I received this book for free from Harlequin Teen in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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.
It’s no secret that this book has been getting insane reviews. Being the persistent black sheep that I am, I was incredibly wary of the hype it was garnering, certain that it would fail to impress me. Oh boy. Oh
freaking boy!! Was I ever wrong. I loved this so hard!
Echo and Noah… Echo. Noah. Nocho?
Echo has been through an extremely distressing, life altering ordeal because of which she’s suffering post-traumatic stress, with the worst side effect being memory loss. She doesn’t remember what happened. All she has are the scars. From popular to outsider, Echo’s troubled state-of-mind is harsh and unstable. One of the best character development I’ve read, she made me a part of her. With only the span of a few pages, she had me immersed in her world, in her heart and soul. Every layer of her being is gradually being laid out for us to become equally mesmerized and perplexed by. Her scars, her babysitter-turned-stepmother, her dead brother, along with her PTSD, she has the world on her shoulders and I was right there alongside her, sharing the weight.
With an equally burdened soul, Noah only wants two things: Jacob, and Tyler. After his parents died in a fire, the three brothers have been in the foster system and Noah wants nothing more than his family back together. The emotions in his perspective begin from our very first glance into his melancholy life. His relationship with his brothers brought tears to my eyes, pulling me in wholeheartedly. He may be tortured and angry – the perfect bad boy image -, yet, underneath his tough exterior he’s a loving, caring person who would move heaven and earth for those boys, and, eventually, for Echo. This is a wonderful example of a perfectly woven dual perspective. Both characters are highly vivid, evoking powerful emotions that truly connect the reader to each character. Sketching them one page at a time.
Romantic. Passionate. Frustrating. Filled to the brink with chemistry. The love story in Pushing the Limits is raw. This is true love at its purest form, with sacrifices and compromises, incredible obstacles, and learning to trust without holding back. Like true love, it’s not easy, and it’s not always painless. We’re dealing with two damaged individuals who need to find themselves before they let themselves find each other. Covering a lot more ground than the love story itself, we get intense, emotional ups and downs that just about gave me heart palpitations. While reading, I quickly lost myself in this incredibly enchanting story, experiencing a multitude of complex emotions. By the time I put this book down, I had a heavy heart and a set smile.
Combining love and loss, friendship and family, the unfairness of life and the determination to overcome it, Pushing the Limits is a book that is not only to be read, but cherished. This is one gem that shines!
5 Hot Espressos
Pushing the Limits by 
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