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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
After a string of books, some of them even very good, that I have just failed to emotionally connect to, I finally read another one that gave me feels! So far, with two notable exceptions, I have been very impressed with the 2013 debuts I've read, and Pivot Point is perhaps my favorite book so far this year, though, admittedly, it's only my eighth book for the year.
From the cover and the synopsis, I expected things to start off with a bang and be dark and creepy pretty much all the way through. Well, not so much. Actually, the book starts off with a huge focus on humor, even once the split happens. Much of it feels very contemporary, science fiction elements aside. Though a bit thrown by the lightness of the beginning, West really makes this work, slowly and steadily amping up the action and the eerieness as the novel progresses.
Addison Coleman loves books and loathes football. Is it any wonder I think of her as a kindred spirit? She also spends time musing over such things as how confusing the phrase 'heads up' is, since it usually means to do just the opposite. Addie is witty, more on the introverted side, a good friend, and able to make tough choices. Of course, she also acts like a teenager, acting out in response to her parents' divorce. Let it be noted, too, that, though divorced, both parents take an active role in her life (or try to).
Addie lives in the Compound, a secret city of people with advanced brains, so advanced that they have powers. Awesome, right? These powers include telekinesis (Duke), matter manipulation (Bobby), persuasion (Mom), detecting lies (Dad), memory erasure (Laila), and divergence, which is not at all like in the Roth novel (Addie). West makes excellent plot use of each power, rather than giving people abilities solely for the cool factor. She also does a great job considering some of the ramifications of these powers on family and friendship dynamics.
What Addie can do is, with every choice, examine her future options, or at least the most obvious two. When her parents announce their impending divorce, they tell her she should analyze the future and choose whether she wants to live with her father outside the compound or her mother inside. After chapter three, the narrative alternates between her future should she choose to stay in the compound and if she should leave. This has been done before, but I think West uses this technique to great affect.
West sets up Addie and Laila's relationship so well. Unlike so many novels where the heroine moves and a best friendship melts away almost instantly, Addie and Laila continue to call one another regularly. They remain each one another's best source for a discussion of boy drama or discomfort at home. Just because friends are far apart does not mean that they cannot remain close. In fact, Addie and Laila are somewhat closer when more physically distant, which is fascinating. Comparing the dynamics between Addie and the various other characters in the two futures is endlessly fascinating. In some cases, there seems also to be an element of serendipity, where in others certain people will or will not bond depending on how they meet.
All of you authors going overboard on instalove, I want you to read Pivot Point, because this is a perfect example of how an author can set up a convincing relationship in 300 pages. In fact, West sets up two of them, all without bandying about the word love. Instead, she makes use of delightful banter and actual time spent together to establish relationships. West had me feeling butterflies vicariously several times. I really like the way she set up the romance, which I suppose could be called a love triangle, but not in any ordinary sense.
The would building could use a bit of work, since only the most minimal of effort is given to explaining how this magic invisible to norms (think Hogwarts unseeable by muggles) compound came to exist in Texas. Plus, the scope of Addie's abilities is never entirely clear to me. Can she only see yes/no choices or can she see any possible choice she could make? Wouldn't she be confronted with other choices within the future, thus possibly negating the future she's just seen? I hope there will be clarification on these things in the next installment, and I suspect there certainly will be on Addie's powers.
The formatting of the chapters is quite cute, but I suspect not clear enough to keep some readers from being confused about what is happening in the story. Basically, all of the chapters where she's in the compound start with the definition of a word that has PARA in it, and the ones outside have NORM in them. While I do think this is quite clever, I'm not sure if people will notice that and put the two together, and, more worryingly from my point of view, I don't think the definitions themselves add to the story.
Pivot Point has mind powers, family drama, kissing, humor, and action. What more could you want? I will be anxiously anticipating the sequel to Pivot Point and her contemporary novel The Distance Between Us, due out in July 2013. I expect to see great things from Kasie West, since she starts off with such a marvelous debut.
From the cover and the synopsis, I expected things to start off with a bang and be dark and creepy pretty much all the way through. Well, not so much. Actually, the book starts off with a huge focus on humor, even once the split happens. Much of it feels very contemporary, science fiction elements aside. Though a bit thrown by the lightness of the beginning, West really makes this work, slowly and steadily amping up the action and the eerieness as the novel progresses.
