Rating: 8/10
Synopsis
From the age of seven, Jack Harper is raised by the leader of a mystical cult, Cyrus Harper. Through Cyrus, Jack receives a full education in all usual subjects―economics, literature, mathematics, history―as well as one unique skill useful to a person in Cyrus’s position: assassination. With the help of Roland James, a man incapable of dying, Cyrus hones Jack into the perfect weapon to use against all who oppose him.
It is not long, however, before Jack discovers that Cyrus and Roland are not the only ones living in Cyrus’s mansion. There, too, exists a mysterious creature in the depths of the house with supposed immortal magic. According to Roland, this creature is responsible for all the miraculous things Jack has witnessed throughout her childhood, including Roland’s resurrection. The creature, potent and powerful, only weakens in the presence of Cyrus’s red velvet box―a dark, enchanted tool that grants Cyrus his invincibility and ensures his reign.
Lonely and terrified by her life in the cult, under Cyrus’s neverending watch, Jack desperately pursues the mysterious being. When they finally meet, her world is turned upside down, as he offers her more than she could have ever expected―the possibility of escape and her own secret, magical power.
Review
A dark and twisted cult mystery that is begging to be read.
L.C. Barlow has spun together such an extraordinary story with Pivot. The setting is extravagant and luxurious despite the overwhelming feeling of despair as we journey through the book. Pivot is an eye-opener and gives the reader multiple lessons throughout. One strong theme throughout is that of redemption. No matter what we have done we can always change and I feel this is an important lesson for all of us to remember.
For me, a sign of a good author is the ability to craft a character that has all the usual traits of a villain but also makes us fall in love with them. Barlow does just that with Jack Harper. Jack is our protagonist that has been trained from a very early age to kill with no regrets for Cyrus. Even though we would understand Jack to be a bad person, Barlow pulls all the right strings and I found myself hopelessly in love with Jack and scared that something might happen to her.
I always like to include a ‘things I didn’t like’ section in my reviews but honestly, Pivot doesn’t have anything that I felt needed to be mentioned. It didn’t leave me wanting more, it didn’t leave me with a bad taste in my mouth so to say and I felt I was given enough detail about the mysterious *no spoilers* that I am happy to wait till the next instalment for this to be expanded on.
Now I will say that Pivot sits on the fence between a standalone and a ‘to be continued’ in terms of storyline. I am happy that I received a full story with Pivot but I’m a sucker for detail and I often find myself wanting more detail. Barlow leaves us wanting more from the story but not in a bad way. You will be wanting to pick up Perish, book 2 of the Jack Harper trilogy, after finishing Pivot and luckily for me I have a copy right next to me waiting to be read.
Keep an eye out for my review of Perish.
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