It’s been a while since I picked up Claudia Gray’s A Thousand Pieces of You, the first book in the series. It is a YA sci-fi with multiverses and a romantic subplot, so it has a lot going on. But I’m a sucker for multiple dimensions and historical fiction flare, as we all know at this point. Let’s dive in!

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes and promises to revolutionise 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, and so she races after Paul along side Theo, another assistant, through different universes, leaping into versions of herself. In doing so, she meets alternate versions of the people she knows, including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways, and she begins to question Paul’s guilt as well as her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is far more sinister than she expected.

So, right off the bat, I want to tell you that while this is sci-fi multiverse (meaning a lot of science jargon and difficult physics involved in many actions and decisions) it is still YA> Meaning, it is easy to understand and the scientific foundations of the story world are not so complex that the reader feels they are left in the dust. For hardcore sci-fi readers, this may feel impossible or at least highly unlikely, but the good thing is that this is fiction. It doesn’t have to be real. It doesn’t have to be plausible. It is for entertainment purposes and if there are plot holes then that’s something you can note down for when you decide to write your sci-fi multiverse masterpieces. I would love to read more multiverse sci-fi fiction by the way, so if anyone has recommendations please let me know.

As far as plot goes, it’s pretty good at establishing the technological significance of not only the home world but other “developed” worlds, and the emotional drive is strong enough to carry us through the majority of the plot before the twists propel us the rest of the way. We get a glimpse of a few multiverses here, but my favourite is definitely the Russia-verse. I won’t go into too much detail, but I am a historical fiction fanatic, so given this multiverse to explore I would take my sweet time looking through every room possible. The oceanographer verse is pretty cool as well, and it certainly has me thinking a lot more about the effects of climate change and rising sea levels. It’s amazing what these worlds Claudia Gray has created will make you reconsider about our own world.

Marguerite is an interesting character; naive and inexperienced with the scientific world, she is an artist and sees the world through a different lens to her family. She knows the bare minimum to operate the Firebird, but she is quick to pick up on things and her survival instinct are decent. She isn’t among my favourites in this book, but she is a good fit for protagonist in this series. Paul is among my favourites. Actually he is my favourite. I adore Paul, his demeanour, his intelligence, and his attentiveness to Marguerite. He is described as tall, broad and a little mysterious (I promise he’s not a cookie cut-out of all love interests in YA – he’s blond, for starters) but he has such a gentle personality to him and every action he makes toward Marguerite is with care. Now Theo I don’t like. I remember not liking him the first time I read this and the point still stands years later. There’s just something about him I can’t gel with. As a character, he is great, and I appreciate that I don’t like him. It would be interesting to see how many people felt this way reading it incase it was an intentional character building/development strategy.

For a YA sci-fi, I think A Thousand Pieces of You is pretty good. It’s fun, fresh, and is more than just a sci-fi. It’s got a little bit of romance, a little bit of historical fiction, and a little bit of general adventure to make it entertaining and exciting. I remember the second book, Ten Thousand Skies Above You, is more serious and darker, so I am eager to continue my reread of these books.