Currently 30% thru and not worth my time. Good premise, poor execution.

Echo Emerson. Cewek cantik, populer, pintar, jago melukis, punya masa depan cerah terbangun diatas tempat tidur rumah sakit dengan tangan yang penuh luka dan tidak ingat apapun yang telah terjadi pada dirinya yang bisa membuatnya terbaring dirumah sakit. Akibat peristiwa yang sama sekali tak bisa diingatnya itu kini kehidupan Echo disekolah berubah total. Geng populer-nya yang dulu selalu menjadi teman terbaiknya kini menjauh, seisi sekolah menggosip dan menertawakannya, ia pun diharuskan mengikuti berbagai sesi terapi, dan selalu memakai baju lengan panjang untuk menutupi bekas lukanya.

Dirumah keadaan sama parahnya. Ayahnya berselingkuh dengan pengasuhnya, abang sebagai satu-satunya saudara kandung tewas di medan perang, dan Echo pun dilarang untuk menemui ibu kandungnya yang kini telah bercerai dari ayahnya. Iya, sekarang ayah Echo menikah dengan si pengasuh itu. Belum cukup larangan untuk berjumpa dengan ibu kandung, Echo juga dilarang untuk kembali mengikuti pelajaran seni. Menurut sang ayah hal itu berbahaya untuk perkembangan mentalnya. Yang tersisa kini hanya mobil milik Aires, sang kakak yang kondisinya cukup memprihatinkan.



Echo bertekad memperbaiki mobil Aires apalagi ketika ayahnya tak bersedia mengeluarkan uang untuk membatunya. Jalan yang tersisa untuk mendapatkan uang adalah dengan bekerja part time. Ia menerima tawaran Mrs. Collins (school counselor) untuk menjadi tutor murid-murid yang mengalami kesulitan belajar di sekolah mereka. Echo mendapat jatah mengajari siswa bernama Noah Hutchins.

Disisi lain hidup Noah Hutchins juga berubah. Api yang membakar rumahnya hanya menyisakan Noah dan kedua adiknya, Tyler dan Jacob. Orangtua Noah tewas dalam kebakaran itu. Belum lagi hilang perasaan berduka atas kematian orang tuanya, Tyler dan Jacob pun harus diurus oleh keluarga adopsi yang lain. Negara beranggapan jika Noah tak memiliki cukup kompetensi untuk mengurus kedua adiknya yang masih balita dan seumuran anak SD itu. Noah dianggap memiliki sifat tempramen terutama karena ia pernah memukul ayah angkatnya.

Satu-satunya jalan bagi Noah agar bisa merebut hak asuh kedua adiknya yaitu dengan keluar dari rumah orangtua angkat pada umur 18 tahun, mencari pekerjaan dan apartemen yang cukup layak, dan mengajukan diri untuk mengasuh kedua adiknya. Cara itu bisa tercapai kalau nilai-nilaai akademis Noah memuaskan. Sayangnya nilai akademis Noah menggenaskan. Mau tidak mau Noah harus menuruti perkataan Mrs. Collins dan menerima Echo sebagai tutornya.

Sesi belajar itu tak hanya membahas tentang kalkulus. Tapi juga tentang masa lalu mereka. Pada satu titik, pengertian atas trauma yang mereka alami terjalin dan menambah kedekatan mereka.

“It doesn't get better," I said. "The pain. The wounds scab over and you don't always feel like a knife is slashing through you. But when you least expect it, the pain flashes to remind you you'll never be the same.”


***

Sudah banyak buku YA yang mengangkat tema trauma yang dialami tokoh utamanya. Tapi Pushing The Limits tetap punya nilai lebih dibanding yang lain. Apalagi dengan pesan tersirat yang muncul hampir disetiap halaman bukunya.

Berbicara karakter, pendewasaan karakter tokoh-tokohnya dibangun secara bertahap. Tidak dengan tergesa-gesa tetap melalui kejadian-kejadian yang berujung pada pengalaman dan pemahaman yang muncul dikehidupan Noah dan Echo, bukan melalui suatu hal yang terjadi mendadak ataupun ingatan dan ilham yang hadir tiba-tiba.

“Why is it when people are proud of me that my life sucks?”


“Because growing up means making tough choices, and doing the right thing doesn’t necessarily mean doing the thing that feels good.”


Interaksi antara Noah dan kedua adiknya juga dibuat bertahap dan sukses bikin hati saya meleleh. Kenangan-kenangan Noah terhadap orangtuanya memang dimunculkan sedikit-sedikit tapi bisa membuat pembaca mengerti mengapa Noah tak ingin kedua adiknya melupakan sosok orangtua mereka. Hal itu juga membuat pembaca mengerti alasan Tyler memandang Noah sebagai super hero-nya yang bahkan jauh lebih hebat dari Batman.

"I wrote about the person I love the most, my older brother, Noah. We don't live together so I wrote what I imagine he does when we're not together."

And what is that?" prodded the stout man.

"He is a superhero who saves people in danger because he saved me and my brother from dying in a fire a couple of years ago. Noah is better than Batman." The crowd chuckled.


Buku ini akan sempurna jika saja antara Noah dan Echo tidak ada cinta yang instan. Dengan masa lalu mereka ditambah dengan kedekatan emosional seharusnya itu bisa dijadikan kelebihan untuk membuat kisah cinta yang timbul secara perlahan namun memiliki emosi yang kuat.