Addison Coleman loves books and loathes football. Is it any wonder I think of her as a kindred spirit? She also spends time musing over such things as how confusing the phrase 'heads up' is, since it usually means to do just the opposite. Addie is witty, more on the introverted side, a good friend, and able to make tough choices. Of course, she also acts like a teenager, acting out in response to her parents' divorce. Let it be noted, too, that, though divorced, both parents take an active role in her life (or try to).
Addie lives in the Compound, a secret city of people with advanced brains, so advanced that they have powers. Awesome, right? These powers include telekinesis (Duke), matter manipulation (Bobby), persuasion (Mom), detecting lies (Dad), memory erasure (Laila), and divergence, which is not at all like in the Roth novel (Addie). West makes excellent plot use of each power, rather than giving people abilities solely for the cool factor. She also does a great job considering some of the ramifications of these powers on family and friendship dynamics.
What Addie can do is, with every choice, examine her future options, or at least the most obvious two. When her parents announce their impending divorce, they tell her she should analyze the future and choose whether she wants to live with her father outside the compound or her mother inside. After chapter three, the narrative alternates between her future should she choose to stay in the compound and if she should leave. This has been done before, but I think West uses this technique to great affect.
West sets up Addie and Laila's relationship so well. Unlike so many novels where the heroine moves and a best friendship melts away almost instantly, Addie and Laila continue to call one another regularly. They remain each one another's best source for a discussion of boy drama or discomfort at home. Just because friends are far apart does not mean that they cannot remain close. In fact, Addie and Laila are somewhat closer when more physically distant, which is fascinating. Comparing the dynamics between Addie and the various other characters in the two futures is endlessly fascinating. In some cases, there seems also to be an element of serendipity, where in others certain people will or will not bond depending on how they meet.
All of you authors going overboard on instalove, I want you to read Pivot Point, because this is a perfect example of how an author can set up a convincing relationship in 300 pages. In fact, West sets up two of them, all without bandying about the word love. Instead, she makes use of delightful banter and actual time spent together to establish relationships. West had me feeling butterflies vicariously several times. I really like the way she set up the romance, which I suppose could be called a love triangle, but not in any ordinary sense.
The would building could use a bit of work, since only the most minimal of effort is given to explaining how this magic invisible to norms (think Hogwarts unseeable by muggles) compound came to exist in Texas. Plus, the scope of Addie's abilities is never entirely clear to me. Can she only see yes/no choices or can she see any possible choice she could make? Wouldn't she be confronted with other choices within the future, thus possibly negating the future she's just seen? I hope there will be clarification on these things in the next installment, and I suspect there certainly will be on Addie's powers.
The formatting of the chapters is quite cute, but I suspect not clear enough to keep some readers from being confused about what is happening in the story. Basically, all of the chapters where she's in the compound start with the definition of a word that has PARA in it, and the ones outside have NORM in them. While I do think this is quite clever, I'm not sure if people will notice that and put the two together, and, more worryingly from my point of view, I don't think the definitions themselves add to the story.
Pivot Point has mind powers, family drama, kissing, humor, and action. What more could you want? I will be anxiously anticipating the sequel to Pivot Point and her contemporary novel The Distance Between Us, due out in July 2013. I expect to see great things from Kasie West, since she starts off with such a marvelous debut.
This review was originally posted on Books and Ladders
This was my Wishlist Wednesday post this week and as I was searching for the links for the purchase places, I noticed it was $4.99 on Kobo and snatched it up. I am not sure if I am glad I did or not yet.
This novel's main category is contemporary. There are science fiction elements to it, i.e. these people have supernatural abilities, but this is a contemporary novel. There is zero world building and it is the strangest thing. There were so many inconsistencies that I was mostly just confused at some points.
First of all, if Addie had to lie about where she was from, then why even let the students on the Compound play football against other "Normal" schools? But since they can do that, why not just say that she moved from there? Switched schools or whatever? Why did she need some elaborate back story? Especially if her transcripts showed that she came from the Compound school anyway! It isn't as if they forged her documents! They literally sent her transcripts over. It was ridiculous to me.
Second, the abilities were never explained. Like at all. How do they form? How are they decided upon? Can more than one person have the same ability? What happens when they "present" (I believe that was the term used)? Why are these people hidden in the middle of nowhere in Texas? Is it so football can be the big thing at this school? I literally could ramble on with my questions about world building forever.
