Split Second by Kasie West

Book #2, Pivot Point
Published by HarperTeen on February 11, 2014

360 pages
Purchase on Fully Booked

Synopsis

Life can change in a split second.

Addie hardly recognizes her life since her parents divorced. Her boyfriend used her. Her best friend betrayed her. She can’t believe this is the future she chose. On top of that, her ability is acting up. She’s always been able to Search the future when presented with a choice. Now she can manipulate and slow down time, too . . . but not without a price.

When Addie’s dad invites her to spend her winter break with him, she jumps at the chance to escape into the Norm world of Dallas, Texas. 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. And she has an inexplicable desire to change that.

Meanwhile, her best friend, Laila, 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 to see this 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.

As Addie and Laila frantically attempt to retrieve the lost memories, Addie must piece together a world she thought she knew before she loses the love she nearly forgot . . . and a future that could change everything.

At this point, Kasie West has secured herself as one of my favourite authors ever. No one could ever dissuade me from reading any of her books. I’m utterly convinced of her skilfulness in making her story and her characters absolutely lovable and Split Second proved that point even more.

“I’m not a very good awkwardness buffer. I kind of create awkwardness.”

As opposed to the previous book, Split Second is told by two main characters. At first, I was uncertain of the split POV (ha!) between Laila and Addie because that would mean less screen time for Addie and therefore would mean less Trevor and Addie scenes. Like I said though, West doesn’t fail to write engaging characters and Laila was nothing if not that. Laila was sassy, adamant, self-assertive and completely fun to read. I loved that we got to see through her in this book, why she’s the way she is. I adored her head-on personality as well as seeing her care for her younger siblings. I found her struggle at home to be very relatable and I think it really progressed Laila’s character development.

“He’s a cocky, uncontrollable, frustrating idiot. He never listens to me. It’s annoying. Plus he thinks he’s so smart. And he kind of is, which bugs me so much.”

Laila, having her own storyline now, was subject to a love interest of her own: Connor. This is the point where I convince you to read this book just because you need to meet this guy. Connor was as impossibly difficult as Laila. Unaffected by her charms and her memory-wipe abilities, he was an unnerving puzzle for her. She starts to hate his guts and he hates her guts too so they argue back and forth. Their love-hate thing was often amusing and at the same time frustrating because you just want the then to make up and make out already. Anyway, I shipped Laila and Connor hard, probably almost as much as I shipped Trevor and Addie.

“You need me, and I’ve never needed anyone more than I need you.”

Like all Pivot Point fans out there, I was very much looking forward to what’s going to happen between Trevor and Addie with this second installment. Addie who has lost her search memories cannot comprehend why she’s drawn to Trevor. Of course, as the reader, I was thrilled by the all-too-present buildup and tension between the two and was happy that they were acutely aware of it as well. Trevor and Addie remain to be as adorable as they were before and if it’s even possible, I found their relationship to be even better here.

“I think I love you.”
“I think I can get used to that.”

Split Second was compelling and in my opinion, a boost from the first novel. I loved getting to see more of the Compound, the technology they have, and their government. However, I still feel that West has left several things unanswered and unresolved. I’d be disappointed but this only gives me hope that there may be a next book.

Ultimately, I found this to be a very satisfying follow-up novel but would find it better if I somehow knew that this was not the end. Still, I really loved the characters and especially relished in the swoons! Kasie West fans will not be disappointed!

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