13 August 2012

YA Book Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Release Date: 31 July 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher

Get a copy! AmazonB&N

Goodreads description:
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 themrefuses 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 Thoughts...
Sometimes a book takes you by surprise.  Takes your breath away.  Makes you laugh. Makes you cry.  Makes your heart ache.  Makes you close it because the emotions are too overwhelming. Embeds itself into your heart. Tells you to convince everyone you see that they must read it to.  Most recently, Pushing the Limits was all of those things for me and more and I doubt that I can do it justice in just a few sentences or paragraphs or pages.

Echo is suffering from PTSD as the result of a tragic event involving her bi-polar mother.  While she can't remember the events leading to the scars on her arm, the nightmares that keep her awake at night won't allow her to truly forget or move on beyond the event (whatever it might have been).  Echo drew me into this novel from the start and I knew I was a goner.  Enter Noah and this book had me hook, line, and sinker.  Noah's had a rough life, growing up in less-than-pleasant foster homes.  His only goal is to win custody of his brothers after graduation--to reunite their family and save them from the pain that he's suffered through the foster system. It's no easy task, however, proving that he's worthy of being their guardian.

Echo and Noah are my favorite type of characters.  Their heart-wrenching personal pain becomes so real to you as the reader as your get to know them.  I found that I had the constant urge to envelope both of them in a giant hug and never let go.  As they found each other, I rejoiced in their newfound companionship and sighed with happiness at their budding romance.  Their relationship has it all--the sweet romance, the passionate tension, the raw aching. While I loved them separately as characters, their friendship (and budding romance) stole my heart.

Pushing the Limits is truly the type of novel that you have to experience for yourself to understand just how awesome it is.  I, too, was skeptical of the rave reviews, convinced that it couldn't live up to the expectations those exultations placed on it.  Thankfully, I was wrong and this book is every bit as heart-wrenching and beautiful as everyone said it was. My charge to you is to go find out for yourself.


Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and she remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings and reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.

Writing has given Katie an excuse to pursue her passions. Research for her books has provided her with the amazing opportunity to train with baseball players, ride along in a drag car at ninety-six miles per hour and experience boxing and mixed martial arts. Katie loves to visit schools and talk to teenagers about her research, writing and the truth that no dream is out of reach.

And thankfully, courtesy of Harlequin Teen, I have your opportunity RIGHT NOW to win your very own copy! Trust me.  This is one for the keeper shelf. You want this book!  

**Giveaway is US/Canada only at the request of the publisher. Thanks!**
a Rafflecopter giveaway

4 comments:

Krazzyme said...

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I urge people to get it now too :)


Krazyyme @ Young Readers

michelle@book briefs said...

I have been dying to read this book! I am so hoping that I win :)


thanks so much for the chance to win this amazing sounding book.

Lexi Edwards said...

I have a crazy urge to read this book!!!

Bridget said...

I think that this book sounds so good. I haven't really read many contemporary reads like this but I think it sounds so interesting and heart breaking. Thanks for the great review!

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