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infinite_kay's review against another edition
3.0
He’s the bad boy with a bad reputation; she’s the good girl with a dark secret. In Pushing the Limits, debut author Katie McGarry offers readers an intense and gripping love story. Two lost teenagers, lots of heartbreak, life-changing decisions; the novel has everything to keep you hooked to the page!
As I finished reading Pushing the Limits, it was clear to me why so many readers had fallen in love with the novel, covering it with five-stars ratings and raving reviews. This novel is intense. It’s a will-they-won’t-they love story with deep dark feelings and tortured souls, all wrapped in family drama and tragic pasts.
It starts like a story we’ve heard many times : Noah is a bad boy with a heart of gold, who’s been seducing girls and missing class on a regular basis. Echo is a good girl with great grades, and though her popularity has mostly faded away, she still sees Noah as the kind of guy you stay away from.
Their love story is written in the sky from the start, or so it seems. They both have tragedy in common, and their familial situations are complicated to say the least. Noah lost his parents in a fire and is now fighting for the custody of his two younger brothers, which means he has to clean up his act, and quick. Echo is still mourning the loss of her brother and trying to recover her memory, all the while dealing with a strict father and his new, younger, pregnant wife (who is no one else than Echo’s ex-babysitter).
So, that’s all a bit messed up. And despite their differences, Echo and Noah discover they have things in common, and they fall in love, and it is all very sweet. She makes her a better man, he makes her a stronger woman. They grow together through the story and I liked how the author traced their journey; it’s not without obstacles, and its not easy, but I could really see their characters changing and learning from their experiences. I also appreciated that they each had their own story, their own life, and that not everything was about their relationship.
There were a few things that I liked less though. The story is told both from Echo and Noah’s point of view, and I had a hard time with Noah’s. I couldn’t connect to him, his constant use of the words “nymph” and “siren” to describe Echo got annoying fast and I felt it took a little longer for his story to take a clear direction. The book was much more Echo’s story than Noah’s, and I felt maybe the author would have done better with sticking to a single point of view. I also didn’t like Echo’s friends. Sadly, their attitude is something that, in this 400 pages novel, is barely mentioned. It’s mostly brushed aside by Echo, but I feel it could have opened some interesting discussions. There’s also a lot of stereotypes going on in the story, which moderated my enjoyment of the book.
This being said, I applaud the author for tackling many different subjects; death and grief, psychological issues, family, etc. I can’t say too much without revealing a lot of the story, but Echo’s situation is a tough one, and I was glad the author didn’t finish the book by making it all unicorns in rainbows, making it a little more realistic.
In the end, Pushing the Limits was a roller-coaster romance that I enjoyed reading. While it didn’t completely work for me, I have no doubt that readers of romance who love drama and passion will completely adore this one.
As I finished reading Pushing the Limits, it was clear to me why so many readers had fallen in love with the novel, covering it with five-stars ratings and raving reviews. This novel is intense. It’s a will-they-won’t-they love story with deep dark feelings and tortured souls, all wrapped in family drama and tragic pasts.
It starts like a story we’ve heard many times : Noah is a bad boy with a heart of gold, who’s been seducing girls and missing class on a regular basis. Echo is a good girl with great grades, and though her popularity has mostly faded away, she still sees Noah as the kind of guy you stay away from.
Their love story is written in the sky from the start, or so it seems. They both have tragedy in common, and their familial situations are complicated to say the least. Noah lost his parents in a fire and is now fighting for the custody of his two younger brothers, which means he has to clean up his act, and quick. Echo is still mourning the loss of her brother and trying to recover her memory, all the while dealing with a strict father and his new, younger, pregnant wife (who is no one else than Echo’s ex-babysitter).
So, that’s all a bit messed up. And despite their differences, Echo and Noah discover they have things in common, and they fall in love, and it is all very sweet. She makes her a better man, he makes her a stronger woman. They grow together through the story and I liked how the author traced their journey; it’s not without obstacles, and its not easy, but I could really see their characters changing and learning from their experiences. I also appreciated that they each had their own story, their own life, and that not everything was about their relationship.
