review: pivot point by kasie west

Pivot Point is the story of Addie, who lives in an isolated compound where everyone has some sort of paranormal power: Addie has the ability to search out her future, her mom can influence people’s decisions, her dad can tell when someone’s lying, and her best friend can erase memories. When Addie’s parents announce they’ll be divorcing and her dad is leaving the compound, Addie uses her ability to decide which parent to live with. The alternating chapters that come after explore Addie’s life with her dad outside the compound and the one she’d have if she chooses to stay with everyone she knows. Because the chapters where Addie was with her dad gave her a multitude of new experiences, they were far more interesting than the compound ones where she tried out minor rebellions (a blue streak in her hair) and went out with the star quarterback. But the compound chapters were still important because the same things were still happening and the characters still existed; it’s just that sometimes Addie was there to experience it firsthand and interact with them.

As Pivot Point progressed, Kasie West created two realities that seemed very difficult to choose between until Addie learns someone close to her will die in only one of the choices. West attempts to present it as a difficult decision, but it’s clearly not and comes so close to the end that there’s little time to explore it. While still a compelling read with plenty of funny scenes and great dialogue, Pivot Point could have pushed a little harder if Addie had less of a clear-cut choice to make.
4/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.