Chasing Impossible - Review

Chasing Impossible (Pushing the Limits, # 5)

By: Katie McGarry

Published: July 1st 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Personal Kindle Library (as a gift for pre-ordering Nowhere But Here)

( Goodreads )

Goodreads description--Tough and independent, 17-year-old Abby lets very few people into her inner circle. It’s common knowledge in her Kentucky town that she deals drugs, but not even her closest friends know why. But when a deal goes south and Abby’s suddenly in danger, she finds herself reluctantly forced to lean on daredevil Logan—a boy whose restless spirit matches her own.

Logan has his own reasons for wanting to keep Abby at arms’ length. But he never expected to find in her the one person who might help him face the demons he’s tried so hard to run from.

Together, Abby and Logan will have to make a decision: let their current circumstances weigh them down forever…or fight for the future they both thought was impossible.

Abby has been a character since Crash Into You. She and Isaiah have been friends from way back. Isaiah is probably the closest person to her (that we know about), yet she’s slowly let more people into her life recently. Rachel, Isaiah’s girlfriend, and her brother, West, and all of the people who come along with them. I’ve been intrigued by Abby. She’s crazy. She says the weirdest things. And she’s a drug dealer. Can’t say I’ve ever really read a book where the main character was a drug dealer. So I wanted to know more. What’s it like inside her head?

The answer to that question wasn’t as weird or as crazy as I expected. When we start Chasing Impossible, Abby is realizing that she’s about to get drawn into the world of dealing so much deeper than she wanted to be. Her employer is showing more interest in her because she’s done her job too well. Because things are never simple when dealing with the illegal, Abby gets pulled into turf war issues. Shots are fired. Sides are blurred. And Abby isn’t sure where she stands anymore. What she realizes more than anything is that this isn’t the life she wants for herself. It never really was, but it was a means to an end.

Logan’s been attracted to Abby for a while. They play a lot of games of pretending and dares, but they’ve never crossed any lines. Yet, Logan can’t help but get pulled into Abby’s troubles. She needs help, and he’s the person standing the closest when everything breaks loose. Logan’s been keeping a secret of his own. It’s not quite the same thing that Abby’s dealing with, but it does help him understand how to relate to some of the things she’s going through. Logan’s life has to be controlled and so any time he can he finds a way to cut loose and do something crazy. What’s crazier than falling for the girl who sells drugs?

I think I’ve established that I’m a Katie McGarry fan. I find myself hooked into her stories and her characters. And I care about what happens to them. But I wasn’t completely sold on Chasing Impossible. Being inside Abby’s head wasn’t as crazy as I expected it to be. She’s dealing with a lot on her plate, but I didn’t buy it all at the same time. Logan and Abby’s relationship was easy to understand. I was rooting for them, but I felt like they progressed to the love stage a little too quickly. Deeply caring for each other I could buy, but love I found a bit skeptical. I can totally see where they could make their way to that place eventually, but not yet. And then there was the ending. Things wrapped up a little too neatly for me. I have a problem with cookie cutter endings. I like happily ever afters, but Chasing Impossible had one of those endings that felt a little too perfect for me.

I do have to say that if anything, Chasing Impossible solidified my opinion that Isaiah might just be my favorite guy out of all of the Pushing the Limits characters. And that’s tough since Noah was my first love from the series. Isaiah is just always in the mix. He’s always involved. He’s really the center of the group (since we branched off into West and Abby’s stories). And he’s always about protecting those he cares about. And every now and then the wise words that make all of the difference come from his lips.

Favorite quotes:

-”But you can’t protect someone who decides to play with live explosives.”

-“I’m a ghost. I always have been. Occasionally, I just pretend to be real.”

-“I’ve learned that none of us are really aware what we’re capable of until we’re confronted with the options.”

It is my understanding that Chasing Impossible is a limited time release for those people who pre-ordered a copy of Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry. Considering how many people I’ve already heard say that they need to get their hands on this, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I expect Katie McGarry to release Chasing Impossible through some other means eventually. Otherwise there will be a lot of complaining and whining among those who didn’t get the memo. Because Chasing Impossible wasn’t released through a traditional publisher, I did find some mistakes—grammatical and even the wrong character name at one point—but I didn’t let that affect me too much.

Chasing Impossible was an enjoyable read from Katie McGarry and I’m glad that I’ve read it. It makes a nice addition to the Pushing the Limits series and of course makes me want more—Chris and Lacy, Ethan? But it had some flaws and issues for me as well. Not my favorite in the series but still enjoyable. Chasing Impossible gets 3.5 Stars. Have you read Chasing Impossible? What did you think? Let me know!