Pivot Point: Review

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.


When I had first read this summary and seen the cover(about a year ago), I immediately wanted it. It sounded exciting and different from other paranormal books. Now, a year later, I finally got to read Pivot Point. Even if it wasn't quite what I was expecting, I still adored everything about this book.

I read The Distance Between Us earlier this year, and after I had finished, I wanted to read Pivot Point, just to see how different the contemporary the author had written to the paranormal one. (Admittedly, I had wanted to read Pivot Point long before The Distance Between Us.) Surprisingly, I wouldn't say it was very different.

This is the part where I tell you why this book turned out to be different than I expected. Ok, going into this book, I thought that I was going into an action-packed thriller, with a side of paranormal. As you can suspect, it was not that.

Like Kasie West's other novel, this one also focuses on characters. Of course, there's small differences; it's got paranormal in it and this one is a bit more entertaining to read. But still. Addie, the main character, was a person I could relate to easily and liked from the beginning; she was kind and passionate and independent. There's a multitude of other characters that I enjoyed like Laila, the sassy BFF, Duke, the perfect quarterback boyfriend, and Trevor, the adorable artsy boyfriend. I'm not going to try to spoil things, but throughout this novel, friendships were tested, hearts were broken, and truths were told(okay the last one came out lamer sounding).

Onto the plot: the book is not quite plot driven, with an exception of the ending, because that was most definitely planned by the author(evil, evil author). As you can tell from the above paragraph, it focuses on characters and each one of their quirks. THAT is the reason why I think it tends to come out across to me as contemporary rather than paranormal. Still, I definitely suggest paranormal readers should check this one out too!

The last 30(maybe 40?) pages of this book where it turned WAY more action packed-thriller. I can't spill anything besides this, or otherwise, you know, spoilers. BUT IT IS GOOD. SO GOOD. Even when I knew that the ending was going to be surprising, I still did not see that coming!

Overall, I would most certainly suggest this book to any young adult readers, but especially for paranormal-contemporary kinds of people.