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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
Synopsis:
After a traumatic event with her mother following her brother's death, Echo is the main topic of gossip, especially with the scars that cover her arms. Being a social outcast, she bonds with bad boy Noah, who hides his own demons behind a snarky attitude.
My Reaction:
I love how Echo develops as a character. I love how Katie McGarry shows emotion throughout this story. I felt the frustration, confusion, sadness, and anger that Echo felt while dealing with the loss of her brother, her strained relationship with her father and his new wife, as well as coping with her memory loss in connection with her mother.
Warnings:
Drugs and Alcohol
Mild Sexual Content
Some violence
After a traumatic event with her mother following her brother's death, Echo is the main topic of gossip, especially with the scars that cover her arms. Being a social outcast, she bonds with bad boy Noah, who hides his own demons behind a snarky attitude.
My Reaction:
I love how Echo develops as a character. I love how Katie McGarry shows emotion throughout this story. I felt the frustration, confusion, sadness, and anger that Echo felt while dealing with the loss of her brother, her strained relationship with her father and his new wife, as well as coping with her memory loss in connection with her mother.
Warnings:
Drugs and Alcohol
Mild Sexual Content
Some violence
I was super afraid of reading this book. Why? Mostly because it is so freakin' popular, and I've had so many disappointing experiences from popular books - they're not usually bad, I just usually expect so much from them and they just... don't follow through.
Pushing the Limits, though, I'm very happy to report, was everything other reviewers and readers said it was - absolutely fantastic.
One of the most beautiful things about this story are the characters.
Echo used to be one of the popular crowd, until one day it all changed. Now she's broken, deformed, empty, and she can't even tell anyone what happened, because she doesn't know. But she firmly believes that the hole in her chest would close if she just found out what happened. Only she never thought that to do that, she'd enlist the help of the bad-boy, girl-using, sexy stoner, Noah.
Noah is the sweetest bad boy on this planet. He's not really a bad-boy, but a really misunderstood boy who has been betrayed by the world in the worst possible way one too many times. He doesn't trust anyone, and in order to achieve his goals he'll do anything. In that way, helping Echo is the best choice in order to help himself.
But somehow, from just an alliance against a common "enemy", Echo and Noah both discover the strongest attraction, and understanding between each other.
Pushing the Limits, though, I'm very happy to report, was everything other reviewers and readers said it was - absolutely fantastic.
One of the most beautiful things about this story are the characters.
Echo used to be one of the popular crowd, until one day it all changed. Now she's broken, deformed, empty, and she can't even tell anyone what happened, because she doesn't know. But she firmly believes that the hole in her chest would close if she just found out what happened. Only she never thought that to do that, she'd enlist the help of the bad-boy, girl-using, sexy stoner, Noah.
Noah is the sweetest bad boy on this planet. He's not really a bad-boy, but a really misunderstood boy who has been betrayed by the world in the worst possible way one too many times. He doesn't trust anyone, and in order to achieve his goals he'll do anything. In that way, helping Echo is the best choice in order to help himself.
But somehow, from just an alliance against a common "enemy", Echo and Noah both discover the strongest attraction, and understanding between each other.
"It's like I have this large black hole in my brain and it's sucking the life out of me. The answers are in there so I sit for hours and stare. No matter how hard and long I look, I only see darkness."--Echo
Reading of the story of these two was pretty amazing. Being inside of Echo's head was painful, and so emotional. Knowing how she felt, how she was sure no one loved her broke my heart, mostly because I could relate and truly feel her. And despite all the emotional pain, I loved her.
Being inside Noah's head just strongly made me want to hug him, and to feel for him. It also made me really angry all the other people around him doesn't realize what an amazing, thoughtful, kind, caring person he is. I admit to wanting to punch some people for the way they acted toward him.
The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see--the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived. For people like me and Echo, our souls contained more scar tissue than life.” --Noah
Their love was sweet and tender and real, and they completed each other, made each other stronger, and cared for each other so deeply it was painful.
I also found the plot of the story to be wonderfully amazing as in the relationship itself between Noah and Echo didn't have much angst and there were no misunderstandings. Their relationship was simply quite effortless because it was just right in every way for both sides. There was a lot of trouble and issues in this book don't get me wrong, but it all summed from everything else around them, emphasizing and enhancing the rightness of their love.
