Book Review - Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



"Touching Echo felt like home…"


"Noah makes me feel safe."


Another YA book sucks me in and I absolutely love it.


"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."


Noah Hutchins is the bad boy; the stoner who loves to question authority and show that he can handle himself. But Noah is a foster kid who has been through numerous homes and whose life has changed since the death of his parents and the separation from his brothers.


"My insides had melted when Noah produced his wicked grin and gazed at me like I was naked. Luke used to give me butterflies. Noah spawned mutant pterodactyls."


Echo Emerson was the popular girl; she had the boyfriend, was on the dance team and had all the right friends until something happened to her to change it all and turn her world upside down. The sad part of this; she can’t remember what that something is yet has the physical proof and pain of it daily.

I LOVED this story. I find myself stumbling across some really good YA books that leave me speechless. As a hopeless romantic Pushing the Limits fed that part of me completely. What surprised me most was the depth and character development in this story. It did not read like a YA novel to me, it was more than I could have hoped for.

Echo and Noah are wonderful characters. They both have pasts that have led them to where they are and have to be dealt with. Only knowing one another from opposite sides of the cafeteria and rumors, they are thrown together by their shared school counselor. They need understanding and find it in each other where they least expect it.
Echo becomes Noah’s tutor with encouragement and a paycheck. These two opposites begin to attract and the magnetism is strong and undeniable. The suggestion to “just do normal” was a great way to get them to be together on a level they could handle but like all good romances; a level that gets blurred.


"Echo, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen because I don’t know. But I swear…on my brothers that you’ll never be a joke to me and you’ll be much more than a girl in the backseat of my car."


This is an emotional read for sure. It sucks you in from the start wanting to know the secrets and just wanting everyone to be okay. You will have strong feelings towards Echo’s dad and step mom, some of her friends and Noah’s but it is those feelings that add so much to this story.

Pushing the Limits is a stellar debut from Katie McGarry. This is a story that takes risks, that deal with painful subjects and does not disappoint the reader. Full of passion, loss, love, angst, betrayal, hope and the belief that one person out there can change you for the better, this is a must read.

*I received this as an ARC from Netgalley and Harlequin Teen.



View all my reviews

Book Review - Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover

Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I started this minutes after finishing Slammed and not even reading the synopsis, I just wanted more of their story. I needed someone to pinch me when I realized it was from Will's POV! Oh yeah!

Point of Retreat is the perfect follow up to Slammed. It evokes the same emotions, the same heart wrenching decisions, the same smiles and the same Butterflyingly awesome Slam poetry!

I usually mark my favorite quotes/sections of books to add in my review to make a point but there is no need with this book. Colleen Hoover writes this story with such beauty and elegance I didn't have time to stop and mark anything. Plus, I feel I couldn't do the book justice by including them here. You just have to read the books.

Once again Colleen Hoover handles difficult topics with finesse and doesn't gloss over them or beat you over the head with them. They are there for a reason, an important reason and the delivery is flawless. You just get it.

I said it before in my Slammed review; when a book in a genre outside my comfort zone draws me in this quick and this complete I will get on a soap box, do a jig and even be the sacrifice if I have to.

Thank you Ms. Hoover for writing a story that knocked my butterflying socks off.



View all my reviews

Book Review - Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I had to take a few days to write a review of this wonderful book. I still can’t put my thoughts together as eloquently as I believe this book deserves but I will just go on my gut feelings that I wrote as I was reading it.

I have to say I am not a big YA fan, pretty much stay away if I can but I have given the genre more attempts than I thought possible. So when I read YA and I am so lost that I read through work, dinner that I made for the boys but I did not eat myself and then stayed up to read half of the sequel. It's a fan-freaking-tastic book!

It is still hard for me to put it into words and that is something. The writing is flawless. Colleen Hoover really draws you and makes you feel every emotion but not so detailed to where you kind of get bugged by it. It is just enough. It is perfect.

The slam poetry...it gave me chills! I have seen it live before so I could read along how it would have been performed but even if you don't, the words are so intense.

The author deals with so much sadness but handles it unbelievably well. You would think with so much it would weigh you down but there is always something more for you to grasp for. You know that even though there are rough times it will be okay, it just has to be.

I can say that I hope my sons grow up to be half a man Will Cooper is. Yeah, I want my kids to grow up to have the morals, ethics and sense of responsibility as a fictional character. Lake showed me just how strong someone can be even when they don’t think they have it in them. Finding your way is never easy but being true to yourself is the best reward.

For me, the key point to something being truly amazing is it makes you go beyond the book. To learn something more and Slammed did that for me. Since I finished it I have gone and researched more Slam competitions and found some truly talented young folks out there with the ability to give me even more chills.

Oh and last thing, The author mentions Eddie Izzard, if I didn't like it before that...I was sold then!




View all my reviews