Katie McGarry
Harlequin Teen
July 31st 2012
Young Adult | Contemporary
Official Blurb -
"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.
"An edgy romance that pulls you in and never lets go. I was hooked!"-Gena Showalter, New York Times bestselling author of the Intertwined series
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 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.
This book reminds me a bit of certain books written by Simone Elkeles. Everything is very passionate and emotional. Each and every moment is lived intensely and full of drama and raging emotions. A huge difference comes in a lack of danger.
The focus is on two teenagers who are coping with life after disaster. The sort of disaster that is life altering. They are each scarred and broken and trying to find some sort of future to live for. Both Echo and Noah get a last ditch chance with a new counselor. They also find themselves in a tenuous partnership as a result of the counselor. These new developments open up possibilities they only dreamed of. Everything changes and the journey is a road of discovery. The path for these two is mostly mental and emotional with no one in a life threatening situation. Noah in particular more fully stole my heart with his story. He is such a prickly pear when it comes to getting close to people yet he feels things very deeply. Near the end when he faces the hardest decision of his life it reduced me to tears.
There was far too much swearing. I liked that there were characters trying to get Noah to clean up his language. While in many ways he cleaned up and changed, swearing didn't seem to be one of them. Sometimes Noah felt like two people. He was trying to be such a hard kid even though he is a softy. I didn't like that he so quickly jumped to sexual thoughts but at least we were able to see that he is a bit more than his lower region.
Echo's story is tragic and unfolds very slowly. Despite first impressions she is a really strong spirit. She really rises to the occasion time and time again in the book.
The characters will easily grab your attention even if at times they do some silly things. Pushing the Limits is a good book if not quite in the same shape and flavor as Simone Elkeles. There is less danger and not as much bad boy in the male lead.
Content:
Sexual: Heavy
Swearing: Heavy
General: Underage drinking and drugs
General: Underage drinking and drugs
