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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
M: I’m sensing a theme in our discussions. Hot boys that make us swoon! So, yea….Noah, shall we add him to the ever growing list?
A: Noah, Noah, Noah, Noah!!!! So in love with him! Reading the description of the book I was nervous that it was going to be another Perfect Chemistry thing with the boy from the wrong side of the tracks falling for the popular princess, but Noah was so much more than that. There was nothing truly bad boy about Noah. He was just a kid that got the bum end of the deal in the game of life. Everything he knew was taken from him and he just had the reputation then. But honestly he had to have been the most loving, feeling boy. The love he had for his brothers made me melt! Melt I tell you, into a pile of Andi-goo! Be still my heart.
M: YES! Echo wasn’t any luckier in the game either. Poor thing got stuck with a truly epic set of crap parents. It wasn’t surprising to me that she and Noah bonded over their dysfunctional families. I can’t decide who I liked more really. I thought Echo was amazingly strong given what it was she’d had to endure. But Noah really touched a soft spot with his overwhelming love for his brothers and his dedication to bringing his family back together.
What did you think of the two different stories with their respective families?
A: Despised Echo’s father and step-mother! Like wanted to jump through the pages and strangle them for how they behaved. I got that they were trying to ‘protect’ Echo, and I can appreciate the sentiment. But the way her father went about it was pretty vile and obnoxious. And I could totally understand Echo’s reaction to her step-mother because that whole thing was just eww! And Noah was on the complete opposite end really. He was legit from a broken family but yet they were all still a family. He would have done anything for his brothers he loved them that much.
The funny thing is that you would think Echo was the one that had the strong nuclear family background based on the way people perceived her, but it was really Noah that had a real family even without his parents. If that makes any sense.
M: You hit the nail on the head with that one. It was all about the outward perceptions. That’s why Echo was so troubled, she was screaming for people to recognize that her life and her family weren’t that perfect picture. That there was these troublesome relationships underneath. that she had real problems.
Then you have Noah, who looks the total bad boy but really underneath the faux swagger he’s just this typical good student, good sportsman and good boy who cares about his family. He just makes people work hard to get to see it.
These are the reasons the two of them worked so well together. They were both broken in similar ways but still had goodness in them that needed to be discovered.
So, speaking of families I couldn’t stand Echo’s. Even with the best of intentions her father was just an overbearing ass. Seriously, who treats their child like that after the kind of trauma she lived through?
A: OMG seriously! He was just awful! I have read a lot of YA books with god awful parents, but Echo’s dad takes the cake! He didn’t want to protect her, he wanted to control her. It drove me insane! And the stepmother was so super annoying! All she wanted to think about was the new baby with no thought to anyone’s feelings at all. It was like Echo didn’t exist in either of their worlds. And Echo’s mom was an obvious piece of work. True, she was mentally unstable but the fact that she never apologized or had any remorse for what she did to her own daughter showed she was a sociopath on top of everything else.
M: That’s really one of the interesting parts of the story that I would have liked to have had explored a little bit more. The idea of Echo’s mother being so completely oblivious to anyone’s feelings but her own. That she honestly didn’t love Echo the way a parent typically does. Granted she had issues with mental instability but I would have been interested to see some of the complexities between Echo and both her parents play out a bit more.
I also think it would have been interesting to see more out of the parallel between Echo’s father’s behavior towards his child and how Noah acted as a father figure to his brothers. At such a young age Noah had more maturity to do right by kids than Echo’s father.
A: Noah was by far the more mature. Actually he was probably the most mature person in the book and he was the one labeled as the screw-up. Kind of goes to show you you really never know a person until you know them.
M: True that! Overall a great contemporary romance that I enjoyed a good deal. I’m interested to see what the next one has in store.
A: Noah, Noah, Noah, Noah!!!! So in love with him! Reading the description of the book I was nervous that it was going to be another Perfect Chemistry thing with the boy from the wrong side of the tracks falling for the popular princess, but Noah was so much more than that. There was nothing truly bad boy about Noah. He was just a kid that got the bum end of the deal in the game of life. Everything he knew was taken from him and he just had the reputation then. But honestly he had to have been the most loving, feeling boy. The love he had for his brothers made me melt! Melt I tell you, into a pile of Andi-goo! Be still my heart.
