Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1)

by Katie McGarry

[KitsuneBae]

This review first appeared on my blog at Thoughts and Pens.

Luxa: What the hell are you doing?

I hesitated between putting back the phone on its cradle or continue dialling a number. I did the former and looked at her.

Me: I am calling the police or 911 or whatever that could get me out of this nightmare.

Luxa: Huh?

Me: This book has just attempted to murder me. *waves Pushing the Limits at her face*

Luxa: What the “F?” Have you gone crazy? A book tried to murder you?

Me: YES!

Luxa: Give me the d–n phone, man!

I eyed her questioningly.

Luxa: I am calling the mental hospital. The last time we talked, you were sane or at least I thought you were.

I moved the phone out of her reach.

Me: Of course I am.

Luxa rolled her eyes.

Luxa: Of course you aren’t. A book tried to murder you? Really? So what do you suggest then? Call an exorcist because the book might be possessed by Chucky?

It was my turn to roll my eyes. Feeling exhausted, I sat on the chair infront of her.

Me: This book is worse than Chucky. At least, Chucky’s direct to the point. If he wants to kill you, he will kill you. But this one, it will kill you then resurrect you then kill you again. The horrible thing is, once you felt that this book is already on the verge of killing you, you do nothing and let it have its way with you.

Luxa: You’re seriously freakin’ me out.

Me: Good. *smirks with satisfaction*

Luxa: Okay, let’s get serious now before I start handing you the Prozac. So you really enjoyed this one?

Me: Enjoyed it? I LOVED IT!

Luxa: But…but contemporaries aren’t really your best friends…

Me: Yep. But this one’s my bestfriend and at the same time murderer.

Luxa: The last time we talked, you almost shred a contemporary into pieces.

Me: Sorry for that. But with Pushing the Limits, the opposite happened. I was barely alive after I read it.

Luxa: Errr~ Spare me the dramatics, man. Let’s just get to the point, alright? I’m not wasting my precious time to hear your insensible gushing. So describe this book in one word.

Me: Intense.

Luxa: Like people making love?

Me: Yeah. Maybe.

Luxa: Fine. So how did you find err~Echo and Noah?

Me: Well, I thought I was done giving hugs after The Lumatere Chronicles but Echo and Noah changed that. The lives of Noah and Echo really broke my heart. The Yolanda disaster has sucked all my sympathy but these two characters were able to squeeze in. Even during the first pages of Pushing the Limits, I immediately decided that I love them. Their struggles in life were quite humbling. Their transition from being lost teenagers to becoming aware of what they can do brought me to my knees.

Luxa: Wow. I never thought that you were made for speeches. Before this interview though, I read some of the reviews of Pushing the Limits in GR and some people said that the characters were quite phony.

Me: That’s their opinion. But Echo and Noah had my eyes hurt while wearing the 3D glasses. Even the secondary characters were brought to life by Katie. Boy Tattoo Isaiah and Biker Chick Beth…it’s like give me the millions right now and I swear, I’ll give these lost souls the home they need. D—mit, I just want to cry right now.

Luxa starts jiggling the bottle of Prozac.

Luxa: Okay. Don’t get so worked up. So how about the romance? The cover of this one makes me think that I’ll be drowning from too much melodrama.

Me: Ahm…TBH, there were melodramatic bits here and there but it really worked for the book. The romance was raw and passionate yet never overbearing. I can almost taste it. It does not only make you swoon but it’s the kind of romance that I certainly want in my life. It’s half nightmare and half-poignant but after things settled down, they were all worth it.

Luxa: Right. So is it safe to assume that the plot is also awesome?

Me: It’s actually more than that. Pushing the Limits is a network of sub-plots that made for an enthralling read. It’s not just about raging hormones or sex but it’s about battling the baser nature of humans. Pushing The Limits is a web of different themes that reading every page was meaningful. There’s the issue of being a foster kid and trying to unite your family, trauma and partial amnesia (?), divorce and trying to make it work with a step parent, drugs, and dealing with a psycho parent. Pushing The Limits is a game changer for me. Contemporaries aren’t really my thing but after reading On The Jellicoe Road and this, I am thinking of promoting the genre to become one of my favourites.

Luxa: Whoa! I’ve heard that Pushing the Limits is Katie’s debut novel so for me, it’s really scary to be delving into such sensitive topics especially if you’re new to the business. So tell me, how did Katie handle the delicate stuff here?

Me: Perfect. I actually learned a lot of valuable stuff. And Katie really did her assignment. Everything was thoroughly explained in a gradual manner without overloading me with information.

Luxa: I think we’ll have to end this. Your gushing is making me uncomfortable. One last question, did you find a flaw in this book?

Me: You’ve gotta be kidding me. If I have, I would’ve told you about it minutes ago. You know me, I love overanalysing all the mundane flaws that are going in the book. I must say the Pushing the Limits is perfect for me.

Luxa: I think your head needs some serious fine tuning. It couldn’t be that perfect. I mean, books are like humans. They’re not perfect.

I rolled my eyes galaxy wards.

Me: Whatever. If I come here trashing a book, you’ll get annoyed. If it’s the other way around, you’re still annoyed. Why don’t you just leave me alone?

A manic laughter suddenly filled the room.

Luxa: Ahh…you’re making me cry now…*sarcasm* Calm down, we still have a long way to go.