There were a few things that I liked less though. The story is told both from Echo and Noah’s point of view, and I had a hard time with Noah’s. I couldn’t connect to him, his constant use of the words “nymph” and “siren” to describe Echo got annoying fast and I felt it took a little longer for his story to take a clear direction. The book was much more Echo’s story than Noah’s, and I felt maybe the author would have done better with sticking to a single point of view. I also didn’t like Echo’s friends. Sadly, their attitude is something that, in this 400 pages novel, is barely mentioned. It’s mostly brushed aside by Echo, but I feel it could have opened some interesting discussions. There’s also a lot of stereotypes going on in the story, which moderated my enjoyment of the book.
This being said, I applaud the author for tackling many different subjects; death and grief, psychological issues, family, etc. I can’t say too much without revealing a lot of the story, but Echo’s situation is a tough one, and I was glad the author didn’t finish the book by making it all unicorns in rainbows, making it a little more realistic.
In the end, Pushing the Limits was a roller-coaster romance that I enjoyed reading. While it didn’t completely work for me, I have no doubt that readers of romance who love drama and passion will completely adore this one.
bookishmadness's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Just absolutely wow. Katie McGarry, I just want to hug you so much right now.
This is no ordinary boy meets girl story. There are tears, scars, horrible memories and therapy involved. There is the longing for normalcy, when your not even sure what normal is anymore. The exchanging of secrets and fears. The changing into someone new. Pushing the Limits is a deep and unforgettable story. I had heard this story was amazing, from so many other people. Still I was wary, but that all got blown out the window along with all the expectations I had.
Echo seems like such a typical teenager. Apart from her name of course. She was popular and dating a jock - the epitome of normal. But her life changes in the course of one night, the one she can't remember. She has the scars to prove something bad happened, that it was different from all her other nights. Now it's her final year of high school and she is tired of being labelled the freak - she desperately wants her normal back.
Noah is the bad boy of the story. He's gorgeous but dangerous. He doesn't date, but goes through girls like there is no tomorrow. He has been moved from one foster home to the next, and rarely sees his two younger brothers. But Noah is not completely as he seems and when Echo stumbles into his life, he doesn't realise just how much it will affect him.
Together, with these two shockingly real characters, makes for a heart-stopping relationship, despite everything that is happening around them!
This story kept me in anticipation the whole time - Will Noah succeed in gaining custody of his brothers? What exactly happened to Echo that night she got her scars? Why the heck is she still trying with her ex even though the chemistry between her and Noah is undeniable? So many questions! As you delve deeper, you learn that there is so much more under the surface, and you won't ever want to stop reading.
This has definitely got to be one of my favourite reads of 2012.
This is no ordinary boy meets girl story. There are tears, scars, horrible memories and therapy involved. There is the longing for normalcy, when your not even sure what normal is anymore. The exchanging of secrets and fears. The changing into someone new. Pushing the Limits is a deep and unforgettable story. I had heard this story was amazing, from so many other people. Still I was wary, but that all got blown out the window along with all the expectations I had.
Echo seems like such a typical teenager. Apart from her name of course. She was popular and dating a jock - the epitome of normal. But her life changes in the course of one night, the one she can't remember. She has the scars to prove something bad happened, that it was different from all her other nights. Now it's her final year of high school and she is tired of being labelled the freak - she desperately wants her normal back.
Noah is the bad boy of the story. He's gorgeous but dangerous. He doesn't date, but goes through girls like there is no tomorrow. He has been moved from one foster home to the next, and rarely sees his two younger brothers. But Noah is not completely as he seems and when Echo stumbles into his life, he doesn't realise just how much it will affect him.
Together, with these two shockingly real characters, makes for a heart-stopping relationship, despite everything that is happening around them!
This story kept me in anticipation the whole time - Will Noah succeed in gaining custody of his brothers? What exactly happened to Echo that night she got her scars? Why the heck is she still trying with her ex even though the chemistry between her and Noah is undeniable? So many questions! As you delve deeper, you learn that there is so much more under the surface, and you won't ever want to stop reading.
