Book Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Summary:
"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again. 

     Well, what can I say! I started this book expecting 'amazing' and I'm happy to say that I found much more. The way how this book was written took the story to a whole another level. And the book all in all wasn't really much of a light read or something you would take to the beach or something but then I unlimitedly enjoyed each and every page.

     So first, we have Echo. A broken girl whom since an attack that she can't really remember that left her arms permanently scarred. That day which turned her life upside down and now she is considered a freak and an outcast and add on that the grief of losing her comfort and her beloved brother, Aires. Yet, Echo believes that her way out of this mess was remembering that day but then who knows what happens next. And then we have Noah! whom also after his parents death had to deal with an agonizing separation from his younger brothers as well as being taken from one foster home to another.  It's just a heartbreaking story about two people seeking normal.

     I enjoyed the dual perspective of the book, hearing it from both Noah and Echo really adds to the story. But OMG! Noah, he was this smoking-hot-swoon-worthy guy with the essence of a bad boy to him but then he so wasn't, he was really good in heart and I really liked that we got to see the soft and kind side of him, proving that he was a human being not a mentally messed up guy but it was the circumstances that forced him to act and appear like that. I mean, enough what we saw when it came to his brothers, the utter love that he held towards them was the sweetest thing everrrr and it felt true, like how he was always lit on fire because of his separation from them :(  And if I was to describe Noah in five simple words, they'd be: hot, loyal, eminent, utterly caring and badly-wild. And Echo, she had this really bright, fun and kind personality and tended towards being idealistic somewhat. I simply loved her and felt for her. And this connection with the characters along with other stuff would definitely make it a hard book to forget.

      In my opinion, one of the things about this book, away from the characters ( and Noah!! ) and the writing style was the storyline itself and how the romance which was just ravishing and sweet was between two truly struggling people and the sore feelings within both of them which we got to feel through reading the story from the POVs' of both of them and it was because of some really harsh and saddening incidents in their lives but then eventually they found the ground to gain their stability in each other which was sweet and pure. It wasn't your average type of love story and also wasn't an instant one, the way it developed between Echo and Noah was just spellbinding.

      Overall, not enough words to describe what this book has done to me. I ached a lot during my trip reading this book and ached more when I finished it. I think that book is going to be from the very few books that I am gonna re-read, that's for sure. Five words, YOU HAVE TO READ IT! Or you're seriously missing out. A heart-wrenching, breathtaking and emotionally charged novel with an unconventional-hot love story that would keep you at the edge of your seat! Highly recommend it!

Title: Pushing the Limits
Author: Katie McGarry
Published: July 31, 2012 by Harlequin Teen
Series: Stand-alone
Source: NetGalley
Links: Goodreads | Amazon
Rating: 5/5

xoxo, Mariam

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