Pivot Point by Kasie West: Review

Title: Pivot Point
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: HarperTeen
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository 

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. (Goodreads summary)

I have read both of Kasie West's YA Contemporary books, The Distance Between Us and On The Fence, and loved them both. They were both amazing reads and I loved West's writing style. She is a genius when it comes to characters, she really does write some of the best characters I have come across. They're likeable, loveable, swoon-worthy and have so much humour that you laugh whilst reading her books. I knew I had to finally get to her Pivot Point series because I just needed more of her characters.

Pivot Point had appealed to me for quite some time because it seemed like a YA Sliding Doors. I love Sliding Doors and I love the idea of one little decision being able to change so much. Addie lives in the Compound, which is hidden from the normal world because it's inhabitants are all Paranormals, with a large selection of different abilities that a person could have. Addie is known as a Searcher, but her official ability is known as Divergence, she can Search into the future to see the outcome of two scenarios depending on which choice she makes. When her parents announce they are divorcing and her father is leaving the Compound, Addie has to decide which parent she wants to live with. To help her make up her mind she Searches the outcome of either decision by Searching six weeks of what her life with either parent.

If you follow the blog and have read many of my recent posts then you probably know, I am in the hugest reading slump right now. It's hard for me to concentrate or really get into the books I'm reading. It's also making writing reviews a lot harder for me too. On the Fence was brilliant and I could not put that down. So I was hoping another Kasie West read would help, but sadly I still struggled with it. It's a really great book, but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting in a lot of ways.

Kasie West still proved herself a fantastic writer, and her characters felt as real as I have come to expect from her other books. I have to admit to not completely loving Addie as a character, she just wasn't a character that I could easily connect with. The two love interests were who really shined to me, they were very well done. Duke is the star football player of the Compound, a guy that Addie would never think would be interested in her, but when he suddenly starts pursuing her she's flattered. Duke was a character that had so many different sides to him and was very well written. I approved a lot of Duke in the beginning, he was funny, charismatic and had the smirk down. Trevor, the Norm boy, was a very slow-builder in this book, at first I didn't really think very much of him. But he just gets better and better over time, more of his personality comes out and I came to utterly adore his character.

The Compound setting was something I was very interested to see but I felt it was lacking a little bit. I wanted more information about it, the technology and everything else. I just couldn't completely picture it in my head and wanted to learn a lot more about it.

I didn't actually know what to expect from Pivot Point, knowing it had a paranormal aspect but also two futures that involved love interests. Part of me thought it was going to be more about the choice between two boys than anything else. But it takes a much more dramatic turn in the second half of the book, I wasn't completely expecting it and it through me off a bit. At times it just felt a little too dramatic to me and I couldn't find it completely believable.

4/5 Butterflies

Overall, this is a fantastic book and displays, once again, just how talented a writer West is. I love how she writes her characters, she really brings them to life. I think this is a very unique story in a lot of ways, whilst being familiar in others. I might not have completely loved Addie's character but she was still a great lead. After finishing this it was clear to me that I would have to go straight onto the sequel. It has an ending that just leaves you wanting more.