Danielle Hearts Books

Overall, I thought this was a solid read. The story is something I've never come across before - our protagonist, Addie, has the ability to see into her future when presented with a choice. She can see both outcomes clearly, in fact, she feels like she's living both outcomes, so when she returns from her 'searches', as she so calls them, she has to live through whichever path she chooses, without having the ability to change anything, whilst still remembering the other path. And so, on one horrible day when her parents sit her down to tell her of their divorce, and her need to choose which parent to live with, she thinks nothing of doing a quick search into her future. And that's when things get interesting. 

In essence, we read through two whole story lines. In one, Addie stays with her mother and starts to be pursued by Duke, the most popular guy in school, and in the other, she travels outside The Compound with her father, and develops the cutest romance with all-round-nice-guy Trevor. And that's one aspect that I love about this book. We basically have two story lines we alternate between, never quite sure which one Addie will actually live through. And what with a big ol' mystery unfolding in both paths, its interesting to try to piece the mystery together with information from both realities.

But, there is a problem with this. Even though I loved the story and the idea behind it, with the whole seeing into your future, I just couldn't shake the feeling that none of it seemed real. It was like when you watch a dramatic TV episode only to have the main characters wake up at the end realising it was only just a dream. I understand that for Addie, even though she only lives through one of her chosen paths, both feel completely real for her, but I just couldn't get the whole it's only but a dream idea out of my head. In the end, she only lives through one storyline, and it's not even the one that includes Trevor. She lives through the shitty one where the guy uses her for her abilities. After moving outside The Compound with her father, immersing herself into the strange new world of the Norms, coming to learn that there's nothing wrong with Norms, and maybe having 'superpowers' ain't so great anyway; after all that character growth she went through, it all just gets erased. She never lived through it, and not only that, she doesn't even remember it. And I hate that. 

But putting that aside, this was a very enjoyable books. Reading through both story line was fascinating, and I loved how it gave us a very whole picture of Addie. Seeing her grow in both environments gives us a more complete view of her characters, something we wouldn't see if we only saw one reality. And Trevor, one of my fave characters in the book. The way he was with Addie, how he made her feel and learn to accept Norms as nothing different, was really quite great, and did a lot for Addie's character growth. And on top of that, when everything with Layla went down, he told Addie not to choose the path with her father, not to choose the path with him, which speaks volumes about his character. So much better for Addie than Duke. I just hope they're able to sort everything out with Addie and Trevor in Split Second, because it really would be a shame if they didn't.

TL;DR This was a very enjoyable book that I would definitely recommend.