Book Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Echo Emersons days of being part of the cool group are over. Sure, she might have been the girl who topped every class, won awards for her art, and who filled in her afternoons with all sorts of upbeat extra-curricular stuff, but things have changed. Now she spends her days making as little impact as possible on the world. She hides her scarred arms beneath sloppy, long-sleeved jumpers, avoids eye contact with her peers, and quietly slinks off for hours or mandated counselling.'

The rumours abound, but no ones quite sure what happened to transform Echo from a friendly, bubbly teen into the ghost shes become. Even Echo doesnt know, because her memories of the night that completely changed her life are hidden somewhere deep within. All she knows is that her mother had something to do with it. And she and her counsellor are determined to reach back in time to stitch back together Echos lost memories.

But Echo doesnt plan on falling for the troubled Noah, a foster care boy whos struggling with a past of his own, and whos doing his best to repress it with whatever numbing influences he can find. When the two are assigned as study partners, with Echo given the task of getting Noahs grades back up to scratch, the chemistry between the two is impossible to ignore, though neither wants to admit it. Echos in no state to be thinking about a relationship, after all, and Noahs nothing but bad news. But as the two grow closer, they realise that theyre not as different as they seem, and that perhaps they do, after all, inhabit similar worlds.

The obvious comparison for'Pushing the Limits is Simone Elkeles'Perfect Chemistry, and Ill admit that I found myself frequently making comparisons between the two as I read. Both are told from dual perspectives and feature a privileged female slumming it with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, but who despite his tough exterior in reality has a heart of gold. And both take the relationships between their main characters into directions that make me slightly uncomfortable. In'Perfect Chemistry I disliked the fact that the relationship essentially stemmed from a bet between the hero and his best mate; in'Pushing the Limits I disliked the fact that Noah seemed to'compete for Echo, going so far as to get into a punch-up with her (admittedly jerky) ex, and the constant reiteration of her being his, and belonging to him.''Though Noah apparently loves her to the point of getting down on one knee (yes, really), he seems often to treat her more like a beautiful object rather than a person.

Echo, who is clearly emotionally damaged and has serious trust issues, struggles with choice and agency, and invariably capitulates to authority. Her constant refrain for the first half of the book is yes, Daddy, as she avoids any sort of confrontation with her overbearing and overprotective feather. Its hard to believe then, that Echo truly falls for Noah: its very often tempting to see their relationship as one into which Noah, who is very often aggressive and authoritative, has drawn her. This is particularly the case given that Echo also agrees, though she loathes the idea, to date her ex, Luke, persisting through several dates with him even though he demonstrates no redeeming characteristics whatsoever. Echo comments at one point that Luke behaves around her like a dog marking its territory, but yet, Noah does exactly the same thing with his constant claiming and possessiveness. On the flip side of the coin, Noah frequently calls Echo his siren, raising the suggestion that hes being drawn into something against his will. Is this relationship more about the irresistible lure of chemistry than it is any actual desire to get to know and love someone?

In addition to the problematic nature of the romance plot, I often found it difficult to understand why Echo makes the decisions that she does, and in part I think this is because of the fact that theres so much going on in this book that shes being pulled in all manner of directions as the various subplots require. Although'Perfect Chemistry certainly had its fair share of drama, from memory it was largely kept to the key romance narrative.'Pushing the Limits, on the other hand, attempts to fit in an immense amount of material, but in doing so confuses and dilutes our understanding of Echo and her gradual overcoming of her past. Echo is not only attempting to remember the night where she was so horribly injured, but shes also attempting to deal with her grief at her brothers death, with her fathers pressure over her future career, her stepmother and erstwhile babysitters pregnancy, her awful ex, and being bullied at school. And theres a similar amount of complexity on Noahs side, making for what feels like a good deal of drama, and a fairly slow middle.

So many of the other characters act in ways that are strange and surprising, too, and its hard to fathom the motivation behind their behaviour. Why does Echos father push Echos relationship with Lukeand to such a degree that hes essentially encouraging the two to spend the night togetherdespite being frightfully conservative, not to mention surely aware of Echos dislike for the boy? Does Grace'really care so much about Echos injuries that shes ready to ditch a friend over it? And why does Noah break in to the school at the end of the book? And, while Im asking the tough questions, why does he comment so frequently on Echos hair smelling like cinnamon?

Though Echo did grow on me, it did take me a good while to connect with her, and I think in part this was because of the drama that as constantly being sent her way. The book bordered on melodrama at times, and I felt that this detracted from the realism that the author seemed to otherwise be striving for. For example, the circumstances behind Echos injuries were given enormous emphasis, with all sorts of flash-backs and nightmares and angst, but were eventually revealed to be fairly anticlimactic. When what happened is revealed, its fairly promptly cast aside in a way that doesnt, to me at least, feel satisfactory given that this event is what has apparently defined Echo for so long. I also found the depiction of Echos mothers mental illness a little disappointing, particularly since it was effectively the reason for Echo severing her relationship with her mother. I also found the resolution of Noahs problems a little abrupt: throughout the book Noahs key goal is to claim guardianship of his brothers, but this thread is eventually wrapped up with a single conversation, which I didnt feel was enough to do this complex issue justice.

Finally, I just didnt quite feel the progression of the relationship between Noah and Echo. Though I was on board with their falling in love and their passionate affair after that, the very adult, serious turn that the relationship took seemed a little much for a YA, even if it is a YA romance. I know that Harlequin is all about the happily-ever-after ending, but I felt that this one was a little overt for a book geared at teens, and the more of these books I read, the more concerned I am about first love being consistently portrayed as a forever love.

Although I did have my reservations about the relationship between Noah and Echo, I suspect that many of my problems of this book could have been done away with with some streamlining of the books middle in favour of a more measured approach to the conclusion. This isnt a bad read by any means, and I dont want to give the impression that I didnt enjoy itI did. I think that many of my complaints are due to my being old and grumpy and averse to relationships that emphasise possessiveness as something desirable.

'Rating: (good)

With thanks to Harlequin Australia for the review copy

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