Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1) in E.Y.A.B.

Apr 04, 2012 Annie Brewer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-on-my-shelf, angst, favorite-authors, tearjerker, absolutely-amazingly-awesome, favorite, 5-star-worthy, cover-love, favorite-hotties, romance

A MILLION STARS FOR THIS BOOK!!!!!! OMG, my emotions are all over the place!! I thought My Life Next Door was my favorite of this year, but HOLY HELL SHIT this book tops it....only by a little. But ummmmm, NOAH HUTCHINS IS MY NEW HOT SEXY BOOK BOYFRIEND. JESUS CHRIST I CAN EAT HIM UP!!!!!! I need a day to collect my thoughts before a proper review. So I am just going to say, well done Katie!!!! This was FANTASTIC!!!!

Full review soon!

Edited review:

I have no idea where to begin with this review, m A MILLION STARS FOR THIS BOOK!!!!!! OMG, my emotions are all over the place!! I thought My Life Next Door was my favorite of this year, but HOLY HELL SHIT this book tops it....only by a little. But ummmmm, NOAH HUTCHINS IS MY NEW HOT SEXY BOOK BOYFRIEND. JESUS CHRIST I CAN EAT HIM UP!!!!!! I need a day to collect my thoughts before a proper review. So I am just going to say, well done Katie!!!! This was FANTASTIC!!!!

Full review soon!

Edited review:

I have no idea where to begin with this review, my emotions are still very raw since I turned the last page of this book. But I will begin with the cover.....I LOVE THIS FREAKIN COVER. There are two different versions of this book. I got the hardback book the day it came out. OMG, as soon as it came out I was there. I called up my B&N and asked them to put this book on hold for me cause I was halling ass up there to get it! I feel like there was a wave of de ja vu. When I had this book in my hands, I clutched it to my chest and breathed in the book. Silly I know. But seriously, those two on the cover resemble very closely Noah and Echo. The other version is on ereader and I don't like that one as much. I am happy with the cover I've got. I mean look at them. First of all, the guy is smokin HOT and his position practically thrusting her up against the locker. Come on, that says enough right there. Oh yeah, I love it. And she's all leaning into him with her foot on the locker, supporting her. If I was her, I wouldn't be able to keep from collapsing with him that close. Damn! Anyway, you get the point, I love the book cover.

When I first heard of this book, I was all over it. I looked up reviews and so many reviews raved about this book. I also noticed ALOT of comparison to Simone Elkles' Perfect Chemistry. And if you know me well enough, you know how much I devoured that book. SO it was a safe bet that I would love this book just as much. But guess what? I love this book even MORE!!! I'll always love my Alex Fuentes....but my heart has now found Noah Hutchins and I can't help but say, HOLY SHIT! He will rock your world, I promise!

So now to get on with my review.

Echo Emerson lost everything the night her brother died in Afghanistan and she woke up in the hospital with no recollection of what happened to her...except the scars on her arms now her mom has a restraining order against her. She walks the halls like a zombie and is scared to be hersef around her friends that were there for her before the incident. Now they turn their back on her because she is different. They treat her like an outsider. She was dating popular boy Luke and when it got to be too much for her, she broke it off and quit going to school.
Her dad wanted her to get help. So she starts seeing social worker Mrs. Collins who tries everything she can to help Echo remember what happened that night that tore her family apart. Once she remembers, she might feel better and can finally sleep in peace for the first time in 2 years. In the mean time, she tutors a boy for chemistry, who is not much different than her....

Noah lost everything the night of the house fire 2 years earlier, which claimed his parents. His brothers were taken away and he was bouncing from foster family to foster family. Until Mrs. Collins became his social worker, claiming she could help him get his life back on track. Getting tutored by Echo was the last thing he expected...but maybe it was the best thing that ever happened to him. Together they worked to get answers about their past, that might help them both heal and face a future that is unknown. But can they do it together or will it shatter their world even more?

