Author: Claudia Gray
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Published on: November 4, 2014 by Harper Teen
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.
Well thought-out and crafted science fiction is a joy to read for me. I’ve read books about time machines and incredible genetic powers. A Thousand Pieces of You piqued my interest partly because of the stunning cover. It does a great job of showing the book’s theme: parallel realities. The protagonist is Marguerite Caine, the young daughter of two prominent physicists. The premise is that they’ve developed a world-changing invention: the Firebird. It is a small electronic device fashioned into a pendant. The Firebird enables its wearer to travel across the multiverse.
There’s a big setback right from the start. Dr. Henry Caine gets himself murdered. Paul Markov is the alleged killer. He’s one of the Caines’ brilliant assistants and friend to Marguerite. Paul uses the first perfected Firebird prototype to escape arrest. Filled with grief and rage, Marguerite decides to hunt him down. Theo, Paul and Marguerite’s other friend (and the second assistant) agrees to help her. Theo manages to get two more Firebird prototypes working, and they go after Paul.
The book’s method of traveling into parallel worlds is well done and somewhat easy to understand. There’s one major limit: a traveler cannot visit a world where they don’t exist or are already dead. This is because the Firebird transfers a traveler’s mind, not their body. When Marguerite travels, her mind takes over that of her doppelgänger. This means she never knows where she’s going to end up, which causes one of the book’s serious setbacks. With countless possible realities, how can Marguerite and Theo even follow Paul? Theo comes up with an ingenious solution.
The pursuit takes Marguerite through various alternate universes. Along the way she meets both familiar faces and people she doesn’t know. As she gets closer to finding Paul, Marguerite uncovers more information about what happened to her father. She also learns more about Paul and what he is after. Marguerite and Theo not only move through different universes. They end up on different points around the globe as well. This reveals a cool perk of multiverse travel. If one of Marguerite’s alternate selves knows a language she doesn’t, she’s able to understand it while inside that reality. When Marguerite travels into Russian Marguerite's world, she becomes temporarily fluent in Russian.
A Thousand Pieces of You was fun to read and rather original. Following along Marguerite’s journey across parallel realities was exciting. They were all different, which keeps the reader from mixing them up. The book got better as revelations about some of the characters and Henry Caine’s fate were revealed. I strongly recommend it for fans of science fiction, adventure, and YA romance.
My rating: ★★★★ 1/2
4.5 stars - A fantastic page-turner!
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