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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
I highly enjoy Katie mcgarry books, especially listening to them! I enjoyed Echo and Noah’s story very much!
Echo has been struggling the remember a traumatic memory for a couple of years, and her brain fights so hard not to let her, Noah is struggling with trying to get custody of his brothers, years after his parents death, they come together to help each other, and get closer then they ever thought they would
Noah and Echo were such interesting characters and their growth as individuals and together was so satisfying, I loved this story and recommend you read it, it is a first in a series. So check it out!
3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
_______________________
Echo has been struggling the remember a traumatic memory for a couple of years, and her brain fights so hard not to let her, Noah is struggling with trying to get custody of his brothers, years after his parents death, they come together to help each other, and get closer then they ever thought they would
Noah and Echo were such interesting characters and their growth as individuals and together was so satisfying, I loved this story and recommend you read it, it is a first in a series. So check it out!
3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
_______________________
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment
I really can't think of anything that could make this book better, so 5 stars from me :)
Loved the character development, the plot and the sidecharacters. The writing was great as well.
Loved the character development, the plot and the sidecharacters. The writing was great as well.
In Pushing The Limits, two teens are drawn to each other, despite having little in common, and must face their own personal demons in order to have a future together.
Wow! I had so many thoughts running through my head during and after I finished Pushing The Limits. Reading this book literally gave me a book hangover. I loved it! It took me weeks before I could finish another book because I kept trying to hold other books to the high standard that Pushing The Limits set and they just failed to meet it. Yet it’s taken me months to write this review because I wanted it to sound intelligent and not just be incoherent fangirl babbling. So here goes…
The character development of both Echo and Noah is phenomenal. They are multi-dimensional characters that were easy to relate too, even without having any personal experience similar to them. I really liked how Noah was the only person who wasn’t repulsed by Echo’s scars. Even her so called (popular) friends and ex-boyfriend seemed more concerned with the scars than standing by Echo when she obviously needed them the most. Noah seemed to have an instant understanding of Echo’s situation, even though he didn’t actually know what the situation was.
Pushing The Limits is very character rich, which, to me, is one of the most important aspects of a novel. Not only are Echo and Noah well fleshed out and interesting characters, but the supporting characters are as well. I loved Beth and Isaiah, Noah’s friends. I’m intrigued by how their story will continue in the companion novel, Dare You To. I also kind of liked Ashley, Echo’s stepmother. Despite Echo’s feelings of her and how she was portrayed through Echo’s eyes, I felt she was instrumental in Echo’s story and I don’t think Pushing The Limits would have been the same without her.
I really liked the development of Echo and Noah’s relationship as well. Although there is a crazy attraction between the two, author McGarry doesn't fall into the instalove trap that is prevalent in young adult novels. The tension between the two, mixed with their attraction makes their friendship/romance richer and more believable than love at first sight. Which is not to say that couldn't happen, but…
Pushing The Limits is one of the best books I've read EVER. There's not much more I can say.
Wow! I had so many thoughts running through my head during and after I finished Pushing The Limits. Reading this book literally gave me a book hangover. I loved it! It took me weeks before I could finish another book because I kept trying to hold other books to the high standard that Pushing The Limits set and they just failed to meet it. Yet it’s taken me months to write this review because I wanted it to sound intelligent and not just be incoherent fangirl babbling. So here goes…
The character development of both Echo and Noah is phenomenal. They are multi-dimensional characters that were easy to relate too, even without having any personal experience similar to them. I really liked how Noah was the only person who wasn’t repulsed by Echo’s scars. Even her so called (popular) friends and ex-boyfriend seemed more concerned with the scars than standing by Echo when she obviously needed them the most. Noah seemed to have an instant understanding of Echo’s situation, even though he didn’t actually know what the situation was.
Pushing The Limits is very character rich, which, to me, is one of the most important aspects of a novel. Not only are Echo and Noah well fleshed out and interesting characters, but the supporting characters are as well. I loved Beth and Isaiah, Noah’s friends. I’m intrigued by how their story will continue in the companion novel, Dare You To. I also kind of liked Ashley, Echo’s stepmother. Despite Echo’s feelings of her and how she was portrayed through Echo’s eyes, I felt she was instrumental in Echo’s story and I don’t think Pushing The Limits would have been the same without her.
