Review: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Book Description:

Hardcover, 368 pages
Published November 4th 2014 by Harper Teen

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.

Reviewer's Copy: Hardcover

Source: Bought

My Thoughts:

A Thousand Pieces of You blew me away. It surpassed my expectations. I have read various science fiction novels but in truth, A Thousand Pieces of You, was one of the few that remained faithful to the genre, presenting a thorough elaboration of dimension-traveling. Claudia Gray veered away from time travel and instead, wrote about an even more challenging concept - travel between dimensions. Essentially, there were multiple dimensions and each one represents a set of possibilities. Every time there was a fork on the road, this would be a point where dimensions split, giving life to another set of possibilities that could happen in one's life. It was more like a prescripted lifetime written by fate, with our choices and decisions taken into consideration.

Marguerite Caine was the second daughter of two brilliant scientists. She was the artist of the family, the one who was not drawn to science, and yet, she would be the one to test the Firebird, the device used to travel through dimensions, and jump straight into unknown territory. Marguerite was uncertain at times, continuously evaluating plans, events and clues that came in line with her mission. What I really liked about her was her unwavering determination and being perceptive. She was a strong girl who pushed forward, despite the grief, her confusion and doubt over Paul and her fear. Through her journey through various dimensions, she was able to taste life's different and exotic flavors.

Paul and Theo, the research assistants of Marguerite's parents, one was good and one was bad. Paul was the suspect for the death of Marguerite's dad. As a genius, he was undeniably strange and mysterious - always a little bit awkward yet charming. Theo was the handsome rocker-boy-next-door, the chick magnet who flirted every chance he got. Marguerite's ties to both boys were natural. The attraction was palpable and yet there was so much second-guessing, rethinking, doubt and hesitation. Gray's characters were spectacularly layered. As they jumped from one dimension to another, these layers were peeled off of them, revealing their true personalities.

The idea that fate or destiny was replicated in each parallel dimension, was thoroughly intriguing. Going across dimensions and living the lives of different versions of oneself gave the traveler a sense of enlightenment and clarity about fate, his/her relationship with other people and life.

One of the themes I really liked was love manifesting itself between two people, over and over again, in different places. The fact that it could exist and full out blossom into something beautiful, transcending time and boundaries, uniting two souls repeatedly, was simply amazing. It woke up the hopeless romantic in me.

A Thousand Pieces of You was an atmospheric, nostalgic and stunningly well-executed science fiction novel. Claudia Gray surpassed my expectations. Packed with adrenaline, suspense, romance and living-in-the-moment-feels, A Thousand Pieces of You will keep readers enthralled and moving forward with Marguerite's pace, thoughts and emotions. I highly recommend this to all readers. There was a little bit of everything in A Thousand Pieces of You: a dash of historical, steampunk, humor with a backbone of hardcore science fiction and the soul of romance. This novel was perfection!

Rating:

5 Cupids = Eternal book love.
I will never, ever, ever forget this book. I highly recommend this!