Effortlessly Reading

Book Review: Split Second – Kasie West


splitsecondSplit Second
Author: Kasie West
Series: Pivot Point #2
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Release Date: February 11, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen

Goodreads | Amazon | TBD

Summary:

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.
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.

 
First Sentence: My car sat on the far side of the parking lot, and I couldn’t get to it fast enough.

My Review:

Before I start my review, I have to let you guys know that Split Second is my first five-star review of the year. Yes, I know, Split Second is that good. I’m sure plenty of you guys will agree with me. Split Second is full of swoon-worthy and fangirling moments – I couldn’t help but squeal and smile like a fool while reading the book, acting like a fool in front of my friends, classmates, and strangers. I swear, parts of Split Second made me melt into a ball of feels. Everything about Split Second was perfect. That’s probably why I have five copies of this book. (One is an ARC, one is a gift for someone, and three finished copies are all mine.) I just love it that much.

Remember when I mentioned in my review of Pivot Point that I wished that there was more world-building? Well, I got my wish! Split Second goes a little more in depth in the world Addie lives in – some more things are explained in a way that doesn’t leave you with any burning questions.

“What about you? How does it feel to know that even though you have an advanced mind, the girl you love wants me?” (249)

We get to know Laila a lot better than we knew her in Pivot Point and frankly, I don’t like her that much anymore. In Split Second, I saw sides of Laila that I never knew she had. Laila was pretty selfish sometimes and some of the things she did just had me shaking my head in half-sadness/half-disgust and tsking at her.

I wasn’t that much of a fan of Trevor in Pivot Point (I wonder how many of you guys are glaring at me), but boy, do I see his appeal in Split Second. Trevor was so freaking sweet in Split Second and had me swooning every time he made an appearance. I just wanted him to be real so I can rush to him and hug him and shower him with tons of love and just tell him how good he is. Okay, I know that that sentence is a huge sentence fragment and that I sound all stalker-like, but hey, it’s not my fault that Trevor is so sweet and adorable!

He put his hand on the screen, and I put mine up against it.
“Thanks for choosing me, Addison.” (360)

And let’s not forget about Laila’s love interest, Connor. Connor and Laila’s interactions were sizzling with chemistry. I couldn’t help but wave my hands like crazy when they were around one another. It was really sweet watching them both slowly care for one another. I especially love the fact that Connor calls Laila on all her lies/fibs and the way he doesn’t let her get away with anything. Seriously, I can’t choose between Trevor and Connor – they are both equally swoon-worthy and will make an excellent boyfriend. Welcome to my book boyfriend list Trevor and Connor! <3 And the ending! That ending was perfection. I can reread it over and over and over again and in fact, I already did. I do have this one teeny-tiny issue with it though, but whatever, it’s a flaw that I can easily overlook.

[MILD] SPOILER: Trevor’s shoulder is restored/fixed again at the end of Split Second. That leads to wonder – what will Trevor say to the doctors and his football coach when they ask him about it? In Pivot Point, Trevor was told that no doctor could fix his injury and to suddenly have it fixed and normal out of nowhere? What would his excuse be?

There is nothing else I can say besides READ THIS BOOK. But then again, Split Second is in a series, so READ BOTH PIVOT POINT AND THIS BOOK. Do I recommend this book? OBVIOUSLY YES. So go out and beg/borrow/steal for your copy, whatever works! You can always thank me later.

five

-Kelly

Speak Your Mind

  1. I haven’t read this one yet – and avoiding that spoiler obvs! – but PP surprised me! I honestly hadn’t expected to fall head-over-heels! I assumed it was going to be some run-of-the-mill YA but oh how wrong I was.

    SS is one of my most anticipated releases this year and I’m THRILLED that you loved it so much! :) Now I just need to get my hands on a copy!
    Leah recently posted…Lockstep by Karl SchroederMy Profile

    Reply

    • Ha ha, Pivot Point didn’t impress me much, but Split Second did! I just want to hug this book! <3
      Yes, definitely get your hands on a copy so you can hug it along with me! ;D
      Kelly recently posted…Best Series Blog HopMy Profile

      Reply

    • Split Second is a book you definitely need to break your book buying ban for! ;D
      Ha ha, you should have seen me reading Split Second! There was so much flails and squeals and wide mouthed smiles. <3
      Kelly recently posted…Best Series Blog HopMy Profile

