Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted for us book blogger types by the Broke and the Bookish. They provide a topic, and all of us participants post our answers on our blogs and we hop around checking out one another’s answers! This week’s topic is: 

Top Ten Books I wish Had Sequels

1. Such A Rush by Jennifer Echols
I loved this book so much that I really would love to keep living in Leah’s fictional world and figure out how her life went! 

2. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
I just really want to know where Remy and Dexter are, I loved the growth that Remy experienced through the story and how Dexter broke through her walls. 

3. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
This story was amazing and beautiful.  Not only were the descriptions of the artwork superb, but the relationship between Macy and Wes was so organic that I want to know how their life continued.

4. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

You know you want to know what happened with Young Catherine as much as I did.  Did she follow in her mother’s footsteps? 

5. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
It would be wonderful to know how Echo continued to heal in the years following the novel and how her and Noah ended up after the small flash forward at the end of the novel. I just loved their story and wish I could have more!

6. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

C’mon, did they ever see one another again? 

7. Stolen by Lucy Christopher
I really loved Christopher’s use of the second person point of view, and I would love to know how Gemma continued to adjust to life back with her parents. 

8. Stardust by Neil Gaiman

The world was brilliant, the storytelling amazing, and the writing was excellent. I want more!

9. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Just a glimpse into how Cath and Wren’s relationship was repaired, and how Cath continued to become a talented fiction writer and girlfriend.

10. A Midsummer’s Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

I just really want to know how this worked out! 

What are some novels you wish had sequels? 

Book Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible. 

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Let me preface this review by saying that I originally avoiding picking up a copy of this book due to the pre-existing notion that it was just going to be a story of boy meets girl and girl falls in love and then the book would end.  Well, I was wrong.  (and I love being right, so this is a big deal.)

Things that Work:  I absolutely love McGarry’s character development of both Echo and Noah individually.  While their story is obviously entertwined from the beginning of the novel, both characters grow independently of one another before they begin to have feelings for one another.  Let’s just say that the synopsis makes it seem like Echo is the one with the emotional problems, but Noah is not without his own issues.  It really makes both characters extremely real.  McGarry gives them some of the obvious teen quirks, the little instances of self-doubt, commitment issues, and the extreme need to fit in with your friends (whether those friends be considered “the freaks” or “the popular kids”).  Not only do these flaws create the undeniable feeling that you know these characters personally, but they also magnify the personal issues that each have.  I’m trying not to give a whole lot away, so bear with me while I beat around the bush.

Echo struggles with acute amnesia surrounding the events of a specific twenty four hour period, as well as a serious issue with self worth and the idea that no one loves her.  I mean, her friends practically ostracized her and her father has kept her at arms length. Not to mention she has some nasty scars on her forearms that give off a negative vibe to anyone who sees them.  Except Noah. 

Noah is a victim of the foster system who has two adorable little brothers that he is trying to keep safe and he most definitely has a large chip on his shoulder. 

Needless to say there is an undeniable attraction between the two, and they are thrust together by their mutual psychological social worker in a very obvious, but wonderful way. It leads to love, heartbreak, truth, and much more. 

Things that Don’t Work:  There really isn’t a whole lot that I found irritating about this text.  I think the only thing that I question is how loose a restraining order is kept, since Echo was able to make contact with someone that she shouldn’t have.  However, I have very little knowledge about how that part of the legal system works. 

So for my McGarry review, 4.5 Bards. I loved it.