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Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1)

Katie McGarry

Start date: September 1, 2012

Finish date: October 1, 2012

Discussion: Book Of The Month

Discussion leader: Zee

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What Members Thought

Aug 15, 2012 Terri ♥ (aka Mrs. Christian Grey) rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio

Quick review:

Cover: Fitting
Rating: R
Steaminess: It’s getting hot in here
Thumbs Up: 4
Overall: When things got going, I couldn’t peel myself away.
Characters: Excellent
Plot: Two damaged paths cross and begin to rebuild
Page Turner: Absolutely
Series Cont.? Absolutely
Recommend: Absolutely
Book Boyfriend: Noah

SUMMARY (50 words or less)

The beginning of the book lacked originality. However, the premise was well done in such a way that captivates. I couldn’t’ hardly put down. If not for an ending t ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Jul 03, 2012 Booknut 101 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: high-school-dramas, romance, books-i-love-dearly, heartwarming, kleenex-tissues-required, good-hearted-bad-boys, heartbreak-and-loss, can-t-get-enough-of, down-to-earth-stories, betrayal

A tale of two teenagers.
A tale of loss and overwhelming sorrow.
A tale of insomnia and denial.
A tale of finding strength and defying reason.

Echo and Noah. Two teenagers with stuffed up lives, who struggle to hold the pieces of their worlds together with no guidance, alone, in a world where they're viewed as strange by those around them. Echo fights to recall the night her world changed; when she awoke in a hospital with jagged scars down her arms and no memory of anything. Noah fights to hold ont ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Sep 15, 2012 Jeann (Happy Indulgence) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, ya-contemporary, contemporary, new-adult, own

This review appears on Happy Indulgence. Check it out for more reviews!

Actual rating: 2.5

Back in the day, before I discovered amazing YA contemporaries, I always thought many of them would be typical everyday life to really enthrall me the way that fantasies and paranormal books do. That’s why it took me so long to read Pushing the Limits, a generic romance between a bad boy and an emotionally scarred girl. Unfortunately, the typical romance within the book was exactly what I got here – with the This review appears on Happy Indulgence. Check it out for more reviews!

Actual rating: 2.5

Back in the day, before I discovered amazing YA contemporaries, I always thought many of them would be typical everyday life to really enthrall me the way that fantasies and paranormal books do. That’s why it took me so long to read Pushing the Limits, a generic romance between a bad boy and an emotionally scarred girl. Unfortunately, the typical romance within the book was exactly what I got here – with the disappointment being self inflicted as it never really promised to be anything else.

Perhaps it’s because bad boys aren’t really my thing, with Noah as a pot smoker who has been in and out of foster homes. He’s rude, dangerous, and has a reputation for being a player, which doesn’t really interest me at all. He mostly notices Echo because she’s so attractive ‘with a rocking body’ and most of his thoughts about her turn to how much he wants to get into her pants.

As for the relationship itself, I didn’t really feel connected to it. Echo is so emotionally and physically scarred that when Noah didn’t judge her in the way most people would – she fell for him. She’s the typical damsel in distress and he’s someone who enjoys a challenge. It was great to see that these two respected each other though, unfortunately I found nothing much really happens within the book. There wasn’t really much complexity or depth to the relationship, other than the various problems the two are dealing with in their lives.

“Liar….Because the only way anyone will ever be okay with me is if they love me. Really love me enough to not care that I’m damaged. You don’t love people. You have sex with them. So how could you want to be with me?” - Echo

The guidance counsellor here was an interesting character who played a big part in shaping and supporting both Noah and Echo’s future direction, her methods were a bit intrusive at times, but ended up being effective. I was disappointed with the big mystery behind Echo’s repressed memories and it was an anticlimax pushing through the book’s more mundane moments just to reach that conclusion.

Pushing the Limits is your ‘bad boy falls in love and turns good’ story, which promotes the story that two damaged people being together makes them better because love conquers all. I probably didn’t enjoy it much because of my belief you should focus on looking after yourself before you look at being with someone else, especially one who is more damaged. If you like bad boys though, you’d probably love the story here. I’ve heard Dare You To is better though, so I’ll still give it a shot. ...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Alana ~ The Book Pimp rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobooks, vanilla-romance, audibleonebook, ebooks, owned-books, young-adult, 2013-reading-challenge

Bawled my freaking eyes out. Sweet, not raunchy, emotional. Feel like I just got off some bipolar roller coaster, but what a great ride.

