Tween 2 Teen Book Reviews: Blog Tour: Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

Monday, January 29, 2018

Blog Tour: Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

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 releases on January 30, 2018. Pre-order your copy today!

Title: Say You'll Remember Me
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release: January 30, 2018
Pages: 400
Stars: 5 Stars

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.

You Can Find it At:
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Review:

I am a Katie McGarry addict. I will read absolutely anything she writes, because I know she won’t disappoint. I have read just about all of her books (I only haven’t read a few digital only ones), and I’ve enjoyed every one. Katie has a trademark mix of romance, humor, and real life that she brings to everything she writes. She has previously written the Pushing the Limits series, which has five books, and the Thunder Road series, which has three books. SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME is a standalone novel.

We start off the novel knowing a couple things. The main character Elle is daughter of the governor, and feels pressured to be someone she’s not. The main character Drix was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, but believes someone he cares about did. They first meet by chance, but soon realize they will be in each other’s lives more than they initially realized. Because Drix is part of Elle’s father’s project to combat the school-to-prison pipeline. Not only that, but he’s the poster child for it.

I really liked Elle, though I had trouble relating to her at times. For most of her life, Elle has accepted what her parents told her. She’s let them run her life, to the point that she doesn’t have one at all. All her friends and activities are through them. It’s only by meeting Drix, does she start to gain some perspective, as well as find something, or someone, to fight for. Elle has never had a reason to stand up to her parents, but as she makes new friends, she begins to realize that her life isn’t as picturesque as it seems. The points in the book where Elle finally started to stand up for herself made me want to pump my fist in the air and yell “Yes!” It was amazing to see her bloom over the course of the book.

Drix is a complicated guy. He pled guilty to a crime he didn’t commit, to protect who he believed committed the crime. But he soon realizes that might not have been the case. But even though he knows he’s not a criminal, he also acknowledges that he learned something from Second Chance program set up by Elle’s father. He has returned to every day living with a new lease on life, but he doesn’t really know who he is anymore. I really liked being in Drix’s head. I loved seeing him come back to life, and discover who he is.

I notice a lot of people complain about the lack of parents in YA books. Or if there are parents, they are ‘bad’. Elle’s parents are there all the time, but they’re not bad per se. One thing I think this book shows really well is how it’s hard to get in to politics and keep your soul intact. The easy way to get the money and support one needs to run for Congress, which is what Elle’s father is doing, is to sell your soul in the process. This comes up in a few ways in the books. One instance, is at a fundraiser, and Elle is forced to dance with a slime ball who donates to her father’s campaign. She hates him, and claims her father does too, but he is still invited to events, and she is still forced to dance with him. Another example comes in the character known as Andrew. He is first introduced at the beginning of the book, and keeps coming up in the background. He is also a ball of slime, but a charismatic one, at least when it comes to adults. Elle’s parents force her to spend time with him as he acts as a babysitter/bodyguard of sorts during the campaign. The intuitive reader can see where this is going before it plays out on the page. Because of how invested they are in the campaign, Elle’s parents tend to go to far in the name of victory. Other instances come up later, but they happen to be spoilers and so I will let you figure those out for yourself.

With so many issues in our current climate, both political and otherwise, SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME is especially timely. The main way is in the featuring of the school-to-prison pipeline. For those who haven’t heard that phrase before, it is the systemic problem of charging youth, specifically poor and/or black youth, with petty crimes and sending them to juvie. Even if they receive an education while there, students usually return to school behind, and simply can’t catch up. Once this process starts, students will often fall farther behind, not graduate, or go back to juvie. Eventually, these same students become adults, and move from juvie to prison. For a more in depth look, here is a link to the ACLU’s page on the school-to-prison pipeline. Drix is white, but he comes from a poor family, in a poor neighborhood, and lacks parental support. When he is charged with robbing a convenience store, he is railroaded into accepting a plea deal. Basically, the prosecutor threatens to send him to prison instead of juvie if he is found guilty in an actual trial. Since he’s assigned an overworked public defendant, and knows he can’t afford a good lawyer, he takes the plea instead of risking serving time in prison. This is something that occurs all to frequently in our own world. This is not a topic I see frequently discussed in YA fiction, despite the fact that this happens to young adults. I think SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME will be a great conversation starter, and I hope others will be inspired by how Elle and Drix react to the situation.

