Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry (ARC)

Pushing the Limits
Katie McGarry
Pub: July 31, 2012

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.

I've been sitting on this review for a couple of days now, trying to determine my feelings for it. I'm still not quite sure. I liked the story, but the characters seem to come off as overly damaged. Like too many bad things were thrown at them in an effort to draw sympathy from the reader.

This was a pretty intense story at times, with Echo going through therapy to get lost memories of her incident back and Noah fighting hard to keep what family dynamic he had left together.

Echo really pissed me off at times. Before the incident, she was strong-minded and popular, but afterwards, she let her friends push her around too much. She let them bully her into everything, even going so far as to tell her who to date, and anything else that would get her back on the popular train. Cause let's face it...if Echo wasn't popular, some of her best friends were gonna have to dump her, cause Echo dampened their style. Super fantastic friends you've got there Echo. <rolls eyes>. Noah's friends are the stoner loners, but at least they stick with him as he slowly changes into a straight arrow, and eventually accept Echo (whose own friends couldn't seem to do so). Loved the romance that blooms between them cause it feels real and not rushed, and they certainly end up complementing one another.

I don't wanna say too much about the plot cause their problems aren't really listed in the description, and I believe the author would like for you to discover them for yourselves. But I will say that reading this novel will probably overwhelm you, and weigh you down with all the emotions the characters are going through. Which is a good thing. I like when writers are able to convey that. But for me, there just wasn't enough bounce back in the end to make me cheery, so I ended this novel still feeling a little depressed.

 

ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley for honest review.