This has definitely got to be one of my favourite reads of 2012.
heartscontent's review against another edition
5.0
That book was an emotional roller-coaster for me. I loved it. I loved the story, the characters and I love their sentiments.
This story was about two people with battles, both emotional and mental, coming together and fighting, both for each other and their sanity.
This was a love story between a girl who thought she lost everyone who loved her and a boy who's too scared to love. The story was like Echo's paintings. Full of random colours and the end result?
Was a beautiful picture that looks different every time you looked at it.
Echo.
Echo's been through a traumatic situation where she ended up with scars all over her hand and repressed memories and a restraining order from seeing her mother again.
Her father married her baby-sitter who's presently pregnant.
Sure, she was fighting hard to please her father and repressing her own wishes...but she also survived death...she came back bruised. But alive. Very much alive.
In her life, she felt she was always put second.
She closed off from the outer world and lived in her own personal bubble. Where she remains insecure, scared and just a small girl who needed love. Yet, she was strong, brave and ready to love.
I love that she was able to forgive, and not blame. I love that she's nothing like her mother. I love how she came out of a jagged calamity, hurt, but as a new person. More cautious, but with enough forgiveness and love for those around her.
Noah.
Noah is equally tortured. Maybe not to the extent of Echo but tortured nonetheless. He lost his parents and had only his you get brothers left. Two people on this world who he'd give his life for. He had some anger...issues and hit his first foster father (good intention (mostly), I swear) and lost both his brothers and was left with supervised visitation rights and anger.
So much anger that he couldn't concentrate on anything else.
That's where Echo came in.
He see's her. Scars and all. And loves her anyway.
I love the way he thinks. I love how much he loves those he calls his family. I love the pure love he feels for Echo, despite the fact that she's healing.
I'm proud of the choices he made and mainly the reason why he made them.
Five stars. I recommend it for those who're ready to face the truth and believe love can face it too and come out, with triumph and the same intensity.
This book DID sorta remind me a little of The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer...just without the supernatural element.
This story was about two people with battles, both emotional and mental, coming together and fighting, both for each other and their sanity.
This was a love story between a girl who thought she lost everyone who loved her and a boy who's too scared to love. The story was like Echo's paintings. Full of random colours and the end result?
Was a beautiful picture that looks different every time you looked at it.
Echo.
Echo's been through a traumatic situation where she ended up with scars all over her hand and repressed memories and a restraining order from seeing her mother again.
Her father married her baby-sitter who's presently pregnant.
Sure, she was fighting hard to please her father and repressing her own wishes...but she also survived death...she came back bruised. But alive. Very much alive.
In her life, she felt she was always put second.
She closed off from the outer world and lived in her own personal bubble. Where she remains insecure, scared and just a small girl who needed love. Yet, she was strong, brave and ready to love.
I love that she was able to forgive, and not blame. I love that she's nothing like her mother. I love how she came out of a jagged calamity, hurt, but as a new person. More cautious, but with enough forgiveness and love for those around her.
Noah.
Noah is equally tortured. Maybe not to the extent of Echo but tortured nonetheless. He lost his parents and had only his you get brothers left. Two people on this world who he'd give his life for. He had some anger...issues and hit his first foster father (good intention (mostly), I swear) and lost both his brothers and was left with supervised visitation rights and anger.
So much anger that he couldn't concentrate on anything else.
That's where Echo came in.
He see's her. Scars and all. And loves her anyway.
I love the way he thinks. I love how much he loves those he calls his family. I love the pure love he feels for Echo, despite the fact that she's healing.
I'm proud of the choices he made and mainly the reason why he made them.
Five stars. I recommend it for those who're ready to face the truth and believe love can face it too and come out, with triumph and the same intensity.
This book DID sorta remind me a little of The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer...just without the supernatural element.
moogly_googly's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED this book!!! A few times i wanted to break down crying but i couldn't because then i couldn't carry on reading, and i had to read this book! A great book that i'm definitely going to read again and again :)
secretmagic's review against another edition
5.0
I never remember how much I love YA contemporaries until I stumble across a story that touches me in every way. ‘Pushing the Limits’ is one of those stories. After doing a little research into the book, I couldn’t stop thinking about meeting Noah and Echo; I was convinced I had to know them. I’m so happy ‘Pushing the Limits’ lived up to my expectations and more.
