Pushing the Limits Read-a-Long: Week 1

Posted by Carrie

I’m excited to be participating in the Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry read-a-long!

QUOTED FROM BEWITCHED BOOKWORMS:

“This fabulous event is hosted by Candace Book Blog, Natalia @ Dazzling Reads, The Page Turners, Mary @ The Book Swarm and The Bewitched Bookworms.

For 6 weeks, we will discuss the amazing emotional roller coaster that is Pushing the Limits. We will tear up with Echo, swoon over Noah and thoroughly enjoy this unbelievably fantastic book! Every week will have awesometastic giveaways sponsored by HarlequinTEEN and we have an epic, unique and absolutely adorable Grand Prize sponsored by Bewitched Bookworms and Katie McGarry herself!

Ready for some fun?!

Then grab your copy of Pushing the Limits and buckle up! It’s one hell of a ride!!“

I’ve been having this book from NetGalley for a couple of weeks now, and I’ve actually been apprehensive about reading it because I have seen NOTHING but 5 star reviews for it. To me, that often means a book is too good to be true. So, I figured I’d join the read-a-long and see what my fellow bloggers thought by answering the weekly questions.

Week One: Pages 1-84

Questions for the first week (my answers are in blue):

1. The story starts out with Echo’s thoughts on how she wants to answer her therapist’s questions (snarky and caustically truthful) which are quickly juxtaposed to how she does (milque-toasty and banal). Who do you think she hides the truth for more, her parents or herself?

I don’t think she’s hiding the truth for herself. She has a bit of amnesia, and from what I gathered, she WANTS to know the truth. I believe she does it more for her dad–she believes her dad has too much going on in his life with his new wife and baby on the way–than to be bothered caring about her.
2. We see Mrs. Collins, the school therapist, interact with both Echo and Noah in the first few chapters. From those interactions, what do you think of her? Is she a prototypical caricature of state care? Or do you think she’s there to make an honest difference in the lives of those she’s there to help?

My mind is not made up yet about Mrs. Collins. I can’t tell if she really wants to help, or if she’s one of those teachers who is progressive for the sake of being progressive. Since she is new, it’s hard to gauge. I HOPE she has the kids’ best interests in mind.

3. Noah has two friends, Beth and Isaiah, who have his back no matter what–through thick and thin–and he has theirs. Consequently, his life is a little easier because he has two people who know about his situation. Echo only has one close friend, and Lila will barely speak to her in school. Do you think Echo would have had an easier time coping and moving on if she had friends like Noah does?

No, I don’t think Echo’s having more friends would have helped her. After the traumatic things that happened to Echo, she withdrew into herself, despite having one best friend who cared. Even once she goes back to school, her friends don’t really help her to come out of her shell. I think Echo has to get past her issues by herself first.
4 . Echo fixates on a colorful ribbon that sits on the school counselor’s desk during their one-on-one sessions. Do you think this is a case of “Oh, look at the pretty ribbon. Let me zone out while staring at it” , or could it have a deeper significance!

Of course, the ribbon will have a significance. The author wouldn’t go out of her way to mention that Echo noticed it moving if it didn’t. This ribbon has some importance to Echo’s past and memories.

5 .) Noah and the jacket… Already when Noah and Echo meet for the first time, Noah got angry when Echo forgot her Jacket (pg 34). Then on Echo’s Birthday party Noah gave Echo his jacket when he saw that she forgot hers (pg 54). There is a significance behind his anger when Echo has no coat and it tells already so much about Noah!
a) Why do you think is Noah so focused on Echo and her Jacket and what does that tell you about Noah’s character?

Noah is an older sibling, and as such, is used to looking out for those he cares about or thinks need help. I believe that since Noah doesn’t have his younger siblings to care for at the moment, he’s taking care of the one person he can–Echo.

b) Show us your favorite jacket! Either with you having it on or alone!

Let me just say I live in the Deep South, in Louisiana. Even in the winter, our temps RARELY go below 30 degrees. So, most of the time I just wear a hoodie from Old Navy or such–I am all about comfort.

Something comfy-cute, like this.

6. Echo wears gloves all the time to hide her scars. Not only for her sake, but obviously also for the others. When Noah sees Echo’s scars for the first time he’s shocked.
a) Do you think this was the moment he began to see Echo in a different light?

No, I don’t think this was his eye-opening moment. For me, it was before their first tutoring session, when they both opened up to each other about people they’d lost. I believe that was when each realized that the preconceived notions they had about the other weren’t completely accurate.

b) Show us your favorite pair of gloves!

Like I said, it doesn’t get cold here…but I love those tech gloves that allow you to use your phone while you’re wearing them!