"Luke used to give me butterflies. Noah spawned mutant pterodactyls."-- Echo
The familial relationship in this book are messed up. They're messed up because they're complicated, but not because there is lack of love in them. There is lack of communication and understanding, sometimes unjust anger or firm believes driven from prejudice or misdirection. And it was tough watching it because you knew there were no true ill intentions anywhere there. But, luckily, because of that there was a place and possibility to reform and regroup.
Also, gonna admit a big dirty secret here... I cried! I am such a girl!
I cannot wait to read the next book from Katie McGarry, and of course the one after that, and the one after... she's definitely got my attention!
No one really knows what happened the night Echo Emerson got the scars that cover her arms. And those who do know, well they aren't telling. Echo knows her mother is responsible, but she doesn't remember what her mother did to her or why. As she works her way through therapy session after therapy session, she meets Noah Hutchins. Noah, who may just have as many issues and secrets as Echo does. Girls like Echo and guys like Noah, they don't mix. But as they begin to confide in one another, they can't seem to fight their feelings.
As always, I will try to be as honest as possible in this review, without spoilers and without ranting (too much). But oh dear, when I first started this, I honestly thought I was about to defy the blogosphere and completely hate this book. Everyone had been telling me how much they enjoyed it, how great it was and so I went into it with high-ish expectations. I enjoyed the book, I didn't love it but I didn't completely hate it either.
Echo Emerson, and herein lies my first issue. Echo, really? What parent is that cruel? And then to heap it on more, her brother is called Aires, what is with that spelling? That poor character should be glad he is dead, he got off light there. Having to go a whole lifetime being called Aires, now that would hurt.
Okay, silly character names aside I did enjoy quite a bit of this book. At first, I was really unsure. I am not a fan of angst and melodrama, and this is packed full of angst and melodrama. It's like a whole years worth of crappy soap opera drama crammed into one book. These two main characters, my god are their lives awful. Honestly, any bad thing that can happen to a person, well it has happened to one of them. That seemed a bit too much for me and I was tempted to put the book down after a few chapters.
But then, the tides turned and suddenly I found myself really enjoying this book. Noah and Echo had some rather great moments together, and for someone who cringes at romance in books, that is saying a lot. So about 100 pages in and I was really enjoying it. I was beginning to root for both Echo and Noah; I really wanted things to work out for them as individuals, not just as a couple. The chemistry between them really showed and that can be hard to find in a book.
I did love Mrs. Collins, their counsellor. She was my favourite character if I am honest, I just thought she was brilliant. She spoke so much sense at times that I wanted to applaud her. Another great character, I found, was Beth; Noah's foster sister, who is funny and honest and a bit of a bitch. But that was what I loved about her, she had an attitude and a personality.
So why did I have so many issues with it? Well as it went on, and it did go on and on, I started to get a bit bored, the characters got a bit repetitive in the things they would say or do and I wanted it to end a bit quicker. If I'm being honest, this book was too long. It could have been a good 150 pages shorter, not tried to put in so much drama and I would have probably rated it a lot higher.
Now for some of the reasons I disliked the book:
The angst and cringe: I can watch rom-coms, in fact, there are quite a few I love. The Notebook, I can watch that over and over again and I don't get sick of it; that might have something to do with Ryan Gosling though. But there is something about reading romance that is a lot more cringe inducing. And this certainly made me cringe. Some examples of things that had be wincing:
'"It doesn't get better," I said. "The pain. The wounds scab over and you don't always feel like a knife is slashing through you. But when you least expect it, the pain flashes to remind you you'll never be the same."
'I flashed a smile to keep the honesty of the statement from corroding the remainder of my heart.'
And cue the cringing. Nobody talks like that, at least no one I've ever met.
The preaching: I hate, and I mean hate, feeling like I'm being preached too. This book, I'm sorry, but it kind of made me feel like that. I find it unrealistic that every single person in this book had a belief in God. I've been alive twenty-two years and can probably count on one hand the number of people I know who have any belief in a religion or god. I was not at all surprised to get to the end of the book and find God at the top of the acknowledgements page.
The length: If this had been 100-150 pages shorter I would have probably been writing a very different review right now. It would probably be getting a 3.5* rating or more, because at one point I was really loving it. But, the book was too long, it got a bit too repetitive and boring and I started feeling like I wanted to skip ahead.
The use of 'in': Echo keeps referring to her and Luke's relationship and the fact she is not 'in' with him. What she means is that she is not in love with him. Why she can't simply say that I will never know. But "I'm not 'in' with him" is said so many times, that I wanted to scream. Is that a thing? I have never heard that before in my life. Finish the sentence Echo, come on girl you can do it!
