A Thousand Pieces of You, Claudia Gray

Pages: 360

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: 4^th November 2014

Edition: Kindle e-book, purchased

Other Titles by this Author: Evernight, Stargazer, Hourglass, Stargazer, Balthazar, Fateful, Spellcaster, Steadfast

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes – and promises to revolutionise science forever. But then Marguerite’s father is murdered, and the killer – her parent’s handsome, enigmatic assistant Paul – escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of other people she knows – including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul’s guilt – as well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is far more sinister than she expected.

A Thousand Pieces of You, the first book in the Firebird trilogy, explores an amazingly intricate multi-verse where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all.

The concept behind A Thousand Pieces of You has fascinated me since I first heard about it, but I still wasn’t all that concerned with reading it, but as I saw the cover crop up more and more and praise float around, I decided to give it a shot. I’m glad I did.

With the plot of a multi-verse, dimension hopping, a murder and a complicated love, it could have gone so wrong so easily. There were a lot of threads to Marguerite’s story and there was the possibility that they would become a blurred mess or that the originality of the concept would get lost in the story, and although the pace of the novel was relentless and action-packed, everything held strong.

I was really pleased that the science behind the Firebird and the multi-verses was so present. I do love me some science, especially speculative science that you couldn’t ever say isn’t possible. Marguerite’s physicist parents are both wonderful, present characters and their love and passion for each other, their children and their work was palpable – it really is refreshing to have such strong parental figures in YA, particularly as they created something so monumental.

The possibilities of a multi-verse are fascinating to me. The idea that with every decision you make the option you don’t pick spawns a whole other dimension where that happened is mind-blowing, and could send you insane if you thought about it too much. Marguerite experienced being a partying socialite in an alternate London, a Russian princess, home but not quite and an underwater, oceanographic base in a world where sea levels have risen quickly and unexpectedly, forcing most of the planet underwater. Crazy and cool and amazing that you’ll never know how little choices could have affected the path of your whole life, and the whole of science if you’re Marguerite’s parents!

Aside from the crazy science, A Thousand Pieces of You features a really interesting love story. Marguerite has basically lived with her parents’ grad students/research assistants Paul and Theo for the last few years and she has sparks with both of them. It was a love triangle but a with a heavy bias and it was obvious from early on that Marguerite wouldn’t have to fight herself to pick one of them. But it wasn’t an easy option and it made for a great story, especially during her time in Russia.

I ended up enjoying A Thousand Pieces of You so much more than I had originally thought and I’m really looking forward to being back in that world, even if I think it worked beautifully as a standalone.

Sophie