July 14, 2012

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry


Title: Pushing the Limits
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: July 31st 2012

Rating: 5/5

Buy it at: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Read first chapters here.

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.
Pushing the Limits is a contemporary novel and I loved it, is a heartbreaking story (yes, I cried), but in the end it left me feeling that all was well with the world.

The story is told from two points of view, alternating between Echo and Noah, and I loved that because it made me understand them a little more, especially Noah. I loved the characters of Echo and Noah (I adored him!).

Echo is a 17 year-old girl, she´s in her senior year, she used to be popular but now she´s a freak and subject to gossip and speculations because of the scars on her arms, which she covers with long-sleeved shirts and gloves, she attends therapy weekly with a social worker at her school because she can´t remember anything about the day she suffered the accident. Echo lives with her father, whom she blindly obey and with her stepmother, whom she hates. Noah is 17 year-old too and also like Echo is in his senior year. Noah is considered a bad boy with a bad reputation for been a womanizer, he is an orphan and lives in a foster home and also attends therapy with the same clinical social worker as Echo.
"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.
Echo is a very good student and is assigned to tutor Noah, so they begin to spend time together, at first they did not get along, but as they spend more time together the attraction between them is undeniable. And they found in each other something they needed and hadn´t so far managed to find, understanding and acceptance; they needed to feel normal.
"But I wanted normal and for a few minutes that´s what I was. Like two years ago...like before..."
 Normal. She wanted normal and so do I. "You know what´s normal?"
Another great character is Mrs.Collins, the social worker who provides therapy to Echo and Noah. I loved her interaction with both, especially with Noah because he was the most reluctant to trust an adult.

Pushing the Limits is the debut novel of Katie McGarry and she did an outstanding job, with a plot that keep me hooked from the beginning and I could not put it down. I could connect with the main characters and understand them. Pushing the Limits is a story with romance where the protagonists embark on an emotional journey where they learn to forgive, to trust and end up seeing the world differently.

This is a book that I recommend and is a must read. I can´t  wait to read next book of this author, Dare You To, is Beth´s story, she appears in this book, she´s like a sister to Noah.

Book trailer

22 comments:

  1. so exited for this book
    gr8 review

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  2. I've heard so many good things about this one! owh. need to read it asap

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  3. It's on my wishlist!

    Thanks for this great review - the characters and story sound awesome!

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  4. I'm so excited about this book! I keep hearing it's amazing and your review is just one more reason for me to read it!

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  5. I'm always so wary of contemporary YA, but I've seen so many amazing reviews I'm going to give it a try. Let's see if I cry too ;-)

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  6. Great review and I love the quotes! Can't wait to read this one!

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  7. sounds a great book

    nice review, make me so interest with this book:)

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  8. One I've had on my wishlist since I read the first blurb

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  9. Now I really really really want this book. It is the july new release I most want. Cant wait to read it!

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  10. Can't wait! Thanks for the review. :)

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  11. Good review! I'm really excited about this book. Love books with love hate relationships. x)

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  12. Ooh! I can't wait to read this one!

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  13. This is on my wishlist. I am worried I'll cry now reading this. Thank you for the great review!

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  14. This is one book that I'm dying to get my hands on. :) I love when a book makes me cry. LOL
    Thank you for the review!

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  15. Talk about cute covers! LOL
    I love books which are told from both hero and heroine's PoV. This book is on my wish list and hopefully I can get my hands on it ASAP. Btw, nice review! :)

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  16. when I first heard about this one the cover didn't really appeal to me... but then I read a few reviews and the first few chapters over at Figment and now I really want to get my hands on it when it comes out in a week!

    thanks for sharing your review :D

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  17. Those are my exact words when I read a good book "all is well with the world"! I have read great reviews and yours is no exception. Thanks for that review!

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  18. I would love to read this book. I have read great reviews and have it in my book wish list.

    jmesparza821(at)gmail(dot)com

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  19. I'm really looking forward to reading this one. I particularly enjoy books that can make me cry, and this one sounds like it would do just that.
    Thank you for the review!

    Pam

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  20. currently reading this book...all may friend gave 4-5 stars...wow !! :D

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  21. I really REALLY want to read this book! It's on my To- Buy Next list! Thanks for the review and book trailer!

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