This book was a short read that had so much potential. Unfortunately, did not retain my interest. The story felt like it dragged on.

This was a good little quick read. I gave it 4 stars because of the emotions the characters made me feel. I really liked the characters and the story. I felt disconnected from the story when characters speak Creole. Sometimes the author wrote them speaking in English, sometimes in Creole with translation, and in just Creole. That was my only con.
I felt the emotions Stacey was conveying through her writing. She really sucked me into the story. I wish it was longer and/or she writes a follow-up or an epilogue.
It's told in both Elias and Myra's POV.

I felt like this book had so much potential to be so much more. Two teens from different backgrounds meet in Haiti and begin to fall for one another but their love could affect their lives and their families lives. There just wasn't much passion for the characters and the story was slow.

This was a really great story of 2 people that were completely different. They have completely different backgrounds. One whose parents who have money and the other who doesn't. But also it takes place mostly in Haiti. Which you do not read books that are from there anymore. I love how the author told these characters. Myra is American/Pakistani and Elias is Haitian. So completely different cultures. I love stories that have different cultures in them.
I also love stories that are very descriptive and to me this story was. I love the books published by Entangled Teen. I have not found one story from them that I did not fully enjoy. I would love to read more by this author. I enjoyed this so much. This is a great young love story. Yes teenagers can be selfish, they can be mean to each other. Not trusting of each other. This story is more realistic than most. But I completely love this type of story.

interesting love story between a Haitian MC and a Pakistani mc, not the likeliest of couples. it dared to go there, and I liked that in the state of where the US is going, to see more Muslim MCs.

I really want to enjoy this story as I heard a lot about it but I just couldn't get into it at all. I even try putting it down an going back to it but unfortunately I just couldn't connect with the story an it sounded really promising too. I will try this author again in the future just to see if I can try again with her books.

Unfortunately, I just really couldn't get into this. There were a number of things that I just didn't care for.

Myra always felt different and like she didn’t fit in as far as her peers went. Myra was a Muslim and her parents were from Palestine. Myra’s mother was a doctor and Myra went on a mission trip with her mother to Haiti to help in a medical clinic as her mother hoped Myra would become a doctor. But Myra didn’t want to be a doctor her dream was to become a photographer. She hoped by winning a photography contest it would provide the money for her to go to photography school. She hoped to get the perfect picture while in Haiti. One shot could do it for Myra. Then Myra met the cute translator and her heard her say he was cute. Myra also felt a lot of things she had never felt before. She didn’t know Elias needed his job to support his family. So his younger siblings could go to school and have a good future. But the number one rule of his employer who didn’t treat him very well was stay away from the Americans. But Elias finds insta / love puppy love whatever with Myra after a few days and breaks the rule.I didn’t particularly like this story for the most part. The story dragged for me at times especially in the beginning. I did like how Elias tried to protect Myra when she puts herself at serious risk. I just don’t feel Elias would sacrifice his family for a girl he had only known a couple days and would be leaving soon. Matter of fact I loved Elias’s devotion to his family. I didn’t like Myra she was selfish, self centered, thoughtless, careless, and immature. This just wasn’t believable to me. But I did like how the author brought in the problems in this country and what the people go through. I am sure someone will like this just wasn’t for me.

mentioned in my jan wrap up

To start off, I find it interesting to read.The flow of the stories has its ups and downs. But I'm happy with the ending.

Anyway, this story is about a Pakistani Girl, name Myra, followed her mom to Haiti for a voluntary mission with her mom's medical team, where she so into arts/photography but her mom insists her to follow her path as a doctor, which, Myra doesn't want to be a doctor, she has own passion, interest that she wants to be. To be said that, her relationship with her mom, is not okay. She kept bicker with her mom, even the smallest things.

Nonetheless, she founds out that Haiti has something far more than just the people came to the clinic for a treatment, she wants more, she wants to discover Haiti more than sitting in the clinic. This is went I think, she is so freaking annoying that I hate her. She just couldn't foresee what will happen to her if she just going out from the clinic without anyone accompany her.

Going to Haiti is where she gets to know, Elias. A guy, who works as translator between Haitian's people and American's medicals teams. He's trying so hard to make sure that he secure the job, and because of that, he been warned to not get closed to any American's girl - Myra. He try his best to not be closed to Myra but sometimes the hearts, works beyond than he can think.

Overall, Myra's character is the best. Why? Because the author has make me feel so mad at her, find that she's so ridiculous, very selfish, but in the end, she has make the best thing for Elias, and his family. As Elias, he has struggle a lot in his life, he deserves to get what he deserves. It make us think that, if you want adventure, you want to see the inner beauty of it, you have to take risk, only then, you can admire the beauty of it.

