Pushing the Limits - Review

Pushing the Limits

By: Katie McGarry

Published: August 3, 2012 by Harlequin UK

416 pages

Source: ARC via Netgalley

(Goodreads / Amazon)

Summary:

"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

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. And 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.

W-O-W!!!  This book absolutely broke my heart and left me raw with emotions that it ignited within my soul.  I hungrily devoured this book, needing to quench within me the desire to see completion of the lives of Noah and Echo.

There are several serious topics this book deals with, such as cutting, suicide, death, drugs, loyalty, trust, love, and loneliness.  Most disturbing to me was the description of the foster care system and the reality of some foster care situations.  The topic of this in the story touched a very personal nerve in me because my own Mom lived through the foster care system as a child.  The fact that some people really do foster children for the money and in turn provide very unstable and unhealthy homes hit too close to home for me, and is an extremely accurate description of what unfortunately really happens at times.  

The love between the main characters is passionate, all consuming and emotional.  Grab your tissues because you will need them to finish this book!

My favorite quotes from the book:

"Ever since that day at the library...I thought of her...She plagued me for several reasons."

"This was Noah Hutchins....My opposite. And right now, everything I wanted."

"...the mere thought of Noah's name made my heart skip beats.  It brought a smile to my face.  It made my skin tingle for his touch."

This book is very mature in nature, has very strong language and as such is not suitable for younger readers.

An overwhelming 5 stars for this one!!!  

Have you read Pushing the Limits?  It is a MUST read!!

The US cover: