Book Review: Pushing the Limits

by Katie McGarry

Book Trailer 

Book Description

"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Book Review: 5/5

"Fuck me and the rest of the world, I was in love." 

I fell in love with two scarred teenagers who at a young age, has already a lot on their plates. 

Echo, her name is unique, which I really like. It makes her different from the rest of the heroines I have encountered in the YA-world. She's an artist, and gets good grades. She used to be Ms Popularity, dated the hottest boy in school but she disappeared for a month. She returned a different person - recluse and a loner. She is scarred - literally and figuratively. After losing her brother in the war, everything changed. Her family fell apart - she could no longer see her mom, her father was busy with his new wife who was her former babysitter and she was just lost. Especially when she couldn't remember something important. She had a memory lapse, and she wanted to regain that memory no matter how painful it is. 

Noah lost both his parents at a young age, and was passed from one foster home to the other. He lost hope in the system, and only wants one thing: his brothers. He'd do anything for the both of them. I love that about him, the importance he gave to his family, but sometimes too much love can blind a person. It's a good thing that he saw the light before he made a bad decision he'd regret for life. 

Mrs Collins she had my heart. My sister is a social worker and I am amaze how these people can change and touch lives. Both of her 'wards' are strong-willed and really hard-headed. But she still stayed with the both of them and tried her best in dealing with their issues. She didn't give up and saw some results that paid off her hard work. Social work and helping these kids were more than just a work that pays off her bills for her - Mrs. Collins really cared. You can feel her sincerity at the same time her concern for both Noah and Echo. If people in the social welfare office are like her, then kids inside the foster homes and those who needs a lot of help because of trauma/abuse are in good hands. 

Pushing the limits has its share of protagonist and antagonist that will have you confused as you go along - but I like that every character has its own roles to play. Everyone is important and their own time to shine in one point in the novel. 

Katie McGarry had me hooked, I can't stop reading this book for the whole day. Yep, I finished Pushing the Limits in one sitting. I was so into it because it's more than just an ordinary love story - it revolves around sensitive topic that was delivered with tact. It was discussed carefully, yet extensively. Hot topics such as family dynamics, abuse, foster homes, drugs, sex, social welfare, and mental health. A lot to digest, right? But everything went flawlessly. No doors were left unopened and putting down the book didn't made me crave for more of the characters, instead I was looking forward for more Katie McGarry books. 

Favorite Quotes

• “I love you enough to never make you choose.” 
• “Luke used to give me butterflies. Noah spawned mutant pterodactyls.” 
• “Her shoulders never shook. No tears streamed down her face. The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see--the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived. For people like me and Echo, our souls contained more scar tissue than life.” 
• “We’d read about sirens in English this fall; Greek mythology bullshit about women so beautiful, their voices so enchanting, that men did anything for them. Turned out that mythology crap was real because every time I saw her, I lost my mind.” 
• “I gazed into her beautiful green eyes and her fear melted. A shy smile tugged at her lips and at my heart. Fuck me and the rest of the world, I was in love.” 
• “I've already lost a piece of my mind. I can't trust you with what's left.” 
• “Because growing up means making tough choices, and doing the right thing doesn’t necessarily mean doing the thing that feels good.”