Pushing Boundaries is about a girl, Myra, a Pakistani American, who goes to Haiti with her mother on a medical internship for a vaccination clinic. What her mother doesn’t know is Myra wants to be a photographer and the only reason she is in Haiti is to appease her mother and maybe capture a great picture so she can win a scholarship to her dream school. This is where she meets Elias, their interpreter, who needs the job to feed his family. The biggest rule to his job is “don’t get close to the Americans”, but Elias didn’t expect to meet Myra, and he can’t seem to keep from getting close to her.

I enjoyed this book. I have read a lot of the Entangle Crush books, but this one is completely different than all of the others. I would rate this author among the top of the Crush writers. I like the idea of the book and the setting. I love that it's set in another country. I love that the author chose Haiti and real down to earth characters. Too many time authors choose to write about rich snobby guys. Don’t get me wrong, I love the arc type, but it was a breath of fresh air to read about Elias, his life and country pride. He is down to earth and hard working. I love him. I can’t say I love Myra though. I wish I had felt more of a connection with her.

Overall, I think the book was well written and was a good read. I give it four stars overall.

I really wanted to enjoy this one more but something about it left me, I don't know, just feeling off.

Myra travels to Haiti with her mother as part of a Doctors without Borders type of deal. Her mother is a doctor who does work at a clinic set up in Haiti and Myra, along with other teens, join the doctors as interns. Myra's mother hopes this will set her on the path to becoming a doctor. Problem is, Myra doesn't want to be a doctor, she wants to be a photographer. And she's in Haiti hoping to capture that one picture to win a scholarship to an art school. When she gets off the plane she immediately meets Elias. Elias has been hired to be a chauffeur/translator to the Americans while in the country. This is a huge opportunity for Elias. With this job he can afford to send his siblings to school and help feed his family. The job just comes with one warning - stay away from the Americans. I'm pretty sure you can all figure out what comes next.

I'm just going to say it, I did not like Myra. At all. I get that she feels trapped by her parents, by her religion, etc., but that doesn't excuse the fact that she ruins other people's lives with the attitude of 'oh it can't be that bad'. I get that she's young but being young and being naive are two different things.

Oh the other side, I did like Elias for the most part. I like what he represented and how the author chose to showcase his struggles with poverty and lack of jobs to grow. He wants to learn. He wants to be successful for his family. It definitely puts things in perspective when you watch how he just wants to feed his family.

I also appreciated the culture and description of Haiti. I read in the authors notes that Trombley has spent time in Haiti in her youth and I think that helped here. Writing another country is hard when you're just going off Google. Having been there and experienced the culture first hand added to the story.

But ultimately, I struggled with this book. The instalove was kind of ridiculous. I mean, you just met this person and you're only in Haiti, what, a week I think it was? It would have worked better if it was crush status more then love. I mean, they didn't really spend that much time together to make it believable. Another thing was the ending. Everything from when Elias receives the package to the end was a little sugary sweet and too perfect. It wasn't believable and took away from what could have been a bittersweet growing experience.

I do think this book will relate with young adults. Maybe I was just a little too old for the story and writing, that it just didn't work for me.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise is right up my street, and the author did a good job of not making it feel like Myra was 'saving' Elias. However, I just felt a bit hit over the head with what was going on - like the author didn't quite trust me to know what was happening, and needed to tell me just to be sure. This had the effect of taking me out of the story, and also breaking the tension for me. So it only gets 3 stars unfortunately.

3.5/5 Stars

This unique contemporary romance shines the spotlight on cultural differences and the ways that we sometimes judge based on expectation rather than reality. Set in Haiti, the book focuses on the country’s beauty rather than its drawbacks.

What Fed My Addiction:

Haiti!
I’ve been to Haiti three times—twice in the process of adopting my son and once when I escorted a baby girl with spina bifida who we had hosted back home to her momma. So, I have a special connection with the country and I could truly relate to Myra’s thoughts and feelings when she arrives in Port au Prince. It can be disconcerting to arrive in a place that’s so different—so bustling and active and a little overwhelming when you first step off the plane (heck, the plane ride itself was a little strange when I flew into Cap Haitien). Myra wants to see the “real” Haiti, not just the parts within the clinic walls—she wants to experience the people and their everyday life. She discovers that while most Haitians are poor, they’re not without joy. They share laughter and love and a feeling of community that we sometimes lack here in America where things are (in comparison) “easy.” Reading this book reminded me of both the beauty and the pain of Haiti and its scenic countryside.

