Review: Split Second by Kasie West

Book: Pivot Point by Kasie West

Series: Pivot Point #2

Released: February 11, 2014

Publisher: Harper Teen

Pages: 360 (Kindle)

Rating: 4.5

Goodreads

 From Goodreads:

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.

Let me just start by saying I will read absolutely anything Kasie West writes. This is her third book, and I have loved and adored all 3. She is churning out books {almost} as fast as I can read them. She is a master at weaving complex stories that are still accessible, with a dose of swoony boys, snark, twists and turns, and characters to love.

Split Second is the follow up novel to Pivot Point, so if you haven't read the first one, there will be spoilers for the first book in this review (also, what are you waiting for? Get thee to a bookstore, pronto). I loved Pivot Point (review here), and the follow up most definitely did not disappoint. Each chapter kept me hooked (seriously, it's like there's mini cliff-hangers for almost every chapter), and I couldn't stop reading it.

Split Second picks up right where Pivot Point left off. While Pivot Point alternated between the Paranormal and Norm chapters, Split Second alternates between Addie & Laila chapters (with texts at the top of each chapter to clarify who is talking). While dual points of view don't usually work for me, this one did. They each had a distinctive voice, and even when they are together in later chapters, it is still easy to determine who is talking-even with the texts at the top of each chapter. 

I was already fully invested in Addie's storyline, but the one I didn't expect to love so much was Laila's. We got glimpses of her in Pivot Point, but by having her POV in Split Second, we are able to learn even more about her. She's snarky, damaged, subborn and fiercely protective of her friendship with Addie and her brothers, particularly Eli. Also happening in this book, a love interest for Laila by the name of Connor. Oh Connor, he's a great match for Laila. I enjoyed their conversations, particularly when they would try to one-up each other and not let the other person win.

And then there's the Addie & Trevor feels. I LOVED them together so much in Pivot Point. I was devastated when Addie had Laila remove her memories of Trevor at the end of the previous book. It made me smad.

What West does such a wonderful job of doing in Split Second is totally building Addie & Trevor's relationship. Again. It doesn't feel stale. It feels new and fresh and it totally worked for me. Also spoiler *his three things he kept asking her after she told him may have been my favorite part of their relationship. So sweet.*

One of my favorite minor characters from Pivot Point is also in this book: Brody, Trevor's totally cute little brother. I am so glad we got to see him again. He helps with the meet-cute when Addie & Trevor first see each other again. A great moment for sure.

Duke is back again also. I have such mixed feelings about him. I could not stand the guy for obvious reasons after the first book, and honestly I didn't like him for most of this one either, but he does come through in a few areas over the course of Split Second.

Overall, I felt the actual plot in Split Second is stronger than in Pivot Point. I enjoyed how we got to jump right in to this story on this one (which is one of the reasons I love series so much) and it paid off in action. There are some INTENSE moments in this book. And the story is better for it. I could not stop reading the last 25% of the book for this exact reason. I HAD to know how everything was going to be resolved.

I was happy to hear that while the main story of Addie & Trevor is over, that Kasie West is considering wring a companion novel (or 2, or 3, or 4...). There is so much potential left to explore inside (and outside) the Compound. I hope she writes more about this world.

Review: Splintered by AG Howard

Book: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Series: Splintered #1

Released: January 15, 2013

Publisher: Amulet

Pages: 384 (Kindle)

Rating: 4.5

Goodreads

I love this cover. Gorgeous font. Love it all.

From Goodreads:

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on.

There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

First things first, I have an insane amount of books on my kindle waiting to be read. So many, in fact, that I made my husband choose my next book since I was feeling even more indecisive than usual. He scrolled through all the choices and summaries and immediately decided on Splintered. He's a big fan of Lewis Carroll and the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. I'd been meaning to get to reading this for a long time, and thanks to my husband I finally did. I'm very glad I read this book. I really enjoyed it and even more exciting is upon finishing the book and reading the author bio, I discovered that A.G. Howard lives in my hometown (I live in a small-ish town. So yeah, this was super exciting for me as it never happens). So down the rabbit hole I went.

Obviously this book appeals to people that enjoy Carroll's story and the movie(s), but be prepared, this book is CrAzY and messed up. The world Howard creates in her version of Wonderland is fantastically creepy, and I mean that in the best way possible. She takes the well-known characters and twists them and makes the much darker. The White Rabbit is actually the Rabid White-an antlered creature that is mostly skin and bones. Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum are actually two spider-like creatures in charge of the dead. The Mad-Hatter is still mad, but he has no face. Creeeeep-y.

