I don't even know where to begin. Pushing the Limits was that amazing. There was a little humor, but mostly it made me tear up and cry. A lot. The writing was good and all the characters were absolutely fantastic (even the minor ones). 
 Pushing the Limits is not a light and fluffy book. Echo and Noah are dealing with serious things and making tough choices, that not only affect them, but others as well. 
 Echo and her brother (Aires) both have unusual names, and you get the explanation of their names about 100 or so pages in. And it makes sense, for them anyway, once you learn the background and get to know the family a bit more. 
 When you find out how Echo got the scars you will be both horrified and saddened at the same time. We are talking worst case scenario here. Echo herself has completely blocked it from her memory. She wants to remember what happened and to move on but no one will tell her because she has to recover the memory herself. I can't imagine being in this situation and knowing that everyone else knows but you. 
 On top of the memory loss and everything that goes along with the incident she is dealing with a completely controlling dad, her step mom (former nanny) is pregnant, and her friends are trying to help her "reclaim" her position in the popular crowd. 
 Noah is also in a bad situation. He is living with another set of foster parents and trying to get more visitation and eventually get custody of his brothers (who are with a different family). He makes a lot of bad decisions, but a lot of them are for the right reasons, but he still has to face the consequences of his actions. Even though Noah has a bad boy exterior he is one of the good guys. He stands up for other people and will do anything for the people he cares about. Even if it sucks for him. 
 I adored Echo and Noah together. They are not your typical YA couple, which I enjoyed. Their relationship built up fairly slow with lots of sweet and tender moments. 
 Mrs. Collins was the clinical social worker assigned to both Echo and Noah. She was by far my favorite secondary character. I loved her no nonsense attitude and that she didn't take any crap from Echo's dad (who everyone else bowed down too). She also didn't treat Noah and Echo like little kids and baby them. She made them be responsible, and take action, rather than just trying to make them feel better. 
 I also really enjoyed Beth and Isaac (Noah's friends) and Lila and Grace (Echo's friends). Lila was especially supportive of Echo and Grace had her place too. And while Beth and Isaac had their own issues they did what they could for Noah They were his family. (McGarry is writing a book about Beth which I'm really excited about! Even though it doesn't come out for a long, long time.)