It’s week two of the Pushing the Limits read-along!
This event is hosted by Candace Book Blog, Natalia @ Dazzling Reads, The Page Turners, Mary @ The Book Swarm and The Bewitched Bookworms. Here’s the breakdown from the hosts themselves: For 6 weeks, we will discuss the amazing emotional roller coaster that is Pushing the Limits. We will tear up with Echo, swoon over Noah and thoroughly enjoy this unbelievably fantastic book! Every week will have awesometastic giveaways sponsored by HarlequinTEEN and we have an epic, unique and absolutely adorable Grand Prize sponsored by Bewitched Bookworms and Katie McGarry herself!
Here are the second week’s questions:
- Noah and Echo create a plan to read their files. What do you think of this plan? Would you read your friends file first knowing you might not have time to read your own? Would you want to read your own file?
Answer: Firstly, I would WANT to read my file, there’s no doubt about that! If someone has a secret about me, I’d have to know. But really, I’d be too afraid to hatch a hair-brained idea like that! If Echo wasn’t dying to know so badly, I don’t think she’d do it because she seems like how I was in high school (was? I still am…) – hates to get in trouble, good grades, likes being looked at as a good person – and I wouldn’t have had the courage when their was a risk of getting in that much trouble! I think if a friend wanted to look at theirs as well and we only had time to look at one, it’d be the friend’s. The guilt of reading my file and only my file would be too much, and the friend probably deserves it more! - Mrs. Collins starts to earn Noah’s trust by taking him to see his brother win a writing contest. What do you think of how she’s handling Noah? How would you feel if you were in Noah’s position, hearing that your brother sees you as his hero?
Answer: I loved this scene in the book! Of course the crazy driving had me laughing, but also it’s really taking Mrs. Collins more into the spotlight, almost as a hero of our story. She’s helping Echo remember her past, she’s helping Noah with his brothers, and she really goes above and beyond to make sure that her students are getting exactly what they need and deserve! I was the younger sister in my family, so to me my sister was my hero! I think it’s easier to “idolize” an older sibling when there’s a bigger gap in age though. My sister and I are three years apart so really we became more of best friends than me just looking up to her. If I were someone’s hero? I always kind of hoped people would look up to me in high school. I was really big into choir and I always hoped the younger kids looked up to me as I had when I was a freshman/sophomore with the juniors/seniors! I’ve always wondered… - Echo is starting to draw and paint again. She’s starting to express the feelings and what she’s seeing as she’s starting to remember what happened that day. Art therapy seems to be a popular way for people to deal with their feelings, why do you think Echo’s dad didn’t want her to continue with art since it was such a big part of her and is part of so many people’s therapy in dealing with similar issues?
Answer: Echo’s dad doesn’t want her to remember. I’m not sure if it’s for selfish reasons or because he’s really trying to protect her, but he doesn’t want those memories to resurface and for Echo to have another breakdown. Also I think since her mother was an artist as well, he may see it as a reflection of Echo’s mother and it’s something that scares him. From the way her mother ended up, he doesn’t want Echo to share so many things with her mom, which we did learn from this section that they do have quite a lot in common. - We see how crazy Beth’s home life is and we start to understand why she is not as keen to be trusting with people in her life. At the same time, we get to see how fiercely loyal Noah is. What do you think of the way Noah reacted to Beth being beaten by her mother’s boyfriend? Do you think it’s showing bad behavior that could get Noah in more trouble or the act of a true friend?
Answer: I think in the eyes of the court/law/whatever, yes, that would be seen as “bad behavior” and something they could/would use against Noah when they assess his temper – We as the readers get to see that Noah’s temperament seems to be based strongly on loyalty. He’s fighting for his brothers, he’s fighting for Beth, he’s even fighting for Echo. He fights for the people he cares about and when it comes off as a strong temper and quick action, it’s hard for other people to see it for what it really is. Even though we can see that it really is a positive trait in Noah, he’ll still have to control it if he wants custody of his brothers and stay out of trouble with the law. - Echo has an unusual name. What do you think of the story behind it? Is there a Greek Myth or other story that would inspire you to name a child after a character?
Answer: Could be Greek myth.. I don’t really know much about it. I thought it was funny that we find out how similar Echo and her mother are and it made me think of Echo actually being an “echo” of her mom. Of course, they couldn’t have known that when they named her, but we see so many similarities now… which is also why her dad is so afraid! Personally, I don’t think I’d name my child after a character or story, but I do know that negative influences (the bad character, person I didn’t care for in real life) would influence me NOT to use that name for my child. - Echo’s big thing is trying to find “normal” again. She doesn’t want to be the scared girl or the girl who can’t remember what happened to her, she just wants to be normal. This goal impacts her relationships with her family, friends, Noah and her ex Luke. But at the end of this section, Echo is starting to figure out that there’s no going back to old normal and she’s going to have to find a new normal. How big of a step is it for Echo when she realizes she’s not “in” love with Luke and figures out that she does need to find a new normal?
Answer: It’s a very big step. Echo’s starting to figure out that she can’t go back, she can’t live in the past. What happened to her really did change her life, whether she wanted it to or not. It’s a fact that she’s learning to deal with and she’s starting to make things better for herself by spending time with people who are on her side and who are showing her the proper support that she needs (specifically Noah… obviously). She can find a new normal. I think the hardest part is admitting that and moving on from the things you loved in the past. She can’t go back to them as much as she would like to because everything is different now. I’ve felt that way about a lot of stages in my life so far, but for as much fun as I had in high school and in college, I’m just a different person now. It wouldn’t be right to try to make those things fit in my life now. On the other hand, I love where I am now! And the way my life is now wouldn’t have made sense in high school or in college. As you experience different things, it’s going to change everything, but it all happens for a reason and it all happens at the right time.
Some really, really great questions this week!!! I had a lot of fun answering these 🙂
00
1 thought on “Pushing The Limits Read-Along: Week 2”
Hey :-)) Thank you sooo much for joining this read-along! Makes me happy to hear you like the questions! I love thinking about them too, it makes me spend some more time with those amazing characters!
I just loved how you think about Echo’s name as being an echo of her mom! Truly, I never thought about this!!! Mel from “Mel’s Books and Info” said that Echo was so perfect because Echo is an echo of her former self!
Love love love your ladies’ answers!!