M: YES! Echo wasn’t any luckier in the game either. Poor thing got stuck with a truly epic set of crap parents. It wasn’t surprising to me that she and Noah bonded over their dysfunctional families. I can’t decide who I liked more really. I thought Echo was amazingly strong given what it was she’d had to endure. But Noah really touched a soft spot with his overwhelming love for his brothers and his dedication to bringing his family back together.
What did you think of the two different stories with their respective families?
A: Despised Echo’s father and step-mother! Like wanted to jump through the pages and strangle them for how they behaved. I got that they were trying to ‘protect’ Echo, and I can appreciate the sentiment. But the way her father went about it was pretty vile and obnoxious. And I could totally understand Echo’s reaction to her step-mother because that whole thing was just eww! And Noah was on the complete opposite end really. He was legit from a broken family but yet they were all still a family. He would have done anything for his brothers he loved them that much.
The funny thing is that you would think Echo was the one that had the strong nuclear family background based on the way people perceived her, but it was really Noah that had a real family even without his parents. If that makes any sense.
M: You hit the nail on the head with that one. It was all about the outward perceptions. That’s why Echo was so troubled, she was screaming for people to recognize that her life and her family weren’t that perfect picture. That there was these troublesome relationships underneath. that she had real problems.
Then you have Noah, who looks the total bad boy but really underneath the faux swagger he’s just this typical good student, good sportsman and good boy who cares about his family. He just makes people work hard to get to see it.
These are the reasons the two of them worked so well together. They were both broken in similar ways but still had goodness in them that needed to be discovered.
So, speaking of families I couldn’t stand Echo’s. Even with the best of intentions her father was just an overbearing ass. Seriously, who treats their child like that after the kind of trauma she lived through?
A: OMG seriously! He was just awful! I have read a lot of YA books with god awful parents, but Echo’s dad takes the cake! He didn’t want to protect her, he wanted to control her. It drove me insane! And the stepmother was so super annoying! All she wanted to think about was the new baby with no thought to anyone’s feelings at all. It was like Echo didn’t exist in either of their worlds. And Echo’s mom was an obvious piece of work. True, she was mentally unstable but the fact that she never apologized or had any remorse for what she did to her own daughter showed she was a sociopath on top of everything else.
M: That’s really one of the interesting parts of the story that I would have liked to have had explored a little bit more. The idea of Echo’s mother being so completely oblivious to anyone’s feelings but her own. That she honestly didn’t love Echo the way a parent typically does. Granted she had issues with mental instability but I would have been interested to see some of the complexities between Echo and both her parents play out a bit more.
I also think it would have been interesting to see more out of the parallel between Echo’s father’s behavior towards his child and how Noah acted as a father figure to his brothers. At such a young age Noah had more maturity to do right by kids than Echo’s father.
A: Noah was by far the more mature. Actually he was probably the most mature person in the book and he was the one labeled as the screw-up. Kind of goes to show you you really never know a person until you know them.
M: True that! Overall a great contemporary romance that I enjoyed a good deal. I’m interested to see what the next one has in store.
REVIEW: http://theliteraturelion.blogspot.com/2012/12/review-pushing-limits-by-katie-mcgarry.html
Echo was used to being the popular girl with all the friends at her school, until everything went downhill for her. Family issues seem to pile on top of one another, she seems to jump from counselor to counselor, and friends are pressuring her to become normal again. A new counselor, Mrs. Collins, tries to help Echo remember 'that night' - the night in which her mother had a mental breakdown and tried to kill Echo. Soon she gets paired up to tutor Noah Hutchins, resident bad-boy.
For all Echo had dealt with, I think she was dealing with it exceptionally well. I know if my parents had divorced, my mother had a mental breakdown, and my brother was killed at war, I would be in a much more critical condition then Echo. Of course she still had her moments, but she was a strong character. You could tell she grew as a character, but she was already such a complex character in the beginning of the novel. She had her history with her parents, her relationship with her brother, her hidden interests and talents like mythology and art - everything about her added up in unique ways to make Echo.
