Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1)
by Katie McGarry

"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.

I'd had this book sitting on my kindle for over half a year before I eventually got around to reading it. I'd fully intended on reading it sooner, but life and other books got in the way. So when the time came to pick books to read for the Once Upon A Readathon I decided that it was about time I picked this up.

And all I can say is... wow. Just, wow. I expected this to be really good, but I was completely blown away by it. I fell in love with these characters. I cared about them, I wanted them to be able to face their problems and I wanted something good to happened to these characters.

Echo was an intriguing character. I was extremely curious to find out what had happened to her that caused her to change to drastically and disappear from school. She was such an interesting character. I felt bad for her because of all the pressure he dad was putting on her and her education. She didn't want to do what he wanted, but he was basically controlling her. She just wanted to paint and go to art school, but her father wouldn't allow it. She starts to come out of her shell thanks to her best friends, and Noah.

Oh, Noah, Noah, Noah. Noah seems like such a screwed up character, but he's actually not. His bad boy attitude and appearance stemmed from his parents death and him being separated from his brothers. Also, from the treatment he received in his foster homes. He's actually a really sweet and caring character. He's very protective and just so goddamn sexy. I loved seeing Noah getting back on the straight and narrow with help from Echo and his guidance counselor. 

Echo and Noah's relationship was a complicated one from the start. They were thrown together by their guidance counselor with Echo tutoring Noah (even though he's actually pretty smart and doesn't need tutoring). Echo doesn't like Noah, but Noah finds Echo attractive and he finds himself thinking about her a lot. Echo and Noah's relationship gradually progresses from not friends, to friends to partners in crime and eventually end with them together. They have their ups and downs but they always manage to work it out in the end.
They both help each other a lot in this book. Echo is determined to find out what happened to her the night her dad dropped her off at her mothers and Noah wants to find out where his brother's foster parents live so that he can try to prove that they're mistreating them. Echo and Noah work together to try to figure out how they're going to get that information.

I really enjoyed being introduced to Beth and Isaiah in this one because I knew their relationship was going to be explored more in Dare You To, so it was interesting to see them in this one. My first impressions of Beth weren't very good. She was kind of a bitch. Isaiah on the other hand seemed like such a nice, genuine guy and I felt bad for him because he couldn't admit his feelings for Beth.

Discovering what happened to Echo on that night was disturbing. I hated seeing her panicking whenever she regained a memory and I felt so bad for her when she found out everything that happened that night. 

Overall, I just really really loved this book. It was fantastic and full of drama. I definitely recommend reading Pushing the Limits if you haven't already.