Review & Giveaway: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Title: A Thousand Pieces of You
Author: Claudia Gray
Series: Firebird, book #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: November 4, 2014
Source: finished copy received from publisher, galley received from publisher via Edelweiss
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

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.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in my admission that, while I was intrigued by the premise, that cover is what actually enticed me to add this book to my TBR all those months ago. It wasn't the only thing, though. I'm a HUGE fan of books about multiverses and traveling between them, and though this isn't my favorite book focusing on characters who travel to alternate dimensions, I found quite a bit to like in this story.

I've never read either of the books that this one is being compared to in that synopsis, but I did get a very strong All Our Yesterdays vibe from it. In that book, the characters are time traveling on the same timeline, though, whereas the characters in A Thousand Pieces of You are traveling from one parallel universe to the next. However, I like how both books tackled the aspects of such travel -- the hows and whys and wheres -- without too much sciencey mumbo-jumbo. The how isn't fully explained, but it's executed well enough so that it's not confusing and believable enough considering this is science fiction. And in this novel, I loved how the main character Marguerite focused on the moral ramifications because when these characters are world-jumping, they are essentially inhabiting their alternate self, taking over that life while their other self is none the wiser. That really comes into play later in the novel, and I can't wait see it explored further in future installments.

Whereas most novels concerning parallel universes will center on worlds that are just shades different from each other, the author of A Thousand Pieces of You chose to showcase several really unique worlds while Marguerite, Theo, and Paul were hopping around the multiverse. There are worlds that nearly mirror their home world, but the trio also jumps to a futuristic London-verse, a world that features a Romanov Russia in present-day, and one where global climate conditions have deteriorated so quickly that most of the populace dwells in ocean-bases. These parallel universes were all so fully realized that I wasn't sure I wanted Marguerite to return to her home, especially knowing what waited for her there...or rather, what didn't.

Marguerite was such a determined character...I couldn't help but root for her, even if her and Theo's plan seemed ludicrous. Chasing after the guy who murdered your father across multiple worlds? That can't end well...and it definitely didn't end the way you might expect. But it was an entertaining trip all the same, especially when you throw some romance into the mix. This may deter some readers, but I felt that despite the implications that a love triangle/love rhombus was at play, it was pretty obvious to whom Marguerite was truly ready to give her heart, especially in light of certain circumstances. If I were to put an official label on the romance, though, it would be "It's complicated". There are so many factors at play, so many hearts on the line -- and so much that I want to say but that would be entirely too spoilery. Just remember what I said about the moral consequences and consider how destiny might come into play across multiple worlds/lives, and you'll soon realize just how complicated love can get in a story like this.

If you enjoyed this novel, I definitely recommend picking up All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill and the Unraveling series by Elizabeth Norris (which is a full-on multiverse novel like this one) and vice versa. A Thousand Pieces of You is a solid first book and a welcome entry in the multiverse genre, and I'm very intrigued to see where the author takes this series. And I cannot wait to see what they come up with for the cover on the sequel...I just know it'll be beyond gorgeous!

Side note: While I was reading this book the other night, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory -- the original version with Gene Wilder, not Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, the remake with Johnny Depp -- was playing in the background, and I happened to look up at the exact moment that the kid gets turned into a thousand tiny pieces and transported to the TV, i.e. Wonka Vision. It was kind of a perfect moment, especially considering the title of this book and the thousands upon thousands of versions of us that could exist across the multiverse.

GIF it to me straight:

Also, this novel really made me miss FRINGE. =(

About the author:

Claudia Gray is not my real name. I didn't choose a pseudonym because my real name is unpleasant (it isn't), because I'd always dreamed of calling myself this (I haven't) or even because I'm hiding from the remnants of that international diamond-smuggling cartel I smashed in 2003 (Interpol has taken care of them). In short, I took a pseudonym for no real reason whatsoever. Sometimes this is actually the best reason to do things.

I live in New Orleans. So far, in life, I've been a disc jockey, a lawyer, a journalist and an extremely bad waitress, just to name a few. I especially like to spend time traveling, hiking, reading and listening to music. More than anything else, I enjoy writing.

Find Claudia:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Tumblr | Pinterest

Thanks to the folks at Kaye Publicity/HarperCollins, I have an extra copy of A Thousand Pieces of You to give away!

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Labels: beautiful covers, claudia gray, firebird, giveaways, harper-collins, multiverse, reviews, time travel