Pushing the Limits

Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Released: July 31, 2012
Genre: YA Contemporary
Series: No
Source: Library
Challenge: DAC 2012

Echo used to be part of the most popular group in school, but now she pulls her sleeves over her wrists to cover the scars on her arms and keeps to herself with the few friends she has left after the day she can't even remember. Noah Hutchins is the bad boy, and the two of them couldn't be more different, but now that they have to spend time together, Noah is surprisingly understanding of Echo, and together, both Noah and Echo begin to learn to love again.

Pushing the Limits is a sweet story, a romance that carries through with heart and emotion. Noah and Echo's love story is nicely developed and Echo's friendships are also layered and real. The relationship aspect of the story is fully rounded and enjoyable.

But the plot is a bit weak on a few points. Noah's transformation from model brother to bad boy either happens too fast or isn't complete enough, one or the other. If he really went to that extreme of doing drugs and hanging around with the tough guys, it is possible, but he retains his good heart and his close friends are so non-violent except for one incident that I find his transformation pat and not fully there.

The other thing that felt dragging was Echo's quest to find out what happened that day she can't remember. She knows essentially what happened, it's just the details she can't remember. So when the main part of the plot focuses on her finding out those details, I expected them to be a major revelation - but they weren't. They didn't add anything to her understanding of her family or anything, so it fell flat for me.

A decent book, but nothing spectacular.