"It's not THAT bad"

Pushing the Limits

By: Katie McGarry

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Pages: 392

Published: 2012

Read:  June

5 out of 5

I continually pushed this book to the back of my reading list. I was intrigued by it, but as a Young Adult Librarian I was nervous about the graphic romance I would find in a book meant for teens.  This was not a book I envisioned myself discussing with teens because of my own recommendation and/or just by being on the teen library shelf. However, there came a point when I couldn’t ignore it and eventually the book was handed to me by a teen who, with a sly smile told me, “It wasn’t THAT bad”.  Well, I must say – McGarry wrote a romantic teen story that was intense, but showed that it isn’t all about sex. In fact, sex doesn’t happen in the book!! It wasn’t the most impressively written novel, but the characters and their stories will definitely draw the reader in. (I almost cried at one point). I would recommend this book to any high schooler that enjoys romantic reads. As a parent and a Young Adult Librarian, I wish the cover wasn’t quite so erotic – It would be a lot easier to hand to teens! As an adult reader, I would probably rate it 4 stars because of the writing quality, but if I read it when I was a teen myself I would have LOVED it!