Review Detail

What I Loved:
Split Second begins heavy on the dramatic irony. The reader is the only one who knows the truth of what happened in the other outcome of Addie’s search, and the reader desperately wants her to remember. Having watched Trevor and Addie fall in love slowly over the course of Pivot Point, they now no longer really know each other, and the reader is in an agony of need for them to just kiss already.

At first, I wasn’t thrilled about the addition of Laila’s POV to Split Second. Generally, I’m pretty heavily opposed to the addition of a perspective later in a series. In this case, though, it really worked. Getting to be in Laila’s head is a treat, because, as much as I love Addie, I think I like Laila even more. She’s so sassy and confident. Plus, by being in both heads, it’s even more obvious how much Laila and Addie really do care about one another. I friendship it, guys.

Another excellent element of Split Second is the depths of characterization given to bad guys from Pivot Point. Stephanie, who was Trevor’s mean girl ex-girlfriend in Pivot Point, is shown in an entirely different light in Split Second. It’s really nice to get her side of the story, and show that she wasn’t truly a terrible person. Similarly, Duke, while not exactly redeemed, gains in complexity, and becomes a bit less of the jerk he was before. I love how Kasie West added these elements of redemption.

Kasie West writes romance so perfectly. I ship both ships in this book SO hard. She has this brilliant way of putting so much tension into the relationships, even the shorter time spans offered by Split Second. Addie and Trevor still have so much in common and get along so well. Connor and Laila share a quick wit and are adorably snarky to one another. Plus, Kasie West’s kiss scenes. I can’t even. West manages to deliver cheesy lines in a totally non-cheesy way, and to make me believe them in a way I usually have trouble doing.

The plot is, minus some issues I’ll reference next, even better than Pivot Point‘s. Where Pivot Point hinged on that one search, Split Second follows Addie’s evolving abilities in time manipulation. She can now slow time down, an ability which proves very helpful in her attempts to discover family secrets and what happened in the alternate timeline she didn’t take. Since everything that happens in Split Second actually happens, it’s a bit more immediate and intense.

What Left Me Wanting More:
As a series conclusion, though, I’m less sold on Split Second. As a second book in a series, it’s brilliant, but I don’t feel like it’s closed the door on this world. However, from what I’ve heard, there will not be any more books in the Pivot Point series. An open-ended ending can be a good thing, but, in this case, it felt abrupt and the characters are left in rather tenuous circumstances. As Blythe (Finding Bliss in Books) said in our discussion, an epilogue to close out a bit of the future would really have tied everything together. There are just so many things on ability advancement that are raised but not really handled.

The Final Verdict:
It should really say a lot that my biggest problem with the series is that I wish there was more of it. I wholeheartedly love the characters and world Kasie West created in Pivot Point, and think that I actually enjoyed Split Second even more. These books are ideal for character-driven readers, and an excellent choice for contemporary readers looking for a safe gateway into other genres.