Review: Pushing the Limts by Katie McGarry

Author: Katie McGarry

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication date: July 31st 2012

Source: Copy received from publisher via NetGalley (many thanks)

From Goodreads:

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

My Review

I’ve been watching out for this one for a while because I was so eager to read it after spotting its mentions and reading the blurb. Yes, yes, I’ve had it on pre-order for a while, but I’m not the most patient of people when there’s a book I want to check out, and so I almost peed my pants in excitement when my review request was approved, to the point I sped faster through my current read just so I could get to this sooner.

Of course, when you’re that eager to read a book, there’s always the niggling concern that it’ll turn out to be nothing like it’s cracked up to be.

That wasn’t the case for Pushing the Limits. Not at all. No, siree!

It’s very rare that I adore a female lead in a book as much as I do the male, but without doubt, Echo is one relatable and heart-breaking character the reader has no choice but to connect with.

As for Noah? Dude! I was smitten.

From the word go, this book grapple-hooked me and refused to let go as it tugged me through this tale that was sad yet uplifting, dark yet enlightening, and filled with a tension that almost goes unnoticed thanks to the superb relaxed tone that ensures the reader becomes just the right amount of absorbed.

Whilst I could gripe that, due to this being an ARC, there were some formatting issues that meant there was no indication of whose pov we were in, no scene breaks or chapters, I won’t—because, despite this being written 1^st person from BOTH pov’s, it took me only a sentence or two with each switch to figure it out. Because I loved the 2 different pov’s. Loved how individual they sounded. Loved how I could tell them apart from narration alone. On top of that, I loved how it allowed me to get so deeply into both Noah and Echo’s heads, which gave me the chance to emotionally connect with each.

From around 15% in, I decided Noah is exactly the kind of guy I’d fall for (even if my mother would have screwed if I’d brought a guy like him home), and eagerly awaited the moment when they each realised their growing feelings were mutual. But don’t mistake this for a simple case of young love because it is so, so much more than that.

Both Echo and Noah have their own demons/issues to deal with, their problems to solve, their lives to rebuild—in totally different ways—and I loved how they ended up thrust together because of this, and how they found strengths in each other to help them on their paths. For the most part, I held it together pretty well whilst the characters did, but Noah’s scenes later in the book where he cries for the first time, and then the break-up scene and when Echo ‘remembers’ … I pretty much cried throughout these entire scenes because they almost bordered on soul destroying, and the characters emotions are handled in such a beautifully believable way, that only a rock wouldn’t get caught up in their moments.

I guess I should wrap up. I’ve tried to write this as spoiler-free as possible, and as I’ve written it right after finishing, there’s a good chance I’ve missed out some of how I feel. But I will close by saying this is quite possibly one of the most heartbreaking yet uplifting YA novels I’ve ever read and I am most definitely adding Katie McGarry to my favourites list because I abso-freakin’-lutely loved it.

Read it! You won’t regret it!