Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry.

Rowena’s review of Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry.

Main Character: Noah, Echo
Love Interest: Echo, Noah
Series:
Author: Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

“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.

“An edgy romance that pulls you in and never lets go. I was hooked!”-Gena Showalter, New York Times bestselling author of the Intertwined series

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

Wow.

This book totally rocked my world. I mean, I’ve seen people talking about the book around the web so I knew that I was going to like it but I wasn’t prepared for how much. Noah and Echo’s story grabbed a hold of my heart and squeezed the heck out of it. They broke my heart and then spent the rest of the book, mending it.

I absolutely loved this book.

I loved the characters, the storyline, the way that Noah fell in love with Echo and the way that Echo fell in love with Noah. I loved it all.

Echo Emerson suffered from a brutal attack a few years ago and she hasn’t been the same since. She’s got the scars to remind her that something awful happened to her, even though she doesn’t remember what. She’s been ordered by Social Services to meet with a psychiatrist/counselor to try to come to terms with what happened in the past and to move on with her life. She hasn’t had much luck with past psychiatrists and she doesn’t have a lot of faith in this new one. But with Mrs. Collins, the amount of growth Echo went through was admirable.

Noah Hutchins is known as a womanizing stoner at school and that’s exactly what he is but it’s not the only thing that he is. He’s an older brother who was ripped away from his younger brothers after their parents died and has been fighting with the system ever since to get them back. He doesn’t trust adults because they lie and he can’t trust anyone else to help him because he’s been burned one too many times for him to rely on anyone but himself. There are a few people in his life that he trusts and those people are his foster brother and sister, Isaiah and Beth. Beth is actually the blood niece of Noah’s foster Mom but well, you get the idea. Isaiah and Beth are the only family that he has regular contact with. But he’s hoping to change that by getting his brothers back. Nothing is as important to him as getting his family back together again…until Echo Emerson comes into his life.

Noah and Echo get close by helping each other out.

Echo’s brother Aires died in Afghanistan and the only thing she has left of him is his old 1965 Corvette that he was fixing up before he enlisted. She wants to get it running so that she can hold on to something of her brothers. Her father refuses to help fund this project so Echo has to get a job to pay for the repairs. Her new counselor, Mrs. Collins gives her a job tutoring Noah Hutchins and though she’d rather tutor anyone else, she takes the job because she wants that car fixed.

Noah is working at a fast food place to save up money for his life after high school. He needs to save money for an apartment and for the upbringing of two young kids. Noah is now 18 and can petition the courts for custody of his young brothers and he just wants his family back. He’s lost visitation rights with his brothers because of his temper and his frustration is high. My heart went out to Noah more than once in this book. I cried buckets for Noah because he deserved so much more than the life hand he was dealt. He was such a young kid to have such huge burdens thrust upon him and he was just trying to survive. I couldn’t have loved him more than I did when I was reading his story but I do. He was such a well written character and I fell right in love with him. I wanted to hug him close and help him achieve his dreams. I wanted to give him someone to trust in and to weather the storms with because he had so much working against him but he never quit trying. He never quit trying to get his brothers back, he never quit trying to be the brother they needed and even though the odds were stacked against him, he didn’t quit trying.

When Echo comes into his life, she brings with her, her own set of problems and the way that Noah opened his arms to her made my heart melt. They were both so young and were dealing with so much that my heart went out to the both of them. I thought Katie McGarry did a phenomenal job of fleshing both of their characters out and adding so much depth to their characters because I was immersed in their worlds. In their problems, in their lives and in them. My heart hurt for everything that Echo went through because not only did she have her problems at home but she had some pretty shitty friends. Her Dad and new step-mom came off as shitty people and her Mom tried to kill her. Talk about a lot on her plate. This was an emotionally packed book but man was it good.

I can’t recommend this book enough. The characters will definitely worm their way into your heart and their stories will make you weep but McGarry will bring you out of the storm on the other side, whole and happy. She really puts you through the wringer but the emotional roller coaster is well worth the reading time. This was a wonderfully written story about two kids who were dealt a shitty life hand but make it through to the end with the help of each other.

Love this book!

..and that’s your scoop!

This book is available from Harlequin Teen.
Buy the book: B&N|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

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