Today's review is Pushing the Limits by Kate McGarry which I was inspired to read after hearing so much praise from the blogging community.
What's it about?
No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with all the right friends and the jock boyfriend, to being the outsider with scars on her arms. Echo doesn't remember the truth of what happened that night and is desperate to remember. She hates her stepmother and her father is controlling- Echo just wants to be normal again. When Noah Hutchins, the foster kid with issues, is thrust into her life by her guidance counsellor, things begin to change for them both. Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk to be normal again.
What did I think of it?
I loved it!!! It's the first contemporary young adult book I've read in awhile, and it reminded me just how much I like them. I also bawled like a baby during this book- so be prepared that it's does tug on the heartstrings a lot. The book is written in alternate point of views of Echo and Noah, which I thought worked very well. Both characters were well rounded and very well written. It was probably the two lead characters that made this book for me. I fell instantly in love with them both, and their relationship.
Noah! I loved Noah. I thought he was realistically written, and believable. I thought he had an interesting back story, and I felt the desperate desire he had to be with his brothers again.
Echo. Echo is desperately wanting to be normal, she is changed from the incident which leaves her unable to work out where she belongs and what she truly wants. She was an interesting character to follow as she had quite a few issues to sort out.
There were times where both characters frustrated me, but their actions weren't out of character, just designed to frustrate the reader as part of the plot. I loved the relationship that McGarry creates between the two lead characters. I thought it was great that she was realistic about teenage boys sexual desires and that she made Echo decide to wait, unlike many other YA books. Their relationship was the highlight of the book and it was what kept me reading, more so that the mystery of Echo's forgotten night.
The mystery of Echo's traumatic night gradually unfolds throughout the book, though its possible to have a good guess fairly early on from the information you receive but Echo takes awhile to put the pieces together. This was in no way a bad thing. I did want to know the truth as there are so parts that still need clarifying, that I was intrigued to continue reading. I thought Echo's reaction to the truth was realistic and well done.
Bad points? Well the overuse of cutesy nicknames annoyed me (nymph etc) and but other than that I can't think of anything I disliked. I thoroughly recommend this book!!!
Rating
Goodreads Reading Challenge
This book is number 9 out of 50
Sounds like a different pretense, which is really refreshing. I like young adult books as they are nice quick reads. Sounds like a really interesting book!
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