Pivot Point (Pivot Point #1) by Kasie West ★★★★☆
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.
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.
I have to admit, I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to. In the end, I gave it 3.5 stars. It had its flaws and never really defied my expectations or anything, but I found myself much more absorbed in the writing than I'd expected.
I have to admit, that I went into this book knowing very little about it. I knew about Addie's ability to see multiple timelines--but that was about it. The book was better in some ways, I think, because I knew almost nothing else.
The concept here is really fascinating to me, and that remained one of the book's strong points. I was also pleasantly surprised by the whole Compound thing. I didn't realize going in that people besides Addie had powers. That said, I sort of wish the worldbuilding had been fleshed out a bit more. You see glimpses of it here and there, but really for the most part this book is a contemporary romance disguised as paranormal science fiction-y. Which, there's nothing wrong with that, but I really dig some good worldbuilding.
As the different paths unfold chapters are told from alternating timelines. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked that choice or if I was going to be able to follow it. But West actually does a really good job keeping things clear. I always knew what timeline we were in. And it ended up being really neat seeing the similarities and differences contrasted back to back.
As the main conflict comes to a climax--I don't know that it was rushed, per se, but it felt like it all went down quickly. Some of that was the tension, building and building to the point where I was flipping pages madly. But it started to unravel a bit more me as Addie had to make her choice. And it was an interesting one, to say the least.
My list of book boyfriends is growing by leaps and bounds these days, because I have to add Trevor to the list. I adored him from the first mention and ugh!
Overall, definitely a fun one. I'll certainly be picking up the sequel Split Second.