Third, the ending was so stupid. There is no way in hell you are telling me that Addie would have all this information and insight about what happened over the next six weeks and tell NO ONE and then only want to remember the other half because of a boy?! Like come on. That is ridiculous. Even if her Searches can't be used as "evidence," she would have still told SOMEBODY about what she saw! How she saw someone LITERALLY KILLING PEOPLE. But nah, she just wants to remember her boyfriend from another life she never chose. Actual eye rolls ensued.
And of course there was a love-triangle. Like what is a young adult book without one. Except this one was worse because they overlapped but not really. I thought this book would be two completely different paths but nope they intertwined. It was reading the same story twice with different names basically. I got bored of it pretty quickly.
The only redeeming point was the last 10% of the book in which the two stories took a different turn than what I expected. The dialogue was really good too, as was the premise. I just didn't think it was really well executed.
Overall: 3/5 stars. I liked it but not as much as I thought I would. I'm actually pretty conflicted about it.
This was my Wishlist Wednesday post this week and as I was searching for the links for the purchase places, I noticed it was $4.99 on Kobo and snatched it up. I am not sure if I am glad I did or not yet.
This novel's main category is contemporary. There are science fiction elements to it, i.e. these people have supernatural abilities, but this is a contemporary novel. There is zero world building and it is the strangest thing. There were so many inconsistencies that I was mostly just confused at some points.
First of all, if Addie had to lie about where she was from, then why even let the students on the Compound play football against other "Normal" schools? But since they can do that, why not just say that she moved from there? Switched schools or whatever? Why did she need some elaborate back story? Especially if her transcripts showed that she came from the Compound school anyway! It isn't as if they forged her documents! They literally sent her transcripts over. It was ridiculous to me.
Second, the abilities were never explained. Like at all. How do they form? How are they decided upon? Can more than one person have the same ability? What happens when they "present" (I believe that was the term used)? Why are these people hidden in the middle of nowhere in Texas? Is it so football can be the big thing at this school? I literally could ramble on with my questions about world building forever.
Third, the ending was so stupid. There is no way in hell you are telling me that Addie would have all this information and insight about what happened over the next six weeks and tell NO ONE and then only want to remember the other half because of a boy?! Like come on. That is ridiculous. Even if her Searches can't be used as "evidence," she would have still told SOMEBODY about what she saw! How she saw someone LITERALLY KILLING PEOPLE. But nah, she just wants to remember her boyfriend from another life she never chose. Actual eye rolls ensued.
And of course there was a love-triangle. Like what is a young adult book without one. Except this one was worse because they overlapped but not really. I thought this book would be two completely different paths but nope they intertwined. It was reading the same story twice with different names basically. I got bored of it pretty quickly.
The only redeeming point was the last 10% of the book in which the two stories took a different turn than what I expected. The dialogue was really good too, as was the premise. I just didn't think it was really well executed.
Overall: 3/5 stars. I liked it but not as much as I thought I would. I'm actually pretty conflicted about it.
The plot of this sounded amazing! Addie lives on the Compound, a place where people have superhero like powers, and she can see the future. Suddenly she must pick between staying where she is, or going to live in the “normal” world. The whole book is took in a dual perspective of what her life would be in each place.
This fell flat for me on many levels. For one, Addie herself is so juvenile and makes so many dumb decisions. I wanted to shake her for half the book. Secondly, I felt nothing for either love interest. They both were cardboard to me. And I think a lot of this had to do with the fact that Kasie West’s writing in this was just ..... bad. Which is disappointing! Because I’ve read other books by her before and they were leagues ahead of this one.
This fell flat for me on many levels. For one, Addie herself is so juvenile and makes so many dumb decisions. I wanted to shake her for half the book. Secondly, I felt nothing for either love interest. They both were cardboard to me. And I think a lot of this had to do with the fact that Kasie West’s writing in this was just ..... bad. Which is disappointing! Because I’ve read other books by her before and they were leagues ahead of this one.
Wow, this book was so good! What a wonderful idea for a story. I can't imagine being able to see two different future outcomes, and having to pick one. I was totally drawn in to this book, and fell in love with Addison's personally from the beginning. In many ways We're a lot alike. I loved the fact she's a book lover!!