Also, I particularly liked the strength she showed towards Noah, especially when he was being a jerk. It showed that she still have some control and faith in herself. Speaking of Noah, oh la laaaa! I loved every scene with him! I remember when I was reading this novel, I was also texting my boyfriend and telling him about this "really hot guy" and the first thing he said was: "Let me guess, he's a fictional character." But Noah's life was extremely interesting to me.
Really good overall for a contemporary novel. The romance was good, the mystery was REALLY good, and it kept me on my toes! It rocked as a contemporary novel, but the ending kind of fell flat for me. I really can't wait for the companion novel - Dare You To - which is about Noah's friend, Beth. She really intrigued me so I can't wait for it!
I'm sad to see that everyone else is rating this book five stars, but I can only seem to give it four. It didn't really throw me off the edge and begging for more. It was good, of course, but I can only give it four stars.
Echo was used to being the popular girl with all the friends at her school, until everything went downhill for her. Family issues seem to pile on top of one another, she seems to jump from counselor to counselor, and friends are pressuring her to become normal again. A new counselor, Mrs. Collins, tries to help Echo remember 'that night' - the night in which her mother had a mental breakdown and tried to kill Echo. Soon she gets paired up to tutor Noah Hutchins, resident bad-boy.
For all Echo had dealt with, I think she was dealing with it exceptionally well. I know if my parents had divorced, my mother had a mental breakdown, and my brother was killed at war, I would be in a much more critical condition then Echo. Of course she still had her moments, but she was a strong character. You could tell she grew as a character, but she was already such a complex character in the beginning of the novel. She had her history with her parents, her relationship with her brother, her hidden interests and talents like mythology and art - everything about her added up in unique ways to make Echo.
Also, I particularly liked the strength she showed towards Noah, especially when he was being a jerk. It showed that she still have some control and faith in herself. Speaking of Noah, oh la laaaa! I loved every scene with him! I remember when I was reading this novel, I was also texting my boyfriend and telling him about this "really hot guy" and the first thing he said was: "Let me guess, he's a fictional character." But Noah's life was extremely interesting to me.
Really good overall for a contemporary novel. The romance was good, the mystery was REALLY good, and it kept me on my toes! It rocked as a contemporary novel, but the ending kind of fell flat for me. I really can't wait for the companion novel - Dare You To - which is about Noah's friend, Beth. She really intrigued me so I can't wait for it!
I'm sad to see that everyone else is rating this book five stars, but I can only seem to give it four. It didn't really throw me off the edge and begging for more. It was good, of course, but I can only give it four stars.
Compelling.
I kind of adore Noah. He's the guy I would have fallen head over heels for in 8th/9th/10th grade. He's a mess but wonderfully loyal, even when he's acting as a misguided teenager. Echo is a solid female lead. She's broken and a bit of a walking disaster, but I really enjoyed the way she was written - even in her weakest moments, McGarry didn't write her as some sort of pathetic, wilting flower. And, the story with Noah's brothers - specifically the scene where he realizes what needs to happen for them to have the best possible life - ripped at my heart.
I hope Beth and Isaiah figure it out, man.
Solid read. May check out the rest of this series.
I kind of adore Noah. He's the guy I would have fallen head over heels for in 8th/9th/10th grade. He's a mess but wonderfully loyal, even when he's acting as a misguided teenager. Echo is a solid female lead. She's broken and a bit of a walking disaster, but I really enjoyed the way she was written - even in her weakest moments, McGarry didn't write her as some sort of pathetic, wilting flower. And, the story with Noah's brothers - specifically the scene where he realizes what needs to happen for them to have the best possible life - ripped at my heart.
I hope Beth and Isaiah figure it out, man.
Solid read. May check out the rest of this series.
Now, I know what some of you guys might be thinking. Because I thought it too when I heard about this book. How typical, bad boy falling for the good girl and vice versa, good girl changes his womanising ways and they fall in love and live happily ever after. This book was clichéd, I will admit. But that doesn't mean that I didn't like it, I'm not in love with it but its definatly an easy read.