No-one would believe Echo Emerson – ex-socialite and hot topic for the school’s rumour mill – and Noah Hutchins – stoner bad-boy and foster care child – would ever consider talking to each other. But that was before their mutual school social worker pushed them together in an attempt to help them through their individual issues. Echo is struggling to remember her the last moments with her mother, the moment that scarred her and changed the direction of her life; while Noah is fighting to escape the foster care system and to find a way to get guardianship of his two younger brothers. I must be slightly evil, because I love when characters come from troubled pasts – there wouldn’t be a story if there was nothing to overcome. But it’s not just the story of how to overcome the past that made me love ‘Pushing the Limits’ so much. It was seeing them get there and the emotion that came with it. And there was a lot of emotion. Katie McGarry grabbed two teens from their life of hell and threw us into the deep end watching them try and pick up their broken pieces. I was torn apart watching Noah get ripped away from his family and I love books that make me feel so deeply for its characters.
Part of what made this emotional journey so powerful was the switching first person POVs. The story bounces between Echo and Noah’s thoughts so we get a full range of their feelings and emotions. I wasn’t expecting this, as the book’s blurb makes the story sound like it’s told entirely from Echo’s perspective. I loved that we got to see inside both characters’ heads. It’s a different experience jumping between male and female perspectives, but McGarry does it so well. You can’t stop being pulling to Noah and Echo’s lives through their individual voices.
There is an inevitable plot-arc for most contemporary novels that you can predict from the start. The Girl and Guy meet under strange circumstances and are drawn together; they fall in love, have problems and break apart, before being pulled back together in the end. It was obvious from the start of ‘Pushing the Limits’ that this book would follow that pattern too, but I like the stability it brought. There’s something relaxing about knowing one direction the story will take. Without knowing the outcome of Echo and Noah’s separate problems, it’s safe to say the future of their relationship will be wrapped up nicely by the last page. But that doesn’t making experiencing their romance any less fun. Noah’s reputation as a bad-boy, who only ever commits to one-night-stands, meant there were new obstacles and territories he was exploring by acting on his growing feelings for Echo. I loved seeing his transformation from the guy who could care less, to the one who would do anything for Echo. I may be focusing on Noah a lot; that’s not just because he was an awesome male character and I want him to get the attention he deserves; but because his romantic struggle touched me more than Echo’s. Echo had done the full-on relationship before; she knew what needed to be done to commit to. That’s not to discount her emotions, but Noah’s comments, touches and endless thoughts of Echo made my heart melt. I adored it all.
I was so sad when I came to the end of the story. I wanted more of Noah and Echo’s journey. But there’s only so much we can see when their stories come to an end. I loved every moment of this book and can’t wait for the companion novel next year.
5/5 stars
No-one would believe Echo Emerson – ex-socialite and hot topic for the school’s rumour mill – and Noah Hutchins – stoner bad-boy and foster care child – would ever consider talking to each other. But that was before their mutual school social worker pushed them together in an attempt to help them through their individual issues. Echo is struggling to remember her the last moments with her mother, the moment that scarred her and changed the direction of her life; while Noah is fighting to escape the foster care system and to find a way to get guardianship of his two younger brothers. I must be slightly evil, because I love when characters come from troubled pasts – there wouldn’t be a story if there was nothing to overcome. But it’s not just the story of how to overcome the past that made me love ‘Pushing the Limits’ so much. It was seeing them get there and the emotion that came with it. And there was a lot of emotion. Katie McGarry grabbed two teens from their life of hell and threw us into the deep end watching them try and pick up their broken pieces. I was torn apart watching Noah get ripped away from his family and I love books that make me feel so deeply for its characters.
