Pushing the Limits (Harlequin Teen) [Hardcover]

Pushing the Limits is an intriguing and addictive YA contemporary that will make your heart melt. Katie McGarry delivers a unique and unforgettable love story.

Echo and Noah are two troubled teens with unthinkable pasts. They are thrown together at the lowest point of their lives; Echo is battling with the memories of the most horrific night of her life and Noah is losing his visiting rights to see his younger brothers, the only family he has left. When Echo and Noah meet, they don't immediately get along. Echo believes that Noah is a girl-using boy in a black jacket with nothing else to do but get high. Noah thinks Echo is a strange, hot girl who doesn't seem to have a social life. But as time goes buy they realise they have more in common than either them could have guessed.

Wow. Just wow. I knew I was going to like this book from reading many gushing and hyped-up fan girling reviews, I just didn't expect to love this much! The plot, the characters, the writing style, the description, the dialogue, damn, I couldn't bare to put it down to go to the toilet. McGarry had me from chapter 1.

I adore the characters. They all have different, yet entertaining, personalities and interesting backgrounds. My favourite character would definitely be Noah. Sorry! I can't help it. He's strong and tough, but under that there lies something vulnerable, the caring side to him. I loved the flirting between Noah and Echo, many scenes made me laugh out loud and look like a crazy hyena. But, there were also plenty of emotional scenes to get your tears flowing.

Pushing the Limits is simply one of those books that you must read before you die. I promise this book does not disappoint YA fans. I can not WAIT to read Dare You To, the companion novel to Pushing the Limits.

After reading a number of rave reviews for pushing the limits, I decided it was about time I got dug in too. Although it sounded great, I was originally put off by the sound of all the problems, I just wasn't looking forward to a depressing read. But Pushing the Limits wowed me beyond belief, and no review I write is ever going to be able to do this book justice.

Pushing the Limits follows the lives of both Echo and Noah. Two and a half years ago, something happened to Echo - only she can't remember what. All she knows is she woke up in hospital after almost dying, with scars running up and down her arms, and that she's no longer allowed to see her mother. She wants to know what happened, but she simply can't remember and no-one will tell her. Noah has been in foster care since his parents died, but after punching his foster father when he caught him abusing his own son, Noah has been labelled dangerous and volatile, and has been kept away from his younger brothers, except for supervised visits that come few and far between. Terrified that his brothers will be subject to the abuse he's seen while in the system, he needs to make sure his brothers are safe, but he's not allowed to know anything about their foster parents or where they live.

The details of what happened to Echo are in her file. The information about Noah's brothers is in his file. Both see the same therapist, and together they plan to steal their files. Despite how hard they try, they can't deny their ever growing feelings for each other

Pushing the Limits is not a story about the two teens getting together. No-one's story ends at the beginning - and not everyone has a typical happy ever after. These characters are troubled and damaged, and this is about so much more than boy meets girl; it is about their love, their relationship, their ability to help each other like no-one else can, but also their own stories. Yes, they both need each other, but they also need themselves, and this story follows their own individual journeys away from each other as well as together, and the horrific pasts they each have to deal with, the truths they have to uncover, and the realisations they have to face.

The chemistry between Echo and Noah is unbelievable, but more than that, they are exactly what the other needs. Noah listens to Echo's fears, supports her when she cries, and encourages her when she's doubting herself. Echo is Noah's voice of reason, and talks him out of crazy decisions and taking things too far. They are the only ones who really understand what the other is going through, and so how best to help them. Both are better together than they are apart, but on top of all their other problems, they worry about each other. Noah has a reputation as a stoner loser who's into one night stands - can he seriously be interested in Echo? Echo is beautiful and kind-hearted - when is she going to realise she's too good for Noah, and how is he going to cope once she's gone?

The issues they go through individually were just so hard to read sometimes, because you just felt so bad for them. I couldn't count the number of times I wanted to give each of them a hug. I absolutely adored Mrs. Collins, their therapist, who I want to give a hug just for being so awesome! No matter what our two protagonists think, it's clear from the beginning how much Mrs. Collins cares and that she knows her stuff! But, like them, their problems and the discovery of the truth is something you should experience for yourself, so I'm not going to say any more about them - other than that Katie McGarry should be applauded for just how authentic Pushing the Limits feels, how every emotion feels true, how unflinchingly honest she has been with the stories of these incredible characters.

I have to say, I had a rather personal reaction to this story, and could relate. Not to their problems, the situations or their choices, but sometimes, to the feelings behind those choices. Happy ever after's don't happen. Sometimes, even when you get what you want, things don't always go as planned, and there were times in Pushing the Limits that show us that with the choices you have, the decisions you make, they're not always easy or the happiest of options, but sometimes, what's needed. That's what I related to, having to think with your head and do what was right - but it also made me see the choices of other people in a different light. Sometimes we have to deal with crap, but for the right reasons. It's strange and wonderful; Pushing the Limits made me feel more at peace with things happening in my own life than I was before, and I think that's a rare gift McGarry has.

I am so excited to read Dare You To, a companion novel to Pushing the Limits that comes out sometime next year following Beth, one of the fascinating secondary characters in this book. I'm looking forward to anything McGarry rights in the future! Pushing the Limits is sn incredibly moving, powerful and important debut novel. McGarry is definitely one to watch.

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 1st 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!