I missed my bedtime for PUSHING THE LIMITS (Book review)

First, thanks to Netgalley and HarlequinTeen for enabling me to read PUSHING THE LIMITS by Katie McGarry a tad earlier than its official publication date. I loved it so much that I pre-ordered a copy. Be warned, my emotions ran high throughout this entire book. My husband was not happy about the fact that I read it until late at night and could not put it down during the morning, thus making me a bit late.

“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.

It’s like meeting two people for the first time and not expecting you would click but you do and you KNOW you were meant to run into each other.

Both Noah and Echo have a voice since it’s told in alternate POV. They both resonated and shone or cut through the pages (depending on the moment).

Let me tell you why I lost sleep because of this book:

1. Noah. Noah. Noah. Did I mention Noah? This guy reminded me of my own male character in my WiP so I may be a tad bias but Noah is – loss of words – well he is complicated. He has a golden heart, he has problems, he made me laugh and he made me cringe. Totally swoon-worthy even with his issues.

2. Echo. She broke my heart. And I wanted to reach out to her and tell her that I would be like her best friend Lila, I would sit with her at lunch and I wouldn’t ignore her or whisper or make fun of her.

3. Noah and Echo together. Hot, steamy hot. Real. Fun. They open up to one another in such a way that again I want to wrap them in a hug and tell them they’re much stronger than they give themselves credit for.

4. The rest of the cast. Noah’s little brothers. I think I went “awwwwwwwww” every single time there was a scene with them. Echo’s dad and stepmother, the difficulties, the pain, again all felt so real and so painful. Echo’s friends, Noah’s friends…

5. Because it felt like I knew them: this one is totally subjective (maybe some of the other ones too – hmmm pondering away about the meaning of subjectivity when it comes to my reviews – pondering done with no tangible results) but I almost could be sitting in the same classroom as them, I could laugh at their jokes and smell the burger at the mall. I connected with both characters. Maybe it’s the alternate POV but you really can get into both their heads and it’s honest. When Noah is feeling “hot and dirty” you know it, when he deals with his feelings you know it, when Echo freaks out, you freak out right along with her. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect but I let myself be carried by this story.

Two of my favorite quotes (please keep in mind that this was an e-galley so maybe they have changed…). There are many more but I don’t want to say too too much…

“Luke used to give me butterflies. Noah spawned mutant pterodactyls.”

“We’d read about sirens in English this fall; Greek mythology bullshit about women so beautiful, their voices so enchanting, that men did anything for them. Turned out that mythology crap was real because every time I saw her, I lost my mind.”

So, tell me which upcoming books are you most looking forward to?