I really liked the development of Echo and Noah’s relationship as well. Although there is a crazy attraction between the two, author McGarry doesn't fall into the instalove trap that is prevalent in young adult novels. The tension between the two, mixed with their attraction makes their friendship/romance richer and more believable than love at first sight. Which is not to say that couldn't happen, but…
Pushing The Limits is one of the best books I've read EVER. There's not much more I can say.
Pushing the Limits is a contemporary YA story about romance and friendship and dealing with loss. Echo was involved in an accident with her mother but the trauma was so strong that her mind has blocked it completely. All she wants to do is remember, but is she strong enough to handle the truth? Noah is still dealing with the loss of his parents in a house fire and is struggling to survive the foster care system. He was separated from his two younger brothers and all he wants to do is obtain custody of them so they can all be a happy family again. Echo and Noah have both suffered in life but are complete opposites of each other, yet they fall for one another just the same.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: YA contemporary is not my go-to genre. This book sat on my shelf for years because let's be honest, that cover screams nothing but high school! romance! angst! drama! to me. I was surprised that while the romance (and yes, all the angst and drama one could ever hope for) is a major part, the story possessed a depth I was not expecting. Echo and Noah were individuals that had been forced into growing up sooner than necessary due to incidents in their life and Pushing the Limits is their coming of age story that treads the line between YA and NA and will be well-liked by fans of both.
Pushing the Limits was entertaining and I read it fairly quickly, however, it didn’t manage to generate much in the way of opinion. I was overall a bit indifferent about Echo and Noah’s story. While I appreciated the complex and separate side stories of both characters, it was all too melodramatic for me in the end. The romance was given some time to develop so instant love wasn’t a real factor, but once the romance started it, the seriousness between the two progressed at the speed of light. There were the obligatory ‘I love you’s’ thrown around and the constant use of ‘babe’. While the characters stories possessed depth I didn’t feel that their romance did. The story suffered in pacing during the second half and would have benefited from a trim in length as it only succeeded in adding more of the already abundant melodramatic flair. Excessively long yet still compulsively readable, it disappointed by ending too predictable. I seem to have nothing but negative things to say, yet I did enjoy the read overall. It’d be worth it to give the author another shot to see how she progresses as a writer.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: YA contemporary is not my go-to genre. This book sat on my shelf for years because let's be honest, that cover screams nothing but high school! romance! angst! drama! to me. I was surprised that while the romance (and yes, all the angst and drama one could ever hope for) is a major part, the story possessed a depth I was not expecting. Echo and Noah were individuals that had been forced into growing up sooner than necessary due to incidents in their life and Pushing the Limits is their coming of age story that treads the line between YA and NA and will be well-liked by fans of both.
Pushing the Limits was entertaining and I read it fairly quickly, however, it didn’t manage to generate much in the way of opinion. I was overall a bit indifferent about Echo and Noah’s story. While I appreciated the complex and separate side stories of both characters, it was all too melodramatic for me in the end. The romance was given some time to develop so instant love wasn’t a real factor, but once the romance started it, the seriousness between the two progressed at the speed of light. There were the obligatory ‘I love you’s’ thrown around and the constant use of ‘babe’. While the characters stories possessed depth I didn’t feel that their romance did. The story suffered in pacing during the second half and would have benefited from a trim in length as it only succeeded in adding more of the already abundant melodramatic flair. Excessively long yet still compulsively readable, it disappointed by ending too predictable. I seem to have nothing but negative things to say, yet I did enjoy the read overall. It’d be worth it to give the author another shot to see how she progresses as a writer.
I adored this book. Besides the whole shallow Grace running the school and caring about trying to make each other popular....loved this. Loved all the characters and felt like really got a chance to know all of them. Loved Noah and Echo both and their stories. Ms.Collins was amazing and made me wonder why I didn't have such an amazing counselor when I was younger, ha! Loved this story:)
[Review originally published on Rather Be Reading!]
Does this sounds like a disastrous combination to you:
a girl with repressed memories (Echo) + a good boy turned bad (Noah) + lots of counseling to “fix” them (Mrs. Collins)
I thought it was all kinds of right.
