I don't normally read YA. As a matter a fact, I tend to stay far away from it. When I started seeing positive buzz about Pushing the Limits, I didn't pay much attention. And then the publisher contacted me and asked me if I wanted to review it. I read the premise. It sounded interesting, especially with a character named Echo, and decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did.Pushing the Limits is a story about two damaged teens who are drawn to each other through their own individual tragedies. Echo was once the popular girl. She had tons of friends and she dated the hot jock. Her life was perfect until an accident, that she can not remember, happened leaving her with visible scars on her arms and emotional scars. Now Echo is a loner; the freak. She wears long sleeves to hide her arms. She doesn't each lunch in the cafeteria. Rumors swirl about what happened to Echo that fateful day. Echo doesn't remember but wants to get to the bottom of it.Noah's life changed thanks to a house fire that destroyed his fire. He's no longer the jock kid making good grades. He's a stoner who lives in a foster home with two other teens. He's the bad boy that father's warn their daughters about. All Noah cares about is being with his two younger brothers. Noah and Echo become allies when they start seeing the same counselor and Echo starts tutoring Noah. They are both determined to get to the bottom of their issues and promise to help each other take a peek at their files. There's a deep attraction between the two. Noah is ready to explore it. But as Echo is regaining her old life and popularity, she's not sure if she's willing to risk being "normal" in order to be with Noah.Pushing the Limits completely exceeded my expectations. I didn't think I would be so drawn into the story and the characters. Noah and Echo are trying to push past the hurt to get their lives on track. They don't trust the adults in their life and feel like they only have each other to lean on. I liked that not all the adults in the book were evil. Ha! The counselor, Mrs. Collins, seemed to be the only person who had their best interests at heart, with no selfish motives but to see these two kids heal.Pushing the Limits is written in 1st person POV for Echo and Noah. I liked that a lot. And it worked. There's so much going on emotionally that I was happy to be inside both character's heads. The story had me totally hooked and I could not put it down. It was emotional. I was on edge as Echo's memory of that night slowly came to surface. My heart broke for Noah and I loved his dedication and determination to put what's left of his family back together.I really enjoyed Pushing the Limits and highly recommend this book. Even if you don't normally read YA like me, I say push your preconceived notions aside and read this book!