This is getting pretty long, so I’m just going to finish with this. While SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME tackles some tough subjects, it is also a romance. It’s about two teens finding each other despite their circumstances. Elle and Drix can serve as an inspiration, both in what they face and how they face it. They transform the hate they receive into love for each other. In the end, SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME is a story about love. Romantic love. Love for a friend. But most importantly, love for family. I’ve only talked about Drix and Elle, but there are so many more characters in this book that really make it what it is.

If you’ve read one of Katie McGarry’s books previously, I definitely recommend this one as well. If there’s a budding activist in your life, or you are one yourself, this is definitely the book to read. It will make you mad at times, but in the end, it’s worth it.

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

Excerpt:

~Ellison~

Sean points, and a woman in the back asks, “You never met Mr. Pierce before?”

I shake my head, and Sean gestures to the microphone. “No. I was playing a midway game earlier, and he ended up playing beside me, but then we went our separate ways. I left the game, and these guys started to harass me, and hen Hendrix asked if I needed help. I agreed, and he suggested we talk. He said that if the guys thought we were friends they would eventually lose interest, and they did. Hendrix played a game, and we talked until Andrew showed.”

“Andrew?” someone asks.

“Andrew Morton.” That causes enough of a stir that nervousness leaks into my bloodstream and makes my hands cold and clammy. Why is it that I feel that I said something terribly wrong?

“Are you and Andrew Morton friends?” someone else asks, and the question hits me in a sickening way. I name-dropped the grandson of the most powerful US Senator…the position my father is campaigning for. Sean is going to roast me alive.

“Yes. We’ve been friends for as long as I remember.” Friends, enemies, it’s all semantics at this point.

“Did you and Andrew Morton plan to attend the festival together?” Another reporter.

“Yes.”

“Were you on a date?” a woman asks.

My entire body recoils. “What?”

“Are you and Andrew Morton romantically involved?”

I become one of those bunnies who go still at the slightest sound. “I thought we were talking about Hendrix.”

“Did Mr. Pierce confront the men?”

Finally back on track. “No, he was adamant that there should be no violence.”

More questions and I put my hand in the air as I feel like I’m the one on trial. “Isn’t that the point? Hendrix went through my dad’s program, and one of the first chances he had to make a good decision, he made one. We’re strangers, and he helped me without violence. That, to me, is success.” A few people nod their head, and because I don’t want to be done yet… “Mr. O’Bryan—grown men shouldn’t be following seventeen-year-old girls. I’m curious why you didn’t step in when I was being harassed. If you saw Hendrix and me together, then you know what happened, and it’s horrifying you didn’t help. Hendrix made the right choice. You did not.”

A rumble of conversation, Sean places a hand on my arm and gently, but firmly pushes me to the side. The raging fire in his eyes says he’s mentally measuring out the room in the basement he’s going to let me rot in for the next ten years.

My father approaches the microphone with an ease I envy. “Any more questions for Ellison can be sent to my press secretary. As you can tell, it’s been a trying day for my daughter, but we are most grateful for Mr. Pierce’s actions. We promised a program that was going to help our state’s youth turn their lives around, and, thanks to Mr. Pierce’s admirable actions, we are proud of our first program’s success.”

He offers Drix his hand again, and Drix accepts.

Lots of pictures and applause, and Dad leans in and whispers something to him. I can’t tell what it is, but I do see the shadow that crosses over Drix’s face, his throat move as he swallow and then the slight nod of his head.

I don’t know what happened, but I don’t like it. The urge is to rush Drix, but Sean has a firm hold on my elbow, keeping me in place, silently berating me for causing problems.

Drix stands behind the podium and drops a bomb so huge the ground shakes beneath my feet.
“Because Ellison had enough courage to explain what happened today, I’m going to tell you what I was convicted of…”