Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Source: Stolen from BFF
Hardcover, 392 pages
Published
July 31st 2012
by Harlequin Teen
ISBN: 0373210493
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.
How
do I explain something so epic? Echo and Noah are meant for each other
from the start. Aside a few snide comments they fell hard and fast.
Neither of them really knew it was happening. Lust. That's what they
thought it was. Except, Noah, for the first time in his entire high
school career wanted more than sex. He wanted Echo to be his. This books
talks about a subject which I had never read in YA. It deals with
Echo's mom being bipolar.
I like books with amazing and epic love
stories, but they need some meat. Pushing the Limits has just that. It
has substance. It deals with both Noah and Echo's depressing back
stories. For Noah, his brother's have always been the most important
thing in his life, and when they are taken away from him, he decides
that he will do everything in his power to take them back. All he wants
in his family. Then Echo enters the picture.
Echo was never in any
of his plans. No girl was, just a collection of one night stands. But
Echo still comes and changes his world. He marvels that he has never
seen a girl with so many dark secrets, a girl with so many scars (both
emotional and physical) who is so strong. Echo has the power over him
that no one else has ever had.
“I've got you. I swear to God, I've got you," said Noah. "Stay with me, Echo."
I wanted to. I wanted to stay with him, but the shouting and screams and glass breaking in my mind grew louder. "Make it stop."
He tightened his grip on my arms. "Fight, Echo! You've got to f***ing fight. Come on, baby. You're safe.”
Echo's story is equally as
heartbreaking as Noah's. It amazes me that both of them had the power to
go on, to live, after all they'd been through. They were able to joke
around and let themselves fall in love. I was so happy there was no
insta-love in this. They fell hard and fast for sure, but it still took
time. They didn't take one look at each other and decided they were
meant to be together forever.
I also loooved their counselor.
Neither one of them wanted to talk to her ever, the sessions with Echo's
step-mom (used to be babysitter -_-) and her dad were almost painful to
read. There was so much tension. She played a minor role in the story
but a ginormous role in each of their lives.
I loved the stories of Echo's name! *sigh* I don't know what else to discuss with y'all. LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE!
“Come here, baby." And with my words, Echo leaned into me soft, pliant,
broken. "You're not alone," I whispered into her hair as I cradled her
in my arms. "You're not alone, because you have me."
And I love you, more than you could ever know
”
Echo
and Noah's love was amazing. It wasn't the kind you usually read about.
You had to trust. You had to learn about the other. You had to realize
that they had problems too. You had to learn that you can't save
everyone. You had to learn that sometimes, the hardest part is after the
fall.
Noah and Echo each had the ultimate revelation in this book.
Is everyone who you thought they were? When is it time to let go? (This
one's for Echo especially) What really happened?
Overall, this
book is gorgeous. If you haven't read it, go buy it. Right now. You
think I'm kidding? It's a tangled web of broken and beautiful and a melody so
sweet that breathless isn't a good enough word to describe the way it leaves you. The
characters are meant to be. The ending may or may not shock you. You'd
think that you were in the book if you didn't see your walls around you.
That's how good it is. Katie's writing draws you in and doesn't let you
go. Ever. This is a story that will stay with you forever. In the words
of Phillip Phillips "I'll love you long after you're gone, gone gone."
“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.”
I'm
not doing a very good job at describing it. Let's try this: this book
makes you want a Noah. Pushing the Limits makes you realize that true
love doesn't come easy, it a mixture of heartbreak, pain, hope,
passion, regret and desire. You win and lose some along the way. In the
end, the person you love makes you a better you. They don't let you just
live, they push your limits and let you see all the world has to offer.
They love you even when you make a mistake. They will love your scars,
because they are a part of you. They'll protect you from the pain that
the world holds and when it finds you, they'll fight along your side.
They'll help carry your burdens.
This book is a broken kind of beautiful. *shrugs* That's really the best way I can describe it.
Jackie
