REVIEW: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

 Author: Katie McGarry

Pages: 384

Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

Pre-order Amazon: Pushing the Limits

Release Date: 31st July 2012

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

"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.

REVIEW: 5 out of 5 stars

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry was kindly provided to me by Harlequin Australia and is a book which had me up until all hours. It is a story I loved, characters that were amazing and emotions that were believable.

Echo Emerson is trying to remember what happened during a visit with her bipolar mother; she has been traumatized and left with scars she has no idea how she received – her mother also has a restraining order against her so she knows it is something truly horrible but she has suppressed the memories. Also affecting her is the loss of her brother who died whilst serving in Afghanistan, her personal life and her mind is in turmoil.

Noah Hutchins is described as the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket – he has a big attitude and loves four letter naughty words, although he came across as a pot using bad boy, he had a deep love and a need to protect his brothers who are in foster care as he is himself. I adored the way he was with them and how he was determined to change to gain custody; it showed his true, loveable and caring nature.

Forced together by their school’s new clinical social worker, Echo and Noah build a trust and form a bond over their personal struggles. The relationship they shared grew in strength as did their support and connection. The journey they both undertook to achieve their goals was so emotional but the way they were able to lean on one another had me gushing. I was really pleased by the outcome of each of their stories; it was written in a way that was very real and believable.

Each of the secondary characters were fleshed out perfectly, I adored Echo’s best friend Lila and despised Grace – Noah’s foster siblings were great and I am so curious to know more about them, especially hot headed Beth. Social worker Mrs Collins was absolutely wonderful and Noah and Echo’s biggest support, I adored the way she treated them like adults and supported both of them in such a comforting way.

Pushing the Limits details very real personal struggles that were at times really intense and difficult to read about, the story Ms McGarry weaved was believable and extremely well written. The characters weren’t perfect in the slightest – secondary included but each made you fall in love with the story they each had to share.

Pushing the Limits is truly brilliant and told from both Echo and Noah’s POV’s which I always enjoy. Ms McGarry’s writing is superb and the story she has written - heartfelt, emotional and absolutely gripping; I loved every moment of it.

If you are a Simone Elkeles fan then Katie McGarry’s Pushing the Limits would be perfect for you! It’s a must read. I am eager to get hold of the next book by this wonderful author.