Monday, October 12, 2015

Review: A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1) by Claudia Gray

 A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird, #1) 

Synopsis: Marguerite Caine grew up surrounded by cutting-edge scientific theories, thanks to her brilliant physicist parents. Yet nothing is more astounding than her mother's latest invention - a device called the Firebird, which allows people to leap into alternate dimensions.

When Marguerite's father is murdered, all the evidence points to one person - Paul, her parents' enigmatic star student. Before the law can touch him, Paul escapes into another dimension, having committed what seems like the perfect crime. But he didn't count on Marguerite. She doesn't know if she can kill a man, but she's going to find out. 

With the help of another physics student, Theo, Marguerite chases Paul through various dimensions. In each new world Marguerite leaps to, she meets another version of Paul that has her doubting his guilt and questioning her heart. Is she doomed to repeat the same betrayal?

As Marguerite races through these wildly different lives - a grand duchess in a Tsarist Russia, a club-hopping orphan in futuristic London, a refugee from worldwide flooding on a station in the heart of the ocean - she is swept into an epic love affair as dangerous as it is irresistible.

Date Published: November 4, 2014
Published By: Harper Teen
Number of Pages: 368
Rating: 4.5/5

A Thousand Pieces of You is one of the most unique YA science fiction stories that I've ever read. I've dabbled in time travel fiction before but I've never read a story that deals with parallel dimensions.

Claudia Gray really pulls off the tricky science involved in the story. Not too technical, but not too dumbed down either, the author shows the reader what it might be like for a person to travel to another dimension. We see a world that is far more technologically advanced because the computer was invented earlier and we also see a world where computers haven't even been invented yet. We see the pros and the cons of these alternate universes as Marguerite struggles to adjust in each one. It makes for a fast-paced, interesting story that is nearly impossible to put down.

I thought the romance was handled well, with some sweet moments balanced with enough conflict to keep things interesting. The love triangle is not your typical one - Marguerite has feelings for two different versions  of the same guy. It has the potential to become confusing but it never does. Claudia Gray has a masterful control over her story, and if there are any plot holes, they're not easily detected.

I did kind of guess the ending about 50 pages in. Not the entire ending, mind you, and it played out a little differently than what I guessed so there were still some surprises for me. I think the ending set the stage for the next book, Ten Thousand Skies Above You, to be even more epic and awesome. 

If you're a fan of time travel stories or Doctor Who, give A Thousand Pieces of You a try. Chances are, you won't be disappointed. 



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