Pushing the Limits - Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits – Katie McGarry

Pages: 404

Publisher: MIRA Ink

Release Date: 3^rd August 2012

Edition: UK proof, review copy

They say be a good girl, get good grades, be popular.

They know nothing about me.

I can’t remember the night that changed my life. The night I went from the top of the pyramid to loner freak. And my family are determined to keep it that way.

They said therapy was supposed to help.

They didn’t expect Noah.

Noah is the dangerous boy my parents warned me about. But the only one who’ll listen. The only one who’ll help me find the truth.

I know every promise, every kiss, every touch, is forbidden.

Pushing the Limits is another of the debuts that has had a lot of pre-publication buzz so far this year, and I adored it.

Katie McGarry’s debuts reminded me of one of my favourite series’: the Perfect Chemistry trilogy. It had all of the delicious ingredients that made me reluctant to do anything but devour Echo and Noah’s story. There were steamy, sensual kisses bursting with chemistry, a damaged boy, a broken and formerly perfect heroine and some heart-rending drama.

Echo and Noah’s stories are both dark and traumatic, but for me, Echo’s was the most captivating, probably because Echo herself didn’t quite know what had happened to her! The way that the half-remembered events of that night and its repercussions haunted her broke my heart. As did the way that every treated her in the aftermath, especially in regards to her scars. That particular reaction was sickening, really. And that only made Noah even more lovable.

Through the split narrative (yay!) Katie McGarry demonstrated how both Echo and Noah ended up in therapy and what messes their family lives are. Echo has a distant, hard and control-freak dad, an absent mum, a bitchy step-mum and a new half-sibling on the way and feels stranded in the middle, unwanted and alone. Noah is struggling to handle the death of his parents and fight for his younger brothers, which actually made me cry at one point. There was so much going on in the background that I’m surprised it didn't overwhelm the story, but it really, really didn't. The pacing and plotting of Pushing the Limits was handled brilliantly and I honestly couldn’t get enough.

Pushing the Limits is one of my favourite books of the year so far and I’m already excited to read Katie McGarry’s sophomore novel, Dare You To, which doesn’t even have a UK release date yet!

For my 2012 Debut Author Challenge and 2012 Contemporary YA Challenge

Thanks to MIRA Ink/Midas for providing me with a review copy.

Sophie