BookNook — Young Adult book reviews
If there is any book in the world that can give you a book orgasm, it's this one.
Pivot Point is not just one of my favourite books. Screw favourite book of the month, or favourite book of the year. Screw favourite paranormal or favourite science fiction. This is at THE TOP. As in favourite book ever. As in the best book I have EVER read. Pivot Point was always really good, but when I got to the ending, my mind was completely blown, and this book soared to the top of my list. To see everything come together (Addie's two paths) was just PHENOMENAL, flawless, and heartbreaking. And holy sweet Searching, I wanted to stomp and kick and rage when the book ended because I NEEDED more!!! I Twitter stalked harassed threatened messaged Kasie, demanding book two immediately.
Lately, all of my favourite books have been new adult contemporary romances with that bursting-at-the-seams emotional trauma. It's almost like I can't love a book unless it has that gut-wrenching shake-me-to-my-core feel to it. Pivot Point has a bit of that, but what makes it different (other than the paranormal twist) is that it's brimming with originality and suspense, and it has a structure that can only be described as pure genius. This book is executed flawlessly and will keep you hooked, addicted, and all kinds of psyched out. It was almost like I didn't even care about my life any more. I just sat down and read and read and read and read because it was SO FREAKING GOOD and I could not be parted with it. You would have had to pry the book from my cold, dead hands. You weren't getting it away from me any other way.
Those other books I mentioned are good, but they're just emotionally jerking. I love that, and it's amazing, but Pivot Point made me see something more than that. This is an amazing example of a book that is so intricate, so complex, and yet delivered simply and flawlessly. It has "carefully crafted" written all over it.
Honestly, I was a little nervous of Pivot Point at first. I mean, two futures, two lives? That sounded really confusing! But somehow, Kasie West manages to pull it off with ZERO confusion! It was flawless. Just imagine: two paths—two different futures—both playing out simultaneously. They're different, but there's distinct overlap. You see how the futures have similar elements, and even a few similar events, but they are executed slightly differently. How the bloody hell do you pull that off? Ask Kasie West.
So in this book, we follow out these two paths in alternating chapters. The two paths lead to different love interests! BACK OFF OF TREVOR, HE'S MINE. *ahem* At first I was totally and completely torn between the two. They were different, but they were both pretty darn hot. But as the book progressed, I easily picked a side (oh Trevor, how I loveth thou!). Their relationship is really slow-building, tender, and sweet. And Trevor is the perfect book boyfriend. Honestly, my favourite part of the book was when Addie messed up and Trevor found out. In normal YA books, the love interest would have been pissed and raged out of there without an explanation. But Trevor was kind and patient. Sure, he was disappointed, but he allowed Addie to explain. Oh my god why don't more YA boys do that???
The characters in this book are just all so likeable (or hate-able). The dialogue had me constantly giggling, laughing out loud, and squealing with delight! I kept texting my boyfriend incoherent things like, "OH MY GOD! THIS IS AMAZING! THIS IS AMAZING! MY BOOK IS SO GOOD!! HOLY SHDFOISD;MNA!"!i" Addie was hilarious, but without trying to be.
"I don't care when people think I'm an antisocial, controlling bookworm because that's what I am. It's when they interpret me wrong that I have a problem."
—Addie, ARC of Pivot Point by Kasie West
"Thanks. And can we just get this out of the way? Your eyelashes make mine want to commit suicide from shame."
—Addie to Trevor, ARC of Pivot Point by Kasie West
I wanted to cry my eyes out when this book ended. Yes, it was sad, but mostly I wanted to cry because the pure, solid genius that is Pivot Point had ended. It took my brain a while to actually compute that. PIVOT POINT? ENDED?? WHAT?? ARE WE DIVIDING BY ZERO??? The way this book unravels is just so heart pounding; it left me awe-struck. Like.. I couldn't move. My eyes were actually all wide like basketballs O_O And when I finally regained my composure, cue insane, mindless Tweeting, sobbing, crying, and bribing at Kasie West for book two.
The end of this book actually reminded me a bit of Heroes, which was a really cool surprise. I didn't even think about that connection until the very end. I won't tell you why, to avoid spoilers, but just know that it is FREAKING AWESOME. I wanted to cry because I didn't have book two. I pity the book I will read next because it will not be this good. I'm going to curl up in a ball in a corner and rock back and forth like a crazy person until book two is released. When is that? February 2014. So I guess I'll see you guys in one year, because I will be in no state to write reviews until then.
Kasie West single-handedly cures jet lag
Prior to reading this book, I was suffering from severe jet lag for an entire week. I was going to bed at like 6pm, waking up at 4am, taking a nap from 10am-12pm, and then starting all over again. It was absurd. But Kasie West is solely responsible for saving me from a life of being nocturnal. Normally I would have gotten tired at 6pm, or maybe 8/9pm if I was lucky. But, no. Because I was reading Pivot Point. I COULD NOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN. So instead of succumbing to exhaustion, I stayed up until 11:30pm. ELEVEN THIRTY. For a jet lagged person like myself, this was HUGE. And when I finally did go to bed, I lay there mumbling variations of "holy shit" and "wow". I'm not even just saying that for the sake of this review, I actually did that.
Going to bed at 11:30pm allowed me to finally sleep through the night, waking up at a more reasonable 8:30am. THANK YOU KASIE WEST!! Thank you Pivot Point, thank you HarperTeen. You guys have banded together to cure an almost-nocturnal bookworm. My would-have-been-skipped-because-I-was-sleeping-during-the-day classes thank you as well.
The moral of the story is...
Go buy this book IMMEDIATELY!! Or else I will find you. And haunt you. And hurt you. And... *ahem*.