WOW, when I finished this book last night, I felt numb. I'm not saying there wasn't an HEA and I'm not saying there is. I'm saying from the moment I opened the book and started the first page, I felt every emotion from giddy, happy, funny, angry, sad, confused, back to angry, sad and everything inbetween. There were so many emotions going through me at once that it became hard to distinguish which emotion I was actually going through. The fact that both characters were facing such tough choices in their lives, it made my heart ache for them so badly. They started off kind of hostile toward each other. Noah felt that Echo was just this selfish, princess bitch that always got her way. And Echo assumed that Noah was this pot smoking, drinker asshole bad boy that everyone made him out to be. Their relationship grew slowly and intense once they realized that they were so much alike. They were both struggling with demons of their own, but trying to be themselves in the process. Noah was the sweetest, most wonderful guy Echo could have ever met. He supported her and even when he saw her ugly scars that covered her arms, he never turned away. Not once. And he even told her she was still beautiful. No one ever treated her the way Noah did. It was so beaituful to see their relationship blossom and intensify as time went on. I cried, laughed,smiled, cursed, pulled my hair, yelled at Noah, told some of them off throughout the book. There were some unexpected twists and dammit if I wasn't already distraught. Katie threw in some really crazy and sad shit in there. For giggles? I don't know, but I wasn't laughing. I cried so hard, I had to stop a few times to collect myself cause I couldn't see the pages. I understood their pain, losing a parent is never easy. My heart ached the whole way through with Noah. I wanted to hug him. Then at one point he tries getting custody of his 2 younger brothers once he graduates high school. OMG, that whole situation with that was hard to deal with. I had a hard time breathing, seeing the pain Noah went through. All he wanted was his brothers together again, their family minus their parents. And when you learn the truth about what happened that night, you're just even more broken up about it! It is truly sad!

I loved all of the secondary characters. Noah's best friends Beth and Isaiah were amazing! They were such good friends and support for Noah. They really looked after him and stuck by him, even when they were unsure about Echo. Beth kinda ticked me off at times. But I realized it was only to protect Noah's heart. I grew to love her.
I only liked Lila, Echo's best friend. Even though at first she pissed me off, she turned her shit around and showed her better side.I hate Grace and Luke and all the rest that were so judgmental and hateful. Little bastards! I punch their faces in! I loved when Noah and Luke fought at the dance. OMG, I was rooting for him to beat the shit out of Luke. Yeah, I'm volitile. Oh well.
I liked Echo's dad and her step mom, eventhough there was alot of drama with that. But OMG I wanted to kill her fucking mom!!!! I felt bad for her. I really did. But when I found out the truth, HOLY FUCKING SHIT, I wanted to slap myself for feeling sorry for that horrible bitch! I loved Noah's little brothers. OMG, my heart hurt for them. Their foster parents really warmed my heart but I still felt a stab of sadness for Noah because he wanted to adopt them so badly. But in the end, things worked out for the best. And my favorite character in this, Mrs. Collins...she was the glue to the whole thing. She was amazing! She never gave up on either of them. She showed them that to trust and put faith first, things will aways work out. I loved her so much for everything she did for them! Ugh, its bringing on the waterworks again! Just thinking about this book, makes me want to sob all over again. It was a beautiful story about love, friendship, trust, starting over, healing, and moving on.

The end. Oh my the ending was AMAZING! I loved it so much! Seriously, this book brought out so many raw emotions from me. I highly recommend this book to all romance lovers. Trust me, this book will consume you. And you'll be left thinking about it long after you turn the last page!! So all you PC fans, prepare for a story that will rock you, sock you, knock you on your ass! It's truly SPECTACULAR!!!! I am definitely reading more from this author!! Fantastic debut Mrs. McGarry!!!! ...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Emy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

I got this story from NetGalley, and was mainly reading it for suitability for students at work. I was pleasantly surprised - this is a good story for adults as well. A lot of Young Adult fiction gets bogged down with it's lesson or message, and relegates it's story to second place. This one doesn't, yet it still has a point behind it, just hidden unless you are looking for it. I would be happy to recommend this to the teenagers and adults at work because it's not preachy, it doesn't pretend tha ...more

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Dec 11, 2011 Judith (Judith'sChoiceReads) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: good-reads, fantastic-covers, books-i-own, must-haves, heroines-with-spunk, favorites, hunks-of-the-world, dysfunctional-homes, sounds-good-to-me, fingers-crossed

Such a heartbreaking read, what everyone says is TRUE. I love Noah and I'm a fan of Echo. I'm not sure how I feel about Beth's story, though, it was always Isaiah for me; the guy has a heart of gold, irreplaceable. While the prospect of Ryan being in the picture doesn't exactly fill me with butterflies, I am willing to give it a shot.

