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I have a confession: I’m not a die-hard romance stan. Don’t get me wrong, I love a book that has me blushing and kicking my feet, but actually getting those butterflies most romance books promise is a rare feat. More often than not, I find myself cringing at overdone tropes rather than swooning. However, when I picked up my first Abby Jimenez novel, I knew she was an immediate must-read author for me. She seamlessly weaves romance with fiction to create love stories that thaw my cold heart. So when her latest release, Say You’ll Remember Me, was announced, I knew I needed to pick it up ASAP—especially after seeing how split her fans were online. Some called it their new absolute favorite, while others were completely disappointed. Here’s my full review of Say You’ll Remember Me:
Abby Jimenez Say You’ll Remember Me
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer comes a playful yet deeply emotional romance where one date is all it takes for two people to know they’re perfect for each other . . . until one of them moves 2,000 miles away the next day.
What is Say You’ll Remember Me about?
Say You’ll Remember Me follows Samantha and Xavier after they meet at Xavier’s veterinary office, where Samantha brings in her kitten. They immediately clash, but both are intrigued by the attractive, strong-willed person on the other side of the exam table. Xavier asks her out, and their instant connection leads to an incredible first date that lasts the entire night.
Unfortunately, Samantha has a flight early the next morning to permanently move across the country. They both try to forget each other, knowing a long-distance relationship with a near-stranger isn’t exactly ideal. But forgetting that kind of chemistry? Easier said than done.
My Review of Say You’ll Remember Me
The biggest critique I’ve seen online was also my main issue while reading: the rampant use of TikTok language and references. Within the first few chapters, Xavier is compared to Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses, “core memories” are referenced multiple times, characters throw around “it’s giving…” and call people “pick mes.” At one point, Samantha even asks Xavier if he’d still love her if she were a worm, which you may recognize as a TikTok trend from literally five years ago.
I usually enjoy pop culture references in books, but they need to be smart and actually serve a purpose. These didn’t. Instead, the TikTok vocabulary completely took me out of the narrative. I’m all for digital-age storytelling, but there’s a difference between using social media as a theme—critiquing or celebrating it—and just sprinkling in brainrot buzzwords to pander to readers on TikTok who are already buying your books. At times, it almost felt like Abby Jimenez underestimated her audience’s intelligence, as if we could only connect with her writing if it were phrased in TikTok terms.
I might’ve been able to look past the ultra-modern writing style if the romance had delivered, but unfortunately, I found the connection between Samantha and Xavier lacking. I’m not the biggest fan of the insta-love trope, but it’s not a dealbreaker if the relationship develops enough to justify that immediate spark. But because Samantha and Xavier are trying to make it work long distance, we barely see them interact. They kept referencing this incredible chemistry that made all the effort and suffering worth it, but as a reader, I kept thinking: wait… what chemistry? Why are they doing this?
“The realities of caretaking and family trauma might not deliver the romcom vibes promised by the pastel, cartoonish cover, but these parts of the story helped ground the book in reality.”
That said, I did find it incredibly refreshing to read a romance where the main obstacle isn’t something that could be resolved with one honest conversation. Sam and Xavier had valid reasons for not being able to just be together in person or pack up and move. We can’t all drop thousands of dollars on plane tickets to visit our crushes, and they both had real-life obligations that made relocating impossible, which I appreciated as a reader. But because the long-distance struggle was introduced so early and never evolved, the entire middle of the book felt repetitive. We cycled through the same beats over and over: Samantha and Xavier wish they were together in person, someone manages to visit, they spiral over what the point of being together is if they’re never actually together, but they love each other too much to break up. Rinse and repeat—until everything magically works out at the end.
For me, the book’s biggest strength was, hands down, the subplot about Samantha’s family dynamics. Some readers found the familial struggles too heavy, but I thought they were the only relationships that actually helped me understand who Samantha and Xavier are. We got to see how they support each other and Samantha’s family through hard times, which revealed way more than their internal monologues about how much long distance sucks. The realities of caretaking and family trauma might not deliver the romcom vibes promised by the pastel, cartoonish cover, but these parts of the story helped ground the book in reality. Though if you’ve experienced difficult family relationships or been the caretaker of a loved one yourself, I would definitely recommend looking up content trigger warnings before diving in.
So, should you read Say You’ll Remember Me?
Personally, I’d recommend plenty of other Abby Jimenez books before Say You’ll Remember Me. But if the premise sounds interesting to you, and you have a higher tolerance for secondhand cringe, there’s still a chance you might love it. Reviews online are definitely mixed, so while I won’t be texting all my friends to run to the library ASAP, if you’ve read all my qualms and are still intrigued, then by all means, give it a go.
