Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

318 reviews

emotional funny sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Where do I even begin? This was my first Abby Jimenez book, and it took me by surprise. I did not expect to love this book as much as I have! 

The plot follows Samantha and Xavier as they navigate a long-distance relationship. Samantha does marketing for a mustard company, and Xavier is an extremely hard working vet who runs his own clinic. Samantha is witty, loves animals just as much as Xavier, and fantastic at creating hilarious marketing campaigns. Xavier is serious, intelligent, focused so much on his work that he has very little time for anything else. 

Their story reflects the challenges of falling in love and doing long-distance, and deals with issues of
child abuse/trauma, animal abuse, complicated family dynamics, caring for a loved one with dementia, grief, and financial insecurity


The way that Abby Jimenez writes about dementia is very insightful, accurate, and emotional, particularly if you have experienced a loved one suffering from it personally. As the book develops, we journey with Samantha and her family as they try to get a better understanding of dementia and the challenges it brings, not only to the person suffering but to the people caring for them. I have never read a romance novel where this is focused on in such depth and written so well. You will need your tissues handy! 

The love between Xavier and Samantha is unconditional and beautiful, and I loved that although Jimenez alludes to spicy scenes (which I did appreciate!), she doesn’t make that the focus of their relationship. Xavier comes out of himself the more that he is around Samantha, and throughout the book Xavier becomes a rock for Samantha and her family too.

Not to mention the writing is HILARIOUS, and there are things that happen to them that are hilarious as well - but I’ll not spoil that for you. 

I admit that I judged this book by its cover and believed that I wouldn’t get anything deeper than a lighthearted romance read. But I was so wrong, and I’m so glad I was! This will definitely not be my last Abby Jimenez read, and it definitely shouldn’t be yours either. 


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emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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challenging emotional sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I’m not saying Abby Jimenez is not a great romance writer. I’m not saying this isn’t a good romance between two likable characters in a hard situation. I’m not saying it’s not unique. But holy crap, I AM saying that I should have paid better attention to those trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. 

For a romance, this is INTENSE.
Between the serious and accurate descriptions of dementia, the sudden death of a loving family member, child abuse, and the MULTIPLE MOMENTS of skin chilling animal abuse, by the end I didn’t care what happened to these characters, I was just praying for it to be over. To be fair, I was warned, but I don’t think “mentions of animal abuse” had quite prepared me for how hard it was going to be to read people being downright sadistic to these innocent babies. So, note to myself for later, I guess.


Sidebar, the rounding up is 100% for Hank— I love him, I love his story
and how he is truly the hero of this whole novel
, and I would do anything to make sure he is living a happy full life. 

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emotional medium-paced
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No

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emotional funny inspiring fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Abby Jimenez couldn’t write a bad book if she tried. I loved how hard both characters worked to make their relationship work despite the obstacles in their way. I appreciated that the “issues” in their relationship were all external factors and you could feel the love between them so intensely. There are some heavy topics in this book but they’re handled very tastefully and I think there’s a perfect balance.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings