Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1) in Buddy Read Zone

Aug 24, 2012 Saly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: virgin-heroines, single-titles, read-in-2012, rom-contemporary

Rating 4.5 stars
This book was emotional as hell, two characters who had a heck lot of emotional issues and were trying so hard to be normal for so many reasons. There was a time Noah had it all, parents, two younger siblings, he was popular and a good student but that all changed in a fire when his parents died and his life was destroyed, he went into the system, was separated from his siblings and when he stood up against a bad foster father, he was deemed as having emotional issues and barred Rating 4.5 stars
This book was emotional as hell, two characters who had a heck lot of emotional issues and were trying so hard to be normal for so many reasons. There was a time Noah had it all, parents, two younger siblings, he was popular and a good student but that all changed in a fire when his parents died and his life was destroyed, he went into the system, was separated from his siblings and when he stood up against a bad foster father, he was deemed as having emotional issues and barred from seeing his brothers, so he gave up trying to maintain a good GPA, dreams of college and an instead became a bad boy, smoking pot, being a pain and now he has another counsellor to see, one that dangles his brothers in front of him if he cooperates and that is the one thing he can't refuse, so he attends her sessions and even agrees to be tutored to bring up his grades. He is just waiting to turn eighteen and fight for the custody of his brothers.

Then there is Echo, deeply scarred and broken. Almost two years ago, she lost her best friend, her protector, her brother who died in the Marines and then her mother tried to kill her and she remembers nothing of that night, her father chucked her mother out of her life and her stepmother(her former babysitter) seems to think life revolves around her and her unborn baby. She is in mandatory therapy but she can't speak her mind because her father wants her to be perfect, get better scores(even though she does very well), go to business school instead of the art she loved and she does it while still hating it because she doesn't want to make waves. She has friends but only one seems to be there for her, while rest all don't like her fallen status. Echo doesn't tell anyone what she feels, how she misses her mother, even though her mother is bi-polar but was a brilliant artist, he misses her brother because her dad seems to care only about Ashley(her stepmother). She wears long sleeves to hide her scars and hasn't told many people what her mother did but she tells Noah, they both are in therapy with the same person. She agrees to tutor him because she needs the money to fix her brother's car and after blowing it off for a while they start studying because Noah knows that he needs to clean up to get his brothers, especially since he knows that couple who has them wants to make them theirs and that is something Noah won't abide by and is hell bent on proving that they are unfit. So they unite for a cause, both of them want to see their files, Echo to know what happened and Noah to get the address of his brothers.

Echo and Noah both are messed up and still an unlikely couple because Noah is known for hooking up with girls for a night only while Echo with pushing from her friends may be headed to the popular place again and it is a push since she doesn't care about that, she has enough problems in her life, her memories are coming back and she is afraid that she has the same gene which made her mom sick plus she hates her home environment always having to lie and pretend, with each other there is no pretending. Echo learns there is no going back and her effort to get back together with her old boyfriend is a fail since those feelings are just not there and she is still not ready for a physical relationship. They both fight the pull they have, Noah because he knows he can't offer Echo much and Echo because she just doesn't want to be another random girl in his life.

I loved Noah, his sense of honour, even his two messed up friends, his desperation when it came to his brothers and how afraid he was of saying I love you to Echo. This book gradually peels its emotional layers, like the truth about what happened when Noah's parents died, how Echo remembered how her father failed her(when her mother tried to kill her), how she never really knew her mother and more. Echo's father, he was a complicated man and there were moments I hated him but he had great moments of vulnerability as well as well as great guilt.

Noah and Echo were perfect together and their individual journeys as well. Echo embracing her art and acknowledging the truth about her mother and accepting the limitations of her father and Ashley and attempting to bride the divide. Noah finally facing what was better for his brothers and their future and in turn finally turning his life around. Even when these two break up for each others good, you know they would come back together and they did, wiser and more sorted.

Loved the book!! ...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Duchess Nicole rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-pcs, genre-ya, highly-rated, genre-contemp-romance, read-in-2012

Sweet story, fairly PG YA, except for the cussing. I wasn't very satisfied with the ending, though. The author did such a good job of proving the indifference and/or jerkiness of the pseudo-villains that I feel like it needed more than a cursory few words to forgive them. ...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Katie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, arc-read

I was fortunate enough to be able to obtain a copy of Pushing the Limits from Netgalley. In this situation I think that the best way to describe both my luck at coming across this story in the first place as well as the way I received it, I feel like I won the lottery. There are certain books that you read that you really enjoy, to the point you can say that you loved it. But then 6 months later, you can't even remember the names of the characters. This is not one of those books. There is a smal ...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Crazy for Books (Stephanie) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, series-sequels, romance, new-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 08, 2012 Britt rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, own, new-adult

3.5-4 stars

"The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see--the wailing on the 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 scars than life."

Pushing the Limits is a story of two people who have suffered. Echo is recovering from a night she can't reme 3.5-4 stars

"The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see--the wailing on the 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 scars than life."

Pushing the Limits is a story of two people who have suffered. Echo is recovering from a night she can't remember, a night where her bipolar mother supposedly tried to kill her. Noah is struggling to cope leaving in foster family while trying to gain access to his two younger brothers after their parents died in a house fire.

Like many of my favourite new adult books this story is filled with alot of angst, alot of hurt and anger, alot of romance, and alot of healing. Both Echo and Noah are only shells of their former selves but between the both of them they manage to triumph over the shit that life has sent their way to become whole again.

Both of them just want to be normal, to be kids again and to live love without their regret and ultimately this book is about two people healing together.

I enjoyed this book but I also had parts of it that just didn't sit with me. Firstly unlike many other reviewers I don't mind a little bit of pet names, I call my boyfriend babe so it would be kind of hypocritical for me to hate that in books. However Noah's reference to Echo as a 'siren' or 'goddess' felt weird and forced because it was only in his head and it just felt a little bit forced.

Secondly I felt at times the angst in this book left me feeling a bit cold. I'm a big fan of the healing together theme in romance, but this just didn't connect with me as much as other new adult books such as the Sea of Tranquility did. And I'm sorry but I can't seem to figure out why.

However this was a decent book and I don't think I wasted my time picking it up. So if you are considering picking this one up my advice would be to go for it. ...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, favorite, young-adult, contemporary, belong-in-series

Second time read! I still had tears on my face during reading this novel. Gosh, unbelievable.

One of the best contemporary YA I've ever read!!! I lost count how many times I cried during reading this book. It's not only the relationship between Echo and Noah attracting my heart but all the torturous background of both is very heart-braking. I love this book.

P.S. I thought Isaiah and Beth would be couple. 'Dare To You' seems to be about Beth and other guy. Let's find out >< ...more

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May 15, 2012 Erica Alyson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favorite-books

Beautifully heartbreaking story!!!

Noah was a perfect main character along with Echo. I loved the book from start to finish. Excellent writing! Can't wait for Beth's story! ...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Kay rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, 2014-reads

I'm late to the Katie McGarry bandwagon but I'm glad I finally got on. This book had similarities to the New Adult books out nowadays but I find this type of angst better in a Young Adult setting. The characters are finding their way and I find that very honest in YA compared to the whiney 20 somethings in NA. So, this book worked for me and the romance was nice with some darkness in the characters' background.

3.5 Stars ...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Angela rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio-book, romance, ya, emotional-angst, new-adult, male-pov

Pushing the Limits was a heartbreaking story. Both characters are very likeable. Noah's situation is very realistic and brought tears to my eyes as I see it every day in real life. ...more

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