My Thoughts On: Pivot Point by Kasie West

Posted December 24, 2012 by Asheley in Uncategorized / 15 Comments

Pivot Point by Kasie West
Series: Pivot Point #1
Published by Harper Teen
Publish Date: February 12, 2013 
320 pages
Source:  ARC Tour & Edelweiss

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. -(summary from Goodreads)

Pivot Point by Kasie West 


My Thoughts:  Addie has a pretty neat ability: she is a Searcher. When faced with choices, she can look into her own future and pick the best outcome. When her parents tell her they are divorcing, she is stunned. They completely throw her for a loop when they tell her that her father is moving from their home on the paranormal compound to live among the Normals – those without abilities – and that she can choose whether or not she stays on the compound with her mother or move to live with her father among the Normals. She doesn’t want to leave the life she knows, life with her friends and the ease of using their abilities. But she can’t stand the thought of not living with her father, even if it means adapting to a new way of life, a life without her paranormal abilities, a life off of the compound. In order to make her decision, Addie does a search: she looks six weeks into the future. She figures if she looks that far, she’ll be able to see in which life she is happiest and know which decision to make. Addie had no idea exactly what the future held for the people she loved when she decided to look into it.

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In one possible future, Addie stays on the compound with her mother. Life does not change much at home except that her father is not there, which is sad. Addie blames her mother for the divorce so their relationship is a little strained, but her best friend Leila remains by her side. They have tons of fun, as always. And there’s Duke. Dreamy, handsome Duke. Duke is the quarterback of the football team and the boy of every girl’s dreams. He seems to have a crush on Addie, but he isn’t her type at all. Duke likes to be the center of attention. He’s loud. He’s the so-called king of school. Addie doesn’t care for his loud reputation…but she soon finds herself attracted to him and then falling for him. Interestingly, when she’s around him, there is no place she’d rather be. When she’s not around him, she can’t figure out what it is about him that she really likes. Addie is so confused.

The other possible future has Addie moving off of the compound to a town a few hours away, in or near Dallas, Texas. She begins to attend a public high school and tries to acclimate to the Norm world, which is sort of amusing. Everything in the Norm world is slightly behind the technologically-advanced world on the compound, so Addie has to figure out simple things like door locks and car radios. Addie blames her mother for the divorce so she doesn’t call her or want to talk to her yet. Leila is not there, so she is without a best friend for a short while…until she attends a high school football game with her father and meets Trevor. Trevor is a guy in the stadium, watching the game. Addie sits by him and feels comfortable immediately. He is on the quieter side and not boisterous at all, like his friends appear to be. Addie likes this and soon she and Trevor are friends. Over the next few weeks, Addie and Trevor become closer until their friendship is a romance. When Leila comes to visit, she remarks to Addie that it seems like she has lots of friends and Addie realizes that even though it was hard, she has carved out a place there in the Normal world.

*There are several characters that cross-over into both futures – characters that I didn’t realize would do so. Also, and more importantly, there are events that cross-over: there are unusual things happening in the Norm world and the Norms can’t figure out what is going on, but they are suspicious of the students from Lincoln High (the school on the paranormal compound, which happens to come off of the compound to play other schools in sports). The two worlds do collide or cross-over, but the compound does everything it can to ensure that their paranormal existence remains absolutely a secret. Addie is in an interesting position, being a person that previously went to Lincoln High and now living in the Norm world. She knows that she has to keep her abilities and the compound a secret, but since living off of the compound, she is becoming suspicious too. Hmm.

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I had seen some really excellent comments and reviews about Pivot Point by Kasie West before I began reading it and I have to admit that I was super curious. I do love a good science-fiction book and this one sounded interesting. When I started reading, right away I loved that it blended science-fiction with paranormal and threw in a dash of time travel to the future. And oddly enough, it felt like it had a little dash of contemporary to it as well, even though it clearly is not a contemporary book. I was completely sucked into this story and I loved it.

See, it isn’t just that Addie has to make a choice on where to go live. It isn’t that she travels to two different futures for herself. These two futures are smartly written because 1) they are alternating points-of-view between the choice of living with her mother on the compound and living with her father off of the compound and 2) the author manages to connect them. I was reading along, totally interested in the story already and then BAM! things GOT REAL. Addie realized that in these two futures, the right decision wasn’t only what was more fun for her – making the right decision had real-life, big, huge consequences for some of the people she loved most. Addie had to figure out which one of the people that showed up in both futures was a bad guy, a really bad guy, and make her decision based on eliminating that bad guy from the future of the people she loved. Of course, the choice could not be easy. Of course, Addie had to agonize over her decision for a little bit. And of course, I had to agonize right along with her. But then I kept reading and YAY for the ending. And THEN I found out there will be a book two. YAY for a book two because I was completely invested in the romance these characters.

I want to mention the romance aspect of the book: Since there are two possible futures, there are two possible romance interests. This makes it look like a love triangle exists, but you have to remember that the two futures are not occurring at the same time, so there is no love triangle. Addie is searching each future separately, so she is getting to know each guy, Duke and Trevor, separately. Also, Addie’s heart is at war with her mind for a good chunk of the book as she tries to determine which future to choose and which decision to make. As a reader, I want her to choose based on her heart because I love the romance aspect, but I also know that the bad guys are so bad and they must be stopped.

