Review: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on November 3, 2014 | 8 Comments


Review: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia GrayA Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
Series: Firebird #1
(11.4.2014)
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: eARC, 368 pages
Source: Edelweiss


2.5 Stars

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.

My thoughts

My feelings about this were so hot and cold that I felt the need to make an infographic for it:

enjoyment of a thousand pieces of you

My hate is stronger than the dimensions, stronger than memory, stronger than time. My hate is now the truest part of who I am.

I was SO onboard with this story in the beginning. The prologue blew me away and completely grabbed my attention. Then we enter a futuristic feeling, technologically advanced London. And it was AWESOME! I loved the world, I thought that Claudia Gray did a fabulous job bringing it to life, and I wanted more. I was curious about who this Paul person was, why did what he did, and the reason behind the betrayal. I was intrigued by the Firebird and the idea of traveling to different universes. So cool! I was also highly impressed by how much Claudia Gray’s writing style had improved.

Then we get to Russia. It’s not that it was bad at this point, but I can definitely say my enjoyment level dropped because it had a historical feel. I didn’t start really losing interest until princess version Marguerite got the letter from Theo and starts to think about both guys as more than friends.

…how difficult it will be to get out of this dimension if I even can, and of all the emotions for him – and for Paul – that I can’t afford to explore right now.

UGH. I despise love triangles. View Spoiler » Thankfully she only waffles for a moment before finally sticking with Paul. But still, the quasi love triangle brought it down…then it all went to hell.

Why? The romance. Good heavens. I know that Marguerite had feelings for Paul previously, but the fact that she fell for this “different” Paul so fast despite later saying how he was like a completely different person kind of annoyed me. After that, the romance was front and center. And it was SO annoying. They were being freaking SHOT at, her alternate reality family (including a young brother) were MISSING and she didn’t even know if they were alive, and she’s making out with Paul out in the snow. View Spoiler » Way to go on your prioritizing skills, Marguerite!sarcastic clap gif

View Spoiler » The entire middle of the book (which is basically nothing but romance) just felt like every other YA paranormal out there. The only thing about this book that stands out is the beginning and the end. The middle has already become a blur.

There was also something that really didn’t make sense to me. Sadly I can’t talk about it without giving anything away! View Spoiler »

I wasn’t a fan of Marguerite. I just couldn’t find anything in her to relate to. I can’t pinpoint why, but she got on my nerves sometimes. I also didn’t care about Paul or Theo. Paul didn’t have much personality to speak of, especially for a romantic interest. The only character I really cared about was Marguerite’s father.

Seriously, I am SO disappointed in this book. If the whole book had been like the first several chapters, it probably would have been a 5 star book for me. I can definitely see the potential in this series. The world building ROCKS, Claudia Gray’s prose has proven that it can be engaging and interesting when she wants it to be, and the idea of alternate realities interests me. I’m still on the fence about whether or not to read the next book…

Overall Assessment

Plot: 4/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Characters: 1/5
World-building: 4.5/5
Pace: 3/5
Feels: 2/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Overall rating: 2.5/5

Jessi (Geo)

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

  1. Aw bummer! :( I have to admit, I’m somewhat glad to see this though, because I actually did DNF this book. I didn’t get far enough in to dislike it, I just wasn’t feeling it from the get go so I put it down and never picked it up again. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this, but kind of glad to see that I might not have missed much. :P

    • Man, if you didn’t like it from the beginning I doubt you’d like it any better in the middle! The beginning is the big bang of the book, but I think all the energy was spent on that instead of spread out, haha. You wouldn’t have liked it any better!

  2. What a shame! I can deal with love triangles, but I like them to make a bit more sense. And priorities! Seriously, you’re being shot at!! At first I was thinking the things that bothered you wouldn’t be so bad for me (I like historical, can abide love triangles) but the decent was fast after that :| great review!

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