Pushing the Limits

There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said about the utter brilliance of PUSHING THE LIMITS but allow me a few moments to try and put some semblance of sense on the jumble of FEELS I have about this book and its author and to try and convince you to read it.This is the story of Echo and Noah - two souls who if things hadn't gone horribly wrong in their respective lives might have possibly found each other anyway but through pain, sadness and a small helping hand from fate come together and find peace in each other away from everything that's gone wrong in their lives.Echo was the popular girl, well liked, and dating one of the hottest guys in school when she lost her beloved brother in Afghanistan and soon after on one disastrous night was left with horrific scars on her arms and the knowledge that her mother can no longer come near her. Struggling with memory loss from the trauma, Echo now must deal with a father who is unable to connect with his daughter, a stepmother who was once her nanny and friends who refuse to talk to her because she refuses to "fit in". Echo needs to find out what happened that night if she's ever going to move on.At first glance the snarky and cool Noah seems to be the typical bad boy. Beneath the surface however he's deeply hurt, shunted from foster home to foster home after his parents are killed in a house fire. Noah's only concern is gaining custody of his brothers and providing them with the life they deserve.When Echo and Noah find themselves waiting for individual appointments with Ms Collins, the social worker/counsellor assigned to their cases, sparks fly and the couple find themselves drawn to each other. Both have questions that need answering...will they find them together and will they gain peace they crave so much?PUSHING THE LIMITS intrigued me from page one. I love Katie McGarry's writing style, her words flow across the page so easily you can't help but get caught up in the world she presents.Echo was a character I adored from the second I met her. Lost in the murkiness of fragmented memories, struggling to get a handle on what happened to her on that fateful night, I was immediately sympathetic. Her moments of clarity when in sessions with Ms. Collins gripped me and the mystery of what caused the scars on her arms was emotionally stirring right up to the big reveal. The tragic nature of her past is utterly heartbreaking and I hate the word "journey" but Echo's path towards the truth is eye-opening and desperately sad.How do I even begin to describe Noah? I don't think I have ever felt so emotional about a character from fiction in my life. The sense of responsibility he has belies his years. At not even 18 his potential has been stifled by tragedy and a failed system. With only tough but fair Beth and sweet and loyal Isaiah as his chosen family Noah feels he has no-one else to rely on.The connection that forms between them is beyond beautiful. Echo who believes no-one could possibly love her broken body and spirit is supported unquestioningly by Noah. He doesn't pity her, he doesn't see her the way the rest of the world see her as a fragile, shattered girl. He sympathises with her plight but more importantly he challenges her. He won't let her feel sorry for herself and he sees past the outside just as Echo does in return. There's an unspoken recognition of the pain both of them carry and they realise that while they can push each other the brittle trust that's formed needs time to set.The raw emotion that seeps through the pages is at times overwhelming and in particular the moments with Noah and his brothers are so brutally honest and filled with that unconditional love and emotion that is only present with family. His dealings with his brothers' foster parents are painful and as capable as Noah is; it is in these moments we see how he is still just a child who has been thrown into an adult world. Safety is a feeling he thought could never be experienced again except in the way he imagined his life with his brothers to be and the thought that the little semblance of control he has grasped onto for so long could be lost engulfs him with feelings of panic and loss that are brutal to experiences as a reader.In addition to the exceptional circumstances of Echo and Noah's lives PUSHING THE LIMITS is also simply a teenage book with all the usual ups and downs of friendship, sex and romance that comes with adolescence. Their support networks are very different. There's a disconnection with Echo's social circle, and apart from Lila who remains a stalwart for Echo, she is continually let down by the rest of her peers. It irked me how Echo's low self esteem was manipulated by her ex boyfriend Luke and her "friend" Grace to persuade her to fall in line. In contrast Noah's faithful duo Beth and Isaiah were wonderful both as friends to Noah but also as characters. Despite the fact that they don't appear very often in the book McGarry's exceptional development skills meant they were clearly realised in my head and I was aching to discover their own stories.Interestingly about 2/3 of the way through I began to feel disconnected from the story, enough that I thought my rating would drop significantly however on reflection I believe I know what was the cause. There's an absence or distance to parts of Echo's story which is likely due to the fact that Echo cannot remember and while struggling with that memory loss it causes frustration for the reader too. When the barriers fall and she reconnects with her past, the reader is right there with her and that reconciliation is beyond emotional as equally is Noah's resolution as the weight of the world rests squarely on his shoulders and the realisation that life doesn't and shouldn't have to be that way for him is both hopeful and shattering at the same time. The last 1/3 of the book submerged me in a sea of emotion of my own tears and made me realised my instincts at the beginning of the book were the ones I should have trusted all along.A simply gorgeous book.

