Review: Split Second by Kasie West

Title: Split Second (Pivot Point #2)
Author: Kasie West
Genre: Paranormal Young Adult
Source: HarperCollins Australia. Thank you!

Goodreads rating: 4.39 out of 5.00 (80+ ratings, pre-release)
Goodreads | The Reading Room

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.

Review by Chantelle

Three things:
1. Yes, this sequel did not disappoint.
2. No, (I'm pretty certain) there aren't any more books to this series, i.e. Pivot Point ends here!
3. Yes, you need to get a copy ASAP! (Release date: February 11th)

If you HAVEN'T read Pivot Point, then I'll have to stop you here (because spoilers). You can however, if you like, read my review of it here, you have just under a month to hop onto the bandwagon before Split Second comes out!

If you HAVE read the first book, then welcome back to the Compound! As you know, Addie chose that path as her life in the Normal world would've led to her best friend Laila's death. You'll also know the pain of that cliffhanger because of course, the Compound path DOESN'T INCLUDE TREVOR!!! WHY KASIE! And of course, from the epilogue in Pivot Point, you'll know Laila doesn't give Addie the letter which Addie left herself, in order to find Trevor. i.e. Trevor doesn't know Addie, Addie doesn't know Trevor, they have to START ALL OVER AGAIN!

My reaction was legitimately:

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
LAILA DIDN'T GIVE HER THE LETTER!!!!
LAILA. DIDN'T. LETTER. TREVOR. ADDIE. LAILA.
WHHHHHYYYYYYY

Followed by a: "Kasie West, you better fix this!" *shakes fist*

Unfortunately this issue isn't dealt with straight away, instead Kasie West draws it out quite a bit to keep up the tension and suspense of the sequel. However I really enjoyed how it concluded and I'm sure it won't leave anyone unsatisfied. What dominated the beginning of the book for me, was the introduction of Laila's point of view with the chapters alternating between her and Addie, both of whom's storylines are going in different directions and in classic West fashion, converge later towards the climax. Laila's tough personality was a smart addition, because with her vastly different home life and her ability as a Memory Eraser, she gave the sequel a lot of new material to keep my interest up (even though my mind was still basically trevortrevortrevor). A definite stand out was Laila's love interest- Connor. Their story and chemistry was very different to Addie/Trevor but equally as swoony. Introducing Connor: the quiet, mysterious, motorcycle enthusiast with green eyes... and absolutely no instalove!! However, this meant that with Trevor oblivious to Addie, I did find the first half a bit slow because of the lack of romance, but that's just me. The paranormal world building was great, with a lot more to be discovered, and the romance more than picks up in the second half!

To pique your interest, here are a few teasers:

1. Duke is back, and back with a vengeance
2. Addie becomes close with Stephanie (i.e. Trevor's ex!) eeeekk y'all should be worried, because you know... the girl code!
3. Have I mentioned Connor....

Overall, I thought that Kasie West did a wonderful job with the sequel, and I'm ecstatic that she pulled off such a solid conclusion to Addie's story. However, I'm also devastated at the chance that there won't be any more books about the ParaNormal Compound. Fingers crossed there might be possible spin-offs later!

To Trevor, 

call me. 

Ratings
Overall: 8/10
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Cover: 4.5/5