      Reply

  7. I haven’t read this series yet, but I have the first book! I plan on reading it soon. I’m so glad you enjoyed this so much. I see so many great things about these books, it gives me high hopes for when I read them as well!!
    Victoria recently posted…Sunday Weekly Update #4My Profile

    Reply

  10. I loOoOoOoved Pivot Point and Split second too! Glad you enjoyed it too!
    Although I think I preferred Pivot Point, which I basically couldn’t stop reading once I started it.
    Maybe also, for a non-native English speaker, Split second was a little bit more difficult to understand and I struggled with some chapters about Laila! I think that’s why prevented me to love it as much as the first book :/
    Priscilla recently posted…Bookish video: March wrap-up!My Profile

    Reply

    • Ha ha, I’m the exact opposite; I definitely prefer Split Second and couldn’t stop reading once I started it. ;D
      Aww, that sucks! Hopefully Pivot Point and Split Second would be translated into your language!
      Kelly recently posted…Best Series Blog HopMy Profile

      Reply

  15. Eeeee! I’m so glad you liked this book, I recently finished it also, and now I just need the duology on my shelf! I agree with nearly everything you’ve said, and I really want more people to read these books!
    Ebony Ellis recently posted…March Wrap UpMy Profile

    Reply

  16. I’m so glad that you really liked Split Second! For a while I was wondering if I should go ahead and read this book or not because there were so many mixed reviews in the blogosphere. Either some people really liked it, sorta liked it, or didn’t really like it at all. And I read Pivot Point not too long ago and loved the characters! But once reviews started getting out…I just felt like maybe some things changed that I wouldn’t like? But now that you totally loved it and gave it a five-star review I know I need to finish this duology series! I just have to! ^_^

    Reply

    • If you loved Pivot Point, you will DEFINITELY love Split Second too, so don’t worry Hillary! Split Second is just <3<3<3; there's no other way to describe it!
      And psst, Split Second definitely deserves to get five stars. ;D
      Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [74]My Profile

      Reply

  18. I’m not a big paranormal reader or even a YA reader, although I can say this book helped change all of that. I kept seeing the hype about this book and when I picked it up my mind was blown. I don’t know how Kasie West did it, but this book and Split Second are amazing books. You need to read Split Second. It’s just as good.

    Reply

    • Uhhh, I did read Split Second and this is my review of it? I don’t know if you confused Split Second with Pivot Point, but I guess you did. :P
      But yep, this series definitely deserves the hype!
      Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [74]My Profile

      Reply

  19. Whoa! 5 stars? It must be really good?! A whole lot of my friends on Goodreads loved this series and I am wholly excited to get started with it. Time Travel fiction is a little complicated so I have high expectations. I loved All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill (which is also a YA Time Travel fiction) and absolutely worth the read although a little confusing at times.
    Alyssa recently posted…PhotoMy Profile

    Reply

    • Yep, Split Second is REALLY good. ;D!
      Split Second is not really a time travel book, but more like a parallel universe book. It’s like a book that explores all the “what ifs” instead of just exploring the past and future.
      I hope you’ll enjoy this one Alyssa! (:
      Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [74]My Profile

      Reply

  20. Great review! I’m so excited to read it as all I’ve heard are good things about this book! Yay!

    Reply

  21. I found Laila more manipulative than annoying. She was so used to erasing encounters that didn’t go her way that she had lost that sense of embarrassment that most of us have after an awkward conversation. That’s one of many reasons why I loved her with Connor: she couldn’t manipulate him and he didn’t take her crap.

    The ending was a little rough. I honestly didn’t realize it was a duology while I was reading it, so I finished with the expectation that there would be a third book that focused on a rebellion against the secret society’s government. I would have read it completely differently had I known Split Second was “the end.” But I still really, really liked it!
    Terri @ Starlight Book Reviews recently posted…Review: “Stolen Songbird” by Danielle L. JensenMy Profile

    Reply

  22. I read Pivot Point last year for the Debut-a-thon and really enjoyed it. I’ve heard mixed reviews for the 2nd one – Split second though the protagonist in this one was one of my fave characters from the 1st one. But I will be picking this one up before the year is up

    Reply

Trackbacks

Leave a Reply to ARC Book Review: Since You’ve Been Gone – Morgan Matson Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Grab My Button

grabbutton

Disclaimer

Effortlessly Reading sometimes receives ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) from publishers or authors in exchange for honest reviews. Please note that no compensation of any kind has been provided in exchange for a review. Any use and/or duplication of my material without any permission is strictly prohibited.