"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."Once part of the in crowd and living an almost perfect life, Echo now lives in the shadows. Her friends all want her to hide who she is and want her to be who they want. Her father is forcing her to choose a path she does not want. Everyone walks all over her and she lets them. The people that know her secret and about the scars it left are now making her life hell. And no one, not even herself knows what happened the night her life changed forever.The night that her mother tried to kill her.Forced into therapy with Mrs. Collins, the school new therapist, she is obligated to work on remembering that terrible day and the events leading up to her accident. But she has given up on life and doesn't care to try. Until the day that Noah explodes into her life.Noah has his own crap going on. He's lost everything that is important to him and now is a foster kid that no one cares about. His only comfort is the fact that he will graduate soon and can then fight to get his little brothers back and out of the foster care system. If only Mrs. Collins would provide him with the information he needs Noah can prove that his brothers are better with him. But Mrs. Collins wants him to work on himself first and knows that his brothers are in great care. So when Echo presents the perfect opportunity to get into his file Noah jumps on board.What they both don't expect is to find comfort in each other. With completely different paths in life they have nothing in common. But out of their solitude, partnership and healing comes a love and friendship that defies all of their plans.Pushing the Limits had its great moments but also moments that made me want to strangle Echo. She wouldn't let herself try and be happy and she was always throwing herself a pity party. I wanted to reach into the book and shake some damn confidence into her. In the end though she finally stood up for herself which I guess is good. And Noah can't be left behind he was pretty stubborn as well but I understood his determination and love for his brothers. These two have completely different situations and will have you rooting for their HEA.And before I end this review I have to gush about Jacob and Tyler. They are so adorable and loved their brother so much that it just pulled at your heart. They were a big part of Noah and the most wonderful part of the book. Let me leave you with a preview: "I wrote about the person I love most, my older brother, Noah. We don't live together so I wrote what I imagine he does when we're not together." "And what is that?" prodded the stout man. "He's a superhero who saves people in danger, because he saved me and my brother from dying in a fire a couple of years ago. Noah is better than Batman." The crowd chuckled. "I love you, too, lil'bro." Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it.HAPPY READING!

Echo and Noah are from two ends of the social spectrum (McGarry is at her best with opposite attraction). Echo was once popular girl, dance team member and on track for an art scholarship. But after the death of her older brother and a traumatic episode involving her mother, she becomes withdrawn and distant from everyone, hiding her inner and outer scars. She is also repressed by her controlling father and his new wife, who was embarrassingly her childhood babysitter.Noah is the labeled 'dodgy' boy who sits at the back of class and lunch, involved with violence, drugs and hook-ups. After the death of his parents and the painful separation from his younger brothers, he has been through the mill of abusive foster care. He is someone who has given up on trust, especially from authority figures, and fights tooth and nail to get his brothers back. Both Echo and Noah's days are filled with anger and silence. When a guidance councilor brings them together, their initial impression of each other- impressions created by gossip and stereotyping, gradually sift away to make room for their consuming attraction.Their romance is so fierce, but the wounds from their problems are so raw, McGarry creates an exiting struggle of wanting and never wanting to be the characters. The plot is driven by the mystery of Echo's memory, as she fails to remember the detail of her trauma. Echo's mother suffers from bipolar disorder and she fears that she will also loose control and be accused of 'craziness'. The story deals with the lack of understanding mental illnesses and how it is dealt with. As Echo's memory comes back in fearful shards, she tries to loosen her father's safety grips, while Noah does battle with society to reclaim his brothers. Everybody's limits are tested as the characters challenge those that restrict them as well as pushing their inner scars to extremes. Long at times, the novel was an addictive whirlwind of fatal build-ups and made me look forward to my train journey after a trying day at work.

