Katie McGarry writes with raw honesty and deep empathy, capturing the turbulent, heartfelt journey of contemporary young adulthood. Her bestselling Pushing the Limits and Thunder Road novels resonate powerfully for their authentic portrayal of teens facing real-world struggles, love, and self-discovery. McGarry's characters are celebrated for their resilience, flawed humanity, and capacity for growth, offering hope and understanding to readers navigating their own challenges. Her work champions the idea that everyone deserves a second chance and that love and inner strength can guide you through life's most difficult roads.
"I'm cold and clammy and hot at the same time, yet I'm free. I lift my head and the autumn breeze feels good against my skin. Free. I'm officially outside the box. I'm free. Free is terrifying and open and it's similar to being a bit lost-but it still feels...free."
"The worst moments are when my entire family is in the same room. With the people I should love the most surrounding me, I feel the most alone."
"We were nothing more than actions to reactions - helpless against our own fate. It's true. I react and others pay."
"Anyone who ever makes you the slightest bit uncomfortable, Breanna, you tell one of us. You're with Razor, which means you're family."
"As long as everyone thinks you're a cutter or tried to commit suicide you'll always be on the outs."
"I agree. I don't understand how a guy everyone is terrified of makes me feel safe. I don't understand how a guy who stayed behind to protect me when he didn't know me has been shot. I don't understand how a guy who carried me out of an alley full of shattered glass is the enemy everyone is warning me about."
"His hands go to my waist-my waist! And they feel so right. I like this closeness. Maybe I like it too much. A guy has never been this close to me. Never. And I can't believe it's happening, even if it is to keep from being arrested.My heart beats frantically. Isaiah is hot and scary and hot. Why on earth would a guy like him want to be anywhere near a girl like me?It's the adrenaline rush. That's what it is. I like how he feels because I'm still experiencing the adrenaline rush from Isaiah's NASCAR driving skills. His arm shifts, and I love how that movement causes his muscles to flex.Stop it, Rachel. It's not real. Focus."
"I saw the world in black and white instead of the vibrant colours and shades I knew existed."
"Jocks usually aren't smart. Their muscles feast on their brains."
"I don't lose. Do you hear me? I don't lose and that includes losing you. I'm done being kept in the dark. Im done feeling like you're slipping right past me. You are not saying goodbye to me. I'm in love with you and you love me back. You are staying."
"It's like I have this large black hole in my brain and it's sucking the life out of me. The answers are in there so I sit for hours and stare. No matter how hard and long I look, I only see darkness."
"Baby, you've got enough strength and tenacity to takedown drug dealers. You'll be fine."
"Call Stella 'Trash Can Girl' again and I'll beat the h--- out of you. In fact, call her or anyone else anything ever again and I'll do the same. I'm done saying nothing. I'm done letting you treat people like crap. Do you hear me?"
"Have you thought of doing it? Being a cattle farmer? If that's what it's called? I think we should do that, but replace cattle with bunnies and then we don't milk or eat the bunnies. We just let them multiply. Then we'll take over the world. Me the queen. You the king. Our bunnies the army nobody can defeat."
"Living is like being chained at the bottom of a shallow pond with my eyes open and no air. I can see distorted images of happiness and light, even hear muffled laughter, but everything is out of my reach as I lie in suffocating agony. If death is the opposite of living, then I hope death is like floating."
"Echo slides off the hood, and her hips have this easy sway as she walks to the back passenger door. Damn, she's gorgeous-red, curly hair flowing over her shoulders, a pair of cut-offs hugging her ass and a blue spaghetti-strap tank dipped low enough to show cleavage.My fingers twitch with the need to touch. I'm going to have to pull some major groveling to gain forgiveness. If I were smart, I'd find a way to say sorry without opening my mouth. Never fails that half the time I try to apologize, it comes out wrong."
"Isaiah grabs my hand and leads me away from the police...My heart stutters. He's holding my hand. A guy is holding my hand. Touching it. Like his fingers entwined with mine. I've never held a guy's hand before and it feels good. So good. Warm. Strong. Awesome. And it would only be a million times better if the guy holding my hand liked me."
"I'm not a princess but Ryan is a knight, he just belongs to someone else."
"Yesterday Allison bought me nail polish in the annoying shade of mauve. How can anyone look at me and think mauve?"
"I'm right and wrong, moral and immoral, good and bad, a hero and a villain, and I've been just as capable of truth as I have been lies."