"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars, points of light and reason. ...And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason, for anything."

~ Edward Cullen

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Review: Pushing the Limits


Title: Pushing the Limits
Author: Katie McGarry
Pages: 392
Challenges: Women's Challenge
Rating: 5/5

Summary from Goodreads:

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.


I started this one on my phone the day  I waited for the ultrasound that would supposedly determine Maggie's birth.  I probably read about 8 or 9 chapters while I waited.  The book was super engrossing and the wait was long.  However, after the appointment, the wheels really started to roll and I went into panic mode repacking my hospital bag, getting Anthony's stuff together, and recleaning my already clean house.  I didn't pick the book up again until mid way through July.  I stayed up until 2 in the morning to finish it even with a newborn that was still getting up at least once, sometimes twice in the middle of the night.  I didn't care if I was a walking zombie.  This book was that good!

This book had everything I needed.  Let's review:

1. Troubled bad boy with family problems.  Check!

 
2. Messed up beyond belief heroine with self esteem issues.  Check!


3.  A love triangle of sorts.  Check!

 
 
I don't read a lot of contemporary YA.  I don't know why not.  I always seem to enjoy it when I do, but its not typically a sub genre that I gravitate towards.  I'm pretty sure that I got Pushing the Limits when Amazon was running the Kindle edition for $1.99 or something.  I liked the cover and though the premise sounded promising (see above lol).
 
One thing that I really enjoyed about Pushing the Limits is how true to life it felt.  The characters seemed real, the situations were real, and the feelings were definitely real.  I loved how McGarry slowly pulled back the layers on Noah and Echo.  It was a gradual awakening for them both, and the inner struggles of both characters could be felt by the reader.  I fell in love with Noah right along with Echo.
 
I normally hate when books are told through alternating perspectives.  I get use to one characters voice, and suddenly it's pulled away from me.  Or, I tend to favor one character over the other and hate reading the other characters chapters.  But it worked really well in Pushing the Limits. 
 
If you enjoyed books like the Perfect Chemistry Trilogy (one of my all time favorite YA series), then I think you will really enjoy this book!

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