Echo Emerson was the girl is school that everyone wanted to be and every guy wanted to date, but when she up and left for months, only to return with scars on her wrists and arms, she's an outcast. Her father doesn't listen, her step mother (once babysister) is pregnant and her mother is no where to be seen. Why? because she's the one that hurt Echo.Echos mother suffered with bipolar disorder since she and her brother were a kid, but after coming of her meds to paint one day, Echo wakes up in the hospital with no recollection of how she got there. One thing is certain though, her mother tried to kill her. In the space of 6 months Echo not only last her mother but her brother too, who died the army, leaving nothing behind for her but a car.Noah Hutchins, once a model student and backsetball player, is a stoner guy in foster care after he's parents died in a fire leaving him and his 2 brothers orphans Fleeting from one foster home to the next because of violence Noah is willing to what ever it takes to get back on the straight and narrow in order to hopefully get his brothers back, who at the moment he only gets to see for an hour of supervised visits fallowing his last fight.Thrown together by the schools new guidance counsellor, Echo starts to tutor Noah, she does it for money to do up her brothers car, and Noah needing to get his grades up. Both have been through hard times in the past two years, but by becoming friends and finally learning to trust someone, they learn to not only deal with it but move on. They find love, friendship, acceptance and Echo slowly gets her memory back while Noah figures out its ok to let people inMy thoughts? it was a very well written book dealing with horrific things. The characters each have a little story of their own and you really get a feel for all of them. (well.. apart from some of Echo's friends. But they aren't really a big issue in the books). One of my favourite characters was Beth, even though she did annoy me at times, and one of the reason's why I haven't said much about her is I know the next book is about her so I'm going to save what I have to say about her till then.

“Sometimes life happens.”This book held my attention for the full 392 pages. It was everything I wanted it to be: realistic characters, romance, growing up, being strong through the tough times and ultimately healing both the physical and mental scars in life.One thing I loved about this book was the dual POV. We got to see both Echo and Noah's stories from their own POV but also from the other persons too. I immediately loved Echo and Noah, both by themselves but also as a duo, and eventually a couple.Echo having gone through a very traumatic experience that has left her with both physical and mental scars has no memory of the night that changed everyone for her. At the beginning of the book she comes across as both a vaulter able but fierce person. She hides herself and her scars from the people at school who used to be her friends. But when with her dad, one of the few people who know the truth about that night but refuses to tell her, she is stronger and challenges her dad, fighting for what she wants.When we first meet Noah he is the bad boy, one night stand, gets high behind the bike shed kind of boy. But we very quickly learn that this is all a facade and what's underneath is a broken teenager who has been put through his own hard times and is just fighting to make things better for himself and his two little brothers, who were all orphaned when the parents died in a house fire."The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see--the wailing on the street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived...For people like me and Echo, our souls contained more scars than life."The two are brought together when Echo gets a job tutoring Noah. Echo thinks he is lazy and a typical bad boy, Noah thinks that she is a spoilt rich girl. However their initial judgements of the other are soon lost when they learn of each other's pasts and work together to help each other through.The issues this book deals with are very serious. Abuse. Neglect. Truth. Lies. Love. Healing. The intensity of the bond between siblings. There is nothing lighthearted about this book. Its deeply, gut-wrenchingly emotional.“I must have killed a lot of cows in a past life for Karma to hate me this much.”This is a beautiful story of how sometimes it just needs the right person to break through the damaged exterior to help heal a person on the inside. The development of the characters throughout the book is both realistic and very emotional to read. Echo gains the strength to accept who she is and show the world the new her. Meanwhile Noah learns that sometimes sacrifice is required for the ones you love.Echo and Noah's romance is not instant, which makes it all the better in my opinion. They go from not really liking each other, to a friendship of convenience, to friends, to a relationship. They become the most important person in the others life, and ultimately the one that gets them through.The book has a happy-for-now ending (and a sequel featuring some of the secondary characters on the way) but after all the heart ache in the book, I would have liked a glimpse maybe 5 years into the future so see how things had worked out for them.

