Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry

WELCOME ALL to Katie McGarry's new book series, and one hell of a series it is going to be. 

Let me introduce you to the two main characters of this book: Oz and Emily. 

They both come from completely different worlds. Their definitions of 'normal' are polar opposites. And they're both as loveable as each other. 

Oz has been a prospect of the 'Reign of Terror,' a motorcycling boy-club ever since the day he was born. He hasn't had it easy but has always loved the community he was brought into. A world completely different than the one Emily understands, the one me and you understand. It is a world that to some seems dangerous and terrifying.. but to the members it's a club about family and loyalty. A place that loves their members no matter what and stands by each other to the end. 

Emily was raised in a world full of secrets, but she did not know this until the day an email arrived from her biological father, Eli telling her that her biological Grandmother had passed away.. this one act was to change her entire life and throw her into the beautiful and chaotic world of the 'Reign of Terror.' What she learns along her journey of finding freedom is what will change her whole lifestyle and also helps not only the reader to see the world we are all sharing in a different perspective, but also Emily to understand the world she could have easily grown up in. 

“This is your family … If you learn to love us then you will forever have our love in return.”

One of my favourite secondary characters in this book is Olivia, her sense of not-giving-a-shit, is the most refreshing thing to grace my world of reads in quite a long time and the life lessons Emily is to learn from her are not just ones of extraordinary fiction, they're ones that we can all learn from. 

Emily and Oz's relationship was fun to watch grow throughout the book. Their attitude at the beginning made me laugh out loud and Oz's words of complete honesty made me cry multiple times throughout this book, but I did not expect anything less from this magnificent author who uses words to tell show us all a different side of this beautifully messed up world. 

“Like you know anything about living. You never take a risk!”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

“But not fully engaged. When the hell are you going to step outside of yourself and experience what’s going on around you? You have a huge family I would kill to be blood-related to and you can’t appreciate it to save your life!” 

Believe it or not this innocent looking book made me cry for the first nine chapters, non-stop and the only explanation I can seem to come up with.... it was Katie McGarry's way of putting words together and making me feel all the emotions both Oz and Emily (the main characters) were feeling underneath the surface. 

Fans of Simone Elkeles' books: Perfect Chemistry, Rules of Attraction & Chain Reaction.. will most definitely enjoy reading this masterpiece of words and even if you're not a fan of those books, I'm sure you'll fall head over heels for this mesmerizing series. 

This book is a million percent a 5 star read and I sure as hell will be getting all my friends (& maybe family) to read it.. because damn if they don't they're missing out on something straight out of the Heavens.

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“Don’t look back. You won’t like what you find.”

This is the long awaited new novel by the amazing author Jennifer L Armentrout. Don't Look Back is thrilling, exciting and will keep you guessing till the end. Jennifer has created a story that once you start reading you don't want to stop. 

The story is told by Samantha Franco. A seventeen year old girl who has been missing for four days along with her best friend Cassie. Samantha now suffers from dissociative amnesia. Meaning she has no memory of anything prior to being found stumbling along a road bloodied, battered and bruised.

But being brought back home isn't all its cracked up to be. Samantha feels lost as she tries to piece together the memories of her old life so she can help find Cassie. But her old life isn't anything to be happy about and Sam finds out just how ugly and fake it really was. She was awful to everyone around her even to the people that genuinely cared about her. 

Enter Carson Ortiz. Her brother Scott's best friend and someone who has also had to deal with former Sam's mean streak. Now this boy was amazing. He still helps Sam even though he has every right to hate her. He was strong, capable and loyal. You can't help falling for him! So drool worthy!

Given a second chance at life. A second chance to right her wrongs. Sam becomes determined to find out what really happened the night she disappeared. I found it heart wrenching to read as Sam becomes more confused, frustrated and scared. She quickly learns how easy it is to be manipulated when you have no recollection of anything. She can't decipher if something is real, a memory or just a dream and this leads to a load of other problems. But Sam is in danger even if she doesn't realize it. 

The question of 'who done it' stays in the back of your mind throughout. When you settle on one person Jennifer throws something at you and your back to the drawing board. But I just figured it out before everything went to hell! 

I  loved this novel. The characters were really well developed even the ones that I just wanted to slap. They served their purpose and added to the story in the right way. This is also a very well written book. It was told in such a way that you had to feel sorry for Sam. Having your memories taken is not something that everyone can relate to but Jennifer's writing gives us an insight into what it would actually feel like. 

Some aspects of the story are a bit cliche. For example Sam's 'friends' are the  bitchy mean girls that you hear about in schools but it didn't really bother me that much. If anything it just serves as a reminder of how mean people can actually be to each other.

This is another amazing read by Jennifer L Armentrout. It was fast-paced with constant twists and turns and just un-put-downable. I would recommend this to all Jennifer Armentrout fans and to anyone who likes suspense, thrill and a good bit of romance!

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Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

“The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see--the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived. For people like me and Echo, our souls contained more scar tissue than life.”

'Pushing the Limits' is the first book in Katie McGarry's  Young Adult 'Pushing the Limits Series'. The book follows the story of Echo Emerson and Noah Hutchins. Two High School seniors who have dealt with more than their fair share of issues. The story is narrated by both Echo and Noah, in alternating first person every few chapters.

I read this book a while ago and it has stayed in my head since. So when I got the opportunity to write reviews for books this book was on the top of my list!

For both Echo and Noah their lives could have been described as content up until a point where both of them were shattered. Noah lost his parents and was put into foster care with his younger brothers. Echo lost her brother in Afghanistan and something happened to her that she doesn't remember but it had something to do with her unstable mother and the scars will be forever a reminder.

While Noah resorted to drugs and alcohol to cope Echo became closed off and shy. They may seem different but both of them are lost and looking for way to pick up the broken pieces of their lives. But that's kind of hard when you're labeled destructive and unstable, and all aspects of your life being controlled by your father and his pregnant girlfriend.

Noah and Echo first meet outside of the school counselor's office where they both attend sessions. Here starts the roller coaster that will push Noah and Echo to their limits.(see what I did there?!)

Both characters stole a piece of my heart. Echo feared so much because of that night even though she can't remember it but she still finds it in herself to help Noah. And then we have Noah, oh Noah, if I had a guy like you lets just say my life would be complete! Underneath that bad boy persona is a guy that is loving, caring and protective.

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

Katie's writing is beautiful. It was simple but conveyed the emotions of the characters so well that you felt what the characters felt. Sometimes I found myself wishing that I could just give all of them a hug! It is really hard for authors to accomplish this but Katie did it with ease. The character development in the book was another high point it wasn't too fast or too slow. You could see how the characters began to evolve, transition and overcome.

I can really not fault this book. I think it would just be a waste of time trying to. Katie gives us an insight into how unfair life can be, the bad side to foster care and how surrounding yourself with the right people can help heal the broken pieces of ones heart and soul.

This is a book that stays with you long after you read it and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to anyone!

This book deserves the five stars that it is getting. It was an amazing, heart breaking and emotional read.    

Goodread's link