Echo used to be Miss Popularity but a secret event happened that caused her to become a recluse. She and her boyfriend, Jake, broke up and the majority of her friends have ditched her in favor of believing the rumors that circulate her mysterious absence from school after The Event. She’s a fractured girl with repressed memories of what actually happened that left her so badly scarred. She wears long sleeve shirts no matter the outdoor temperature. Her relationship with her father is strained and his remarriage to her pregnant ex-babysitter doesn’t help matters.
Noah is an all-star-athlete-turned-playboy. He lost his parents to a house fire and has bounced from foster home to foster home since then. His younger brothers aren’t allowed to live with him and he’s got limited interaction with them because he’s gotten into a few brawls at his foster homes. His good boy, all-star rapport is thrown out the window in favor of being a pot-smoking, sex machine who lives in the moment.
Echo wants to remember what happened. Noah wants to gain custody of his brothers. Both of them need the help of Mrs. Collins, the new school grief counselor, to work through their issues. She pairs below-average-Noah up with outstanding-student-Echo for tutoring. The two make a pact to help each other get the information they need from Mrs. Collins.
McGarry did a brilliant job of telling Echo and Noah’s story via their dual perspectives. She created two incredibly broken characters with a lot of baggage and very big issues and forced them together. Issues in young adult fiction can be a bit on the fluffy side, but I thoroughly enjoyed that McGarry took the plunge and didn’t take the easy way out with their journey. Echo and Noah were each other’s new beginnings – they were truthful and honest about their pasts – open about things that no one else knew. It only made sense that as they began to trust one another, they would fall in love (though not without a few bumps in the road).
To the reader, Echo and Noah’s pasts are somewhat vague. McGarry chose to use the first person perspective to allow us to experience Echo’s returning memories and all the details of Noah’s parent’s house fires along with them. Just as with counseling, there was a slow revelation of their complete history. I very much enjoyed the quiet progression because I couldn’t anticipate when the next big plot twist was going to happen.
Noah and Echo’s relationship definitely kept me intrigued until we found out more details. In the simplest of terms: their relationship was steamy. Noah had a reputation for having one night stands and never settling down, but Echo falls for him anyway. Noah realizes he’s one of the few people Echo opens up to and the glimpses we have of how incredible and awesome and swoon-worthy he is made me want to shout for Echo to GO FOR IT. McGarry got real – Echo needed someone who would be tender and kind to her in all of the ways her family had neglected to be.
I could continue to go on and on with my love for this beautifully broken love story, but I’m going to stop in favor of you taking a moment to pre-order this book so you can fall in love with Echo and Noah too.
Does this sounds like a disastrous combination to you:
a girl with repressed memories (Echo) + a good boy turned bad (Noah) + lots of counseling to “fix” them (Mrs. Collins)
I thought it was all kinds of right.
Echo used to be Miss Popularity but a secret event happened that caused her to become a recluse. She and her boyfriend, Jake, broke up and the majority of her friends have ditched her in favor of believing the rumors that circulate her mysterious absence from school after The Event. She’s a fractured girl with repressed memories of what actually happened that left her so badly scarred. She wears long sleeve shirts no matter the outdoor temperature. Her relationship with her father is strained and his remarriage to her pregnant ex-babysitter doesn’t help matters.
Noah is an all-star-athlete-turned-playboy. He lost his parents to a house fire and has bounced from foster home to foster home since then. His younger brothers aren’t allowed to live with him and he’s got limited interaction with them because he’s gotten into a few brawls at his foster homes. His good boy, all-star rapport is thrown out the window in favor of being a pot-smoking, sex machine who lives in the moment.
Echo wants to remember what happened. Noah wants to gain custody of his brothers. Both of them need the help of Mrs. Collins, the new school grief counselor, to work through their issues. She pairs below-average-Noah up with outstanding-student-Echo for tutoring. The two make a pact to help each other get the information they need from Mrs. Collins.
McGarry did a brilliant job of telling Echo and Noah’s story via their dual perspectives. She created two incredibly broken characters with a lot of baggage and very big issues and forced them together. Issues in young adult fiction can be a bit on the fluffy side, but I thoroughly enjoyed that McGarry took the plunge and didn’t take the easy way out with their journey. Echo and Noah were each other’s new beginnings – they were truthful and honest about their pasts – open about things that no one else knew. It only made sense that as they began to trust one another, they would fall in love (though not without a few bumps in the road).
