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Monday, July 30, 2012

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Release Date: July 31st, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: ARC
Age Group: Young Adult
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.

Echo and Noah aren’t friends. Things are bad enough for Echo, with almost everyone in school whispering about her being a freak and spreading rumors about what happened to her and where she got her scars. The last thing she needs to worry about is bad boy, Noah Hutchins. They keep crossing paths, though, and she’s finding it harder and harder to resist him. Noah’s life isn’t easy and Echo Emerson isn’t making things any easier. He doesn’t care about school, he doesn’t care about his reputation, all he cares about is making sure he can see his brothers. So why is he spending so much time caring about Echo?
I love stories about broken characters. Not because I like seeing people who are in pain, or dealing with personal tragedy, but I feel like there are so many more directions you can take a story when a character has had some serious stuff happen in their lives. Echo and Noah are such an oddly matched pair and when we first meet them, you would never think that they would have any reason to spend any time together. Once the story gets going, and we start to learn a little about things that have happened to them, we start to see that they are more alike than even they realize. I loved how protective Noah was of Echo, even though she irritated him to no end. Echo was simultaneously mad at the world and afraid they were judging her, which considering the things that happened and the fact that she can't remember them, is a pretty understandable way to be. Noah pisses her off, but she is drawn to him and they start to realize that maybe they can help each other. Their scheming was so fun, if a little misguided, and it was fun watching them try to be so sneaky.

This is such a powerful story and it's so well written. Sure, it's about a couple of teenagers, but they aren't just your average high school students. The story is about dealing with and accepting the past, figuring out who they are now, and realizing that they do have a future. For me, the best love stories also have a lot of pain. Maybe that makes me a masochist, but I want to read about struggles and tough situations, because I want to see the love triumph over all of it. Love is supposed to conquer all. The best kind of loves stories come from characters who have reached their lowest point and it's when they realize that they are worthy of the love they are being offered, that I truly believe in it.  

Emotions abound in this book and it's not all sunshine and rainbows, but it is definitely a must read story. The characters are so well drawn and you will laugh and cry right along with them. I urge everyone to run to the bookstore or library and pick yourself up a copy of this and read it right away! Stories like this one don't come around all the time :0)

2 comments:

  1. This one was definitely well written - especially the main characters. I was very impressed with each of their POV's.

    Lovely review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting. I love good romances where the characters have to work through things to make a relationship work.

    ReplyDelete

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