Pushing the Limits, by Katie McGarry

Release date: July 31st 2012
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Genre: Contemporary (YA)
Find it on: Goodreads, Amazon

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.

It's incredibly difficult to read a hyped book. I get nervous, and I just don't know if I'll like it or not, if it's going to be disappointing or mind-blowing. More difficult than that, however, is to write a review on a hyped book that I loved more than anything. That's exactly what I'm facing right now. I have no idea how to put what I feel about this book into words. Pushing the Limits was fantastic, and I honestly don't know where to begin.

Perhaps I should probably begin by saying that Echo and Noah were fantastic characters, not because they were strong, or kick-ass, but because they were so damn human it hurt. They went through so much - Echo, because of her scars, and Noah, because of his tough family situation - that it's impossible, completely and totally impossible, to not sympathize with them. Both Noah and Echo were realistic to the extreme, and not once did I look at them and thought "Wow, that just didn't make sense", because everything, from the way they decided on things, and to the dialogues, was realistic and well thought. I cried for them, I cheered for them, and I couldn't get enough of these two.

The set of secondary characters couldn't have been more eclectic. Noah's friends, Echo's family, Noah's brothers, and the school counselor, were delightful characters, and they all fit into the story without taking the spotlight away from Echo and Noah. I loved the relationship between all the characters, the dynamic that it created between them. It was incredibly refreshing and also allowed us to get out of the drama and hurt that usually followed Echo and Noah around.

And - just because I can't help myself - I gotta talk about Noah. My newest crush is simply adorable. Noah is the kind of boy that's tough on the outside - he has to be, to stand everything he's been through - but on the inside, he's a boy separated from his brothers and in love with a broken girl. He's strong for all of them, while at the same time struggling with his own problems. I couldn't be prouder of the way things turned out in the ending for him - and Echo, of course - because he really deserved it. The romance that developed between them was sweet, and full of pain as well. It was heart-breaking and swoon-worthy at the same time.

I waited more than 3 months to read Pushing the Limits. I read every review out there, and I was positive I'd love it. And yeah, I did love it - but Pushing the Limits is also the best contemporary novel I have ever read in my life. The characters and flawed but impressive, the multiple points of view were distinguishable, the writing was smooth and the romance was wonderful. The waiting, my friends, was well, well worth it.