Split Second (Pivot Point #2) – Kasie West

Title: Split Second (Pivot Point #2) by Kasie West
Publishing Info: February 11, 2014 by HarperCollins
Source: Gift
Genres: Paranormal, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: August 8, 2014
Related Posts: Pivot Point (Pivot Point #1), The Distance Between Us, On the Fence, The Fill-In Boyfriend, P.S. I Like You, By Your Side

Addie has always been able to see the future when faced with a choice, but that doesn't make her present any easier. Her boyfriend used her. Her best friend betrayed her. So when Addie's dad invites her to spend her winter break with him in the Norm world, she jumps at the chance. There she meets the handsome and achingly familiar Trevor. He's a virtual stranger to her, so why does her heart do a funny flip every time she sees him? But after witnessing secrets that were supposed to stay hidden, Trevor quickly seems more suspicious of Addie than interested in her. She wants to change that.Laila, her best friend, has a secret of her own: she can restore Addie's memories . . . once she learns how. But there are powerful people who don't want this to happen. Desperate, Laila tries to manipulate Connor, a brooding bad boy from school—but he seems to be the only boy in the Compound immune to her charms. And the only one who can help her.
In the suspenseful sequel to Pivot Point, Addie tries desperately to retrieve her lost memories and piece together a world she thought she knew before she loses the love she nearly forgot.

** This is a spoiler-free review for SPLIT SECOND but may contain spoilers for book one — PIVOT POINT — if you haven’t already read it! **

I had been meaning to read SPLIT SECOND for a looooong time but never picked up a copy for myself so when I received it from Brianna (Paperback Princess) via Andi’s Spring Exchange, I was so excited to finally finish off this duology and figure out where the story went after the exciting ending to PIVOT POINT!

SPLIT SECOND pretty much picked up where PIVOT POINT left off — Addie has made her decision on which parent to live with after seeing the two possible futures with each one — but SPLIT SECOND also has something that PIVOT POINT did not: a split POV. The book starts with Addie’s point of view, but we also get to hear a different part of the story from her best friend Laila, who I loved! Addie is always the more serious one and the planner whereas Laila is more laid-back, spontaneous, and extroverted so it was great to see the book from two very different mindsets. Another thing that I loved about the dual-POVs is that Laila actually played a really big part in PIVOT POINT — she actually changed Addie’s entire life in a BIG way, as we find out at the end of the book — so I really enjoyed that Kasie West chose to highlight her importance in these books by giving her an even stronger voice.

A very complicated part of the book (and not bad way — in a very interesting way) is the romance that was established between Addie and Trevor in book one and clearly all the readers are rooting for in book two. I want to say SO MUCH about it, but if I say everything, that will lead to very big spoilers so… sigh. I will refrain from spoilers! What I will say is that I love how Kasie West chose to handle this situation. As we find out from the end of PIVOT POINT, Addie is forced to choose the path in which she doesn’t meet and end up falling for Trevor in order to save her best friend, leaving readers sad and on edge in anticipation of SPLIT SECOND… So really that was my main question when I started the book: HOW DO THESE TWO END UP TOGETHER? (Because be honest. You know they have to.) Every step of the way felt bittersweet and tense and exciting all at once and I just really loved how Kasie West ending up weaving this story line. I thought it was simply perfect and couldn’t have asked for a better solution to the problem at hand.

I really enjoyed where SPLIT SECOND took the readers and there’s just something so refreshing about reading a duology! I love being able to get invested in the characters but not feel that long gap between several books or wonder if I’ll still be invested in the series years later. I always connect with Kasie West’s characters and even with a paranormal twist in this series, I still feel like each one was incredibly real. I had a great time reading these two books and I’m even more of a fan of Kasie West than when I first read PIVOT POINT!

“The View from Goodreads” is a new featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!

Addie // Character Obsessions: Divergence, family history, friendship, para-mysteries.
I really connected with Addie in these two books… She has a level head on her shoulders but she also makes some poor decisions at times. She felt like a very mature soul and I just really enjoyed getting to know her! SPLIT SECOND was no exception and I really loved seeing her mature even more in this book.
Laila // Character Obsessions: Fun, helping her friends, honing her skills.
I loved how much bigger of a role Laila played in this book! So much about her — from her friendship with Addie to her own para-skills — really shaped the entire course of this book so I was really glad she had her own POV. Her voice was also so much fun and I loooooved her romantic interest too!

Kept Me Hooked On: Paranormal abilities. I’ve been switching up paranormal for fantasy reads way more often nowadays and for some reason, paranormal in general seems to be more “on the way out”. (Maybe just me?) I’m glad I enjoyed this one so much — concept and all!
Left Me Wanting More: Addie & Trevor time. Don’t get me wrong — they still had a lot of face time in this book… But given where PIVOT POINT left off, you can guess how much time was spent re-building that relationship. I still really enjoyed it all but I just wanted them to get together quickly!

Addiction Rating
READ IT!

I love that this is a duology and both books are really great, solid reads. Definitely books I’d recommend to others and what set me on the course of being a huge Kasie West fan!

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(Click the cover to see my review!)