by Kasie West
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Initial Reaction:OMG I <3 Kasie West forever and Trevor and Connor and Addie & Laila … Just amazing.
Further Thoughts:I know you’re all dying to get your hands on this book… Pivot Point started as one of my favorite reads of the year, and 200plus books later it’s still at the top. I quickly realized how much love I had for Kasie West. I was so excited when I found out that there would be a book 2.
If you haven’t read Pivot Point, turn away. Now. My comments will probably spoil what happens because there is no way I can talk about Split Second without referring back to Pivot Point …
You’ve been warned.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Split Second picks up shortly after Pivot Point ends and is told from both Addie and Laila’s points of view.. Addie, if you remember is a searcher and she can see outcomes to a choice based on the options she has. Hopefully this will help her make the right decision. And she has made one… and then she made another choice that erased memories of the choice she didn’t take.
Spending her winter break with her dad in the norm world is the needed break she thinks she needs. But once she’s there she’s inundated with feelings of familiarity from people she’s never met… or has she?
But her original power has changed a bit and she’s finding out that many of the things her parents have told her aren’t exactly true and now she’s not entirely sure who she can trust.
And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
Reasons you should read these books other than flaily comments like ‘just do it.’ (which believe me, I have mastered that review type as well)
The Memories! It is so weird because at times, I had to remind myself about the circumstances of book 1… the idea that she wasn’t actually living the two different lives, simply making a choice between them. And yes, typically she would still have the memories of what had happened, but she doesn’t because of what Laila did for her. And that is just one thing that makes this unique. All those memories… they wouldn’t necessarily be real to anyone but her, and so while we know all these people in the norm world … or think we know them, Addie doesn’t… not really. And they don’t know her. I think you’ll be very surprised about the differences between this book and the first.
Connor – I adore this guy. I know you’re all “who the hell is Connor?” But once you meet him, you’re going to love him too. *whispers* maybe more than Trevor? He and Laila butt heads quite a bit and she’s absolutely met her match with him. He’s a welcome addition to a wonderful cast of characters.
Laila – We sort of kind of got to know her in Pivot Point… but we definitely get to know her in Split Second especially since we get her point of view for half the book.
Trevor – He’s just as sweet as ever… and suspicious… but I’m not saying anything else about that either!
Obviously ALL the characters as you can see – West has a way of creating ones that jump off the page and make you want to be friends with them all… well maybe not Duke lol. It’s one of my favorite things about her books! I can’t remember another book where I loved all the characters as much as this one.
The plot – I wasn’t sure where this one was going to go, especially because Pivot Point can completely stand alone. But West made this story completely unique and interesting and once I started I couldn’t put it down until I read the last page.
There were a lot of favorite moments in this story as evidenced by all my stickies in the book, but I did have some very favorite quotes:
From Trevor:
“My mom always tells me that if I feel like punching someone, first I have to say something nice to them. Out loud. If I still feel like punching them, they probably deserve it.”
From Connor & Laila:
“Thank You.”
“How’d those words taste in your mouth?”
“Awful.”
Once again, West creates a clever story filled with authentic characters and wonderful dialogue that you’re going to love. If you’re looking for a complete series (this is the last book in this one) that has a unique plot, kick ass girls, sweet and swoony guys, and a bit of romance all wrapped around some mystery and suspense this is the one for you.
Thank you to Kasie West (thank you thank you thank you) for the advance copy … Best. Ever.
Erin’s Thoughts
Split Second by Kasie West
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Split Second is the second book in the Pivot Point series and picks up shortly after book one left off. Kasie West does a great job bringing the reader back into Addie’s story and also introduces us to some new characters this time around. I loved that the chapters were alternating between Addie and Laila as we got to see Laila’s point of view as well as meet Conner.
After making the choice to save Laila and not be with Trevor in Pivot Point, Addie is now living in a world where Duke is her ex-boyfriend and she feels humiliated every time she sees him. In addition to this, Addie’s and Laila’s friendship has taken a hit although they are still friends. On top of all of that, Addie is noticing that her ability is acting up and she is manipulating time in a different way.
With all of this going on, Addie makes the decision to go live with her dad for a few weeks and this is how we are re-introduced to Trevor and ultimately meet Conner. I have to admit, I still love Trevor even though he and Addie were basically strangers to each other and the way West brought Addie and Trevor back together was great.
Addie is still a little nerdy, a good friend, and struggling to come to terms with her parents decision to break up. On top of dealing with Duke, when she gets her memory restored, she has to deal with knowing Trevor from her search and then also figure out a way to explain it to him. When she finally did explain to Trevor what was going on, he didn’t dismiss it and that won him points in my mind. The fact that he responded by requesting she tell him three things about them from before only made him even more swoony.
As I mentioned, the chapters alternated between Addie and Laila this time and West does a great job giving the reader a glimpse of what is going on with both Addie and Laila despite them not being together for most of the book. The two stories flowed seamlessly and I really enjoyed hearing Laila’s voice more this time around. A great addition for me were the headers on each of the chapters…it is a small thing but I thought they were an added bonus.
Laila quickly became a favorite character for me and I feel like she is the perfect friend for Addie. She has a lot of crap going on in her life and she still wants to be there to help Addie. To do that she has to recognize that she can’t always do things on her own which pulls Conner into the story. I would consider Conner the “bad boy” here as he is the motorcycle driving guy who sells illegal programs to people. Once Laila gets past what she thinks she knows, she finds out there is more to him than she originally thought.
Conner is struggling with who he is and has been doing so since he was 12 when he ended up healing his father. Because of what happened, he has cut off his ability completely and Laila is the one who makes him see how that isn’t’t the answer and in all honestly, wasn’t his fault.
There is also a relationship building between these two characters and I loved it. The banter between them made me smile and only love them more.
Laila to Conner:
“Whining makes you less attractive. Don’t do it anymore.”
And the swoons…Gah – I would love more Conner anytime West wants to write a full book of just him.
Conner to Laila:
“You’re impossible to ignore, Laila. I was acutely aware of exactly where you stood, what you looked at, when you took a breath.”
Those are only a few examples…trust me when I say that West certainly knows how to write the swoony parts and when Laila and Conner finally got past the crap and were honest about what was going on with everything I couldn’t have been happier. They were both so closed off and I was happy that they were able to recognize how good they were for each other.
This is another great story by Kasie West and based on my love for all of her books so far, there is no question she will be on my auto-buy list. If you like great characters, a wonderful story and some swoons, definitely check this series out if you haven’t already – you won’t regret it.
View all Erin’s reviews
Recent Comments