I had a few other issues as well. Echo calls her dad, daddy - that's just creepy. From a child it's sweet and sounds right. From someone who's eighteen it sounds really, really creepy. I'm not sure why it feels creepy, it just does. I called my dad that when I was a child, not as an adult. Also, Echo and Noah's relationship was really nice in the beginning, I actually really enjoyed it but then it got a bit too full on too quickly. Those kind of relationships, where after two weeks they are proclaiming how they will be together forever; to me it's ridiculously unrealistic.
So I don't know what to think. There were definitely parts I enjoyed, and obviously there were parts I didn't. But overall if you are someone who enjoys young adult romance, then I actually think this book is for you. I'm just hard to please when it comes to romance books. Unfortunately, I bought the second book as well because I have an ARC of Crash Into You. Now I'm torn as to whether I should read them or not. Any opinions? Are they better? Worse? More angst filled or less so?
2.5/5
Loved half and disliked half.
Sorry everyone who recommended it, me and romance books have a love-hate relationship at times.
As always, I will try to be as honest as possible in this review, without spoilers and without ranting (too much). But oh dear, when I first started this, I honestly thought I was about to defy the blogosphere and completely hate this book. Everyone had been telling me how much they enjoyed it, how great it was and so I went into it with high-ish expectations. I enjoyed the book, I didn't love it but I didn't completely hate it either.
Echo Emerson, and herein lies my first issue. Echo, really? What parent is that cruel? And then to heap it on more, her brother is called Aires, what is with that spelling? That poor character should be glad he is dead, he got off light there. Having to go a whole lifetime being called Aires, now that would hurt.
Okay, silly character names aside I did enjoy quite a bit of this book. At first, I was really unsure. I am not a fan of angst and melodrama, and this is packed full of angst and melodrama. It's like a whole years worth of crappy soap opera drama crammed into one book. These two main characters, my god are their lives awful. Honestly, any bad thing that can happen to a person, well it has happened to one of them. That seemed a bit too much for me and I was tempted to put the book down after a few chapters.
But then, the tides turned and suddenly I found myself really enjoying this book. Noah and Echo had some rather great moments together, and for someone who cringes at romance in books, that is saying a lot. So about 100 pages in and I was really enjoying it. I was beginning to root for both Echo and Noah; I really wanted things to work out for them as individuals, not just as a couple. The chemistry between them really showed and that can be hard to find in a book.
I did love Mrs. Collins, their counsellor. She was my favourite character if I am honest, I just thought she was brilliant. She spoke so much sense at times that I wanted to applaud her. Another great character, I found, was Beth; Noah's foster sister, who is funny and honest and a bit of a bitch. But that was what I loved about her, she had an attitude and a personality.
So why did I have so many issues with it? Well as it went on, and it did go on and on, I started to get a bit bored, the characters got a bit repetitive in the things they would say or do and I wanted it to end a bit quicker. If I'm being honest, this book was too long. It could have been a good 150 pages shorter, not tried to put in so much drama and I would have probably rated it a lot higher.
Now for some of the reasons I disliked the book:
The angst and cringe: I can watch rom-coms, in fact, there are quite a few I love. The Notebook, I can watch that over and over again and I don't get sick of it; that might have something to do with Ryan Gosling though. But there is something about reading romance that is a lot more cringe inducing. And this certainly made me cringe. Some examples of things that had be wincing:
'"It doesn't get better," I said. "The pain. The wounds scab over and you don't always feel like a knife is slashing through you. But when you least expect it, the pain flashes to remind you you'll never be the same."
'I flashed a smile to keep the honesty of the statement from corroding the remainder of my heart.'
And cue the cringing. Nobody talks like that, at least no one I've ever met.
The preaching: I hate, and I mean hate, feeling like I'm being preached too. This book, I'm sorry, but it kind of made me feel like that. I find it unrealistic that every single person in this book had a belief in God. I've been alive twenty-two years and can probably count on one hand the number of people I know who have any belief in a religion or god. I was not at all surprised to get to the end of the book and find God at the top of the acknowledgements page.
The length: If this had been 100-150 pages shorter I would have probably been writing a very different review right now. It would probably be getting a 3.5* rating or more, because at one point I was really loving it. But, the book was too long, it got a bit too repetitive and boring and I started feeling like I wanted to skip ahead.
The use of 'in': Echo keeps referring to her and Luke's relationship and the fact she is not 'in' with him. What she means is that she is not in love with him. Why she can't simply say that I will never know. But "I'm not 'in' with him" is said so many times, that I wanted to scream. Is that a thing? I have never heard that before in my life. Finish the sentence Echo, come on girl you can do it!
