Pivot Point
Loving the vertical title.
Title: Pivot Point
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: 2/12/2013
Pages: 320
Series?: Pivot Point #1
Genre: YA Paranormal
Format: E-book
Source: Review copy from Edelweiss
Addison Coleman has a useful ability: when faced with a choice, she can peer into the future and see both outcomes. In fact, she essentially lives through both choices before she makes her decision. So when her parents announce their divorce and her father asks who she wants to live with, Addison performs a search to determine her choice. Stay on The Compound with the other paranormals and her BFF, or move to Dallas with her father to live among “the norms?” Each path holds both romance and danger, but one thing is for sure: Addison’s choice isn’t going to be easy.
I struggled through this book. At the beginning, I didn’t really like Addie. I didn’t like her best friend, Laila, or her love interest on The Compound, Duke. After the initial excitement of embarking on the six-week search to determine Addie’s choice, I had a really hard time making it through the middle of the book. The true conflict of the story didn’t present itself well for a loooooong time. Until that point, this felt like a love triangle-y, slightly angsty drama novel. Yawn.
So what DID I like? What saved this book? Well, I did like the Norm love interest, Trevor. Maybe I’m just a sucker for a kid in a sling, but Trevor brought out the less annoying version of Addie Coleman. I also enjoyed the glimpse at the powers everyone on The Compound have: mind erasing, telekinesis, mass manipulators, mood controllers, lie detectors, persuasive. It’s like X-Men, but with brain powers. Brain powers are so much more interesting and sneaky! Which brings me to what saved this book: THE ENDING. No, not in a “thank god this book ended” kind of way, but in a “holy crap, now I can’t stop reading, this just got good!” kind of way. Once I realized what was going to make Addie’s decision difficult (beyond swoon-y boys) and where Kasie West was going with this, I was powering through those last 50 pages.
FINAL GRADE: C+ I feel like this grade represents the difficulty of the first 3/4 of the book, but the redeeming qualities of the ending. The premise is certainly intriguing. I’m not really a fan of paranormal books or romance, so I’m probably not the intended audience for the story. I’m trying to push myself by reading some of the less paranormal-y paranormal books. Will I read the rest of the series? Probably not…though I might inspect the blurb when it comes out to see if West takes this in an interesting direction.
Required reading: You should read this if you are doing the Debut Author Challenge, since Kasie West is a debut author. Also required for fans of paranormal books and romance.
Library recommendation: You can feel comfortable buying the book for both a middle school and a high school library. I think it’s geared toward high school, but there’s nothing too mature in the story.
If you could have any mental superpower, what would you pick? How would you use it? Or would you rather stay a “norm?”
Posted on March 7, 2013, in books, librarian and tagged 80 Books 2013, Grade: C, love, paranormal, ya. Bookmark the permalink. 13 Comments.
I think I’ve heard both good and bad sides to this one. I think neutrally I don’t want to read this because it just doesn’t interest me, but then I’ll hear something good and want to read it; then vice versa. Which means I prob won’t read it! haha
Wait until the second book comes out — that should give a better idea of if this is worth reading. Heck, wait until the whole trilogy is done and read them all at once! I think that’s my new philosophy on iffy books. Too many books, too little time!
I really enjoy your reviews!
Thank you! I’m in a bit of a reading/writing slump right now, so that’s really nice to hear!
You’re welcome! Well, I hope that slump doesn’t last too long, I know how it feels!
I was hoping this was going to be great! Too bad it wasn’t as good as you hoped!
Ahhh, but you know me…overly critical! I’ve seen reviews that go both ways, but it wasn’t really for me.
I love your thoughtful reviews! Thanks so much!
I’m with you there! I loooooved Trevor, but the parts without him? Meh. I think I finally started to like Addie in the end, but a lot of things felt really flat for a while. But the ENDING really was soooo good. I think I ended up liking it a bit more in the middle than you did – I did NOT like Duke, Laila was ehhh, and it took me a long time to really get in the groove of Addie’s character.
Great review!!
Maybe we needed Duke and Laila in the story to appreciate Trevor more? I mean, West did do a good job of making me really feel for Addie’s choice she had to make at the end. I guess the verdict comes with book 2, right?
I’ve had this book on my TBR list for a while. Even though your rating isn’t what I had hoped for I think I’ll still try it out since it’s part of my DAC list. =]
I think yours is the first review I’ve read that isn’t steller about this book! Personally I loved it but I can see where you may have not liked it and I konw what you mean about the first 3/4 of the book! For me the book was pretty good until the end which just sort of knocked the ball right out of the park for me! It’s what made me LOVE it! Can’t wait for book two!
Lily @ lilysbookblog
The book sounds interesting. I would like to see where her love interest will go.
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