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. 

Nancy’s Review:

Pushing The Limits was intense! It had such a great story line. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The characters were amazing. I loved Echo and Noah. There was so much going on in their lives, problems that they were both struggling to deal with. The story centered around their relationship with each other, but also with was going on in their personal lives.

As I said, I loved the characters. Echo and Noah’s relationship was one of the best that I’ve read in YA. There was no insta-love and their feelings developed at a great pace. I thought that Noah was an amazing character. He was definitely book boyfriend material. Though he had many problems in his life that made him a loner, he showed how much he cared for his family and Echo. It was all very sweet. Echo and Noah were just so perfect for each other.

While I loved the book, I would have liked it to have been shorter. It just seemed to go on forever, some parts could have moved a little quicker. Despite that, however, I really enjoyed it. I don’t want to give away the ending, but I’ll just say that everything worked out quite well for Echo and Noah. They both got what they needed the most, even if it wasn’t exactly what they wanted. Overall, I thought the book was very well written and worked very well. I wish that I had read this sooner!

Title: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Release Date: December 18, 2012
Source: bought

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

Nancy’s Review:

I’m not sure how to start this review, so I’ll get right to it. The Darkest Minds started off slow and it remained slow for the first half of the book, though it wasn’t really boring. I mostly wanted to know where the story was going to go. Thankfully, it picked up very nicely towards the second half. It kept me intrigued. I loved that it was all very “psychological”. Being a psychology major, this was a big plus for me. The story delved into how the minds of these kids worked and what powers they had, which I really liked. I thought that it made the story sound more interesting.

I found that the world-building was very well done. Everything was very well explained and every character had a backstory. I loved knowing that there was more to these characters than just what was going on with them during the book “time”. Speaking of characters, I loved them all! They were all very entertaining and I really liked that they had different abilities, which sounded pretty cool. 

One of my favorite things about this book was Ruby and Liam’s relationship. What I liked about it was that it wasn’t overdone. It was sweet, simple, and they weren’t all over each other. The relationship took time to develop and it seemed very natural.

I don’t have much else to say about The Darkest Minds. Overall, it was definitely a compelling book and I actually really liked how it ended. I wish it had moved quicker at the beginning, but other than that I don’t think there was anything else that I didn’t like.