Tentang covernya, saya lebih suka cover terbitan Harlequin Teen tapi.... dengan tampang cewek di cover yang terbitan MIRA Ink (yang diatas) *ribet amat sih put* Karena menurut saya wajah di cover MIRA Ink lebih cocok "nampak" depresinya #halah

Terlepas dari kekurangannya, Pushing The Limits adalah buku yang punya banyak pesan. Tentang menghargai dan menerima diri sendiri sebelum meminta orang lain untuk menerima kita. Tentang pentingnya keluarga bagi setiap orang pada setiap jenjang kehidupan. Tentang melihat suatu kejadian tak hanya dari satu sisi sehingga tak muncul penghakiman dan salah duga. Tentang apapun yang terjadi, hidup tidak akan berhenti tapi hidup akan terus berjalan dan entah bagaimana caranya kita harus terap memandang maju ke depan.



@Halmahera
01072013

That was a good ass read. Full review to come.

A teaser and a tearjerker, you book, you. Just what I expected from all the rave reviews I've seen. While it did not leave me an emotional trainwreck as said reviews suggested, it still glued me to the screen and stayed with me like few books did.

I meant what I said up there. The author knows what works and plays those cards-strategically, whenever the plot starts to drop, there's a hot or heartbreaking scene to hook you back up, but also, she plays them well. I was both swooned and teary-eyed.

I liked both Echo and Noah and their stories, and there's no denying the chemistry between them. The appeal of these two is not reduced to the romance only. I found them both interesting individually as well. Echo is struggling to make sense of her messed-up family, but I liked how she outgrows her confusion and learns to put herself first. Noah, on the other hand, reminded me very much of a guy who was in my class for a short time in high school and had similar struggles like Noah. Beth got under my skin, so did Isaiah.

If I don't consider myself mindblown, it's for two reasons. First, Noah's constant appraisal of Echo's boobs. Way too often, just like his calling Echo his nymph or siren. It made it hard to believe that he really cared for her on a more than physical level. Second, the hot-heartbreaking-hot-heartbreaking pattern becomes repetitive and starts to feel like emotional manipulation. Anyway, McGarry does a great job avoiding cheap and cheesy, so I let it be and enjoyed the story.

This was so addicting! I couldn't stop reading. I really wanted to know what happened to Echo, how she got the scars, why she blacked out the memory, where was her mother, how was Noah important to the story? And with Noah, I started out thinking that he was just a loser druggy, bad boy, but then discovered so much more about him. This had a little bit of everything that makes my readers want to read. Mystery, psychology, mental illness, teenage chemistry, partying, grief, family life. Probably one of the best books of the year. Not bad for a first time author. This will make my top 10 list for sure! A YES vote for me.

Ugh...I don't know why I can't get enough of these tragic books. I wasn't too sure about this one when I started but it was really really good. Echo and Noah are such compelling characters. In these kids of books, it usually ends up that one of the character's issues overshadows the others but I think in this book it was a good combo. Obviously on the surface, Echo's is definitely higher drama but I loved Noah's character and the feelings he had to deal with. The scenes with his brothers were heartbreaking for sure.
Definitely a book that I couldn't stop reading.

I didn't like it as much as I expected. I guess I had high hopes for it. But I liked the concept on it. Two perfectly coupled up individuals with having major flaws in their life. It's good to know they ended up in a clean slate. :)

Very slow moving!! I liked the characters alright and the plot was very interesting, but the writing was super slow. It was sad and sweet. I do think it's one of the only books by this author I have actually liked, though. I definitely will pick up more books by her.

Wow!Let's start with the characters. Echo, if the name doesn't pull you in, her description will. Red hair and greens eyes. Then we learn that she lost her brother and something happened with her mother and she is no longer able to visit. She has scars all over her arms from the incident with her mother, and no answers as to why. With her school counselor, she starts remembering who she used to be. Starting with what an amazing artist she was.
Then we meet Noah, know for being a stoner that goes through a lot of girls. He sees the same counselor at school and we learn he lost his parents in a fire. All he has left is two younger brothers he isn't allowed to see because of a foster home incident where Noah punch an adult. Noah plans to get custody of his brothers by proving their new foster parents are abusive, because all he knows is abuse.
Noah meets Echo in the office and they are throw together be the woman they both loathe at the time. Echo tries to tutor Noah for money to fixed her brothers car up. Noah pretends not care about anyone but himself. however they start plotting together to get answers out of their files in the counselors office. And in between they discover a need for each other that they can not fight. Echo finally gets Noah the information he needed to find his brothers address and spy on them.
The pair stumble in and out of love for months, all while learning life isn't better with the answers they were looking for. Gaining her memories back, Echo remembers her mothers attempted suicide/murder. She breaks up with Noah and spirals out of control. And after a break down finds that Noah won't let her go. That they need each other more than anyone else. Great read and looking forward to book 2.

Wow that was a pretty tough book, but a really good book. I well past my teen years and it is a teen book , but I seriously couldn't or wouldn't have read it then.

Echo suffered a serious trauma at the hands of her bipolar mom. Her mind won't allow her to remember and the people that know won't tell her. What a crappy situation. Sure I wanted her dad to tell her what happened but that would have been detrimental to her. You have to blame her mom to an extent but anyone who is bipolar or has dealt with anyone suffering from it gets that they can't be 100% accountable. A friend of mine that lost his battle to the 'bipolar demons' told me it was like having an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. And he was stuck in the middle in a cloud trying to stay afloat.

And Noah, ahh Noah. He had a perfect life till his parents were killed in a fire. He went to foster care and his brothers separate from him but together went to another family, a good family. Noah vowed he would graduate, get a job, get custody and put his family back together. Such a noble idea but so unrealistic. He would be their dad, no longer the big brother he yearned to be. He deserved a life and his brothers were happy and with a family who good give them everything. Once they all stopped fighting each other that really turned into a beautiful situation.

For the most part they are getting their HEA. At 18 it is just unreasonable to say they GOT it, so a work in progress it is.