ARC Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: July 31, 2012
Format: eBook
Page: 384

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 muchimpossible.  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.

***

I couldn’t ask for a better contemporary book to start out my summer than this book. Pushing the Limits is amazing. After seeing Simon Elkeles’s blurb on the front of the book a couple of month ago, I’ve been dying to read this book; since I adore Simon Elkeles. So when I finally got a copy in my hands, I started it right away, stopping whatever I was doing. And it did not disappoint. It was worth it!

Pushing the Limits is written in two POV, Echo's and Noah’s. (I've come to love multiply POV for the reason being that you get to see/ get to know each of the characters thoroughly.) I loved both Echo and Noah’s voice in this book; they are truly amazing characters. They went through so much, and the problem they go through is realistic, believable and so heartbreaking. I felt for them both, especially Noah. His love for his brothers broke my heart. I loved Echo and Noah’s relationship; they were there for each other. 

Pushing the Limits had me crying, laughing, and just feeling all at the same time throughout the book. I couldn’t put it down from start to finish. The ending was great, predictable, but great. I can possibly say that this is one of my favorite contemporary I’ve read this year. 

I recommend this book for everyone. I loved it, and I’ve no doubt that if you are contemporary fan, like me, you would love it too. Katie McGarry did a fantastic job with her first debut novel. Plus, I got to read an excerpt of the book she’s working on, Dare You To, and I’m already hooked. I can’t wait for her second book to come out. 

Rating: 4.5/5

Quote from Pushing the Limits:

"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.