4.5/5 stars ...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Yousra Ouahabi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, favourites, net-galley

WOW, just WOW!!!!! Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry is now officially one of my top favorite contemporary books!! <3 <3 <3 Seriously, that books is just one big piece of awesomeness. Loved the topic, loved the characters, loved the writing style and every little detail about it. Like I said, one big piece of awesomeness ;)

First, let's start with the plot. Obviously, that was quite a tricky topic to choose. Abuse/murder-suicide or whatever you want to name it. Loved the way Katie handled the i WOW, just WOW!!!!! Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry is now officially one of my top favorite contemporary books!! <3 <3 <3 Seriously, that books is just one big piece of awesomeness. Loved the topic, loved the characters, loved the writing style and every little detail about it. Like I said, one big piece of awesomeness ;)

First, let's start with the plot. Obviously, that was quite a tricky topic to choose. Abuse/murder-suicide or whatever you want to name it. Loved the way Katie handled the issue, because let's face it. It happens in real life, no matter how we want to ignore it. Loved the way Katie made us get sucked into the story and live every moment of it and feel every emotion felt by the characters. I cried, laughed, got pissed off until I wanted to smack somebody, or just want to get in there and have a group hug XD

Then comes the characters, and trust me when I say there's all kinds of characters in this book.

Noah Hutchins: Ok, first of all, HANDS OFF GIRLS! He's mine! Mwahahaha. Ok now that that's out of the way, let me tell you a bit about this hot-steamy characters. Good-looking with dark eyes, shaggy brown hair and loooots of muscles . Definitely a train I would love to ride ;) But looks aside, he's definitely one of those fine characters, because behind that druggy bad-boy facade, there's a caring misunderstood boy whose only goal is to get his family back together.

Echo Emersons: Well, aside from the fact that I'm sooo jealous of her for getting Noah instead of me, I gotta say that girl deserves a lot of respect. Such a strong character, I could never imagine going through all that she had undergone and still have will to keep on living. Or at least I would spend all my time curled up in a corner rocking back and forth, but no Echo went to school and aced her exams and hell her SAT and ACT too and just kept trying. Definitely loved how her character developed throughout the book.

Mrs Collins: Miss clinical social worker. Man, that woman is relentless. But truly a great woman, hope the world had more people like her. So caring, and trying to do anything in her power to help our leads, and I gotta admit a bit freaky, I mean how the hell does she end up wherever Noah is when he's about to dig for trouble??? I'm telling you, freaky.

Aires: Ok ok, I know. He's a dead character, never showed up in the books. But trust me when I say that you won't feel that way when you read the book. But Katie -freaking amazing- McGarry makes you feel like you knew him your whole life. Makes you wish you had a big brother like him.

And there’s lots and lots of awesome characters to tell you about but if I start I won’t stop LOL

So guys, be sure to read this book. Because believe me, you’re missing one of the best reads you could get your hands on.
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Dec 21, 2011 Nicole Peterson rated it it was amazing

Ahhhhh, I'm on a book high. Just finished and I must say I Love this book. Love, I say! I have that glow you get once you finish a book that you just tore through and don't want to pick up another one for at least several hours if not for the rest of the day. To savor the experience you just had. Gnaw on it a little, swish it around, you know what I'm talkin' about!
Both Echo and Noah are apart of a new in-school clinical social worker program with Mrs. Collins. Mrs.

Collins is working with Echo t ...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Genie rated it really liked it

Shelves: meaningful

Pushing the Limits was a great read. Emotional and well written. Once I started it was not easy to put down. Typically I don't usually like to read from a guys pov but the way it was rotating was nice. It did seem as if the book got a little long toward the end but that didn't take away from the great-ness that was in the story:-) ...more

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Feb 13, 2012 casi rose rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites, badboyhottie, lovesuckerstory, ya-romance

THE BEST.it was a roller-coaster ride emotionally, the best one, the one which gives you butterflies both kinds,the nervous and the happy ones. the one that makes your stomach tumble infinitely and the one that makes you giddy making you laugh uncontrollably.
the characters, wow, i can bet you ,its very easy to fall in love with them.and you WILL fall in love with them.
i think this book draws influences from perfect chemistry,and if you loved that you are going to love this:)spoiler alert-

also,i ...more

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