Young Adult fiction writer, Katie McGarry, has been giving us novels that are full with love, hope and dreams; the characters fighting for each other and for the future they only dreamed of having. She teaches us that anything is possible, and shows us the beauty and magic in the world with the reminder that no matter what’s happening in our lives, we can get through anything with a little help from those we love and some self belief.
Here are 30 of the best lines from McGarry’s novels — from her Pushing the Limits series and her Thunder Road series.
1. “If you’re scared, tell me. If you need to cry and scream, then do it. And you sure as hell don’t walk away from us because you think it would be better for me. Here’s the reality, Echo: I want to be by your side. If you want to go to the mall stark naked so you can show the world your scars, then let me hold your hand. If you want to see your mom, then tell me that too. I may not always understand, but damn, baby, I’ll try.”
— Pushing the Limits
2. “There’s a reason why people shouldn’t talk at four in the morning. Exhaustion eliminates the ability to lie. It demolishes the ability to tiptoe around the truth. Emotions are too exposed and real. Heightened to the point of explosion.”
— Nowhere But Here
3. “Don’t let your fears create walls or define you.”
— Walk the Edge
4. “There are times when you stand on the cusp of moments so huge, you know you’ll remember them forever.”
— Dare You To
5. “Maybe this is what happens when you fall in love. On the outside a lighter is nothing amazing, but it holds all the ingredients that can create something wonderful. With a few pushes in the right direction, you can inspire something so brilliant that it pushes back the darkness.”
— Crash into You
6. “Sometimes what we need the most is what we fight the hardest.”
— Nowhere But Here
7. “As much as you want to, you can’t take all our pain away. Hurting, it’s a part of life, and if you try to stop any of us from being in pain, that means you’re not allowing us to actually live.”
— Long Way Home
8. “I think sometimes things we don’t like happen so we can appreciate the good. Like, can I really enjoy a sunrise if I didn’t experience the darkness of night? Without her past, Echo would never have met Noah, and without her losing Aires, I would never have met you.”
— Crossing the Line
9. He tipped my chin, forcing me to look at him. “We have forever to work up to that, Echo. Let’s enjoy every step of the way.”
My mind drifted this way and that. Mostly between focusing on his heart, his touch and the sweetest word I had ever heard: forever.
— Pushing the Limits
10. “That must be love: when everything else in the world could implode and you wouldn’t care as long as you had that one person standing beside you.”
— Dare You To
11. “Silences seem longer in darkness. I think it’s because it’s harder to lie when the lights are off. There’s a rawness that only belongs to the night and the truth can’t help but be set free.”
— Take Me On
12. “She’s leaving me!”
“Leaving? She’s been waiting for you to get your sh*t together.”
I step into him. “That Hunter ba****d is offering her the world! What have I got to give? Nothing. I’ve got nothing.”
Isaiah slams his finger into my biceps. “She looks at you like you’re the whole universe! I’d kill to have a sliver with Beth of what you have with Echo. Wake the f*ck up!”
— Breaking the Rules
13. “There’s a power I only feel when I’m with Isaiah. A boldness I’ve never possessed in my life. Never in a million years would I have imagined I’d be the girl who’d say she was falling fast for a boy before he did. Never in a million years did I think I’d be lying in bed with a totally ripped guy that has his shirt off. But Isaiah has this effect on me. He makes me feel stronger than I really am.”
— Crash into You
14. “I need her, she needs me and tonight we just need to hold each other.”
— Long Way Home
15. “You’re a lot like that bird in the barn. You’re so scared you’re going to be caged in forever you can’t see the way out. You smack yourself against the wall again and again and again. The door is open, Beth. Stop running in circles and walk out.”
— Dare You To
16. “This is heartbreaking and consuming and addictive. It’s terrifying and peaceful, crazy and serene. It’s a million things in one brief moment and it’s something I don’t understand and never want to live without.”
— Walk the Edge
17. “She looked hurt. Hurt means she cares. It’s indifference that should scare you.”
— Breaking the Rules
18. “Our fears are what stifle us and we’re only scared of what we don’t understand.”
— Nowhere But Here
19. “He loves me.
His words gain traction in my head…he loves me. My heart patters faster and faster. Not because of anxiety but because of hope. Gathering air into my lungs, I rest my head against his shirt, which is wet with my tears. His heart has a slow, steady beat. One that never panics. One that is always strong.”
— Crash into You
20. “Growing up means making tough choices, and doing the right thing doesn’t necessarily mean doing the thing that feels good.”
— Pushing the Limits
21. “The way he stares at me—it’s as if he doesn’t even see the outside anymore. His eyes pierce me as if he can see my soul and the thought terrifies me.”
— Dare You To
22. “I’m searching for magic – not the Christmas morning type, but the type of magic that can be found by being courageous, being the girl who takes chances, being the girl who will dance. I want to be the girl who is seen.”
— Walk the Edge
23. “The worst kind 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.”
— Pushing the Limits
24. “Taking what was the most raw and broken inside us and offering it to the other as a show of what we can’t heal on our own. It’s the most simple and heartbreaking of vulnerabilities…to admit that you need someone else.”
— Breaking the Rules
25. “You’re falling for me like I’m falling for you. That’s why you’re pushing me so hard.”
— Dare You To
26. “This overwhelming, encompassing feeling is love. It’s not perfect and it’s messy as hell. And it’s exactly what I need.”
— Dare You To
27. “It took me not listening for them to listen to me. Sometimes people don’t listen until bad things happen. They realise then they should have listened instead of talked. Sometimes people are too busy hearing what they want to hear, seeing what they want to see, they don’t care what’s real only what they think is real.”
— Walk the Edge
28. “Someday me and her, we’ll come back here. Maybe she’ll be an artist. Maybe she won’t. Maybe I’ll be an architect. Maybe I won’t. What I know for sure is that Echo will be by my side, and that our love is forever.”
— Breaking the Rules
29. “I love how he smiles. I love how he moves. I love his hands on my body and his lips on mine. I love how he laughs. I love how he makes me laugh. I love how he can smooth away the roughness and make me feel like someone worth loving.”
— Dare You To
30. “Her shoulders never shook. No tears streamed down her face. 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.”
— Pushing the Limits
Page By Paige 