Never in my wildest thoughts had I imagined that I would love reading. I tried to read when I was younger but I never really had the focus and will to finish a book unless I am super digging the story. Maybe at that time I just hadn't met my genre-soulmate.
I read a book series right after one another which I usually don't do because I want to give other books a chance. Maybe with the exception of the Jessica Darling series because it's just too awesome and I was madly smitten with Marcus Flutie. So anyway, the first Kasie West novel I read was
The Distance Between Us. I liked it because there weren't overly dramatic characters. In Goldilock's terms, everything was "just right." Although I liked her first book, I was a little skeptical because I was never a fan of
fantaseryes, so to speak, hehe. For a wee bit, I was into vampires because of Edward Cullen, until Bella ruined everything for me (kaya I didn't even bother reading the last book in the series), but after that I think I never read anything vampire or paranormal and Pivot Point was sort of a fantaserye. But many were recommending it on Goodreads and my first experience with the author was positive so I did pick it up.
Addie is a Paranormal (Para, for short). Paras are people with fully-developed brains with mental abilities. They live in a Compound with all the other Paras, separate from the "Norms" or those without super mental abilities. Addie is a Searcher and her ability is being able to see two futures. This book actually reminds me of a Gwyneth Paltrow movie, Sliding Doors.
In this book, I have confirmed that I am really a bad judge of character. During the first few chapters, I was very pro- Duke. I guess it was because I thought Duke sincerely liked Addie and Trevor seemed a bit uninterested in her. I was rooting for Duke until I found out that he was just using Addie. Actually, I was still rooting for him even after I found that out and I wanted Addie to give him a second chance. Although I still maintain that I liked Addie's father than her mother ☺
Absolutely enjoyed this one even if it took me longer than usual to finish. I really liked Addie's character- not too angsty even with her parents' divorce. And you know me and my penchant for love triangles ☺ I thought the choice she'd make was between Trevor and Duke. I never thought that the choice she has to make would be between her life or Laila's.
In Book 2, Split Second, the story is told in two POVs- Addie's and Laila's. It was really disappointing that Duke didn't turn out to be what I wanted him to be but I guess it's alright since Trevor kind of grew on me.
In Laila's corner, a relationship is also brewing. Well, we kind of knew where their bickering would lead to. Laila was made into a main character in this book alongside Addie which I think was needed because we already knew what happens with Addie and Trevor. Connor reminded me a bit of Emilio of Ockler's The Book of Broken Hearts, with the tough exterior and the motorcycle part. Initially I thought she'd end up with Duke but then again that would be oh so awkward and what Duke did was a little douche-y, so buti na lang they introduced a new character as her love interest.
However, the ending was hard to believe because these teenagers were able to dupe three Compound agents who I think were equivalent of the CIA or NSA. Supposedly, those guys were trained and cannot be easily outwitted by a group of teenagers. But you see all's well that ends well. Plus, Trevor can play football again, huzzah!
If there's one thing I learned from this work of fiction, it is that things that are bound to happen, happen. Well, that seems to be the recurring theme for this week, eh? In The Walking Dead, there's "Everything will work out the way it's supposed to" and in HIMYM, it was also sort of the same thing when Ted still ended up with Robin. So does this mean that our life is just one big flowchart with if-then-else statements? We would never know.
Because an illusion is an illusion.
Reality always exists despite the facade.