To the reader, Echo and Noah’s pasts are somewhat vague. McGarry chose to use the first person perspective to allow us to experience Echo’s returning memories and all the details of Noah’s parent’s house fires along with them. Just as with counseling, there was a slow revelation of their complete history. I very much enjoyed the quiet progression because I couldn’t anticipate when the next big plot twist was going to happen.
Noah and Echo’s relationship definitely kept me intrigued until we found out more details. In the simplest of terms: their relationship was steamy. Noah had a reputation for having one night stands and never settling down, but Echo falls for him anyway. Noah realizes he’s one of the few people Echo opens up to and the glimpses we have of how incredible and awesome and swoon-worthy he is made me want to shout for Echo to GO FOR IT. McGarry got real – Echo needed someone who would be tender and kind to her in all of the ways her family had neglected to be.
I could continue to go on and on with my love for this beautifully broken love story, but I’m going to stop in favor of you taking a moment to pre-order this book so you can fall in love with Echo and Noah too.
To say that this book made me shed a few tears would be a huge understatement. My emotions were messed with in this emotional roller coaster and I. LOVED. EVERY. MINUTE. OF. IT.
The book started off with Echo in a counseling session with her new clinical social worker. I'll be honest and say I didn't like either of them to start off with. I had thought that Echo was a teen who had a few issues that weren't too extreme and I didn't think I'd like her since she was the one keeping her emotions in. I also thought that Mrs. Collin's was going to be a typical counselor who probably wouldn't help Echo at all. Boy was I wrong and I am so glad that I was! Echo has serious issues. As I learned about them my jaw kept dropping in shock. I just couldn't believe that something like that could happen to her! My eyes already started to prick with tears just learning the basics of the situation. Once I got to the details I was a mess!
Soon after, we also get to meet Noah. He seems like the bad boy on the outside but he is so much more than that. Once you get to know him you'll realize that he is a sweet heart who has gone down the wrong path after his own traumatic past.
What do you get when fate (read as: Mrs. Collins) puts two damaged teens together? An emotionally explosive story that will break your heart and give you hope.
Noah and Echo are PERFECT for each other. The most important thing that is keeping them apart however, is the fact that they haven't completely come to terms with their situations. And that is what gets the story going. I loved that the main focus of the story wasn't Echo and Noah's relationship. That was a huge part of it but the main story was of them learning to deal with what life had given them. They grew stronger together and supported each other while they learned to deal with their past's.
The counseling sessions with Mrs. Collins were some of my favorite parts in this book. I would say that this is where the characters developed the most. We got to learn about them as individuals and we got to learn their stories. And my goodness, their stories are heart breaking! Each in different ways. I won't spoil what has happened to the both of them but I'll let you know that they have had HARD lives! This shows how strong they are. If I went through the stuff that they have gone through, I don't know how I would cope. It's unbelievable. I admire both Noah and Echo for their strength.
Pushing the Limits contains some very heavy material but it also contains some humor and most importantly some hope. As I was reading, I found myself tearing up one minute then laughing so hard the next. This is what I meant by "emotional roller coaster." My emotions were being tugged by two different factors. I was wanting to cry because of how terrible their situations were but I also wanted to laugh because I loved the characters and their humor. Echo and Noah were amazing but there are many other secondary characters that I admired as well.
I would say that Isaiah was one of my favorites. He was a strong force to be reckoned with and he knew what he was talking about.
There was also Lila. She was an amazing best friend. Even though she wasn't in the story as often, she left a huge impression because she stood by Echo no matter what.
Beth was a pretty interesting character as well. I can't wait to hear her story. I have a feeling a lot is going on with her and learning her story will help me understand her better.
Mrs. Collins. What can I say about her? She's definitely a character of her own. I loved her for the fact that she truly did care and wanted to help out Noah and Echo.
As we get to know the characters we also see their relationships developed. I've already said how much I love Echo and Noah together, but the relationship I loved the most was Noah and his brothers. That relationship was what gave me hope. Kind of odd once you learn the circumstances but it made me love Noah's determination and admire how loyal he is.
The other relationship that gave me hope was Echo's relationship with her father. This is what made me love the ending. They have a rough relationship but it is filled with hope. They had to work out quite a few issues but in the end they truly do love each other and are willing to try to repair their broken relationship.