I had a few other issues as well. Echo calls her dad, daddy - that's just creepy. From a child it's sweet and sounds right. From someone who's eighteen it sounds really, really creepy. I'm not sure why it feels creepy, it just does. I called my dad that when I was a child, not as an adult. Also, Echo and Noah's relationship was really nice in the beginning, I actually really enjoyed it but then it got a bit too full on too quickly. Those kind of relationships, where after two weeks they are proclaiming how they will be together forever; to me it's ridiculously unrealistic.
So I don't know what to think. There were definitely parts I enjoyed, and obviously there were parts I didn't. But overall if you are someone who enjoys young adult romance, then I actually think this book is for you. I'm just hard to please when it comes to romance books. Unfortunately, I bought the second book as well because I have an ARC of Crash Into You. Now I'm torn as to whether I should read them or not. Any opinions? Are they better? Worse? More angst filled or less so?
2.5/5
Loved half and disliked half.
Sorry everyone who recommended it, me and romance books have a love-hate relationship at times.
Initial thoughts: Oh my god. This book. Okay, so. I typically don't read many books similar to Pushing the Limits, but after hearing so many good things about it, I just had to read it! I must admit that I felt that it did take a while for this book to fully take off, but that may just be me as I've read a lot of fast-paced books lately. Anyway, I was quite disappointed the first time I gave this book a go due to its slow start and my high expectations, but once I had a solid idea on the characters, I had a hard time putting it down. Noah and Echo draw you in as they are both very likeable, yet they are not perfect people. Their flaws are not cliche and their past is definitely something that draws the reader in. Overall, I'm really happy that I chose to read this book. I will definitely be reading more Katie McGarry in the future and I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to branch out into the contemporary genre.
Review:
This review was originally posted on my blog, Paperbacks & Protagonists.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry is a new adult, contemporary novel. It was first published in June 2012 by Harlequin Teen and contains 392 pages. The first book in the Pushing the Limits series focuses on two main characters, Echo Emerson and Noah Hutchins, swapping between these two voices each chapter.
Pushing the Limits is set in American suburbia and follows the lives of two very different teenagers who happen to be not-so-different from each other when the tip of the iceberg is scratched. Echo, a smart and popular girl before a "freak" accident, never would've socialised with Noah, a girl-using, smoking-hot loner, if it wasn't for a chance meeting. Pushing the Limits follows the narrative that entails from this chance encounter.
Echo Emerson cannot remember the whole truth of the night that left her with scars covering her arms. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.
But when Noah Hutchins explodes into Echo's life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world changes in ways she could never have imagined.
On the outside, Echo and Noah are total opposites, but with the secrets they both keep, it begins to prove harder and harder to keep away from each other. As the crazy attraction between them grows, Echo is forced to push the limits so that she is able to learn how to love again.
For me, personally, I typically don't like books like this, but after hearing nothing but good feedback on Pushing the Limits, I just had to pick it up! And let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Although I felt that the start of the book was quite slow, it was quick to pick up once the 100-or-so page mark was reached. Once I had a good idea on who the characters were, I couldn't put it down! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in branching out into the new adult genre.
The writing of this books is simple, yet somewhat powerful. A technique which draws the reader into each of the character's story's. While there are a couple of cons about this book; a slow start and, dare I say it? A little bit of instalove, the pros outweigh the cons, leaving the reading with a smile on their face. I personally found this book great, it makes me want to read more Katie McGarry books and to give other books in the new adult genre a go.
To reiterate, this is the first book I've read in the new adult genre and one that I highly recommend to others wanting to start reading new adult books.
Review:
This review was originally posted on my blog, Paperbacks & Protagonists.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry is a new adult, contemporary novel. It was first published in June 2012 by Harlequin Teen and contains 392 pages. The first book in the Pushing the Limits series focuses on two main characters, Echo Emerson and Noah Hutchins, swapping between these two voices each chapter.
Pushing the Limits is set in American suburbia and follows the lives of two very different teenagers who happen to be not-so-different from each other when the tip of the iceberg is scratched. Echo, a smart and popular girl before a "freak" accident, never would've socialised with Noah, a girl-using, smoking-hot loner, if it wasn't for a chance meeting. Pushing the Limits follows the narrative that entails from this chance encounter.
Echo Emerson cannot remember the whole truth of the night that left her with scars covering her arms. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.
