I am so excited to share this tour stop with you guys today! I was lucky enough to get to read an ARC of Say You'll Remember Me, and it is by far one of my favourite contemporaries ever! Say You'll Remember Me is a Young Adult Contemporary Romance being published on January 30th, and believe me, it's a book you do not want to miss. Keep reading for my review of the book, some teasers, and an awesome giveaway! And preorder links to the special preorder offer.
Author: Katie McGarry
My rating: 6 hearts (because if any book ever deserved an extra heart, it's this one)
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pub. date: January 30th 2018
Synopsis: When Drix was convicted of a crime--one he didn't commit--he thought his life was over. But opportunity came with the new 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 a beautiful story about second
chances. It’s a story will touch the reader, that will stay with you even after
you finish it. It’s a story that will make you cry because you can’t help but
relate to the characters, and what they’re going through isn’t easy. It’s a
story that will make you gasp, because you can’t believe what you just read.
It’s a story that will leave you struggling to breathe, a story that will hurt.
But the stories that hurt are also the stories that you remember, the stories
that need to be told.
What made
this book so incredible, so magical, was the characters. While the writing, the
plot, the story in itself, was amazing and all made for a great book, the
characters were what made it remarkable, memorable. I found Elle really
relatable. Even though we are very different people, her struggles are
something I think a lot of kids struggle with, and probably always will. And it
makes this book so much harder to read, but so much more meaningful, too.
Elle is
selfless and caring, and she can’t keep herself from bringing home stray
animals. Just that makes her the best person in the world to me. But she’s
trying so hard to be what her parents want her to be, even though it’s not who she wants to be. She really just wants
her parents to be proud of her, and what kid doesn’t want that?
Then there
is Drix, and let me tell you, he’s become one of my favourite book boyfriends.
While readers can’t seem to help but love the mysterious bad boys, there’s more
to Drix than that. While I liked how badass and strong Drix is, what really
stole my heart was how he could also show vulnerability. He doesn’t feel the
need to pretend like he doesn’t feel things, to pretend that things don’t affect
him. And it’s such a rare thing in books that I just couldn’t keep myself from
falling for him. Because sometimes, it takes more bravery to be vulnerable than
it does to stay strong.
Another
thing that I found really important in this book is how it shows how much we
are affected by the people we meet. I love the relationship between Drix and
Elle, because they both help each other so much. Drix helps Elle come out of
her shell and start doing things for herself, and no one else, and Elle helps
Drix find peace. They’re in love, sure, but they are also close friends, and
that’s beautiful. And the easy conversation between them from the start makes
it funny, as well.
The plot is
good and well thought-out, and it brings attention to a big problem that needs
more attention. McGarry isn’t afraid of writing about things people would
prefer to pretend don’t exist, or aren’t as big as they really are, and I love
it. Say You’ll Remember Me is a
wonderful example of why people should read – not because you learn new words
or become better at the language, but because it can teach you important things
about society, and maybe, hopefully, open people’s eyes to our society’s problems.
Finally,
there is the writing. While all of the above is quite enough to make it an
amazing read, the writing has this tension, this realness, that makes a book
impossible to forget. McGarry has this incredible ability to write such
relatable, real teenage voices that truly make the characters come alive on the
page. It hits your heart each and every time.
Say You’ll Remember Me is an unforgettable story that will
make your heart hurt, and make you cry, but it will also make you feel light,
and make you laugh. It will break your heart, and then mend it, only to break
it again. But you won’t care, because the story is so beautifully written that
you won’t be able to put it away.
Order Say You'll Remember Me here!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2mydpUL
iBooks: http://apple.co/2t06RR3
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2juPunZ
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2sWO9cg
Excerpt:
~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.
Pre-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 preorder to receive AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
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:
Website: www.katielmcgarry.com
Twitter: @katiemcgarry
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katielmcgarry
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/katielmcgarry/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/katielmcgarry
Tour schedule:
January 22nd
January 23rd
January 24th
January 25th
January 26th
January 27th
January 28th
January 29th
January 30th
January 31st
February 1st
February 2nd
February 3rd
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Thank you so much! ~Jessica, InkSlinger PR
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