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Sep 13, 2012 Blue rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed

This is a book that has a lot of hype surrounding it, and due to that it took me a long time to actually pick the book up to read it. In many ways hype is brilliant as it shows that so many people love a book, but it can also make me wary as I would rather not be that one person that doesn’t like the book. So, fortunately, in this case, I was pleased to find that I really liked this book. I wasn’t completely blown away by it but it kept me entertained, I loved the writing, and the story was real This is a book that has a lot of hype surrounding it, and due to that it took me a long time to actually pick the book up to read it. In many ways hype is brilliant as it shows that so many people love a book, but it can also make me wary as I would rather not be that one person that doesn’t like the book. So, fortunately, in this case, I was pleased to find that I really liked this book. I wasn’t completely blown away by it but it kept me entertained, I loved the writing, and the story was really compelling – and I’m definitely intrigued enough to pick up the second book!

When I first heard about Pushing the Limits, I was fairly certain that I wasn’t going to particularly enjoy it due to the plot. There’s a good girl who falls in love with a bad boy, a plotline that has been done over and over again, but somehow it just really works in this book because Echo isn’t your ordinary good girl and Noah isn’t exactly your ordinary bad boy either. So, I just felt that the plot really worked. There was a lot of depth to the characters and a lot of chemistry and it was easy to see how it all went as it did. I was completely hooked on finding out about Echo’s history and my heart was hammering for Noah to get everything he wanted. It was really well plotted, and that helped to make it more entertaining.

One of the best things about this book was how important the characters were to the plot and how in-depth they all were. What is on the surface of all the characters isn’t who they are on the inside. I found Echo to be a really interesting character who was fully dimensional. So much had happened to her but she had no idea what that was and her journey to understanding it, and finding it out was really intriguing and kept me turning the page. I wanted to know as much as she did. She was a strong character, stubborn, and full of heart and I just really loved that about her. Noah, on the other hand, put out a hard bad-boy appearance because that is how every adult sees him so he simply lives up to their expectations. When his actions could be causing him a nuiscance, he does everything he can to stay on the good side of adults, and it was really cute to see. He was truly protective, loyal, and just had so much in his head that he needed to share with someone else. A truly great set of characters to read about.

What made this book interesting to read was the duo POV running throughout the book. You got both Echo’s thoughts and Noah’s thoughts and I really liked that. It showed how different perspectives can be and really helped to bring the whole story to life. I have found that duo POVs are often tricky as you don’t want the characters to sound too similiar to each other but Echo and Noah both had their own voices and that was really great to see. It just made the book so much more entertaining that you got to read the thoughts of both of them, especially as they were both making their own journeys throughout the book. Katie McGarry had a really nice writing style as well that kept me glued to the page, turning them over and over again and I’m definitely interested enough to continue reading what she writes.

Overall this was a book that had a lot of heart and depth, it explored so many different issues in such a sensative way and I just really enjoyed it. It may have had a generic looking plot but it managed to make it unique and original and I really liked that about it. It was just a great book and I can understand where the hype for it came from. While I didn’t instantaneously fall in love with it and it didn’t become my absolute favourite read, it was one that truly entertained me and one that I am incredibly glad that I read. Pushing the Limits is a heart-warming story that doesn’t slide over issues but really gets into the heart of problems and shows the reader what it is really like. If that sounds like the kind of book that you’d enjoy, then I would highly recommend this book to you! ...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Janelle Stalder rated it it was amazing

a-MAZ-ing!!! Loved it! Wanted to read it again as soon as I finished. Definitely one of the best I've read this year! ...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Butterfly rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites

Holy shit why did I even read this? It made me cry :(

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 10, 2012 Noemi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I can't even say how I love this book! Sometimes I laughed, sometimes I cryed...Noah and Echo was imprinted in my emotions and I loved their characters and the well-writen story. ...more

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