Friday, December 5, 2014

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Title: A Thousand Pieces of You
Author: Claudia Gray
ISBN: 9780062278968
Publisher: HarperCollins
Released: November 04, 2014
Series: Firebird #1
Page #: 357
Source: My own copy

Summary:
"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 a 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."
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First Lines:

"My hand shakes as I brace myself against the brick wall. Rain falls cold and sharp against my skin, from a sky I've never seen before. It's hard to catch my breath, to get any sense of where I am. All I know is that the Firebird worked."
Page 1
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Review:

Dimension jumping to find your dad's murderer? Could you get anything more intense??

Marguerite's parents are scientists. Physicists, to be exact. She's always lived in a home with big thinkers... students of life... and some actual students of her parents. Her mother has found a way to allow a person to jump dimensions, but it's been used for evil. Marguerite's father was just murdered and the man responsible has stolen one of the dimension jumping devices (a Firebird) and he's lost to them now. She teams up with one of her parent's students set out to see if they can find him and bring him to justice.

Everything about this book blew my mind. In the best possible way. The whole concept of alternate dimensions that play out every other possible decision you've made (and everyone else in the world), is just completely mind blowing. There are dimensions where you didn't forgive that one friend and it changed the course of things. There are dimensions where your parents didn't meet - you can't visit those, you don't exist. There are dimensions where your ancestor didn't make it to America, so you're welcome to visit their lives in Russia. I mean, ANYTHING! It's crazy and the possibilities are endless. I think that's what makes this idea really cool for a book - they could literally go anywhere.

In that vein, this book is set in so many places, it was probably really fun to write. An extremely tech savvy London. An extremely backwards Russia. A legit water world. And even one dimension that was so close to her own, Marguerite had some trouble identifying the differences. Can you imagine all of those things happening simultaneously and all you need is one little device to visit them all? It doesn't hurt that her parents are brilliant and they have the ability to open up these possibilities for her.

But it's not just about jumping around to see what's happening. She's searching for the man who murdered her father. A man she trusted. A man her parents trusted. A man that she becomes less and less convinced is guilty. In each new world, they have to find each other to figure things out. There's a larger tech organization that is involved in this whole scandal as well, but how deeply? As soon as one mystery is figured out, another one pops up. This book definitely kept me on my toes.

I'm not sure if this is going to become a series. This book wrapped up nicely and everything was figured out. No real cliffhangers here - which I highly appreciate. But it makes me wonder if there will be more about the Firebird. More about the possibilities. I've seen a few places that this is listed as #1, so I am hoping for more. I honestly think this is the best thing that has been written by Claudia Gray. I'm definitely up for another installment if there is going to be one. I'm highly recommending this one as it is.
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Other Blog Reviews:

That's Normal
Snuggly Oranges
There Were Books Involved
YA Midnight Reads
All Things Urban Fantasy
Alice Marvels
Bookish Broads
The Bookshelf Intruder
The Y.A. Bookworm Blogger
Reading Lark

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