Elias.
It’s easy to connect to likable Elias, who’s incredibly focused on taking care of his family. He knows how important his job is—jobs are not readily available in Haiti, especially skilled jobs that are steady and pay well. Elias is earnest and caring and he finds himself drawn to Myra. She is different than he imagined Americans to be in many ways, but it’s also obvious that she’s naive when it comes to Haiti. He wants to connect to her—to help her—but he doesn’t want to lose his job because of it!

Diversity.
This books features LOTS of diversity. With one Haitian MC and one Pakistani-American MC (who is also Muslim), the cultural differences take center stage, but it’s the things that make us all the same that are truly highlighted!

What Left Me Hungry for More:

Trouble connecting at first.
It took me a little while to connect to Myra fully. I wasn’t sure exactly why this was, but I find that I often have this issue with books told in present tense, so it could have just been that. By the end of the book, I was emotionally connected to the characters more. I also felt like the romance bordered on insta-love (though they never quite claimed to love each other, which was refreshing—still, they were willing to give up a lot for each other after only knowing one another for a week).

Unrealistic ending.
Things get wrapped up in a very unrealistic timeframe (and maybe a tad too easily?), but I did really like the conclusion overall.

This book is an enjoyable read that gives us a glimpse into a culture we don’t often see explored. Overall I give it 3.5/5 stars.

This is a great YA read and the first in a series by Stacey Trombley. Myra is a young girl who has travelled to Haiti with her doctor mom to administer health care to the people there. Elias is a young boy who has learned English and has been hired as an interpreter/driver for the doctors. When they meet, there is a spark between the two. Myra desperately wishes to see the real Haiti and escapes the compound one day to explore. When she runs into some trouble Elias comes to the rescue. A stolen kiss leads to Elias' firing. Can Myra help him get his job back?
This book will expose young readers to a different ideas and a world where school, jobs and food on the table are not the norm for many families. Wonderful start to what will likely be a great series!

This is a very sweet love story that spans oceans, race, and culture. This is about unexpectedly finding someone that understands and gets you even if you have not known each other for long. It was a mutual attraction between Myra and Elias. Elias proved to be the key to Myra having the courage go after what she really wants to do with her life. A medical mission trip to Haiti has changed Myra's life more than she can ever imagine. The island spoke to her and confided to her its secrets.

This is a very cute and feel-good story. It takes me back to the days when I too was like Myra, trying to find how I fit in in the order of things in the universe. How it is to find yourself in a place where everything is new and discoveries, no matter how mundane are a great novelty. I can still remember my first out-of-country trip. It was to Singapore. I flew alone. I was meeting my two other friends in the airport and our friend who was based there will pick us from the airport. I was so excited, so full of anticipation. It seemed like my body was tingling. I felt so alive. I was looking forward to experiencing a different culture, meet new people, enjoy the sights and take on new and wonderful experiences to be bottled and take home with me.

Like in the story, traveling for whatever reason, whether to volunteer, to work or just to unwind, will always bring unexpected and unassuming people who will touch us one way or another that we can never hope for. Knowing about their daily lives will enrich and inspire us. Like Myra, you will learn to appreciate the differences, be thankful for the things that you have and will put things into perspective. I think my most unforgettable trip was going to Cambodia. We talked to kids and women selling paintings and souvenirs near the Angkor Wat and we were humbled. My friends and I realized that we were so blessed, the kids there find it hard even going to a public high school. There are not a lot of public schools in their country. That's the beauty of traveling, it will put you where you stand in the whole scheme of things. You will realize you are just a speck in this vast universe. The world or the universe for that matter does not revolve around you. You have no right to treat anyone unfairly. It gives you a good smack in the butt.

This story made me remember that I had once thought of volunteering. Of going to far-flung places and help in any way I can but I had not gotten the chance. I did volunteer before for a Christian organization helping street children in Quezon City. I went there with my friend for a few weekends to help bathe the children, fed, played games and taught them. It was a very gratifying experience and it was my way of giving back but then real life interfered. I got too busy with work. I still hope to volunteer again.

I give the book 4/5 digital cameras. This just only proves that friendship and love knows no boundaries, race, religion or culture. It speaks to every person. This story also indicates how humanitarian missions to third-world countries are very important and helps a lot of people. Those who are less fortunate are given hope that they can have a better life. If only governments all over the world would care enough of its citizens. No corruption. Then, there would be no need for humanitarian missions at all.

Pushing the Boundaries has a fairly unique premise--a Pakistani American girl goes (against her will) with her doctor mother on a service trip to Haiti to work in a medical clinic and becomes involved with their teenaged Haitian interpreter/driver, and problems ensue. Myra and Elias are from different worlds--literally--and it seems as if their relationship can't realistically be more than a bittersweet memory of a first love experience...or can it?

