Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Series: Pushing the Limits #1
Published by Harlequin Teen on August 3rd 2012
Pages: 324
Source: Harlequin UK via Netgalley
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What if the last person you should fall in love with is the only one who can save you?

"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. The room tilted...

No one knows what really 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 the horrible night that changed her life forever.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot 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. Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And now Echo has to ask herself just what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again...

Woah. First off I just experienced a complete whirlwind of emotions, amazing. I really put off reading this one as a lot of the times I don’t tend to agree with the hype or end up extremely disappointed because of the hype surrounding a certain book. That did not happen with Pushing the Limits.

The entire story revolves around two main characters Noah and Echo. Noah has been in the foster care system since his parents died several years ago and Echo is currently in therapy from a night that she can’t remember but left her with brutal scars on her arms. Their paths cross when their mutual therapist decides that Noah could stand for some tutoring with Echo and so begins the story. You would think that this is straight forward love story, but it’s anything but that. With Noah and Echo comes personal demons and battles.

If I had to pick a favorite character I’m not even sure who I could pick. The character development is amazing, with each person’s traits and personality coming alive. I really loved Echo, she was so raw and real. And Noah was just…sexy. God he was portrayed as so amazing 😛 I also loved Noah’s two little brothers, Owen(Echo’s Dad) and Beth. The relationship Noah had with his two little brothers was absolutely heart breaking-you could tell he loved those boys soooo much. Beth was such a bitch but deep down she really wasn’t, it was due to her life experiences so to me she was so lovable despite her meanness!

I can honestly say there wasn’t a single thing I disliked about this book, I absolutely loved every part. I really enjoyed that Katie McGarry touched on real topics that can happen in teenage years and didn’t sugar coat anything. A lot of contemporary books don’t touch on such topics as smoking marijuana, teens having sex, and bad language but those are real parts of high school in today’s world. It’s realistic to portray you will hear  the “f word” in a high school, that there will be one “player” in a school who just takes girls for sex and that people are going to “roll up the biggest j”(as said by Noah, lol). Not saying that it’s like that everywhere or all teenagers are like that but it’s very real and I found it refreshing that she openly portrayed this story, no holds barred.

I wish I hadn’t of waited so long to read this one, it is totally worth all the hype. Katie McGarry is an amazing writer and she will leave you wanting more. I already cannot wait for the second book! If you haven’t read this one, I would highly suggest picking it up!