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Giselle's Reviews > Pivot Point
Pivot Point (Pivot Point, #1)
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para·nor·mal: adj. not scientifically explainable : supernatural
-Merriam-Webster
Meet Addison, or preferably Addie;Clairvoyant Divergent. Addie has the unique and thought-provoking ability of being able to see both sides of the coin. In other words, when she has a decision to make, she can see the future of each choice and pick the one that's best. Fascinating, no? But what happens when you don't want either future you foresee? This plot revolves around Addie's venture into two futures after she was asked to pick between staying in the paranormal compound, or going with her dad in the normal world.
Told in dual reality perspective, reality one keeps us in the compound where life with abilities is the norm. From telekinesis to lie detectors, living with knowing someone may currently be manipulating your mood is the way of life for these people. Stories where characters have superhuman abilities have often been favourites of mine. We all wished, at one point or other, that we were able to move things with our mind, or know what another person is thinking, so this reality had me hooked from the start. Learning what everyone could do, as well as their advanced technology promised limitless entertainment. This future has a less than likeable love interest, however. If this was a triangle, he would have been the bad boy. His personality clashes with Addie's and I never trusted him for a minute. This is how he was meant to come off, though, so I am not saying this with negativity. It has a purpose in the story and it is not for us to fall for a jerk--Phew! This reality also involves a creep with a menacing ability who we learn early on is bad news, giving the story a bit of a dangerous vibe.
nor·mal: adj. conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern
-Merriam-Webster
Reality two takes us to the normal world where Addie has to learn our present ways of life which lacks the technology that she is used to in her compound. She also becomes the new kid at the Norm school. This was my personal favourite reality. I love seeing how someone adapts to a new surrounding, including who they meet and connect with. Plus the love interest in this future is a definite sweetheart. They start out as friends, and her intention of never becoming more than consequently makes us long for them even more, not to mention magnifying their chemistry. They have an easy way about them that makes their relationship completely down to earth and genuine. This reality also involves the football team trying to figure out the mystery behind these seeming unrandom injuries that have been incurred by their teammates.
Screwed: adj. Having to choose a bad path to avoid a worst one
-Quoted from the uncorrected proof
The gist of the story: What side do you choose, when you want neither?
In the end, Addie has to make a very difficult choice of what she came to understand is deciding which is the lesser evil. This gives the ending an emotionally gripping edge. However, I did have a small qualm with the logic behind the decision. Knowing your future, wouldn't you be able to change it? Perhaps no matter what she does the end result will be the same, but one must follow the logic that if every choice creates two alternate futures, then no future is definite; she could modify additional choices along the way which should, in turn, modify how each future culminates. With this said, I'm not sure I completely agree with the decision that she eventually makes. With such an intricate concept, it seems a little simplistic that it has to be definite A, or definite B. This is why playing with time in any way is tricky with over-analyzing minds such as mine!
No doubt a unique read, Pivot Point encompasses a lot of plot characteristics that turns this could-be cliché into an enticing novel. With two stories in one, there is no time to get bored. These two alternatives each have a love interest, each have interesting secondary characters, each with different dilemmas and mysteries of their own. What makes it even more interesting is that, as one reality happens, the events of the other still come about, but without Addie in its direct path. I found this gave it a very neat spin as, even tough we get two different reality perspectives, they're intertwined together to give us one complete story.
With plenty of romance, friendship, and paranormal abilities, Pivot Point is a refreshingly original read that is sure to delight any fan of the genre.
--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads
-Merriam-Webster
Meet Addison, or preferably Addie;
Told in dual reality perspective, reality one keeps us in the compound where life with abilities is the norm. From telekinesis to lie detectors, living with knowing someone may currently be manipulating your mood is the way of life for these people. Stories where characters have superhuman abilities have often been favourites of mine. We all wished, at one point or other, that we were able to move things with our mind, or know what another person is thinking, so this reality had me hooked from the start. Learning what everyone could do, as well as their advanced technology promised limitless entertainment. This future has a less than likeable love interest, however. If this was a triangle, he would have been the bad boy. His personality clashes with Addie's and I never trusted him for a minute. This is how he was meant to come off, though, so I am not saying this with negativity. It has a purpose in the story and it is not for us to fall for a jerk--Phew! This reality also involves a creep with a menacing ability who we learn early on is bad news, giving the story a bit of a dangerous vibe.
nor·mal: adj. conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern
-Merriam-Webster
Reality two takes us to the normal world where Addie has to learn our present ways of life which lacks the technology that she is used to in her compound. She also becomes the new kid at the Norm school. This was my personal favourite reality. I love seeing how someone adapts to a new surrounding, including who they meet and connect with. Plus the love interest in this future is a definite sweetheart. They start out as friends, and her intention of never becoming more than consequently makes us long for them even more, not to mention magnifying their chemistry. They have an easy way about them that makes their relationship completely down to earth and genuine. This reality also involves the football team trying to figure out the mystery behind these seeming unrandom injuries that have been incurred by their teammates.
Screwed: adj. Having to choose a bad path to avoid a worst one
-Quoted from the uncorrected proof
The gist of the story: What side do you choose, when you want neither?
In the end, Addie has to make a very difficult choice of what she came to understand is deciding which is the lesser evil. This gives the ending an emotionally gripping edge. However, I did have a small qualm with the logic behind the decision. Knowing your future, wouldn't you be able to change it? Perhaps no matter what she does the end result will be the same, but one must follow the logic that if every choice creates two alternate futures, then no future is definite; she could modify additional choices along the way which should, in turn, modify how each future culminates. With this said, I'm not sure I completely agree with the decision that she eventually makes. With such an intricate concept, it seems a little simplistic that it has to be definite A, or definite B. This is why playing with time in any way is tricky with over-analyzing minds such as mine!
No doubt a unique read, Pivot Point encompasses a lot of plot characteristics that turns this could-be cliché into an enticing novel. With two stories in one, there is no time to get bored. These two alternatives each have a love interest, each have interesting secondary characters, each with different dilemmas and mysteries of their own. What makes it even more interesting is that, as one reality happens, the events of the other still come about, but without Addie in its direct path. I found this gave it a very neat spin as, even tough we get two different reality perspectives, they're intertwined together to give us one complete story.
With plenty of romance, friendship, and paranormal abilities, Pivot Point is a refreshingly original read that is sure to delight any fan of the genre.
--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads
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Jennifer
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rated it 5 stars
Feb 10, 2013 09:44PM
Hope you like it!
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I'm almost done it's really good!
Perfect review, Giselle! I was captivated by PIVOT POINT....literally tense as I read. I fell hard for the sweeter of the two love interests, and I thought the premise and the alternating chapters were just done SO well!
I know I thought it was such a neat plot and very well done! Glad you enjoyed it, too, Molli!
I like the addition of the definitions to your review. I did that in a review a few weeks ago, it certainly adds something different.
I really liked this one, too. My review goes up tomorrow.
I'll hunt your review down tomorrow, O'dell! ;)@Bonnie: The definitions are actually in this particular review because at the beginning of each chapter in Pivot Point there is a definition with either "norm" or "para" in the word, followed by ajd(or whatever):definition. So it was a play on that :) I liked those, too, in the book they were fun to read, they let you see which perspective you were going into, and they were kind of quirky, too!
Oh that is neat! Gonna have to check this one out. :)
Sounds interesting. I like the dual narrative approach.
Just added this to my to-read list. Really looking forward to it!
Hope you love it Gretchen!@Brian: I found it very unique. The narrative is actually the same as it's the same person but we get two realities it's really neat.
I loved this one two, Giselle! Great review. :)