But in the midst of all the creepiness, there's Alyssa. She's a descendant of Alice, THE Alice, from Carroll's stories. We meet Alyssa before she ever steps foot in Wonderland. She lives with her dad and her mom Alison is in an insane asylum. She's a skater girl who works in a vintage clothing shop. What I love so much about Alyssa is how level-headed she is. Even when the world is going bonkers around her she is able to think clearly (well, almost always. coughhuggingMorpheuscough).

Let's take a moment to discuss the two guys in Alyssa's life. Morpheus and Jeb. Ahhh Jeb. He's Alyssa's best friend/crush since she was in 6th grade. He follows Alyssa through the mirror into Wonderland and helps her through all her trials. He's sweet and kind and caring, but also daring. He does everything he can to help her. But then there's Morpheus. He's the one who came to Alyssa in her dreams to teach her about Wonderland. He's all dark, mysterious and has this kind of power over Alyssa.

There were so many twists and turns in this story. I'm usually pretty good at figuring out plot points, but this one kept me on my toes the entire time. Every time I felt I finally had something figured out, BAM, wrong. I loved it. I really enjoy stories that surprise me.

Most of all, the writing in this is absolutely breathtaking. Howard does a magnificent job of balancing the writing to sound like Alyssa and maintaining the beauty of the story. The visuals that are created are stunning. I would LOVE to see a graphic novel of this. The world and this story would lend itself fantastically to one.

Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Book: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Series: The Internment Chronicles #1

Released: October 1, 2013

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Pages: 369 (Kindle)

Rating:4.5

Goodreads

From Goodreads:
On the floating city of Internment, you can be anything you dream, unless you approach the edge. Morgan Stockhour knows getting too close can lead to madness, like her older brother Len, a Jumper. She takes solace in her best friend Pen, and in Basil, the boy she’s engaged to marry. When she investigates the first murder in a generation, she meets Judas. The suspect was betrothed to the victim, but Morgan believes he is innocent. Nothing can prepare Morgan for the secrets she will find – or whom she will lose.

Quick Summary: First I was like ugh, then I was like what? Then I was like Huh? And finally I was like Nooooo. Or this (No major spoilers, but  there are a couple of comments that discuss parts of the book):

I really didn't know a whole lot about this book other than what the synopsis told me, plus that it had great reviews from some of the bloggers I trust. It definitely did not disappoint. While it had a couple minor things I didn't like (which I'll address in a minute), overall I really loved it. 

The world-building DeStefano does is great. The world she creates on the floating island (I guess? I don't really know what else to call it) of Internment is wonderfully deep and complex, but it never felt too complicated and was still easy to understand. The entire city could be circled by a train in 2 hours, so it's small or "roughly the size of the king's fist." Which yeah, it's ruled by a king who is a little crazy. 

So quickly to the parts I didn't enjoy as much. In order to control the population the king has done a few things I HATE. (1) Citizens are only given a certain amount of time to live, roughly 80 years. And (2) People basically have to sign up to have kids YEARS in advance-and here's the part I really hated, I mean, really, really hated: if they get pregnant without permission they are forced to have a "procedure" to abort the baby. HATE HATE HATE. Did I get my point across on that one?

We hates it. Much like Gollum hates the nasty hobbitses

The other thing I didn't enjoy as much was the main character, Morgan. She fell a little flat for me, at least for the majority of the book. She was just kinda blah. I did like her best friend Pen, the mysterious Amy, and her brother Lex, as well as Lex's wife Alice. Lex, in particular, I wanted to learn more about. 

While some people aren't fans of the fact that people are betrothed from birth, I didn't have a problem with it. Especially since Morgan and Basil legitimately liked each other. It seems like they made the best of the situation, and I appreciated that. The concept actually worked for me. 

I also wasn't sure what Morgan's relationship with Judas was supposed to be... just friends? Or is it supposed to be a love-triangle thing that never really developed? Not sure, but it did just seem like they were just going to be friends.

On to more things I loved. There is mystery around the murder and we get to unravel it along with the characters. Which I totally dig, as I love to speculate and make wild theories about what things are happening (why I loved Lost, you guys, so much). 

The characters get more complex as the story goes on. They develop more and become much more complicated and show growth. Always the sign of a good book. Even Morgan who was rather bland at the start becomes rather fabulous by the end. Growth people!

So to sum up, while the first 200 pages or so were kinda slow (but not unbearably so, at least for me), the book really picks up the last 150-ish pages. So much action and THINGS happen. THINGS that I liked. THINGS that made the book and the characters so much more interesting. And sadly, THINGS that I can't talk about because they'd be too spoilery. So you'll just have to read it yourself. :)

BUT THE ENDING IS AMAZING AND CLIFF-HANGERY. AND I WANT THE NEXT BOOK NOW.

Do you hear that DeStefano?! NOWWWWWWW!