I feel like I'm going on and on but that's because this truly is an amazing book. The emotions are raw and there are MANY bombs that are dropped throughout the story that I didn't see coming. I had no idea what was going to happen next and I NEVER wanted to stop reading. It was so hard to step away from these characters and their journey. So final point is that this is a FANTASTIC read that nobody is going to want to miss.
The book started off with Echo in a counseling session with her new clinical social worker. I'll be honest and say I didn't like either of them to start off with. I had thought that Echo was a teen who had a few issues that weren't too extreme and I didn't think I'd like her since she was the one keeping her emotions in. I also thought that Mrs. Collin's was going to be a typical counselor who probably wouldn't help Echo at all. Boy was I wrong and I am so glad that I was! Echo has serious issues. As I learned about them my jaw kept dropping in shock. I just couldn't believe that something like that could happen to her! My eyes already started to prick with tears just learning the basics of the situation. Once I got to the details I was a mess!
Soon after, we also get to meet Noah. He seems like the bad boy on the outside but he is so much more than that. Once you get to know him you'll realize that he is a sweet heart who has gone down the wrong path after his own traumatic past.
What do you get when fate (read as: Mrs. Collins) puts two damaged teens together? An emotionally explosive story that will break your heart and give you hope.
Noah and Echo are PERFECT for each other. The most important thing that is keeping them apart however, is the fact that they haven't completely come to terms with their situations. And that is what gets the story going. I loved that the main focus of the story wasn't Echo and Noah's relationship. That was a huge part of it but the main story was of them learning to deal with what life had given them. They grew stronger together and supported each other while they learned to deal with their past's.
The counseling sessions with Mrs. Collins were some of my favorite parts in this book. I would say that this is where the characters developed the most. We got to learn about them as individuals and we got to learn their stories. And my goodness, their stories are heart breaking! Each in different ways. I won't spoil what has happened to the both of them but I'll let you know that they have had HARD lives! This shows how strong they are. If I went through the stuff that they have gone through, I don't know how I would cope. It's unbelievable. I admire both Noah and Echo for their strength.
Pushing the Limits contains some very heavy material but it also contains some humor and most importantly some hope. As I was reading, I found myself tearing up one minute then laughing so hard the next. This is what I meant by "emotional roller coaster." My emotions were being tugged by two different factors. I was wanting to cry because of how terrible their situations were but I also wanted to laugh because I loved the characters and their humor. Echo and Noah were amazing but there are many other secondary characters that I admired as well.
I would say that Isaiah was one of my favorites. He was a strong force to be reckoned with and he knew what he was talking about.
There was also Lila. She was an amazing best friend. Even though she wasn't in the story as often, she left a huge impression because she stood by Echo no matter what.
Beth was a pretty interesting character as well. I can't wait to hear her story. I have a feeling a lot is going on with her and learning her story will help me understand her better.
Mrs. Collins. What can I say about her? She's definitely a character of her own. I loved her for the fact that she truly did care and wanted to help out Noah and Echo.
As we get to know the characters we also see their relationships developed. I've already said how much I love Echo and Noah together, but the relationship I loved the most was Noah and his brothers. That relationship was what gave me hope. Kind of odd once you learn the circumstances but it made me love Noah's determination and admire how loyal he is.
The other relationship that gave me hope was Echo's relationship with her father. This is what made me love the ending. They have a rough relationship but it is filled with hope. They had to work out quite a few issues but in the end they truly do love each other and are willing to try to repair their broken relationship.
I feel like I'm going on and on but that's because this truly is an amazing book. The emotions are raw and there are MANY bombs that are dropped throughout the story that I didn't see coming. I had no idea what was going to happen next and I NEVER wanted to stop reading. It was so hard to step away from these characters and their journey. So final point is that this is a FANTASTIC read that nobody is going to want to miss.
It's a great book! If u like it u would like beautiful disaster and perfect chemistry. It doesnt go at all how I expected. Not the same as all the others
Echo's life changed in a moment's notice, one she can't remember. She's left with scars and slowly reshapes her life but remembers with the help of counseling. It's through this counseling she meets bad-boy Noah. He has troubles of his own, losing his parents in his fire and his brothers to foster care. He's only doing what's needs to gain custody of his brothers and spending time with Echo is not the right step. There's something about this lost young woman that calls to him. He may not be able to heal her wounds but he can be there for her as she battles through the pain and remembers her past. A very sweet story with great characters though I do harbor hatred for all of her parents. Good read!