Part of what made this emotional journey so powerful was the switching first person POVs. The story bounces between Echo and Noah’s thoughts so we get a full range of their feelings and emotions. I wasn’t expecting this, as the book’s blurb makes the story sound like it’s told entirely from Echo’s perspective. I loved that we got to see inside both characters’ heads. It’s a different experience jumping between male and female perspectives, but McGarry does it so well. You can’t stop being pulling to Noah and Echo’s lives through their individual voices.
There is an inevitable plot-arc for most contemporary novels that you can predict from the start. The Girl and Guy meet under strange circumstances and are drawn together; they fall in love, have problems and break apart, before being pulled back together in the end. It was obvious from the start of ‘Pushing the Limits’ that this book would follow that pattern too, but I like the stability it brought. There’s something relaxing about knowing one direction the story will take. Without knowing the outcome of Echo and Noah’s separate problems, it’s safe to say the future of their relationship will be wrapped up nicely by the last page. But that doesn’t making experiencing their romance any less fun. Noah’s reputation as a bad-boy, who only ever commits to one-night-stands, meant there were new obstacles and territories he was exploring by acting on his growing feelings for Echo. I loved seeing his transformation from the guy who could care less, to the one who would do anything for Echo. I may be focusing on Noah a lot; that’s not just because he was an awesome male character and I want him to get the attention he deserves; but because his romantic struggle touched me more than Echo’s. Echo had done the full-on relationship before; she knew what needed to be done to commit to. That’s not to discount her emotions, but Noah’s comments, touches and endless thoughts of Echo made my heart melt. I adored it all.
I was so sad when I came to the end of the story. I wanted more of Noah and Echo’s journey. But there’s only so much we can see when their stories come to an end. I loved every moment of this book and can’t wait for the companion novel next year.
5/5 stars
i_ambooked's review against another edition
5.0
it was simply amazing.. those kind of book u start, and u aint stop till u end it.. the author built a great story... there was sum scenes that made me cry, others, well i was laughing so hard that tears fell from my eyes..
openallnight's review against another edition
4.0
I really, really liked this book.
Because it was real.
There was no teen instalove. These 2 worked for each other's trust.
There was no magical sitcom resolution of all of life's challenges.
We got an HEA and you knew... you knew that Echo & Noah appreciated each other.
That they would support each other for the challenges ahead.
The next book in the series, Dare You To, is coming out in just a moment and I can NOT wait to read it.
Because it was real.
There was no teen instalove. These 2 worked for each other's trust.
There was no magical sitcom resolution of all of life's challenges.
We got an HEA and you knew... you knew that Echo & Noah appreciated each other.
That they would support each other for the challenges ahead.
The next book in the series, Dare You To, is coming out in just a moment and I can NOT wait to read it.
laurenbookishtwins's review against another edition
4.0
OK, so I've had a few moments to collect my thoughts on this.
This was a really moving story.
There was fantastic character development. I found myself really knowing and caring deeply for the characters - Noah and Echo, and I loved the switch of POVs throughout the story, it was done really well and at all the right times.
I deeply admired Echo. I also really liked Noah - sexy, sweet, bad-boy Noah. The relationship between Noah and Echo was felt really genuine and realistic and it was intense, and I love the fact that he was willing to wait for her. Although they both had differing problems, they worked through them together, it was really admirable.
There are so many important messages within this book, and McGarry got them across very well. It was an emotional read and I really do recommend.
This was a really moving story.
There was fantastic character development. I found myself really knowing and caring deeply for the characters - Noah and Echo, and I loved the switch of POVs throughout the story, it was done really well and at all the right times.
I deeply admired Echo. I also really liked Noah - sexy, sweet, bad-boy Noah. The relationship between Noah and Echo was felt really genuine and realistic and it was intense, and I love the fact that he was willing to wait for her. Although they both had differing problems, they worked through them together, it was really admirable.
There are so many important messages within this book, and McGarry got them across very well. It was an emotional read and I really do recommend.
bel_saturnreads's review against another edition
5.0
Ha sido una historia super bonita!!! NOAH ♥♥♥ aunque lo que me ha matado del libro ha sido la relacion de noah con sus hermanos aiss <333333333333