A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1)

This was a really great and interesting novel.
I found the concept of multiple universes to be unique and the characters were really well described and I felt that I wanted to know more about Paul, Marguerite and Theo as I'm reading.
The story was written in a way that showed the present as Marguerite travels through universes while also detailing the events leading up the construction of the Firebird. I think this gave it more intrigue.
There were some unexpected twists.
It was really captivating and I can't wait to read the next book!

MY THOUGHTS
I've been wanting to read this book for a long, long time. I added it to my TBR list back in 2013 when it was still titled Can't Get Next to You. The title changed, it got that AMAZING cover (probably my favorite cover of all time) and I wanted it even more! I was insanely happy when I finally got my hands on this book and I'm happy to say, it did not disappoint!

A major reason why I wanted to read this book was this: PARALLEL UNIVERSES! Anybody who knows me, knows that I am a bit obsessed with parallel universes. The worlds that Marguerite travels to are so intricate and well-done. It is very interesting to see how similar and how different the worlds can be to Marguerite's own world! And all the science behind the technology to do this is explained very clearly and it makes perfect sense!

This will probably come as a surprise, but I actually loved the romance! It's odd, since there is a bit of a love triangle. Not much so in this book, but I get the feeling that it will progress later on. I loved the guy that the romance was focused on in this book and I was definetly shipping it! I was annoyed by Marguerite, though, because she was constantly not accepting the fact that she loves him. I want my ship to sail!

IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this was probably one of the best books I've read this year! I love the idea of parallel universes! It was so well-done and developed! I rooted for the romance! And the characters were great as well!
I, honestly, cannot wait for the next book!

Marguerite Claine’s parents are physicists who have invented the Firebird, a way to allow its users into parallel universes. When Marguerite’s father is murdered by someone her family trusted, one of her parents’ assistants Paul, she doesn’t think twice about chasing his murderer through the dimensions. Armed with her own Firebird and Theo, another one of her parents’ assistants, Marguerite finds herself in worlds vastly different than her own trying to track down Paul. But the closer she gets to catching Paul, the more Marguerite questions his guilt, and her feelings.

Hello cover, you’re so pretty. The cover alone made this book one of my most anticipated fall releases but after reading the synopsis, I was excited about the book for more than just the cover. And it didn’t disappoint.

I really enjoyed the whole concept of the book. The world building was complex while being easy to follow. The science and theories of traveling to alternate universes was present but not overwhelming; I actually found the science quite interesting. The worlds Marguerite visited were so different from ours, a futuristic London, Russia just starting the industrial revolution, a world where people lived in underwater dwellings. The descriptions of them all were amazing.

Marguerite was a character I liked right away. She was different from her family, loving art instead of science, and it was great to see that her parents were supportive. She obviously cared for her family, and she included the many assistants her parents had over the years as part of that family. Her plan definitely wasn’t thought out but I could completely understand her willingness to just throw herself into catching her father’s killer without thinking too much about the consequences. I also found her to be a strong character throughout the book. She had insecurities and flaws but she was also caring and determined and talented and driven. My favourite thing about her though was that she was always questioning things that seemed off, even if other people were telling her to ignore the uneasy feeling.

I loved how complicated everything got and how there was some ethical dilemmas that came into play. When the characters jumped into an alternate universe, they were basically jumping into the bodies of their alternate selves, kind of borrowing the body while they were in that dimension. Decisions they made while inhabiting their alternate selves could affect the other them after they left.

The relationships between the characters were some of my favourite parts. There were so many different interactions. Marguerite and Theo were very flirty and fun, Marguerite and Paul were complicated as she began questioning his guilt, Marguerite and her Russian siblings from one of the alternate universes were cute and I probably could have read a whole book on them alone. Theo and Paul were close, described like brothers more than once in the book, and it made things even more complicated when they both had feelings for Marguerite.

The plot was full of twists, which is something I will always love. Some of them I was able to guess but they were things I had wanted to happen so I was okay with that. It was definitely an emotional ride, tears, smiles, laughs, more tears, a little outrage and denial that the next book is so very far away.

This is definitely a book I will remember. And again, that cover!

I really wanted to like A Thousand Pieces of You with a furious passion mostly because it would give a good reason to purchase it on a pretty hardcover edition and them I would stare at it all day (at least on weekends!) but, despite having a lot to go for, the overall feeling of this book is just... Flat. And forgettable.

We start the story with on a futuristic London and the plot is already happening, Marguerite is already hunting down her father's killer, Paul, with the help of Theo and this helped me keep reading because I really wanted to know what the hell was happening but at soon we start to have some flashbacks, which is how we learn what really happened to Marguerite's father and her connection with both boys but, as usually, this made me not really care about the characters? It's just a more personal thing, but I really am not a flashback kind of person (my least favorites episodes of The Originals are the ones with viking's flashbacks), they just take some of the feelings for me. It wouldn't have been a big thing overall if I didn't had other problems with it, but I had.

When we get to the second parallel universe, which is basically a Russia that stopped on the 20th century and it just seemed like the plot was totally forgotten there! In my view Marguerite was supposed to be hunting down her father's killer/discovering his motives/finding out the truth basically but them (conveniently) she stays stuck in this dimension where there is zero technology and we are supposed to be having some major ship feels with her and one of the boys but I just didn't care for either of these characters so it was really hard for me to care about their across-universes/bound-to-be romance. Also I think we have a love triangle, but it's so weak like seriously, I think Jacob had more chances over Edward than this love triangle (but by the end I think we kind of have a different love triangle between different dimensions kind of thing, right?).

Anyway, to top my lack of feels for all the characters there is also the lack of actually sci-fi on this book, we need to have a lot of suspension of disbelief to actually believe on this whole firebird thing. In resume I'm not sure what was really the plot of this book (the romance? the father thing?), the characters felt one dimensional and there wasn't actually much sci-fi for a parallel universe kind of book.

Recommended to: people who like romance with parallel universes, people who want romance and love the kind of star crossed lovers that are meant to be, people who want their sci-fi heavily focus on romance.