OK seriously the chemistry between Noah and Echo is INSANE! Like sparks are almost flying out of the book. Like "Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?" chemistry. I really liked the build up to their relationship and it was done in a way where the charectars feelings where convincing as a reader and you found yourself grinning from ear to ear when they do become a couple. I also really loved the personal angst that each of them faced. Echo has scars on her wrists but doesn't remember how she got them. She goes through the book trying to find out what happened as well as having to deal with her brother's death. Noah is a foster care child and struggles to reunite his family. His parents died in a house fire and his brothers are taken care of by foster care parents. He doesn't get to see them a lot but wants to become their legal guardian. Both Echo and Noah had very well developed personal stories, although slightly predictable.
I did find Noah nicknames for Echo really cringe. When he called her baby, it was cute. But then nymph, goddess and siren was introduced and I found myself crinkling my nose beacuse of the cheesiness. I don't think I could realistically imagine a boy calling a girl his "nymph", only if the boy was from a Shakespearean play or something. Also the fact that he kept referring to her smelling like cinnamon rolls. ALL. THE. TIME. Jeez Noah you hungry or something?! I think we got that she smells lovely, but it was slightly creepy and didn't feel romantic. Whenever I reached points of the book where the weird nicknames and talk about Echo smelling like cinnamon came up, it felt like it was a way to make the book overly romantic. It just made it slightly creepy and uncomfortable.
Overall it was a good light read. Even though the book was a huge cliché it had solid characters with a really good love story. However my rating is reflective on the fact that it was slightly predictable and the writing sometimes was a little too cheesy and vomit inducing. I will definitly explore the other books in the series, I've heard the others don't have any of the nicknames so I am looking forward to it.
OK seriously the chemistry between Noah and Echo is INSANE! Like sparks are almost flying out of the book. Like "Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?" chemistry. I really liked the build up to their relationship and it was done in a way where the charectars feelings where convincing as a reader and you found yourself grinning from ear to ear when they do become a couple. I also really loved the personal angst that each of them faced. Echo has scars on her wrists but doesn't remember how she got them. She goes through the book trying to find out what happened as well as having to deal with her brother's death. Noah is a foster care child and struggles to reunite his family. His parents died in a house fire and his brothers are taken care of by foster care parents. He doesn't get to see them a lot but wants to become their legal guardian. Both Echo and Noah had very well developed personal stories, although slightly predictable.
I did find Noah nicknames for Echo really cringe. When he called her baby, it was cute. But then nymph, goddess and siren was introduced and I found myself crinkling my nose beacuse of the cheesiness. I don't think I could realistically imagine a boy calling a girl his "nymph", only if the boy was from a Shakespearean play or something. Also the fact that he kept referring to her smelling like cinnamon rolls. ALL. THE. TIME. Jeez Noah you hungry or something?! I think we got that she smells lovely, but it was slightly creepy and didn't feel romantic. Whenever I reached points of the book where the weird nicknames and talk about Echo smelling like cinnamon came up, it felt like it was a way to make the book overly romantic. It just made it slightly creepy and uncomfortable.
Overall it was a good light read. Even though the book was a huge cliché it had solid characters with a really good love story. However my rating is reflective on the fact that it was slightly predictable and the writing sometimes was a little too cheesy and vomit inducing. I will definitly explore the other books in the series, I've heard the others don't have any of the nicknames so I am looking forward to it.
oh, God I loved this book. I haven't been able to put it down. I've been cheekily smiling at it one minute then crying the next. It was just really lovely and I can't wait for the next.
So I am probably one of the last people to jump on this story, and although I think some of the things could have been fleshed out a lot better, this was a great story. The thought behind the characters, the characters on its own. Well done.
Echo, she grew so much and I mean, look at what her family is? A dead brother. A bipolar mom who doesn’t care. A dad who honestly disgusts me. I don’t blame him for not answering his phone when Echo needed him most, but I do blame him for the three years afterwards. Even his little sorry at the end was a big no for me. I hate him. And I am glad that Echo stood up to him. Grace can get in line with him. Ashley…I was pretty indifferent with her, but in the end she did her best.
