My rating: 4 of 5 stars
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY
Pivot Point is maybe one of the most unique young-adult fantasy I’ve ever read. The idea is really fresh and very well made; I might just give five stars to the story idea alone. But of course I have to consider the other factors as well to make the rating more solid.
Addison Coleman has been living her life in the city of paranormal called Compound. Everyone in Compound was born with above-average abilities such as ability to detect lies, to persuade people, to control surrounding moods, or telekinesis. Of course so does Addie. She is a Searcher whose ability is to be able to know the ending paths of choices she’s faced with in advance. It’s a rare ability, though. But Addie doesn’t feel proud of that fact. Actually, Addie is rarely proud of herself. She’s quite insecure of herself. She can’t even stop questioning herself why Laila still befriends her ever since kindergarten.
Unlike the other kids, Addie rarely uses her ability to Search in her daily life. One Search has shown a cringed vision of her future that involves one of the boys in her school. That pretty much haunts her life and she doesn’t need another Search to give her some others terrible stuffs to deal with. But at one fine afternoon ―that’s really not fine, at all―, she doesn’t have a choice but to Search her choices that will really determine her and her loved ones’ future life.
The moment her parents sat her together in the living room, she knows something bad is going to happen. How her parents break down the divorce news to her is like the lightning striking her soul in midday. Here comes a choice to pick. But Addie never wants to choose between her mom and her dad. As bad as having a Persuasive mother and a Discerner father, she can’t think of any reasons to make her choices to weight one side.
One path leads her to new life with her dad outside of the Compound. She sees them moving to Dallas, she enters a Norm high school in Dallas with a cover story because both of them can never tell anyone about Compound and the life there. She sees her meet Trevor, the cute shy guy with a good taste of humor and love for art. Despite her frustration of hiding her identity from everyone here, she realizes a lot of things by taking this path. That she could finally find a place where she can feel proud of herself for the first time. That she can make a best-friend without questioning any intentions behind the act. That to be able to do things in her own will without dealing with her mother’s constant Persuasions in her life is worth choosing. That somehow living without people using (and bragging) their abilities around is a pretty good life. And finding charming Trevor in all this NORMality is something that she’s pretty sure will be the path that she will always choose no matter what.
Another choice offers her the life she’s been living in for years. Stays in Compound with her Persuasive mother is not the future she wants but not taking the risk of losing Laila is one great plus for this path. Surprisingly enough, she ends up dating cocky quarterback, Duke who also surprisingly becomes oh –so-nice to her. Simply says, what she gets from her vision of this path is nothing that obviously she’ll enjoy choosing over the other one.
But as obvious as it seems, Addie should still consider a lot of things before taking her path. Both lives somehow contain both losses and gains that she should choose. Can she make the best choice out of the two lives in front of her? But the right question somehow is whether it is the best for her as well?
Pivot Point is very easy to enjoy. It is a light read, funny, and also full of surprises. I found it hard to withdraw from this book once I picked it up. Addie is actually making it to my list of favorite heroines. Her sarcasm is actually fun to read. Despite the insecurity she keeps feeling, I found that she has a loveable character. And her friendship with Trevor is really sweet. Together they make a cute pair. Trevor’s shyness is adorable and to find out that he’s actually a really good observant is beyond adorable!
“She loves to read, Mom. Like these really old boring books. The ones Dad likes. Plus lame ones, like I do. And she’s not a huge football fan. I think she only tolerates it for our sake. She’s supersmart, my main competition in Government. And since coming into my room, she has probably had to stop herself several times from cleaning up the shoes spilling out of my closet.”
Damn, if only Addie isn’t described almost crying here, I’m so willing to take her place crying like some baby walrus.
“If you need something to hold on to until you feel grounded, I make a pretty good anchor.”-Trevor-
Oh Trevor…
I totally fell in love with them both so much!
But…
Well here comes the ‘but’… (I hate but!)
As much as I hate saying it, I found some lacking from this story. There was several parts that left ‘unclear’ that made me think they were ‘left unfinished’ (not literally, though). It was quite disappointing, though, because I was so eager to give this book five stars but I think I have to settle in with four weak stars. Also there were actually some parts that could’ve been developed wider to make another surprise in the end. But, again, they were ‘left unfinished’. It would be awesome if this book has the 2nd book but apparently no, so I have to accept it like it was.
But no worries, though, this book once again is really easy to enjoy and to love in the first sight.
Love, read, and review,
Cynthia D.
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