separate personalities who still needed to find love...and still had someone important to meet.
This is a limited time offer! So hurry! Registration ends on February 3, 2018! You must register your order to receive AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
Signing out,
Maddi Clark
