Review: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Review: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
Published by Harper Collins on November 4th 2014
Pages: 368
Format:Hardcover
Source:Purchased

Cloud Atlas meets Orphan Black in this epic dimension-bending trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a girl who must chase her father's killer through multiple dimensions. 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.A Thousand Pieces of You, the first book in the Firebird trilogy, explores an amazingly intricate multiverse where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all.

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Here’s the thing with this book: I feel like it needs two separate reviews. One based on entertainment value, and one based on actual analysis. I did not hate this book. I actually kind of liked it. At the same time, it infuriated me because there were things that made exactly no sense.i-m-so-confused-o

What I Liked/What Entertained Me:

  • The idea as a whole. I mean, different dimensions is a great plot. Especially while chasing potential murderers in and out of what I assumed would be all kinds of crazy places.
  • The story moved at a really good pace, and I never found myself bored.
  • The dimensions we did see were fascinating! I loved the early 20th century style Russia, and high tech London. Especially Russia though.
  • I didn’t dislike the love story. Actually, I think if it were given just a bit more time, it could have been really great.
  • I just was entertained, for no reason that I can actually articulate, because I did have a lot of problems with this book. But it was fun for me, and I will read the sequel. I know that isn’t all that helpful, but it’s all I’ve got.

What I Didn’t/What Didn’t Make Sense or Work:

  • The romance was too sudden. I don’t think it qualifies as insta-love because the characters all shared affection for each other (platonically or otherwise) for quite some time, but it went from zero to The Notebook pretty quickly. Also, there’s a love triangle. Usually, I don’t even mind them, but this one isn’t necessary. It’s just one of those “all the boys looooove me” situation, which irks me at best.
  • There were a lot of conveniences that bugged me. Obviously, I can’t go into too much detail on specifics, but things just worked out too easily for my tastes. It was just “problem solved!” but… how? Why? And even when it was explained, the explanation was too easy.
  • The characters were just okay. They weren’t great though. They were pretty basic, and didn’t have a lot of distinctive characteristics. Marguerite didn’t really stand out to me at all, I never felt any particular like or dislike toward her, she was just there. Theo and Paul weren’t much better, by the end, I figured it didn’t matter who she loved, because they were pretty much the same dude anyway. Her parents seemed pretty cool though, let’s skip this trio and read about them.
  • More dimensions, please. Seriously, like a day in techno-London, a few weeks in Russia, and then a couple for like, 33 seconds. Where were all my dimensions!? I wanted more. I needed more. I wanted to go to the moon, or like, some weird made up trippy kind of place.

little-girl-mad-oMe, upon realizing I was out of dimensions.

Bottom Line: Honestly, if I were basing this on content alone, it would be maybe a two star. But inexplicably, I did sort of like it, so I have to factor that in, because sheer enjoyment is a big factor for me. I won’t be mowing people down to get to the sequel, but I am  sure I’ll give it a read at some point. 3star

Posted November 20, 2014 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Review / 12 Comments

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12 responses to “Review: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

  1. It’s always so confusing when you know a book kind of sucked, but you genuinely enjoyed it!

    This book sounds like it has some problems, but I think I would still read it, it does sound enjoyable after all. With something like this I would think the coolest part would be the different dimensions and it’s a little disappointing to hear that there aren’t that many that are explored! Also, I hate love triangles when they are completely pointless, I don’t care if all the boys love you, it kind of makes me hate you. =)

    (also, apparently I’m spamming you with comments tonight!)

    • Ha, exactly! I hate when it is like “oh, ALL the beautiful boys are in love with me, how can I possibly pick one?” Shut it.

      And comments are never spam (I mean, unless they are actual spam, which is annoying, but you are not spam!) and always welcomed 😉

  2. I understand what you mean, sometimes a book can be entertaining, but it’s not good to analyze it too closely. (same with movies)

    Yeah the romance in this one is what bothers me. The plot sounds good, but I’m afraid it’s too much lovey dovey and not enough revenge.

    I agree enjoyment value does play into it, because if I’m entertained then that’s something.

    • Oh, definitely. If you are looking for revenge… best to keep looking. The “revenge” part is virtually non-existent. And yeah, I can’t really ignore the entertainment piece because really, isn’t that the point of reading anyway?

  3. I felt the same way! Enjoyment-wise, this book was four stars for me. But there were a lot of inconstancies and plot holes that killed some of the fun for me. Especially with the conclusions everyone jumped to about Paul! Although I will say the resolution of the romance was kind of cute. I just hope it’s better in book two.

    • YES! I mean, the hardest part for me was that everyone was quick to condemn Paul but then just as quick not to? It didn’t make sense! I am with you, I am hoping that book two will be stronger, because the premise is fantastic!

  4. One thing just as annoying as insta-love is when the romance gets really intense really quickly. Like okay, you developed their slow-burn pretty well, but now suddenly they’re in love and would do anything for each other? Hmmm NO. LOL

  5. Yeah, now I think about it, we only really go two dimensions that we actually saw properly. But ugh, exactly, they just seemed to love her, and okay, they’ve known each other for a while so it doesn’t count as instalove but I didn’t feel that. You know, like when the whole friends-to-romance, you get to see the how, and though we did get some before bits, I never felt it. I hated the romance anyway so didn’t really care. The plotline though, I felt like we were playing cat and mouse, found the revelation random, and that “twist” with the other guy (seriously, I can’t even remember his name, I was just waiting for her to catch up…

    At least you didn’t hate it! Glad you enjoyed it more than me. 🙂

    • Hahah I didn’t hate it, but I am not sure WHY I didn’t hate it. There was a Theo. There was also… a some other guy? At some corporation? Seriously, what is wrong with me, I should have really hated this!

  6. Hahah BUT THE COVER IS SO BEAUTIFUL. Honestly, I think I wouldn’t only read this BECAUSE of the different dimensions, but other than that, I would probably be bothered by all the things that you were bothered by. Like meh characters, bleh. I don’t think I could accept the convenience of it all either. But if I see it at the library, I’ll probably end up taking it out, because THAT COVER!

    Awesome review Shannon! I’m glad you did enjoy some parts of the book!

  7. You took the words right out of my mouth regarding this book, Shannon! I completely agree with everything you’ve said. I think this was an okay start to the series, and I hope the next book is more like what I was expecting.

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