Friday 24 July 2015

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


Goodreads description:

Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.






Title: A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1)
Author: Claudia Gray
Genre: Sci Fi, YA, Romance
Format:Paperback
Pages: 368 pages
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: Purchased from Popular Bookshop




Doctor Who parallel universe has gone to a whole new level! A thousand pieces of you was a well crafted, twisting adventure with one of the best love triangle romance I've read! I could not put the book down as I need to know what happen next and ended up breezing trough this within a day, though partly its because I was on a road trip so I had to read something or I'll go nuts sitting for 4+++ hours!

We follow Marguerite as she and Theo race across multiverse to find Paul, one of her parents protégée who destroyed her parents life work along with murdering Marguerite's father with the help of her mother's invention the 'Firebird'. They materialize into alternate versions of themselves, hoping to capture Paul and get their revenge. However things aren't not what it seem they got a hold of Paul and unravel the truth.

The plot was entertaining, twisting and epic! Its one of those plots where I had TRUST ISSUES with the characters and where the story was taking me. I love jumping trough the different dimension and see how they diverge from one another. The book started out slow for the first couple of chapters as its a lot of theory building to take in but after a while it was a breeze to read!





We explore futuristic London, 19th century Russia, an alternative reality of Home and a futuristic underwater world.

The world building is simple yet complex with the layers of parallel multiverses but also facts of science, history, art and pop culture and how different each universe is. There is a great air of mystery and gripping romance. I also like the pacing of the and how it jumps back and forth from the past to the present as we learn on the back story on Marguerite, her friends and family. Also the ending was a good solid ending as the book wrap up nicely.

I enjoyed the science aspect of the book and though I'm usually not a fan of history, the Russian history makes me want to learn more about it (which I eventually Wikipedia it). Also I love the Beatles pop culture references!




I enjoyed Marguerite narration and as a character! She's the odd one out of her family of scientist who has a passion for art, is intelligent, quick thinking and creative in her own way. Even so she tends to make some stupid decisions especially at the beginning of the book but is saved with her quick thinking.


Theo and Paul were great to read! Both are students of Marguerite's parents and are passionate about physics. Their personalities are similar yet different though we don't see it that much they have a very strong bromance. And yes I pictured/fan cast Will Poulter and Dylan O'brine as Paul and Theo as 1) I was still high with the maze runner movie when reading this book and 2) the book describes the characters (hipster and eyebrows) like them!!!


Theo who is flirty and confident and dresses like a hipster was fun to read! I enjoyed reading his character though I don't know why I never pick up clues about his BIG SECRET and odd behaviors till I re read the book.


Between the two i'll choose Paul specifically Russian Paul whom I melted at how caring and tender (i hate using that word as I associate with chickens and was laughing my heads off when i had to use said word for an essay the other day) he was to Meg. In fact he is my favorite character in the book and is one of the most complex characters of the cast.

The romance is the book is like me having trust issues! I don't know which guy (a part from Russian Paul) I like as both of them were hiding something from Marguerite so it took me a while to figure out which guy I ship her with. Probably one of the most unlikely love triangles I've read.



My favorite side character has to be Dr. Craine, Meg's dad. In fact I love the family aspect of the book.



Anyone play, heard or watch the video game Life Is Strange (Review Here)? I highly recommend this book (or if you read the book I recommend watch/play the game) as I find the concept slightly similar though Life is Strange has to do with time traveling while the book has to do with parallel universe traveling.

Life is strange is a consequence based driven game where the choices you make now will have a effect later which is a genre I'm seeing getting more and more popular with games like Beyond Two Souls and Telltale walking dead though not much in books.

I was getting that vibe when reading 'A Thousand Pieces of You' that some of the questionable choices Marguerite make in her parallel-self body now might come back to bite her in the future books with serious consequences. I really like how the book addresses the morals and ethics of parallel universe traveling and am interested on seeing how this plays out in the future books.

Overall this is a great solid first book in the series! Like everything is wrapped up in a nice little bow with no cliffhangers yet still makes me want to read more of the next book as I want to see the progress of the characters and their relationships. In fact this is a book I'll recommend to anyone who want's to get in to Sci-fi without being overwhelmed.


Also can't wait to read the sequel AND am drooling at the pretty cover!!!



I'll definitely be checking out Claudia Gray's other books (while waiting for the sequel) as her writing was very creative and brought my imagination to a whole new level.

This book has a spot on my favorite shelve and is one that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND! 


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