Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

2/5 stars

SPOILERS AHEAD

This was... a lot. 

I've had mixed feelings about some of Abby Jimenez's books in the past, but have generally enjoyed them. However, I fear this one may have landed her in Ali Hazelwood jail for me. This whole thing was so cringey and millenial coded for me that I actually caught myself making faces in the office while I listened to it. The one extra star is because I love reading about Santa Monica and LA because it's my home and I think it's cute, get off my back. Never going to the beach at night because it's murdery and being terrified on the ferris wheel on the pier are core to my existence here. That said, I was fighting for my life not to dnf when she said she was going to take him to the best burger of his life, and then takes him to In n Out. Please.

I'll start with the things that I liked. The whole idea of wanting to live a parallel life to someone is incredibly sweet, and something I can understand the desire for. Seeing a scar on someone and knowing the story behind it because you were there for it - very cute. Him showing up in California with Porto's because she mentioned she loved it - also very cute.

"I think I couldn't forget you because I remembered you from another lifetime. And I loved you then, too."

Incredibly romantic, and honestly a dream. Who doesn't want to believe that the person they love is the same person they've loved in all of their past lives?

That's it. That's the good. Now buckle in...

I have never wanted to break a couple up so badly in my life. Samantha is the most selfish person on the planet and Xavier is just dumb. They went on literally one date before they decided that they couldn't live without one another. That is the most insane insta-love situation I can imagine, and I will always hate insta-love. This man is literally willing to completely bankrupt himself, go hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt, lose his veterinary practice that he has worked his whole life for, all for a girl who has a weird obsession with mustard and has the personality of every pick-me millenial that has an obsession with TikTok and peaked in high school. I'm sorry I actually could not stand Samantha. If you love someone as much as you say you do, you don't let them LITERALLY throw their entire life away for you. The co-dependence between these two was so unbelievably unhealthy. Going from one date into a long distance relationship into sacrificing your entire life within the span of one year, and then getting engaged on the day you leave your life behind is crazy work. For someone who supposedly hates people, he sure changed his tune the second a random girl came in with a cat smushed in her boobs.

I quite literally could not have cared less about any of the side characters either. They all fell so flat. Her siblings, her dad, the girls at the clinic Xavier's friends. They were all so boring. I'm grateful that I don't know anyone with dementia, so I can't speak to the accuracy of what her family was experiencing, but it kind of felt like it was used for shock factor more than anything. Again, I don't have experience with that disease, so Abby Jimenez could have handled it with respect and accuracy, and I just don't know. Let me know. Or don't, honestly, I don't care that much.

And I'm so sorry, but all of these women saying that Xavier looked just like Rhysand was making me want to scream. I don't know why that made me so irrationally annoyed but like, keep other real life books out of it and stop making me kind of hate Rhysand too.

Here are some of my thoughts that I wrote down as I listened:.

"I should just stick to medium ugly men like I was used to LMAO."

"She just said loins... ew."

"He needed her... razzmatazz? The fuck?"

"Bro, not her pulling out her phone to record this guy in the parking lot I'm dead."

"Oh god, not would you still want me if I was a worm, actually kms."

"Honestly this girl is so selfish."

"She was looking at me the same way she looked at mustard??? OH BROTHER, THIS GUY STINKS."

Okay, thank you for letting me rant, I need a lobotomy and my cowboy romances.