“There is nothing more beautiful than being a witness to someone’s life. To know them inside and out and be with them through everything, share the same memories. Memories are everything, I want that.”

Say You’ll Remember Me, Abby Jimenez

⭐⭐

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Warning: Spoiler-Filled Rant Ahead!

Okay, so our established cast of characters are:

• Xavier – Greek-god looking veterinarian with the personality of a rock
• Samantha – quirky marketing girlie who loves mustard and kittens
• Jeneva – Samantha’s sister, a single mom of two boys
• Tristan – Samantha’s gay brother who is very much a “slay sass queen diva” but in a grumpy way
• Samantha’s mom, Lisa – has severe dementia, begged her family to keep her at home
• Samantha’s dad – still working full-time while taking care of his wife
• Samantha’s grandma – running the household and taking care of her daughter
• Chris & Mike – Xavier’s single BFFs, who are the main characters for the next two books in the series
• Jesse & Becca – Xavier’s coupled-off friends
• Xavier’s parents – abusive POS’s

All right, now we can get to the ridiculousness. And even though I’m going to tear this to shreds, I’ll give Jimenez one thing: this book wouldn’t exist if they broke up. So we’re keeping that as the only possible ending. But in my deepest heart of hearts, I wish this book hadn’t been written.

1. Xavier and Sam met twice and fall in love.
   And neither encounter is great. First there’s the whole no butthole debacle and a CAT NAMED POOTER! (I should’ve known from that name alone this was going to be a rough ride). Then a return trip for Sam to rub her online savvy in Xavier’s face. And a date because of that, then boom. They’re in love forever.
   
2. Sam can raise thousands of dollars for her cat to get butthole construction surgery, but never has the idea to fundraise for her mother’s care.
   There are so many choices in this book that PISSED me the fuck off, but this was the worst offender. You could raise $5,000 for a goddamn cat, and the idea never occurred to anyone (author included!!) to try that for the mom’s care? Little Miss Mustard Memes couldn’t start a new GoFundMe? Or use TikTok, her favorite thing eVeR, to vlog Day in my Lifes to raise money?? Ma’am, disrespectfully, what the fuck.
   
3. Xavier hates his parents but never has the idea to leave the town they all live in.
   The concept of free will worked when it came to flying to LA multiple times a year, just not when it came to opening a permanent vet clinic. They literally come and eat breakfast at your favorite restaurant to try and see you and you’re still fine just chillin’ in town? Could not be me if I was no contact.
   
4. Xavier has spent a decade working as hard as possible to save up money to open his own vet clinic…then is convinced it’s possible to work even harder.
   And it’s to fly out to his girlfriend for a weekend every three months. I’m sorry, there’s nothing sexy or romantic about a man giving up his entire life to spend moments with you. And yes, Sam mentions that one time, after Xavier takes TWO cross-country flights with double pneumonia and ends up in the ER.
   
5. There’s no concept of miles as credit card points.
   At least put your debt to use and rack up some airline miles!! Become a Delta rewards member, do something!
   
6. Samantha and her siblings are absolutely determined to “be there for their mom” and do absolutely nothing for her, their dad, or their grandma.
   It’s mentioned a few times, but not really. Lisa is living in her childhood home with her husband, three adult children, and her elderly mother, and her mom is the one stuck doing the primary care? Why even bother moving back to LA?
   
7. Why would you remodel an entire house while your family member needs 24/7 care and has dementia??
   Especially when you have to take out a loan to do it?! Everyone knows home remodels suck the entire life out of you, and are disorienting even when you don’t have SEVERE DEMENTIA.
   
8. Why would you ever do surprise visits that include flights, especially on the off-chance your partner could also being trying to surprise you?!
   As someone with anxiety, this could never be me. But to do this, especially when one of you is sick, is maniacal. Literally two bumbling idiots crossing each other in the air for the fun price of a thousand dollars.
   
9. As a group, the siblings blame their dad for their grandma’s death.
   The grandma decided to put off a recommended surgery because she didn’t want to add more of a burden to her family’s lives. The family living in her house for basically free, making her take care of her daughter on her own, and generally not giving a fuck. And she told her son-in-law all of this, and he respected her wishes not to say anything. But sure, be mad at this broken carcass of a man.
   
10. Xavier’s friends barely do anything for him despite being his “found family.”
    They crash his first date that he’s clearly anxious about, leave and don’t check in so they’re stuck in an escape room overnight, and then don’t do anything else for literally 9 months. And even then it’s just a “hey buddy, you seem tired.” Sir, this man has probably died 3 times already, can we have a heart-to-heart conversation about things not working out just because we want them to?
    
11. Until Xavier goes to stay with Samantha’s family, they really have no concept of care for a person with dementia, but they’ve already been taking care of her for literal years?
    First, that’s borderline abuse. Second, how hard is it to go through the thought process of “She seems upset. Is she hungry, tired, thirsty, or is it time for her to use the bathroom? Has something else in her routine been altered that might be affecting her?” But god forbid they put her in a memory care facility with 24/7 caretakers TRAINED to take care of her.
    
12. Xavier and Samantha have no chemistry.
    Xavier says if Sam was a worm, he’d take care of her. And he’s letting her truly ruin his life in a disgusting way. Those are the two big things all the girlies seem to absolutely dissolving over. And guess what? Sam explicitly says those two things remind her of her dad, AKA it’s just daddy issues. And speaking of,
    
13. Samantha’s dad leaves the house routinely from midnight to 2am for sexual encounters. And it’s never discussed!?
    Look, it’s not great, but it’s also not full-on cheating. But also, maybe we could throw in one sentence about it being a woman he met on a dating app, or a friend from work, or a classmate from way back. Just anything that doesn’t have me fully convinced he’s paying for sex (I’m fully convinced he’s just paying for sex).
    
14. Xavier’s staff has a perfect solution to Xavier’s problems, but is literally too scared of him to say something for months.
    There’s just a cohort of old men around who want to work for free for an ambiguously long time?? That these two women know about, and just kind ho-hummed about for months. I’ll be honest, this was where my sanity levels really started to dive down. Truly unbelievable plot point after unbelievable plot point.
    
15. WHY WOULD YOU USE A TAYLOR SWIFT LYRIC AND NOT USE ANY OF THE THEMES OF THE SONG?
    It’s a great song with a plot that would’ve been way better. It’s a summer fling anthem, which would’ve benefited everyone except Lisa. Thank god Xavier went to LA at least once to teach everyone that humans get hungry.

Overall, this book was infuriating. A series of bad choices that I couldn’t accept for even a moment. My final thoughts are about the main quote for this book, which is repeated several times throughout. Sam keeps saying she wants to be the witness to someone’s life. She wants someone to witness hers, so they can share all these inside jokes and memories. You know what she never mentions? A partner in life. She wants someone parallel to her, observing her life, not necessarily participating in it with her. And that was real clear from the book itself.

But also, if you liked this book, I’m so happy for you 🫶🏻 (it just couldn’t be me).