Welcome to the next stop in the SAY YOU'LL REMEMBER ME blog tour hosted by Inkslinger PR. I'm thrilled to share an excerpt from Katie McGarry's newest release, as well as my 4 star review. First, here's a little bit about the book:
ABOUT THE BOOK
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Released on: January 30th, 2018
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | BAM | Kobo
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars
An arc of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review
"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 REVIEW
This is another Katie McGarry book I thoroughly enjoyed reading. She continues prove why she's one of my favorite realistic contemporary YA authors. McGarry has a knack for writing true to life characters, stories that emotionally get to me, and a romance that is full of tension and swoon worthy moments. This edgy, realistic, coming of age story is full of heartbreak, hope, and centers on two strong characters who fight for each other as much as their own freedom to just be themselves.
McGarry writes teenage stories perfectly. I love the way she creates characters who have realistic, far from perfect lives. They learn to stand up for themselves, while in the process navigate their own lives, figure out who they are, and what it is they want. This story, like her previous ones is full of all the emotions, and experiences that come with being on the bring of independence. Like her previous characters, Elle and Drix quickly became characters I cared about.
I absolutely loved that Elle became a character who found her voice, and wasn't afraid to use it. I greatly admired her for standing her ground. Drix is a little bit more complicated. What I liked about him, is that he accepted Elle for who she was, and helped her embrace the strong willed girl she was with him, vs the timid soft spoken girl she became around her over controlling parents. Elle and Drix brought out the best in each other, without forcing the other into being someone they aren't.
I'm really hoping we'll get more from the characters in this book. Aside from Elle and Drix, there's a few characters I really enjoyed getting to know more about, like Axle and Holiday, Drix's brother and sister. I love that the secondary characters in this book play just as big as a role in the story as Elle and Drix. There's a couple cringe worthy characters in this book, including some adults.
McGarry's book never disappoint me. This is another fast paced read I really enjoyed. Like each of her previous books, there is some mild language, and sexual tensions that lead to a few swoonworthy moments.
This is another Katie McGarry book I thoroughly enjoyed reading. She continues prove why she's one of my favorite realistic contemporary YA authors. McGarry has a knack for writing true to life characters, stories that emotionally get to me, and a romance that is full of tension and swoon worthy moments. This edgy, realistic, coming of age story is full of heartbreak, hope, and centers on two strong characters who fight for each other as much as their own freedom to just be themselves.
McGarry writes teenage stories perfectly. I love the way she creates characters who have realistic, far from perfect lives. They learn to stand up for themselves, while in the process navigate their own lives, figure out who they are, and what it is they want. This story, like her previous ones is full of all the emotions, and experiences that come with being on the bring of independence. Like her previous characters, Elle and Drix quickly became characters I cared about.
I absolutely loved that Elle became a character who found her voice, and wasn't afraid to use it. I greatly admired her for standing her ground. Drix is a little bit more complicated. What I liked about him, is that he accepted Elle for who she was, and helped her embrace the strong willed girl she was with him, vs the timid soft spoken girl she became around her over controlling parents. Elle and Drix brought out the best in each other, without forcing the other into being someone they aren't.
I'm really hoping we'll get more from the characters in this book. Aside from Elle and Drix, there's a few characters I really enjoyed getting to know more about, like Axle and Holiday, Drix's brother and sister. I love that the secondary characters in this book play just as big as a role in the story as Elle and Drix. There's a couple cringe worthy characters in this book, including some adults.
McGarry's book never disappoint me. This is another fast paced read I really enjoyed. Like each of her previous books, there is some mild language, and sexual tensions that lead to a few swoonworthy moments.
READ AN EXCERPT
~Ellison~
The sights and sounds of the midway fade, and all I hear is buzzing. I close my eyes as more pissed-off tears fill my eyes. Why won’t they go away?
“You okay?” a guy asks.
I open my eyes and focus on the ground. My eyes are red, I know they are. I can feel the puffiness of my skin. I take a deep breath, look up to explain I’m okay, and freeze.
Holy hell. It’s the boy from Whack-A-Mole. He’s so much more breathtaking this close, and I have no idea how that’s possible.
“Are those guys bothering you?” he asks.
My forehead furrows. Yes, they are, but telling him the truth and inviting him into my problems seems wrong.
“Since you’re so talkative, I’ll start the conversation,” he says. “If you want to get rid of those guys then stand here and talk to me, and I’ll stand here and talk to you. You can smile like you know me because it’s tough to make me smile, and it will seem fake. Then I can try to win you a stuffed animal. Won’t be a snake, but it will do. Those losers will catch on we’re friends. Eventually, they’ll keep walking, and then they’ll return to their loser frat house where they’ll play with themselves for the rest of the night because they don’t know how to properly talk to a girl.”
I blink because all thought processes have taken a mini break. Either that or I’m having a stroke.
“Just a smile. Maybe a few mumbled words. Tell me anything. Doesn’t have to be poetic. Just your lips moving in my direction without your current blank expression.”
I blink again, many times, as the sights, sounds and smells of the midway blast back as if someone had pushed the play button on my life. I flash the perfectly practiced public smile I’ve used too many other times in my life.
“I don’t know how to get them to leave me alone.” I pause, then the bitterness leaks out as well as a grim grin. “At least not without a baseball and a well-placed throw. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to continue their genetics.”
The right side of his mouth tips up, and my eyes narrow on him. “I thought you didn’t smile easily.”
“I have a twisted sense of humor, and I didn’t think a girl like you could make me laugh. You’ve done it twice now. That’s a record for the past year.”
I bristle, still on the dangerous edge of anger. “A girl like me?”
“Yeah, one that’s out of my league. Listen, if you want to get out of this situation without it escalating, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll take a step back, and you can do whatever you need. I’m all about helping, but I’m not looking to get into a fight. Your call on how this goes down, but if it’s violence, you’re on your own.”
He says he doesn’t want to partake in violence, but there’s an essence about him that says he could drop anyone at any time and do it without breaking a sweat.
He’s looking at me, I’m looking at him, and the flutter in my chest returns.
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. https://a.pgtb.me/4tLZSM
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.
Posts
Thank you so much! ~Jessica, InkSlinger PR
ReplyDeleteStunning review Katie :D So glad you enjoyed this one a bunch. <3 I have only read one book by this author, ack. Not really my genre at all :) But curious. YAY for awesome characters :D
ReplyDelete