Beth and Isaiah…I am just going to wait to read their stories, but I loved them as side characters in this book. And then we have Noah…He is the bad boy with the soft heart I want to read about. Though maybe bad boy is a wrong word. He is a genuine good guy, who fell into a trail of bad things happening to him, without his choice. He is one of the good ones. Great ones even. He is no wannabe. He is true to his emotions and he doesn’t change for anyone. He is who is he is and he does what he has to do to survive and what he thinks is best. I loved him. And I hope he makes appearances in the next books. Other than that I loved Mrs. Collins. She was an awesome character as well.
This is a book about love, family, loss, painful memories, accepting your past and most importantly: hope. Hope that even when you think it cannot get any worse, it does, and after that: it gets better as long as you believe.
Echo, she grew so much and I mean, look at what her family is? A dead brother. A bipolar mom who doesn’t care. A dad who honestly disgusts me. I don’t blame him for not answering his phone when Echo needed him most, but I do blame him for the three years afterwards. Even his little sorry at the end was a big no for me. I hate him. And I am glad that Echo stood up to him. Grace can get in line with him. Ashley…I was pretty indifferent with her, but in the end she did her best.
Beth and Isaiah…I am just going to wait to read their stories, but I loved them as side characters in this book. And then we have Noah…He is the bad boy with the soft heart I want to read about. Though maybe bad boy is a wrong word. He is a genuine good guy, who fell into a trail of bad things happening to him, without his choice. He is one of the good ones. Great ones even. He is no wannabe. He is true to his emotions and he doesn’t change for anyone. He is who is he is and he does what he has to do to survive and what he thinks is best. I loved him. And I hope he makes appearances in the next books. Other than that I loved Mrs. Collins. She was an awesome character as well.
This is a book about love, family, loss, painful memories, accepting your past and most importantly: hope. Hope that even when you think it cannot get any worse, it does, and after that: it gets better as long as you believe.
I continued to comb through her silky hair and listened to the birds calling out to one another. Her shoulders never shook. No tears streamed down her face. 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.
I loved this book!! I can't believe it's already over, I want to read the rest of this series soon!
One day from Echo's past is a mystery to her, something happened with her and her mother that left her scars on her arms and she doesn't remember anything from that day. Now she lives with her father and her stepmother who used to be her babysitter. She used to be popular at school with a popular boyfriend but then, no one knew what happened when she left school for a month and came back hiding her arms. She's now in therapy with Mrs. Collins, the one who helped her get a job tutoring another student. Here comes Noah, his reputation precedes him. He's into one night-stands, he is a loner and the last person Echo thought would understand her but he has some issues with his past too. He is a foster teen who would do anything to have a whole family again. He lives with his foster parents (who usually ignore him) and his two best friends. He sees his two brothers as often as their foster parents let him and they are his whole world. Until he meets Echo.
This book is told in both Noah and Echo's perspectives and it works perfectly. We get to see their points of view so we understand everything much better.
I've read other books by Katie McGarry and I loved them, I read Nowhere but Here and Walk the Edge and I still have Long Way Home on my shelves begging me to pick it up and read it. But I loved those books so much that I'm sad the trilogy will be over when I read it. I'll pick it up soon though.
So this book sounded amazing and I decided to read it. And it was incredible! I felt the story deep inside me, I was lost in it and I didn't want it to end. The intrigue about Echo's past, the decisions Noah had to make and their relationship were everything. I almost cried so many times, it was sad, happy and overwhelming all at once. I loved it.
So here begins my journey with this series too! I hope I can read the next novella soon (and the next book!).
