Review: Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Drix took the fall for a crime he didn't commit, and now, 1 year later, he is a changed man. Through the governor's program, the Second Chance Program, he really has changed his ways. Before he was following the path of his father, high all of the time, drinking excessively, playing in a band that was a bad influence, and he was falling apart. He was only wanting to escape the pressures of life, but now that he has gone through this rehabilitation program, Drix wants more for himself and his family. He wants to fight his way to succeed and make something of his life.

When he sees a cute girl getting harassed by college guys, Drix decides to help her. Before he would have fought the other two boys for being jerks, but now he just made sure to keep by Elle's side and that the college guys got the message to leave her alone.

What Drix didn't know was he was protecting the governor's daughter, Ellison, and putting himself in her life in a way he never thought could be possible. Because the governor is essential his new "boss" and Drix definitely isn't good enough to be with the governor's daughter, as an ex-criminal (to the public eye, at least).

Elle is so tired of everyone treating her differently. If it's not the admiration she gets from her thousands of fans on social media, then it's harassment like what she is going through at the fair. All she wants to do is play Wack-A-Mole. Why can't a girl play a game in peace, without someone ruining her alone time?!

When she gets saved by the boy that she has heard her father talk about, she wasn't expecting to be so attracted to him. But she is, and she knows that her father would never let her be with him. Even them being friends is not good enough for her father, and since he is in the process of being re-elected for a higher slot, Elle cannot make any mistakes to ruin his election.

Elle has always been harshly criticized by her parents. She needs to be perfect, because she is representing her father. And now, she is taking a larger part of her fathers election campaign, so she really needs to do everything right on par.

But when Elle is with Drix, she can be her true self. She doesn't have to worry about what the media or what her family will say, she just DOES. Her smiles and laughs are completely pure - no forcefulness behind them.

Sadly they can't be together, or else it will ruin her father's program and his campaign for election. But when the real criminal who framed Drix is revealed, both Drix and Elle are going to have to figure out what is the most important thing in the life and make a decision on what they are going to do, because no matter which choice they make, it will destroy something else that means the world to them.

I love Katie McGarry. All of her books are superb and she always gets me feeling so many emotions. This book was just as amazing as her other ones, and I'm so glad I got an eARC!

Drix is a great guy. Sure, he was a terrible person a year ago, but he has changed and now he knows that he cannot be that guy anymore. Not because he is being watched by the media, but because that guy was going nowhere and Drix wants more for himself, and for his younger sister who was starting to follow his path. So everything he does, every decision he has to make, has it's toll on him. He is so guarded, because he knows how terrible life can be, and he won't get his hopes up, just to have them be crushed over and over.

But with Elle, he starts to hope, and it is the most beautiful thing to read about. Seeing him open up to Elle is amazing and it makes the reader see just how much he wants to be the best person he can be.

And poor Elle. I feel so much for her. Seriously, I don't know how she let her parents control her life the way they were. Her parents should be so ashamed at how they treated her because Elle is just a teenager. She is not the run running for any political chair, and she should be able to live her life like a normal teenager, instead of being the perfect person. I guess that appearances mean everything, but there has to be a limit on how to treat someone, and her parents crossed it way over too many times.

I loved seeing Elle do the things that she wanted to do. It broke my heart in the scene where Drix is teaching Elle how to play an instrument, and she was too scared to touch any of them, because the last time she did at a political event, her mother slapped her hands and yelled at her. The memory of that time made Elle never want to touch another musical instrument again, and watching her mentally struggle when Drix was making her play was heartbreaking.

Drix and Elle are so good for each other, but they let other things in their life stop them from doing what they want to do, so having them together was great for the self confidence.

And the story about Thor, their dog, literally broke my heart. I was sobbing and remembering memories of the same thing that I went through, so McGarry definitely knew what would really connect with readers.

This was an amazing novel and I'm so glad that I got a chance to read this. I know that all of Katie McGarry's fans will love it, and even newbies to McGarry will fall in love with this hearbreakingly, but inspiring novel about second chances.

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