But when Noah Hutchins explodes into Echo's life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world changes in ways she could never have imagined.
On the outside, Echo and Noah are total opposites, but with the secrets they both keep, it begins to prove harder and harder to keep away from each other. As the crazy attraction between them grows, Echo is forced to push the limits so that she is able to learn how to love again.
For me, personally, I typically don't like books like this, but after hearing nothing but good feedback on Pushing the Limits, I just had to pick it up! And let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Although I felt that the start of the book was quite slow, it was quick to pick up once the 100-or-so page mark was reached. Once I had a good idea on who the characters were, I couldn't put it down! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in branching out into the new adult genre.
The writing of this books is simple, yet somewhat powerful. A technique which draws the reader into each of the character's story's. While there are a couple of cons about this book; a slow start and, dare I say it? A little bit of instalove, the pros outweigh the cons, leaving the reading with a smile on their face. I personally found this book great, it makes me want to read more Katie McGarry books and to give other books in the new adult genre a go.
To reiterate, this is the first book I've read in the new adult genre and one that I highly recommend to others wanting to start reading new adult books.
4 stars
It was good, in fact it was a lot better than I expected it to be. The characters had depth and problems, they went about solving them in the easy way which didn't work and then fixed it. I liked both Noah and Echo.
The interaction between Noah and his brothers is really good. Echo and her family are particularly messed up but they deal. The whole book was good.
It was good, in fact it was a lot better than I expected it to be. The characters had depth and problems, they went about solving them in the easy way which didn't work and then fixed it. I liked both Noah and Echo.
Spoiler
The only character I didn't particularly like it Beth and that was mostly because of the PotThe interaction between Noah and his brothers is really good. Echo and her family are particularly messed up but they deal. The whole book was good.
Spoiler
I adored, adored the fact that they never had sex. That Echo said she was ready but Noah knew that she wasn't. I adored that.
4.5 stars!!!
WOW. Powerful and moving story, amazing debut novel. [full review later]
WOW. Powerful and moving story, amazing debut novel. [full review later]
Read my review on my blog :))
- http://brooklynblogstuff.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/pushing-limits-katie-mcgarry-review.html
- http://brooklynblogstuff.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/pushing-limits-katie-mcgarry-review.html
Set in high school, this book delves into deep issues of abuse, foster care, mental illness and more. I thought it was very well written and I was never frustrated with the plot. The ending wraps up in a very real-world way.
3.75 Stars!
This book is well worth the read! It's raw, edgy and the characters manage to break your heart while giving you hope at the same time. I enjoyed the alternating POV's and watching the romance grow between two very unlikely people.
Echo and Noah have both experienced horrific tragedies and are left to cope with finding a new normal pretty much on their own. (At least that's how they see it.) Not knowing who to trust is hard but through their combined circumstances Noah and Echo discover "normal" isn't always what it seems and love can find you when you least expect it.
Both of these characters are strong and Noah is completely swoon worthy despite his tough guy attitude and his potty mouth. ;) It was interesting to watch Echo's transformation and the fact that she was able to hold on to certain "things" throughout the story was refreshing.
Sometimes you read a book like this, and the pain and brokenness of the characters is too much often leaving you worse for the wear. Not so, with this story. Even though I was a roller coaster of emotions the message of hope and life being full of possibilities came through loud and clear. (for me anyway.)
I was also impressed that the first line in the acknowledgements was
"God - Luke 1:37" ("For nothing is impossible with God." ~ Luke 1:37)
This book is well worth the read! It's raw, edgy and the characters manage to break your heart while giving you hope at the same time. I enjoyed the alternating POV's and watching the romance grow between two very unlikely people.
Echo and Noah have both experienced horrific tragedies and are left to cope with finding a new normal pretty much on their own. (At least that's how they see it.) Not knowing who to trust is hard but through their combined circumstances Noah and Echo discover "normal" isn't always what it seems and love can find you when you least expect it.
Both of these characters are strong and Noah is completely swoon worthy despite his tough guy attitude and his potty mouth. ;) It was interesting to watch Echo's transformation and the fact that she was able to hold on to certain "things" throughout the story was refreshing.
Sometimes you read a book like this, and the pain and brokenness of the characters is too much often leaving you worse for the wear. Not so, with this story. Even though I was a roller coaster of emotions the message of hope and life being full of possibilities came through loud and clear. (for me anyway.)
I was also impressed that the first line in the acknowledgements was
"God - Luke 1:37" ("For nothing is impossible with God." ~ Luke 1:37)