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. (Cover and synopsis from Goodreads.)

A Bit of a Bumpy Start…

I added Pivot Point to my must-read list on Goodreads as soon as I heard about it, way back in June of 2012.  It just sounded like something I would LOVE, so I finally bought it in March of 2013, but I didn’t get around to reading it until last month!  I’d been looking at it longingly on my shelf for almost a year, wishing that I could read it but having to save it because of review books and other books with higher priorities.  I think I even whispered “Soon,” to it a few times, petting its spine…

Ahem. Anyway, because of all that waiting I think my expectations for Pivot Point were maybe a bit too high, and so I got off to kind of a bumpy start when I finally started reading it.  First of all, with these alternate future/dual reality type of books it’s sometimes hard to keep the two stories straight, so I had to resort to taking notes.  And I took TONS of notes, which slowed my reading down quite a bit.  


And then, although I loved the fact that this story was very much a science fiction/fantasy with people who have mental abilities (like telepathy, telekinesis, etc.), I found Addie’s big choice–having to decide which parent to live with after their divorce–a bit blah.  I do realize that this is a huge decision in the real world, and in Addie’s world it isn’t a small decision either, but I was expecting the huge decision that drives this whole book to be a bit more, well, grand.  Although I do like the idea that a smaller choice (even though in the real world this wouldn’t be a small choice) can change your whole life. And of course, in the end, the decision becomes much more than who she wants to live with.


And throughout the story I kept waiting for the mystery, for the suspense.  I was like, “The synopsis promised me ‘a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear’, damn it!  Where’s the action, the suspense??” For a lot of the book it felt like her decision was going to be based on which of the two love interests she would rather be with.  


But I stuck in there, and the last 40 or 50 pages really made up for all of that. I was cursing out loud and writing in all caps in my notes and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.  Those last few chapters really made up for any problems I found in the rest of the book, and I ended up loving it!


Bonus Points…


Kasie West gets some of my bonus points for the following reasons:

• Characters playing pool/billiards = 50,000 points
• A Star Wars reference–double points because Addie likes Star Wars and has read some of the comic books = 100,000 points
• That awesome ending = 1,000,000,000 points