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is it's a really good read and I would definitely recommend it.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is it's a really good read and I would definitely recommend it.
Why are there no standalone books these days? I think if the author wasn't trying to force this into a series this book could have been infinitely more enjoyable and better paced too.
I'M SO SAD WHY DOES TREVOR HAVE TO BE TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE LIKE I UNDERSTAND WHY SHE CHOSE HER MOM BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME FEEL ANY LESS SAD
A must read if you're into quirky teens with awesome abilities. This book had so many hilarious scenes and a few serious ones.
Faced with a big decision, Addie must decide on the better choice. Using her Searcher abilities, she looks to see which will work out best for her. She ends up tangled into situations that may not go well either way.
The story had a nice, solid ending, one that leaves you content with everything that happens, even if you don't necessarily approve of her decision; you know she had to make it.
I'm so excited for the second book, Split Second, to come out. I can't wait to see what else is in store for Addie.
Faced with a big decision, Addie must decide on the better choice. Using her Searcher abilities, she looks to see which will work out best for her. She ends up tangled into situations that may not go well either way.
The story had a nice, solid ending, one that leaves you content with everything that happens, even if you don't necessarily approve of her decision; you know she had to make it.
I'm so excited for the second book, Split Second, to come out. I can't wait to see what else is in store for Addie.
Pivot Point has one of the most clever plots I’ve read in a while. Told in alternating chapters of two futures, Pivot Point kept me guessing as to what exactly would happen next. I always had some inklings about what would happen, but then a new plot element would be added to the story that complicated it further. I was quickly turning the pages the whole time.
I started Pivot Point once before, but didn’t get very far. I think it was Addie’s personality that had annoyed me when I first tried to read this book. She comes off as a bit spoiled and immature for the first few pages of the book. But, Addie grows a lot throughout the book by having to make difficult decisions.
Reading two futures at once did confuse me sometimes, especially when I wasn’t paying very close attention. The way in which the two choices affected each other was pretty fun to read. Sometimes I thought I knew which possibility Addie would choose, but something new would happen to make me rethink things. I preferred reading the future where Addie stays on the Compound, but both perspectives were nice to read.
I didn’t like many characters in the book because sometimes they were flat or stereotypes. There is a star quarter back, a sensitive artist, mean cheerleaders, an outgoing and extroverted best friend who wants to help popular-ize her bookworm best friend, etc… I have forgotten a lot of the names of some of the secondary characters because they simply didn’t play any role in the overall story.
I’m still left wondering a few things, such as the motives of certain characters. Pivot Point will have a sequel coming out in February. I can’t really talk more about the ending for fear of spoiling everything.
At one point this may have been a 5 star book for me. Pivot Point is worth the read. Despite having a few flaws, it is an engaging and exciting novel.
Find this review and others like it over at my blog In Italics.
I started Pivot Point once before, but didn’t get very far. I think it was Addie’s personality that had annoyed me when I first tried to read this book. She comes off as a bit spoiled and immature for the first few pages of the book. But, Addie grows a lot throughout the book by having to make difficult decisions.
Reading two futures at once did confuse me sometimes, especially when I wasn’t paying very close attention. The way in which the two choices affected each other was pretty fun to read. Sometimes I thought I knew which possibility Addie would choose, but something new would happen to make me rethink things. I preferred reading the future where Addie stays on the Compound, but both perspectives were nice to read.
I didn’t like many characters in the book because sometimes they were flat or stereotypes. There is a star quarter back, a sensitive artist, mean cheerleaders, an outgoing and extroverted best friend who wants to help popular-ize her bookworm best friend, etc… I have forgotten a lot of the names of some of the secondary characters because they simply didn’t play any role in the overall story.
I’m still left wondering a few things, such as the motives of certain characters. Pivot Point will have a sequel coming out in February. I can’t really talk more about the ending for fear of spoiling everything.
At one point this may have been a 5 star book for me. Pivot Point is worth the read. Despite having a few flaws, it is an engaging and exciting novel.
Find this review and others like it over at my blog In Italics.
This was a pretty average book until the ending hit. And the ending was immensely well crafted and heartwrenching and ohmygoodness I can't even.
