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Sunday 24 May 2020

A Full Five Stars For A Thousand Pieces of You

Title: A Thousand Pieces of You 
Author: Claudia Gray
Series: Firebird #1
Publication Date: November 4th, 2014
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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 revolutionize 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 the 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.

Review


I will admit I am super late to A Thousand Pieces of You having purchased this when it was first published but never attempting to read it. Truth be told, I thought I had tried to read this and ended up DNF'ing. How embarrassingly wrong I was. I say this because of how impressively creative, clever and thrilling A Thousand Pieces of You is. 

I was quickly captivated by Marguerite's journey, not just because of how exciting the storyline is but also because of the writing style and layout of the plot. I have come to love both fast paced reads as well as quick starts, in that the author dives right into the adventure and relies on flashback and character conversation to relay past/off-page events. When A Thousand Pieces of You starts, Marguerite's father has already passed away in the accident and travel into parallel universes happens within the first 20 pages. It's quick, to the point and sets an intensity for the rest of the book. 

Gray also impressed me with how clever and thought-provoking the read is - possibly the main reason why I loved A Thousand Pieces of You. The concept of parallel universe is not a new one, but Gray kept it interesting and somewhat unique in both her theory as well as the scientific invention - the Firebird - that aids in travel between dimensions. In fact, I would say the way she explained the concept, coupled with the device, made for a rather believable read. I liked that she was thorough enough so there wasn't any confusion but didn't overload the plot with just scientific explanations that it turned into a science textbook. The creation of the device also demonstrates how smart and creative Gray is! I will admit I'm definitely intrigued by the idea of parallel lives and time and space in general, so A Thousand Pieces of You does cater towards my interest, which added to my love fort his book. I was actually reeling different theories through my mind whilst reading as well - that's how engaged I was. 

Another factor that I really liked was the simplicity in Gray's writing. She doesn't add flashy, flowery expressions, which I appreciated. It meant that I could focus on the plot and the events rather than be distracted by pretty, whimsical prose. It's clear and succinct yet, still descriptive enough for me to envision each scene. In fact, the different universes Gray creates still remains vividly memorable in my mind. I won't delve into what the parallel worlds are, because that would be spoilers, but each world had its own unique features, which really made me want to go to and discover as well.

I definitely think A Thousand Pieces of You was a super fun, albeit dark, and engrossing read. The fact that I flew through this in less than 2 days says how much I was invested in the story and quickly loved it. I cannot wait to devour the rest of the series!


2 comments :

  1. Ooh, now you have made me wonder if I ever pick up books after DNFing. Usually not! But I did read this too and really enjoyed it.

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    Replies
    1. That's actually a great question, probably something worth discussing in a blog post really -- hmm collaboration idea? Haha but honestly I picked this up again cause I found the sequel for $8 oops. Thanks for reading!

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