Ellis, Quinn, and Amory have a happy daddy-boy-boy relationship. It took them a long time to get there — and they’re still healing from their journeys. Quinn used sex to cover up his deep well of loneliness. Ellis had lost himself. Amory had his home and his god ripped away. This collection of short, impressionistic vignettes tells the story of how they got there. Told in McBryant’s lyrical, … lyrical, almost dream-like prose, Remember All the Things You Don’t Want to Forget shows how small events in Quinn, Ellis, and Amory’s lives — and sometimes not-so-small-events — shaped them, and brought them, almost inevitably, to each other.
These short snippets show their lives before they came together, and offer a glimpse of how the three fit together. Rather than short stories, these are small moments in the lives of three people who came to love one another — three people who were waiting for each other all along.
Full of the lyrical prose and attention to detail you expect from McBryant, these character studies offer a different perspective into Quinn, Ellis, and Amory in many events that are hinted at, but never detailed, in other Southern Scandal books.
Note that while Christmas Cousins, Southern Scandal #3, is still on preorder, this book contains no spoilers for it, and they can be read out of order.
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A beautifully told collection. I cannot express how wonderful these stories are. I absolutely love the characters and my heart aches for them. These stories bring them to life and you need this book in your life!
It was great to get a snapshot into the lives of Quinn, Ellis and Amory before they met and forged the connections they have. This backstory made me cry, to see just what they’ve been through, but made me love them even more for their inner strength.
I really like prequels because we get the chance to learn more about the characters we love. In this prequel you can read snippets from Quinn, Ellis and Amory’s past. It was very very interesting, I feel like I know them better and I understand their motives better. Seven year old Quinn was the most precious thing ever and he broke my heart. I loved Ellis’ coming out scene and the part with Mark broke my heart all over again. As much as I love Quinn and Ellis Amory’s story was my favorite. It hit me hard. I could just feel his pain and wanted to hug him tight.
This was great!
I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
I received an ARC in exchange of an honest review. Every option stated is my own. Wow this collection was gut wrenching. I was a mess while reading . I wanted to grab up all three of them and just love them. I loved getting a look at what shaped these guys into the people they are and the relationship they come to have. I’m ready for more from these characters !
Ellis, Quinn and Amory have suffered from a young age and this book gives you their back stories. They break your heart and you just want to hug them. Julia McBryant writes it in a way were you are not overwhelmed, but still grasp all the hurt, loneliness and brokenness of these boys and what makes them into the men they become. And I definitely will be reading I Wish I was Special to continue their story and how they find love with each other.
This book was Fantastic it explains a lot about Ellis, Amory, and Quinn. The short stories of the three guys really open your eyes. Julia McBryant is an Outstanding Author. The way it is written to explain their childhood is so wonderful and important.
I haven’t read the first two books, but I definitely will! All three of these boys have been so hurt, my heart ached for them. I’m glad I read this first so I have a better understanding of them as grown men. I love the way the author details their history. I’m looking forward to reading the other books
Beautifully written emotional insight into Quinn Ellis’s and Amory’s childhoods. Giving the impression that the reactions of their families,has shaped their lives since.
I am already invested in these characters and I want to read more about them. To make sure they are okay.
I recommend this novella to all those who already know these characters and to all those who are discovering them.
Thank you Julia McBryant for allowing me to read this in advance of release. I hope my review encourages people to snap this book up. You won’t be disappointed.
Phar Lap
As you see little snapshots of Quinn, Ellis, and Amory’s lives before they were in a relationship with any of the others. These are snapshots of before they all met, even Quinn and Ellis. In I Wish I Were Special, you see how Quinn’s mom compares him to his brothers and this shows up that the comparison was part of his life growing up. Even knowing that Quinn gets his happily ever after my heart was breaking for Quinn as a child and even as a teen. I just wanted to pull child Quinn out of the book and give him hugs and cuddles and wrap him in a blanket, so he would know he was loved. I knew that Ellis had a rough childhood as did Quinn but in I Wish I Were Special and Beautiful Boys you don’t really get told that much about it besides that he used to have a partner that walked away from him that was a drug user and that’s why he doesn’t deal with drug using boys. In this we learn more about that relationship and it’s aftermath. And Amory, poor baby, I just want to pull him out of the book and wrap him in a blanket and give him cuddles and hugs as well. Seeing the snapshots of what got him sent to military school and how it was when he got out of military school, those broke my heart. And all I can think is how can a parent have any children and not love them? How could they be that cruel as to leave their children to suffer and try to make it in this world? Although, you do get to see Amory sitting in the bar across from the club where he meets Quinn and Ellis and is so gratifying knowing that his Happily Ever After is right there.
Julia McBryant was brilliant in the way she showed the passage of time, such as child to adult in a way that flowed well from one snapshot to the next without coming right out and saying the age. It showed each person grown older.
Even though this is technically from events happening before the they all got together, before I Wish I Were Special and Beautiful Boys, it is recommended that they are read before this. It could be read before those, but would not make much sense as most of these events are mentioned in some way in the other two books. This shows more of their thoughts and feelings as they got older and as Quinn and Amory went from children to adults.
I received a copy of this as an ARC.
This collection broke my heart.
You need to read this in conjunction with the first two books in the series as it gives you insight into how Quinn Ellis, and Amory can forge the connection they have.
This is not a collection of short stories, but more of glimpses in their lives. It’s so heartbreaking, made worse by the type of prose used.
The book reads like poetry but the insights we get are anything but poetic. Julia McBryant is an evil author and I want to hug each of these boys. I’m glad that they now have each other, but seeing how they got to be the men they are now hurt my poor heart.
Despite Julia McBryant being mean to her babies, she’s a fantastic author who can make even the worst situations sound beautiful while simultaneously tearing us to pieces.
This Prequel is a great insight into Ellis, Amory and Quinn; their pasts and how they got to be where they all were before meeting. This was short snippets and honestly heart wrenching. Definitely a good read if you want to know more of them pre-meeting each other and I feel like you get to see how much they grow and become more with the influence they have in each other in the future. This is a must read if you love this series and want the full picture.
This book was given to me as an ARC, every opinion is my own.
Three shorts about life before Quinn, Ellis and Amory met each other. In the two other books about our boys there have been snippets of how things were like before, and it was dulled grey at best, compared to the colours that exploded between the three.
Quinn have had a special place in my heart since I read I wish I were special, he’s always been so lost and longing for everything he didn’t have. And reading any sorrow he went through always hold the silver lining that he would beet Ellis and eventually Amory.
Ellis was a Daddy from the start, even if he didn’t know it, and I couldn’t help but think to myself “You will soon meet your boys” when he was lost, someone to care for and hold on to.
And lastly Amory that had so little for so long, having had to hold himself together while loosing it all and then get given everything because he met the right men.
It’s safe to say I love getting my fill of the boys, even the tragic.
It’s the memories that shape the people we become, but with the right partners in your life you can find that place in yourself that allows you to heal and become more. For Ellis, Amory and Quinn each has broken pieces of themseves but with the love they share, knowing each others triggers they work to build each other up and support each other through every trial they endure. I totally get drawn into all the emotions these stories evoke, they are so well written, that you have it read and before your know you have read it all, and can’t wait for the next.