Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Source: Stolen from BFF

Hardcover, 392 pages

Published July 31st 2012 by Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 0373210493

 

 

 

Summary:

 

 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 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.

 

 

How do I explain something so epic? Echo and Noah are meant for each other from the start. Aside a few snide comments they fell hard and fast. Neither of them really knew it was happening. Lust. That's what they thought it was. Except, Noah, for the first time in his entire high school career wanted more than sex. He wanted Echo to be his. This books talks about a subject which I had never read in YA. It deals with Echo's mom being bipolar.
I like books with amazing and epic love stories, but they need some meat. Pushing the Limits has just that. It has substance. It deals with both Noah and Echo's depressing back stories. For Noah, his brother's have always been the most important thing in his life, and when they are taken away from him, he decides that he will do everything in his power to take them back. All he wants in his family. Then Echo enters the picture.
Echo was never in any of his plans. No girl was, just a collection of one night stands. But Echo still comes and changes his world. He marvels that he has never seen a girl with so many dark secrets, a girl with so many scars (both emotional and physical) who is so strong. Echo has the power over him that no one else has ever had. 

“I've got you. I swear to God, I've got you," said Noah. "Stay with me, Echo."
I wanted to. I wanted to stay with him, but the shouting and screams and glass breaking in my mind grew louder. "Make it stop."
He tightened his grip on my arms. "Fight, Echo! You've got to f***ing fight. Come on, baby. You're safe.” 

Echo's story is equally as heartbreaking as Noah's. It amazes me that both of them had the power to go on, to live, after all they'd been through. They were able to joke around and let themselves fall in love. I was so happy there was no insta-love in this. They fell hard and fast for sure, but it still took time. They didn't take one look at each other and decided they were meant to be together forever.

I also loooved their counselor. Neither one of them wanted to talk to her ever, the sessions with Echo's step-mom (used to be babysitter -_-) and her dad were almost painful to read. There was so much tension. She played a minor role in the story but a ginormous role in each of their lives.

I loved the stories of Echo's name! *sigh* I don't know what else to discuss with y'all. LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE!

“Come here, baby." And with my words, Echo leaned into me soft, pliant, broken. "You're not alone," I whispered into her hair as I cradled her in my arms. "You're not alone, because you have me." And I love you, more than you could ever know ” 

Echo and Noah's love was amazing. It wasn't the kind you usually read about. You had to trust. You had to learn about the other. You had to realize that they had problems too. You had to learn that you can't save everyone. You had to learn that sometimes, the hardest part is after the fall.
Noah and Echo each had the ultimate revelation in this book. Is everyone who you thought they were? When is it time to let go? (This one's for Echo especially) What really happened?

Overall, this book is gorgeous. If you haven't read it, go buy it. Right now. You think I'm kidding? It's a tangled web of broken and beautiful and a melody so sweet that breathless isn't a good enough word to describe the way it leaves you. The characters are meant to be. The ending may or may not shock you. You'd think that you were in the book if you didn't see your walls around you. That's how good it is. Katie's writing draws you in and doesn't let you go. Ever. This is a story that will stay with you forever. In the words of Phillip Phillips "I'll love you long after you're gone, gone gone." 

“If you’re scared, tell me. If you need to cry and scream, then do it. And you sure as hell don’t walk away from us because you think it would be better for me. Here’s the reality, Echo: I want to be by your side. If you want to go to the mall stark naked so you can show the world your scars, then let me hold your hand. If you want to see your mom, then tell me that too. I may not always understand, but damn, baby, I’ll try.”

I'm not doing a very good job at describing it. Let's try this: this book makes you want a Noah. Pushing the Limits makes you realize that true love doesn't come easy, it a mixture of heartbreak, pain, hope, passion, regret and desire. You win and lose some along the way. In the end, the person you love makes you a better you. They don't let you just live, they push your limits and let you see all the world has to offer. They love you even when you make a mistake. They will love your scars, because they are a part of you. They'll protect you from the pain that the world holds and when it finds you, they'll fight along your side. They'll help carry your burdens.

This book is a broken kind of beautiful. *shrugs* That's really the best way I can describe it.

 

 

Jackie