Pivot Point was incredible. Just awesome and fun to read. It was a great story that was made better by its structure, which was alternating POV’s that had a linear feel, but really were not. I had to remember that Addie was only searching one future at a time and not leaping back and forth. It was a great way to tell the story and give the reader information about each possible future while forcing us to remember both possibilities and remain invested in both. Bravo, author, for this structure. The book begins at a comfortable pace and is enjoyable, and then after a point, when things start happening and I started questioning several people, I started gulping down the book. Not kidding.

I recommend Pivot Point to everyone, really. It’s a great debut, it’s an awesome story, and it was shockingly good because I didn’t realize that it had so much packed into it. I’ve seen some mixed reviews out there, but I have to wonder how that happened. I was interested from the beginning, and from about the middle to the end, I was all-in, fully invested, complete with the pounding heart. I wish I had the second book in my hands right now. I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here.

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Pivot Point will appeal to fans of:

YA Science-Fiction/Paranormal
Romance: No triangle, Slowly-developing relationships
Alternating POV’s


Pivot Point by Kasie West
will be available for purchase on February 12, 2013.

*I borrowed this book as part of Around The World Book Tours in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions. i also received a copy from the publisher via Edelweiss. Thank you Harper Teen and Edelweiss!  I received no compensation for my review. 
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Is PIVOT POINT on your wish-list?

I am SO GLAD there is another book coming out.
I want more of this story.

Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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15 responses to “My Thoughts On: Pivot Point by Kasie West

  1. I can´t wait for Pivot Point! The mix between sci-fi and paranormal really appeals to me because I like both genres. Also, how awesome is that concept of seeing into the future to determine what decision to make?! You make this book sound amazing and now I want to read it even more than before!

  2. Wow! Your review makes me DEFINITELY want to read this. It sounds like an incredible story, and I'm curious to see how the two futures work out for her.

    • I was a little apprehensive of this one to begin with but I saw how it was getting a lot of buzz on goodreads. Like, tons of five stars. When I read it, I saw why. It is structured really well, I think, and I was able to get caught up in the story easily. PLUS I love the mash-up of genres and the plot twists. And with the ending it has, I'm glad there is more coming to the story in another book! Just a well-written story that I'm honored to have read.

    • I thought it WAS brilliant. Such an interesting structure and layout, great mash-up of genres, and several twists thrown in there. My heart was beating fast for about the last third of the book, and I love it when that happens.

  3. Pivot Point actually does sound really interesting! I like what you've brought up with the alternating POVs and the two potential storylines. It's a really unique concept. The only thing that stops me from wanting to read it right away is this makes me wonder what actually happens in the story? How much of a plot is there if a significant chunk of the story is Addie simply looking ahead into two possible futures? (I'm sure there is one, I just have a hard time conceptualizing this storyline). Great review and glad you enjoyed it so much!

    • AAAHHH, you raise a good point. And I didn't mention that in my blog post for a reason! It was hard to write this post because I didn't want to spoil anything, so I think to have elaborated any further WOULD HAVE spoiled.

      But what a great point you bring up! Still, I thought it was great, well-written, fun, thrilling. AND while a big chunk of the story is Addie "Searching" – there is another book coming out if you are concerned about whether or not the ENTIRE book is her "Searching" – I personally cannot wait to read it. When I finished this one, I wish I had book two in my hands right THEN.

  4. I am so glad you reviewed this, because I know it has gotten a lot of attention but for some reason the synopsis just didn't do much for me and I wasn't that interested. Which is weird because I love science fiction story lines. I think the time travel thing made me wary (sometimes time travel books confuse the heck out of me) and really, I have read so many paranormals lately that were just mediocre that I have been steering clear of anything that doesn't absolutely WOW me at first glance.

    BUT, after reading your review of this must admit that I am feeling differently, I think I will give this one a shot after all. I like that you are really excited to pick up the next installment, that says a lot to me right there:)

    • Yes, I cannot WAIT to pick up the next part of the story. I think it was so cleverly written, both in story and structure – and the plot twists were unseen to me in all instances except for one that was fleeting. In the end, I was actually really sad that the book was over.

      This blog post was really hard to write. The book was actually much better, I think, than I was able to portray.

  5. I LOVE that cover. The story structure has me really interested; I think I will definitely be reading this at some point. And just from your review, I REALLY HOPE SHE PICKS TREVOR. Haha. It's always the quiet ones. 😉 Great review, Asheley!

    • HAHA, my lips are sealed! This book is all-around fun, but it is suspenseful too and I never knew what would happen next. I couldn't flip the pages fast enough and I was excited to be reading it while having a great time too. When you get the chance, read it, and I'm interested in what you think. I know you really have a spot for contemps, so I'm curious about what you think of this one since it is so sci-fi/time-travel/paranormal.

  6. This sounds really interesting! And, lucky me, it comes out this week haha! I really like the cover, too. The concept seems really cool and I'd be wary of it if this wasn't you saying you loved it because this kind of plot can go off tracks quickly but I trust you so I'll definitely be picking it up at some point! Glad you reviewed it 🙂

    • I wasn't too sure about this one when I started reading it but I got so into it and was so curious about how it would end. It just sucked me right into the story and I ended up enjoying it a lot. It was a fun, easy story and I didn't really see where the author was going. And when I finished I didn't realize there was going to be a second book – but I'm glad the story will continue because I wanted a little bit more when this one ended. I'm really interested in seeing how you like this one, H!

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