Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication date: July 25th, 2012
Number of pages: 376
Format: Paperback
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository

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. 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 will be the first to admit that I have never been that big on contemporary YA romance books, or maybe I am just so used to Genre type books that when a book in contemporary comes around it takes me awhile to adjust.
I had seen this book everywhere before I finally took the plunge and bought it. It sounded interesting, but I was never 100% sure until I was convinced from a friend who said it was her favourite YA contemporary of 2012,  I then decided to go ahead and and take the chance.
I am pleasantly surprised to say that I was glad I took that chance because of how much I loved it.

I like that it was different. I mean yes it was YA contemporary romance, but it also had this allure and mystery factor to the plot that pulled me in as well.
The story was not just about these two characters and how they connected to one another. It was also about how they became the people they are today and their dark pasts where mystery surrounds them to a point that your hearts will go out to them both individually.

From the very beginning I connected with not just Echo, but also Noah. As we see they have been through so much and continue to do so just made me feel for them so much more.
Echo is living a nightmare one she can't remember for the past few months. She knows something happened to her. She understands who is responsible, but what she doesn't understand is how it happened or why it happened. It's a big mystery surrounding this one big event that continues to haunt her very being and always will until she discovers the truth.

Noah is living his own nightmare; though a bit different to Echo's. His nightmare more has to do with his family. He too has been through a tragic event that has changed who he is. But in other ways he is still the same guy it's just certain things that circumstances has changed him.
He loves his brothers more than life itself and they are the one thing making him go through each day... until he sees them again.

Even though these two teenagers are damaged and scarred throughout their own personal issues going on, they somehow find a connection with one another that makes all the pain somehow a little more bareable.  Together they begin the healing process and maybe even find some sort of light amongst the darkness.

Even if you aren't big on contemporary like me; I'd suggest you take a look into this one because it will surprise the heck out of you. Guaranteed.

Rating: 5 stars.