Author: Kasie West
Genre: Young Adult, fantasy
Published on: February 11, 2014 by Harper Teen
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.
Pivot Point is one of the most intriguing paranormal novels I’ve read, so I was eager to get the sequel. I took a little long because Split Second was a bit expensive. Back when I bought it, the Kindle version cost around $11. I’m not a bean counter, and I respect that authors need to make money. I’m just more hesitant to buy an $11 ebook than an $18 physical book. This duology was worth every dollar, so I’m not complaining.
The protagonists of this book are Addison Coleman and her best friend, Laila. If you’ll recall, they live in a closed-off society with other people that have mind-based powers. They call themselves Paranormals. Addison’s power is Divergence, the ability to see her own future. To do so, she needs to have a decision to make. Addie can then see the outcome of either choice and pick the one she’d rather live through. Most of Pivot Point centered on one of Addie’s visions, as she needed to make one of the most crucial choices of her life.
Laila is a Memory Eraser, a self-explanatory power. And she’s proving to be one of the most powerful Memory Erasers in her society. That’s remarkable, given that the abilities of Paranormals as young as her are still in development. In addition to erasing people’s memories, Laila can also erase the memory of computer devices. This is going to come very handy for the little showdown near the end of Split Second.
Quite a bit of stuff happens in this book, and all because of Addison’s choice in Pivot Point. She had to make a difficult decision to save someone she can’t live without. That choice came with the price of letting go of another person that Addie grew to love. This person is Trevor, whom Addie would have met if she’d gone to live with her father. Her parents divorced, and Addie’s father is now living outside the Paranormal compound. Trevor returns (or rather shows up for the second first time) in Addie’s life after she visits her father for winter break.
Addison’s second life with Trevor is just as interesting as the first. Addie meets Trevor after she’s first approached by his younger brother, Brody (odd name; it sounds like “little brother” to me). The latter takes to Addie because she enjoys comic books. When she first meets Trevor, he feels familiar to Addie, and it makes her curious. Before they can exchange more than a few words, Addie involuntarily uses her newest power. Remember, young Paranormal powers are still developing. Addie’s power has extended, and now she can slow down time.
Meanwhile, Addie isn’t the only one whose powers are growing. Laila is trying to figure out how to restore memories. She seeks out the help of Connor, a guy who’s rumored to help Paranormals extend their powers. This is a semi-illegal activity, as the Compound prefers to have young Paranormals develop their abilities slowly. As a pro at seducing men, Laila tries to use her charms to persuade Connor to help her. She soon realizes the task won’t be nearly as easy as she thought.
Split Second has just as much suspense as its predecessor. Addie not only has to deal with hiding her growing powers from Trevor. An accidental clue leads Addison to discover that her family and the Compound are keeping secrets from her. As she mounts an investigation, Addison is led into a path from which there’ll be no return. And Trevor will be caught in the middle of it. Addison will have to enlist Laila’s and Connor’s help to avoid losing the love of her life forever. Unfortunately, even their awesome powers may not be enough.
Although Addie's and Laila's stories are complete, I wouldn't mind if there were a third book. This is not the best fantasy series I've read, but it's still riveting and enjoyable. I really like books about people with special powers. Pivot Point and Split Second are great examples. I strongly recommend them.
My rating: ★★★★ 1/2
4.5 stars - A fantastic page-turner!
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