Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Goodreads
392 pages, YA Contemporary Romance
Pushing the Limits #1
My rating: 5 stars

Synopsis

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.

My 2 cents

This book was hot, sexy, and dangerous all rolled up into one!  I loved the story between Noah and Echo. Noah is exactly the kind of guy I would have fallen for when I was younger.  While I was reading, I liked to think I was Echo, since I also have red hair, although I'm not nearly as hot as her!   

After I was about 100 pages in, I could see immediately why this is such a popular book.  Its all about two misunderstood teens trying to find their place in the world.  I think everyone can relate to this! Every teen has been misunderstood at one time or another!  I hope that most of us didn't have to deal with all that Echo and Noah did, though.

Noah and Echo's worlds are so different, I want to spend a moment talking about them.  Noah's world--unsafe, unstable, unhealthy, and no one to trust.  He's been moved around from foster home to foster home for two years.  The first home he was in, the father was abusive to Noah and his own kids, so Noah hit him, and has been labeled as "emotionally unstable."  So he doesn't trust hardly anyone.  He has two best friends--Isaiah and Beth.  Both have had the hard knocks as well.  Beth is a really big smart ass, and I really didn't like her.  But she does come through when it counts.  Noah has two much younger brothers--Jacob and Tyler.  He loves them more than anything in the world, but he only gets to see them supervised for 2 hours a month.

Echo's world--full of secrets, no one can say what they really feel, unhappy, and unloved.  Her father is the ultimate control freak, and doesn't let Echo do anything she really wants to do, like paint.  Her stepmother Ashley doesn't seem like a bad person, just very flaky and immature.  Considering she used to be Echo's babysitter when she was little, this makes sense.  Echo's friends--UGH.  Her best friend Lila I think does care about her, but she goes about things the wrong way.  Her other friends are only her friends when they are not in public.  We don't know much about Echo's mother, except she is bipolar, and has a restraining order, and Echo's older brother, Aires, her best friend, died while serving in Afghanistan.  

What do these worlds have in common? No one to trust, no one looks out for these two, and no one understands them.  In fact, the only person in the entire book who seems to really have these kids best interests at heart, is their therapist, Mrs. Collins.  Without her, I think both Noah and Echo would have been screwed!

The romance aspects between them was so HOT!  Even before they started even talking to each other, you could feel the sexual tension between them!  I loved it!  It was a great contemporary romance, and I really liked the dark and dangerous side to the book!  I can't wait to read more from this author!