Series?: Book 1
Pages: 368 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Dates read: December 28th-30th 2014 (hardcover copy)
Goodreads synopsis:*This review may contain spoilers*
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.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
I loved, loved, loved this book. I remember seeing the synopsis of this book back in like, March and I thought it was super interesting and then I mean… that cover. Damn.
The entire premise of the Firebird (lockets that allow people to change dimensions) and the idea of different dimensions was so, so interesting and I found that Claudia Gray did a really great job at explaining everything and building her worlds. It was easy to follow and not too complicated. I loved the way each and every single world that Marguerite goes through was different, yet somehow connected. My favourite worlds were futuristic London and the underwater colony. They were all just so interesting to read and I honestly could have read entire books just on the worlds that Marguerite visits.
The story itself was intriguing. It starts with Marguerite traveling to the futuristic London dimension because that’s where Paul, her father’s supposed murderer, is. The reasons given for why Paul is the main suspect in her father’s death seem pretty flimsy and, to me, didn’t seem like enough for Marguerite to be so convinced of Paul’s guilt that she wants to kill him. Especially considering that Paul is a close friend of the family’s. So, obviously, when we find out that Paul didn’t actually kill Dr. Caine… well, I can’t say I was surprised. This revelation could have maybe come a bit later in the book, because finding that before chapter 10 felt a bit premature and was too fast for me. Once Marguerite leaves futuristic London knowing that Paul didn’t kill her father, I honestly had no idea where the story was going. I thought it would be some sort of high-speed chase through dimensions or something… but that wasn’t it. I thought I might be disappointed after this but… the twist at the end with Theo and the company that Marguerite’s parents work for? Didn’t expect that. At all. That completely saved the story for me and now I am waiting impatiently for the sequel because I need to know!!!!! It’s definitely safe to say that the story and the world-building are what I enjoyed most about ATPOY.
Marguerite was meh at most. There wasn’t really much that stood out about her, unlike Kestrel from The Winner’s Curse or even Darcy from Afterworlds. She just wasn’t a strong, in-depth character. Her feelings flip-flopped from Theo to Paul in a second without really making any sense. Honestly, the Marguerite-Paul-Theo love triangle is absolutely useless in ATPOY. Marguerite and Theo should’ve been just really close friends. I could’ve gone without the I love Paul but… Theo… but… Paul! Too much back and forth and I couldn’t really understand why Marguerite couldn’t just make up her damn mind. But maybe the Marguerite-Theo love aspect will be gone in the sequel because of what we find out at the end of ATPOY? I’m kinda hoping for that…
I actually did love Paul and Theo, though. I would absolutely love to have them as friends because they’re really just a bunch of lovable dorks. Claudia Gray’s characters in ATPOY, other than Marguerite, are actually really well-developped and interesting. We don’t even see Josie, Marguerite’s sister, that often in the book by I was really able to get a clear idea of her personality. I felt the same with Marguerite’s parents.
So is A Thousand Pieces of You a perfect book? Not at all. The plot was a bit too loose and all over the place, in my opinion, and Marguerite is really whiny and flaky and doesn’t have much more personality than a simple narrator telling the story. But would I recommend A Thousand Pieces of You to people? Most definitely. The world-building is excellent, the premise is interesting, especially for fans of sci-fi (if you like Beth Revis’ writing like I do, this book is right up your alley) and, towards the end, when the plot thickens and starts making more sense, you will be hooked and impatiently awaiting the sequel (which doesn’t come out until November, ugh!!) The love story between Paul and Marguerite is also actually kind of cute, I’ll give it that, too. This is definitely going to be one of my new fave series!
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