4 April 2016

Book Review: A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird, #1) by Claudia Gray

(Click image to take you to Goodreads)

Format: Kindle
Publishers: Harper Teen
Published: 4th November 2014
Pages: 368
Genre: YA, Romance, Sci-fi
Main Characters: Marguerite, Paul, Theo
Date Read: 13th March - 17th March 2016

Rating Given:
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Synopsis: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 explores an amazingly intricate multi-universe where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all.

I've had this book on my wishlist for a while now so when it was on offer on Amazon (UK) I instantly bought it, however, I felt let down by it as I was expecting so much more from it.

This cover is stunning and was one of the main reason why I was drawn to this book. What I love the most is the artistic look of the cover which is fitting seeing as the main character is a bit of an artist. I also love the colours that have been used. As well as the artistic look the locations used on the cover is also in keeping with the actual story.

I was expecting so much from this book after reading so many rave reviews add to that the stunning cover it got me very excited but sadly I was disappointed. I felt it dragged in the beginning but there was some amazing moments I just wish it was a bit more consistent. What I enjoyed the most about this book was the whole sci-fi side of the story with the whole jumping to alternate dimensions is unique to anything that I have read before. The Firebird device I felt could've been explained a little bit more and the reason behind visiting those particular dimensions. The romance side of the story annoyed me and is what really dragged the story down as I just didn't believe in the feelings between any of the characters plus it felt a bit out of the blue. Everything was a bit too predictable for my liking I would have liked to have seen some shocks thrown in there. The ending was kind of okay as it did make me want to find out what is going to happen next but on the other hand it felt a bit rushed.

For the most part I didn't really like most of the characters, there may have been one that I actually liked though. Marguerite was a very annoying character as I felt she came across as selfish it was as if as long as she was okay she didn't seem to care about the Marguerite that she took over. In the beginning she was okay and felt she had potential but in the end she didn't really grow as a character. Paul was the character that I really liked even when he wasn't the Paul that Marguerite knew I liked him as he just came across as a likeable character who wanted to do good. Theo was annoying throughout apart from in the end and even though I know why this was I couldn't get over it as it wasn't explained until the end so the damage was already done.

Overall, for me this was a big let down as I was expecting so much more from this book but in the end it just never took off.