Pivot Point
Series: Pivot Point, #1
Author: Kasie West
Publication Date: February 12, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
Addison Coleman is a Searcher. A searcher is someone who, given a choice, can look into the future and see both outcomes. Her ability has been really helpful in making good decisions. She’s hoping it will do the same with her latest choice.
When Addie’s parents tell her they are getting a divorce, they want her to use her gift to decide which one of them to live with. Choosing wouldn’t be a big deal if both of her parents planned to stay in the Compound, a secret paranormal society created for those with special abilities. But her dad is planning on living five hours away in the “Norm” world, while her mom is staying put.
Addie’s Search suggests two very different potential futures. If Addie chooses her mom, she’ll stay at the compound and continue to develop her special ability. Duke, the popular high school quarter back, will take an interest in her. She will get to hang out with her best friend for the past ten years, Laila. Nothing will really change. It should be the perfect choice, considering she loves her life.
If she moves to the Norm world with her dad, she’ll be the new girl at a regular high school. She will have to hide her abilities and make new friends. Addie will meet Trevor, an injured football player and aspiring artist, and his friends. Trevor will become her new best friend and, for the first time, she’ll feel like someone really gets her.
It’s a tough choice made tougher when her dad starts consulting on a murder case that has an effect on both futures. Addie will have to decide between the lesser of two evils.
Pivot Point is a hard book for me to review. I have a love-hate relationship with it.
It starts out in present day with Addie being given the choice to make between her parents. Once she Searches the future, the book alternates back and forth each chapter between the potential futures. When I think about it, it’s actually a really cool idea — BUT (and that’s a big but) I liked one potential future way more than I liked the other. That made it very annoying each time I switched from the future I liked to the one I didn’t. I would just be getting sucked into the story, only to have to read one I didn’t really like. It was frustrating. I hated it.
That being said, after reading the entire book, I get why Kasie West set it up the way she did. It was actually perfect. I was able to see how the same events could affect both futures. It made the ending all that more powerful. Kasey West just might have used her special abilities to make me like one side of the story more than the other…
Now for what I absolutely loved: Kasie West’s writing. She had me laughing from the beginning with “hotlicious.” I loved Addie and her parents. I liked how they were a bigger part of the story than most YA fiction parents. I don’t think Kasie West could have picked better abilities for them. I know this was more of a fantasy/science fiction YA novel, but I found it to be a really great contemporary romance read as well.
When I finished reading and closed the cover, I felt torn. I loved so much of this book. I totally would have given it 5 stars, but I just kept thinking of my frustration at times. Even though I know the parts I hated help make the story stronger, I couldn’t get past the fact that I didn’t like them. That’s why I took away a star. I still highly recommend reading it. I think it has a little something everyone will like: romance, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, family relationships.
I’m looking forward to starting on the sequel Split Second soon. I can’t wait to see what is in store for Addie next.