Scarlett Winter has never been one to follow the rules. A born troublemaker and rebel, Scarlett has been cruising through high school without a care in the world, riding her Yamaha, smoking weed, dating boys and doing absolutely no work. On the day of her graduation, when an uncovered attack on her ex-best friend’s grad party reveals that Scarlett has hidden powers, she is more than shocked. The next morning, she is even more stunned to be recruited by a top secret training facility at West Point for others like her, known as posthumans. At The Point, Scarlett joins others like her to hone their powers to help fight for the military in whatever way they can.

"THE POINT is a masterful work of many narratives that weave around each other, seeming like a mindless knot until the finale where everything suddenly comes together in a glorious reveal."

Yet even surrounded by other cadets with powers, Scarlett remains an outsider. With the unheard of ability to harness and control raw energy, Scarlett is as unique as she is powerful. Unable to fit in with the other recruits, she is battered down by loneliness and great power she is unsure she will be able to control. But beyond the classes and training at The Point, something more sinister is being planned. Something that could end not just her school, but the world.

THE POINT is a masterful work of many narratives that weave around each other, seeming like a mindless knot until the finale where everything suddenly comes together in a glorious reveal. While the majority of the story focuses on Scarlett, occasional glimpses into other mindsets not only layers the story, but also gives every character, even the ones we’re meant to hate, a background that displays their humanity. Chapters in the very beginning make absolutely no sense, until the very end when everything comes together in a mind-blowing conclusion. What initially seems like a story of a girl fitting in with the others in her school turns into the story of a masterful villain and a girl who decides to become a hero.

Initially, Scarlett seems like a selfish girl. Always looking for her next high, shirking her responsibilities and family, she is not the exactly the epitome of a new cadet at a military training academy. Yet as Scarlett grows with her fellow cadets and learns more about those around her, her family and herself, she reveals herself to be a girl who in the end, will always make the choice between what’s easy and what’s hard, and be the hero.

Dixon has a wonderful way of making every character not only unique but someone to respect. No one is simply a bully, or a coward, or a hero. They are real and complex, dealing with the struggles of not only being in a military academy, but becoming decent people in a world that has tried its hardest to ruin them. From Scarlett’s roommate Lucy to the elusive Seamus to the terrifying Dalia, everyone has a story, and everyone is important.

As Scarlett transforms from a snarky rebel into a powerful soldier, she must make the tough choice that everyone, soldier or not, must face: Will I stick with what I know and play it safe or will I take the risk to help others and be the hero they need? At The Point, that decision may mean the difference between herself, and saving not only her school, but the world.