My biggest issue with this book was the premise, which was also this book's biggest boon. Addie has the power to see future outcomes of various choices she makes, but she has to live all the way through the consequences to figure out which she wants, meaning that if it's a life altering decision, she'll possibly be living multiple lives. The author didn't explore how this could affect Addie; I feel like she'd be more mature or more life weary as in a way she could live various lives, which would almost leave her immortal in a way or with way too many memories. It's a fascinating premise, but it wasn't explored at all which was disappointing to me.
I thought that, given her power, the choice her parents initially forced her to make was completely unfair, and I was surprised that she just took this and decided to look into the future.
The plot got very complicated and due to the supernatural aspects it could be challenging to figure out what exactly was happening, but the general line and eventual choice was strong and fascinating to read.
The ending was absolutely fantastic and incredibly well planned. I was really pleasantly surprised by how awfully neatly everything came together.
I did enjoy how characters in both lives appeared and how they kept their personalities, but I found it so hard to suspend my disbelief and envision how Addie's old school would just happen to be in the same football league as her new school. If her dad really wanted to escape this world, why wouldn't he go to an entirely new place?
I don't know about this one. I did enjoy it, but it left me wanting more details and more explanations.
My biggest issue with this book was the premise, which was also this book's biggest boon. Addie has the power to see future outcomes of various choices she makes, but she has to live all the way through the consequences to figure out which she wants, meaning that if it's a life altering decision, she'll possibly be living multiple lives. The author didn't explore how this could affect Addie; I feel like she'd be more mature or more life weary as in a way she could live various lives, which would almost leave her immortal in a way or with way too many memories. It's a fascinating premise, but it wasn't explored at all which was disappointing to me.
I thought that, given her power, the choice her parents initially forced her to make was completely unfair, and I was surprised that she just took this and decided to look into the future.
The plot got very complicated and due to the supernatural aspects it could be challenging to figure out what exactly was happening, but the general line and eventual choice was strong and fascinating to read.
The ending was absolutely fantastic and incredibly well planned. I was really pleasantly surprised by how awfully neatly everything came together.
I did enjoy how characters in both lives appeared and how they kept their personalities, but I found it so hard to suspend my disbelief and envision how Addie's old school would just happen to be in the same football league as her new school. If her dad really wanted to escape this world, why wouldn't he go to an entirely new place?
I don't know about this one. I did enjoy it, but it left me wanting more details and more explanations.
I borrowed this from the library. I saw some good reviews recently and decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did.
I'm not sure what I expected but this was surprisingly good. It had elements that would make you roll your eyes but yet I was enthralled by Addie. So it has paranormal/fantasy parts, some teen romance, coming of age, a love triangle- well sorta but yet deals with the topic of divorce. And yet it works. I'm going to be keeping my eye on Kasie West.
This book, for those who haven't it yet: Addie is a girl who can see her own future. But not like some fortune teller. She is faced with the dilemma of her parents getting a divorce and choosing who she will live. But to chose one parent is to chose the world she knows with her mother or the normal world with her father. Sounds simple but yet what happens is far from.
The story is told from Addie's point of view as she does her Search to choose who to live with. You would think a parallel story would be confusing. But nope, I was gripped and could easily follow the plot line. I loved the definitions at the beginning. I'm also glad that the final decision was not a cliche.
And I grew to love Addie, Laila, Rowan and Trevor. I won't spoil it. Go read it.
Recommend: ya fans, fans of fantasy, those who enjoy a book about friendship or books about girls who love books
I'm not sure what I expected but this was surprisingly good. It had elements that would make you roll your eyes but yet I was enthralled by Addie. So it has paranormal/fantasy parts, some teen romance, coming of age, a love triangle- well sorta but yet deals with the topic of divorce. And yet it works. I'm going to be keeping my eye on Kasie West.
This book, for those who haven't it yet: Addie is a girl who can see her own future. But not like some fortune teller. She is faced with the dilemma of her parents getting a divorce and choosing who she will live. But to chose one parent is to chose the world she knows with her mother or the normal world with her father. Sounds simple but yet what happens is far from.
The story is told from Addie's point of view as she does her Search to choose who to live with. You would think a parallel story would be confusing. But nope, I was gripped and could easily follow the plot line. I loved the definitions at the beginning. I'm also glad that the final decision was not a cliche.
And I grew to love Addie, Laila, Rowan and Trevor. I won't spoil it. Go read it.
Recommend: ya fans, fans of fantasy, those who enjoy a book about friendship or books about girls who love books