One day from Echo's past is a mystery to her, something happened with her and her mother that left her scars on her arms and she doesn't remember anything from that day. Now she lives with her father and her stepmother who used to be her babysitter. She used to be popular at school with a popular boyfriend but then, no one knew what happened when she left school for a month and came back hiding her arms. She's now in therapy with Mrs. Collins, the one who helped her get a job tutoring another student. Here comes Noah, his reputation precedes him. He's into one night-stands, he is a loner and the last person Echo thought would understand her but he has some issues with his past too. He is a foster teen who would do anything to have a whole family again. He lives with his foster parents (who usually ignore him) and his two best friends. He sees his two brothers as often as their foster parents let him and they are his whole world. Until he meets Echo.
This book is told in both Noah and Echo's perspectives and it works perfectly. We get to see their points of view so we understand everything much better.
I've read other books by Katie McGarry and I loved them, I read Nowhere but Here and Walk the Edge and I still have Long Way Home on my shelves begging me to pick it up and read it. But I loved those books so much that I'm sad the trilogy will be over when I read it. I'll pick it up soon though.
So this book sounded amazing and I decided to read it. And it was incredible! I felt the story deep inside me, I was lost in it and I didn't want it to end. The intrigue about Echo's past, the decisions Noah had to make and their relationship were everything. I almost cried so many times, it was sad, happy and overwhelming all at once. I loved it.
So here begins my journey with this series too! I hope I can read the next novella soon (and the next book!).
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
- Noah
I think this book broke me.
Normal. It's such an average word, yet that is what Echo Emerson and Noah Hutchins are both searching for. For Echo, her normal is before the accident which caused her memory loss, and for Noah, it's being with his brothers and going back to before his family was ripped apart.
What I loved most aboutPushing the Limits is McGarry's ability to portray both Noah and Echo's longing for "normal" and how they each clearly see in their lives a Before and After. From my own personal experience with a Before and After, I thought that their need to find something that was the same as before everything changed came across really well, like calling their studying "normal", but ultimately realising the need to embrace a "new normal". Noah and Echo were characters I quickly became invested in, not just for the romance, but because McGarry put across their emotions so well. From Echo's absolute need to discover what happened to her to Noah's all encompassing love for his brothers, I was drawn in, so much so the last 50 pages had my face covered in tears and left me feeling heartbroken.
McGarry also writes brilliant secondary characters, making family realtionships and friendships front and centre inPushing the Limits .Noah's blood-related brothers, Jacob and Tyler, and his non-blood related siblings, Isaiah and Beth, brought across how blood isn't always a factor in choosing your family and I loved the loyalty Noah showed to both parts of his family. Mrs Collins became one of my favourite characters in the book, being a trustworthy and responsible portrayal of an adult, who genuinely cared about Echo and Noah. McGarry showed through Echo and Lila a great friendship, in which Lila stuck by Echo no matter what even if she didn't necessarily understand her choices.
The only slight annoyance I had, which I can imagine others did too, was Noah's consistent use of pet names for Echo. I sometimes found myself laughing at "siren smile" towards the end and couldn't help but imagine a wood nymph every time he thought about her as his "nymph".
I loved reading about Noah and Echo's story, finding Katie McGarry's writing addictive and look forward to exploring Beth's story next.
Normal. It's such an average word, yet that is what Echo Emerson and Noah Hutchins are both searching for. For Echo, her normal is before the accident which caused her memory loss, and for Noah, it's being with his brothers and going back to before his family was ripped apart.
What I loved most about
McGarry also writes brilliant secondary characters, making family realtionships and friendships front and centre in
The only slight annoyance I had, which I can imagine others did too, was Noah's consistent use of pet names for Echo. I sometimes found myself laughing at "siren smile" towards the end and couldn't help but imagine a wood nymph every time he thought about her as his "nymph".
I loved reading about Noah and Echo's story, finding Katie McGarry's writing addictive and look forward to exploring Beth's story next.
Notes:
#9 on the Read All the Audible Escape Books
The story was great about how it portrayed Echo and her demons. The romance was sweet and the wrap up was mellow. I thought the author wove in a believable story about trauma and how one event could warp everything into a darker perspective.
#9 on the Read All the Audible Escape Books
The story was great about how it portrayed Echo and her demons. The romance was sweet and the wrap up was mellow. I thought the author wove in a believable story about trauma and how one event could warp everything into a darker perspective.