Rather Be - Lori's Review of A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU by Claudia Gray

Title: A Thousand Pieces of You

Author: Claudia Gray

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication Date: 11/4/2014

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.

Claudia Gray is not my real name. I didn't choose a pseudonym because my real name is unpleasant (it isn't), because I'd always dreamed of calling myself this (I haven't) or even because I'm hiding from the remnants of that international diamond-smuggling cartel I smashed in 2003 (Interpol has taken care of them). In short, I took a pseudonym for no real reason whatsoever. Sometimes this is actually the best reason to do things.

I live in New Orleans. So far, in life, I've been a disc jockey, a lawyer, a journalist and an extremely bad waitress, just to name a few. I especially like to spend time traveling, hiking, reading and listening to music. More than anything else, I enjoy writing.

This was a truly unique book.  The idea of travel between dimension using only the subconscious is probably not original with this author, but it is my first experience with it.  I loved that the characters were able to recognize their 'other' selves as they traveled to dimension after dimension.

This story began as a race to find the person who killed Marguerite's father, but turned into something much more than that. There was romance, intrigue, and sexual tension.  But mostly there was constant question of who is telling the truth. Was Marguerite putting her trust in the right person?

The author has an amazing gift for painting scenes for the reader.  As we traveled between dimensions, it was immediately apparent how each dimension was different from the last and how each compared to 'home'. Some dimensions were beautiful, others were scary, but each one was spectacular.

There were surprises and twists that I wasn't expecting.  Even when I thought I had everything figured out, Ms. Gray went ahead and shocked me again.

This was incredibly enjoyable.  

5 out of 5 stars

Jasmine Thompson - Rather Be