I enjoyed a look into a different world--like Myra, I wanted to see what Haiti looked like beyond the clinic and rented home she was shuttled between, thought the way she chooses to get out nearly causes more problems than positive experiences. Her self-centeredness and tendency to think of herself first and of others (maybe) second made her difficult to like at times, though she does grow up more toward the end, garnering more sympathy for her character. Elias is much easier to like overall, though his chapters tended to be too short to really get to know him and his life as much as I'd like to.

There's a touch of insta-love here (though it is their "first love" experience, so that's not exactly out of character) and I'm still processing how I feel about the way things are left at the end--a too quick and easy solution? The rich Americans coming in and making everything all better?--the jury's still out on that part. This is being billed as the first in a series, and if the other book(s) are going to continue Myra and Elias's story, I am interested in seeing where it is going to go.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars / C+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Myra is a Pakistani-American girl who is going with her mother, a doctor, to Haiti to do charity work in a clinic. Myra is looking forward to the experience, not so much for the medical side of it, but because she is hoping to take the picture that will be her ticket to art school.

Elias is 17 and has just started his new job as an interpreter. He drives the van that picks up the newly arrived American charity workers and overhears Myra call him “cute,” a term that he had only heard before to describe “children and dogs.” He feels that this beautiful girl is going to be trouble.

Pushing the Boundaries is told in alternating points-of-view of Myra and Elias. I found the prose to be a tad too simple for my taste, but wonder if the author, Stacey Trombley, wasn’t trying to put it more in the voices of the teenagers involved. There was some nice description, however, and the writing flowed, so simple wasn’t really a detriment.

I liked how the story unfolded, showing us Myra’s perspective. How she always feels like a foreigner in the States because of the color of her skin, but that in Haiti she feels even more foreign. Yet, despite how different she might be in America, she possesses all of the opportunities and advantages that are unknown in Haiti. Another nice juxtaposition is how Myra’s family, despite being privileged, does not possess the love and solidarity that Elias’ family has.

Myra is impetuous, not always understanding what the result might be for her actions. She leaves the safety of the clinic grounds to go on an adventure and gets herself into trouble, but is rescued by Elias. The ramifications of her action reach farther than she expected and she is forced to make some realizations about herself and tries to make amends for her selfish action. I felt that this was a pretty realistic depiction of some American teens.

The ending is almost kind of “fairytale,” but I thought it a sweet conclusion to a story that is intended to open the eyes of its reader to situations they may know little about.

“This country is like a whole new world. I feel as though it was a spaceship that brought me here instead of a plane. This country is only a few hundred miles from the Florida coast, and yet it seems like it’s hundreds of years behind.”

I would definitely recommend Pushing the Boundaries for the young adult audience. Older readers’ mileage will definitely vary.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting read. There were highs and lows in this book for me but overall by the ending I started to feel a little more for the characters as a whole. It was a nice to start to a new series, would love to see where this is going though.

We meet Myra as she is on a trip to Haiti with her mother to work at a clinic. First let me say this is something countries like Haiti need more of, it’s great to see a book that emphasizes the needs and wants of other countries in beneficial ways. Sure you can’t help them all but every little bit helps overall. I think the characterization of the Haitian people was good, was it perfect, maybe not. I’m not Haitian so I can’t really say and I’ve never been but I can definitely image. I know how tough it can be. Anyway I’m sidewinding away from the story. Myra is trying to sneak away to see the real Haiti in hopes of getting a photograph so she can submit it for a college that her mom doesn’t want her to go to. It’s all very dramaqueenesque, but what is a problem for some may not be for others, meaning what is a big deal to one person may not seem like a big deal to another.

We meet Elias who is also fighting to survive for him and his family with his job driving and interpreting for the Americans. But his attraction to Myra seems to be his downfall. It’s actually really sweet how quickly he fell for her and how utterly hurt he is by her, but still he fights for her. Will Myra do the same for him though? That is the question and you will have to read the book to find out.

I think this book had a lot of good points to it, it was a quick read, interesting to throw you into this kind of setting. Not something that happens in young adult books or contemporary romances. This wasn’t even about the two cultures clashing and possible love, this was really about two people from two different worlds trying to get through their young lives and live happily doing what they know best. There are issues being bought up in this book such as parent and child differences, coworkers showing over empowerment over other employees. So many things throughout this book. It did bring a tear to my eye at one point. But this is just the beginning. Let’s see what will happen next.

Love the cover, the story and just everything it was an overall good book.