Book Blog #192: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Title: A Thousand Pieces of You
Author: Claudia Gray
# of Pages: 373 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: 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.
Review: You've got to admit: the cover is gorgeous.

When I started to read this book, I had no idea what it was about. All I knew was that I had to read this book with the beautiful cover that a few of my friends were reading.

The book got off on a rocky start with, with some small inaccurate details annoying the heck out of me.

"I’d come in from piano lessons, and I quickly ditched my sheet music so I’d look less like a kid. "

Since when does sheet music make a person look like a kid? Even professionals use sheet music sometimes, depending on what they're working on. Details like this one is what make the book unrealistic; someone who is learning music wouldn't find holding sheeting music embarrassing. Like in the quote, the protagonist's feelings/reactions aren't realistic enough as the author is probably not writing from experience and isn't able to fake the details.

"We don’t have much family aside from Aunt Susannah, who seems to think Thanksgiving is some barbaric American custom that would give her the cooties."

Here's another example of where the author seems to get the idea wrong. As an adult, Aunt Susannah probably doesn't dislike Thanksgiving for the cooties - that's a very five year- old thing to say. In the same manner, Meg, a young adult, would probably not use cooties as a justification for her Aunt's displeasure with the holiday, even if she were saying so mindlessly. Sure, the author can make her characters say and think how she wants. But it's uncharacteristic for them to have cooties in their vocabulary.

What freaked me out about this book was that I had actually thought up a similar concept of multiple dimensions being created for a every possible decision. I was shocked that for the second time in my life, someone thought up the same concept as me.

However the story improved overtime as the plot thickened, and of course I'm can't resist a good love triangle.

If you're looking for a light, easy about a unique concept paired with a cliché love triangle, this is the book for you.