PIVOT POINT by Kasie West

PIVOT POINT

by Kasie West

published by HarperTeen

                        

Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier...

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through... and who she can’t live without.

                         

4.5 owls

They tell us not to judge books by their covers. But, of course, I do anyway.

I basically fell in love with Pivot Point the second I laid eyes on it. The girl on the cover (presumably Addie) has a total Emma-Stone-in-Spider-Man vibe, which I definitely complain about. And there's never a problem with sideways text. I was destined to fall in love with Pivot Point from the start.

And that's pretty much exactly what happened here.

Never have I ever fangirled so hard over a relationship. Never have I ever -- gulp -- squealed when The Kiss happened. (Yes, I actually made a noise. And jumped a little. Please stop pointing and laughing, God of Emasculation.) But in Pivot Point, West just makes you feel all these things. Good things, may I add. Definitely good things.

I'm a mess right now. The main problem is that I read this without the knowledge that I would want to read the second book so badly. But I do. Agh.

At the beginning of the novel, Addie has to make a tough choice when a devastating circumstance splits her life in half. Addie possesses an advanced psychological power that allows her to see both outcomes of a choice before deciding what to do -- called Searching, more specifically Divergence. (Hold your calls of "She's Divergent," "she's in danger," "the test didn't work on her," etc.) The rest of the novel is told alternating between those two futures, until the end during which she makes a tense, emotional decision.

Pivot Point gripped me with its emotion, its tension, its romance, and ultimately its unputdownability. I am currently headdesking for not having Split Second in my possession.