I can't tell you how much I loved this story. I absolutely loved the drama and sweet romance that encompasses everything. Noah and Echo had this insane chemistry from the get go and although I could tell that it was obvious that they would fall in love it didn't stop me from wanting to read about the journey. Pushing the limits is the first book in a standalone series, from Katie McGarry, that follows different couples as they struggle through their problems and fall in love. It sounds very fluffy but there is a lot of deep and meaningful points in the book that make you see how damaged, yet strong, the young characters are and how much they need each other. It was brilliant and had all the qualities that are able to pull you in and keep you gripped.Just like every young adult contemporary you have the misunderstood boy and girl falling in love and pushing against the odds. But what I loved most about this book was the character of Noah. He was so strong and cute yet was hidden by this bad boy persona, which was why I loved how misunderstood and protective he was to the people he cared for. It was just what you needed from the hero of the story.However when it came to Echo there were some things that I did not agree with, I felt that Noah was overshadowed and that Echo was somehow forcing you to like her more. Having said that she was still sarcastic and witty and so strong after what had happened to her, which is definitaly what I look for in a YA contemporary novel because it just adds something to the story. So there was very little that I did not agree with when it came to the characters.Overall, Pushing the Limits is a brilliant and heart-wrenching contemporary that mixes young adult fluff with deep and scary issues to bring about and beautiful romance that makes you smile and cry in equal measures. Just when you think things are going smoothly a dip in the road pushes it off its happily ever after and has to work it to get it back on track. It never let me breathe for one second which is the main reason it kept me entirely gripped by its contents. I absolutely loved it and I cannot wait to continue on with the rest of the series.Review originally posted at: http://polkadotbookblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/pushing-limits.html

I got this book AGES ago for review while it was up on netgalley for review. At the time I couldn't get into it but I now I know it was just my mood. When I seen the UK kindle version for only 20p before Christmas I decided to buy it. As I prefer reading a finished copy. Now I am kicking myself for waiting!! Pushing The Limits has got to be one of the best contemporary YA books I have EVER read!Pushing The Limits is told from two POVs. Echo and Noah. On the outside they are both polar opposites to each other but when they thrown together as part of their therapy sessions they realise they have more in common than they think. And pretty soon they are helping one another overcome things in their pasts and trying to make sense of the future.Echo and Noah, awwww[...] They are so cute! Echo, she is hurting so much. She is fragile but strong at the same time. She wants to remember what happened to her but is also terrified of what she will discover. Noah, oh lordy lord. Can I have me a Noah Please?!? He is so lovely. Yeah, he comes across as bad boy but he has a good heart when it comes to those to cares about. Together, Echo and Noah, they bring the best out in each other. And they just so sweet. And they chemistry between them? *swoon* It is hot!!Katie McGarry? Lady, you kept me up until 2.45 to finish this freaking amazing, outstanding, fantastic, heartwrenching story. She has such a talent for making the reader truly feel everything (boy do I mean everything) that the characters went through. I cried so much during this, sad tears, painful tears and happy tears. I was a big blubbering mess. And I loved it!!As I mentioned the first time I read this I couldn't get into. It was ALL me and the weird mood I was in at the time because Pushing The Limits was nothing short of mindblowing! The story is exciting and emotional. For a book that is around 400 pages I read in one night!! Pushing The Limits isn't one of those books that has twists and turns. It's more about two teenagers discovering who they really are and growing up. About loving yourself and no letting what other people think get to you and putting those who love first and doing what's best for them. And I think Katie McGarry is conveyed this wonderfully!!Overall, I CANNOT recommend this book enough. If you haven't read it then please go now!! It's super cheap on Kindle if you aren't sure about it. If you have read it then you know my review has did this book no justice at all!! There aren't enough word in the world in truly express my feelings on this novel.I am going to talk a little about both the UK cover and US. Now, I do kind of like the UK cover. I think is portrays the characters looks very well. And anyone else agree that Echo looks like Lily Collins (Mirror MIrror/City of Bones) And Noah looks like Jack O'Connell (Skins) I think they are just perfect and I totally picture them while reading. HOWEVER, have you seen the US Hardback?? It's fits the story perfectly. It's just amazing and really gets across the relationship between Echo and Noah. (See UNDER THE DUST COVER for a better look)