Wednesday, January 24, 2018

SAY YOU'LL REMEMBER ME by Katie McGarry - Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway

      


SAY YOU'LL REMEMBER ME 

by Katie McGarry
Publication Date: January 30, 2018
Published by Harlequin Teen
Pages: 400
Source: InkSlinger | Netgalley   

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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.


MY THOUGHTS

I was excited about reading SAY YOU'LL REMEMBER ME because of the chance to meet new characters and a new environment experience the trademarks of what I love about Katie McGarry's books. Friends as family and the lengths they will go to protect and support each other and all of the love that exists.

Through the characters Elle and Drix, SAY'LL YOU REMEMBER ME addresses the complexities of identity . Finding it. Understanding it. Claiming it. Drix and Elle are on different spectrums - Drix struggles with no longer recognizing who he is, who he is becoming or who he should be. And Elle knows who she wants to become, but is stunted by her parents, her cousin, and everyone around her who tells her who she is. 

There were parts of SAY YOU'LL REMEMBER ME that left me saddened and stunned or infuriated. Specifically, how Elle's parents spoke to her and treated her, especially her mother, and how they were selfish and condescending and didn't really seem to understand their daughter at all. Elle just wanted to make them happy, to be perfect for them, but they couldn't see it. 

I loved the friendship that grew between Elle and Drix as they began to get to know each other, understand each other, and protect each other. I love how the relationship doesn't depend on attraction and shows the depths of who they are. The attraction is there, but the substance is there too. 

Favorite Quotes:

"Breathe. Focus. Find empathy within the situation. If all else fails, leave." - Drix on how to deal with his anger and aggression

"Maybe I'm drawn to you because I envy you. You know who you are. I want that. I want to know who I am, too." - Drix on how he sees Elle

I loved reading SAY YOU'LL REMEMBER ME. Fans of Katie McGarry's books will embrace this story and the characters, and I'm sure readers will be demand to know more about the other prominent characters - Axle, Holliday, Marcus, Dominic, and Kellen. I know I want more!   


Preorder SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME here!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Google Play | B-A-M | Kobo

             

SPECIAL PRE-ORDER OFFER

It's a good one! I couldn't pass it up!

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 pre-order to receive AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

https://a.pgtb.me/4tLZSM

   


Read an Excerpt


~Ellison~

The two of us are different. Complete sliding scale different. The only thing we have in common, as far as I can tell, is that he appears about my age and that we are both wearing shoes. My sandals to his scuffed combat boots. His sagging jeans with rips and white T-shirt to my ironed khaki shorts and fitted blue top. My diamond earrings and gold bracelet with a heart charm to his black belt that has metal studs and silver chain that hangs from his belt loop to his wallet.

By looks, I should have more in common with the loser college boys, but it’s this guy I’m comfortable with. “What’s your name?”

He throws the ball, and he’s right, he sucks at it. While he has unbelievable power, his aim’s completely off. The ball hits the back curtain with a loud thud, then drops to the floor. “Drix.”

“Drix?” I repeat to make sure I heard him correctly.

“Drix. It’s short for Hendrix. Like Jimi Hendrix.”

“That’s cool.” Because it is.

I wait for him to ask for my name, but he doesn’t. Instead he says, “Are you here alone?”

He throws the second ball, and this time he hits the top of the three bottles, sending that one to the ground.

“No. My parents are here. I’m supposed to meet them at the convention center. What about you? What happened to the people you were with? Or are you here alone now?”

“Yes, but no.” Drix pulls his arm back, releases the ball, and when the ball hits the bottom bottles, my heart lifts with the idea that he won, but only one of the bottles goes flying. The other stays completely untouched.

He turns in my direction, but his gaze roams over my shoulder, then flickers to the left. Drix then glances behind him, and when he returns his attention to me he raises his eyebrows. “They appear to be gone.”

That’s awesome news, but I’m still stuck on his answer of “yes but no.” Honestly, I’m stuck on him. He’s a million questions without a single answer, and he makes me incredibly curious.

“My parents weren’t thrilled about me hanging out alone at the midway, but I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. It’s just Whack-A-Mole, you know?”

“And a ball toss.”

“And a ball toss. None of it should have been complicated.”

“Shouldn’t have been.”

“Elle!” Part of me is relieved to see Andrew craning his neck over the crowd. Another part of me is majorly disappointed. There aren’t many times in my life I’m left alone. Not many times I’m able to explore new places and people without someone hovering and not many opportunities when I would meet someone like Drix.

“Elle,” Andrew calls again. I wave at him, hoping it will buy me a few seconds, and he waves back in a way that tells me he needs me to walk in his direction. That works well for me.

“Is that a friend of yours?” Drix asks.

“Yes, but no.” I borrow his answer because it’s apropos. Andrew’s a few years older. More friend of our family than a personal friend of mine, and I don’t like the idea of explaining that my parents think I need a babysitter.

Drix’s mouth twitches at my words, and my lips also edge upwards. “I just made you smile a third time. Is this a Guinness Book of World Records thing?”

“I liked your answer.”

“I’m just creative like that.”


TOUR WIDE GIVEAWAY



About Katie McGarry: 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.     

   

2 comments:

  1. such a good review and I will definitely will give this book a go after finishing this book blogging guide for beginners

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much! ~Jessica, InkSlinger PR

    ReplyDelete

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