A Thousand Pieces of You Review

As the daughter of two brilliant physicists, Marguerite Caine grew up surrounded by wild scientific theories, always encouraged to imagine the improbable or even the impossible. But when her father is murdered, Marguerite’s life is turned upside down. All the evidence points to one person – Paul, her parents’ handsome, enigmatic protégé. Before the law can touch him, though, Paul uses Marguerite’s mother’s latest invention – a device called the Firebird, which allows people to leap into alternate dimensions – to escape.

With the help of another physics student, Theo, Marguerite chases Paul through various dimensions, determined to avenge her father. Her parents theorised that people who have met in one reality will be likely to meet in another … that key moments will happen over and over, in different ways. But when Marguerite leaps into each new world, she meets another version of Paul that has her doubting his guilt and questioning her heart. Before long she realises that what happened to her father may be more complex, and more sinister, than she ever dreamed.

First off - why on earth is this the only book I've ever read about inter-dimensional travel? The whole premise is just so original and brilliant and has so much scope. 

Oh wait. Another book about dimensional travel wouldn't have the same originality, would it?

BASICALLY I LOVED THE INTER-DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL AND AM VERY GLAD THERE ARE MORE BOOKS IN THE SERIES TO EXPLORE IT EVEN MORE.

Because ... it just makes the book a kaleidoscope of different settings and genres - you know how much we all love a well-built fantasy world? Well this book has three. Three! I don't want to spoil anything for you, but I've never seen the inside of a Palace from a Sci-Fi book. Especially not a Sci-Fi book that has also given me a beautifully real contemporary setting with brilliantly individual characters, and a technologically awesome-

Urgh. No. The mere existence of any of these parallel universes is a spoiler. I really need to stop talking to you about them. What else can I possibly talk about?

Oh, I know. Characters. As a creative black sheep in a scientific family, I couldn't help but identify with Marguerite, the painter who grew up in a physics-saturated household. I usually don't like changeable characters, especially those with love triangles to deal with, but I guess we'd all be a little bit changeable if we had to jump into different versions of ourselves. It's a pretty good excuse, I'll give her that.

As for quiet, intense Paul and flirty, ever-so-slightly-arrogant Theo, the love interests, I'm so glad they were well-written. They were both developed to the point where I honestly didn't have a team - not to the extent that I was annoyed at Marguerite for her confusion, anyway. Plus the boys genuinely cared about each other - no thinly-veiled hatred that made the love triangle more of a V.

I'm really hoping you know what I mean by a love V because I don't know how else to explain it. 

Marguerite's family had all three things a main character's family need to be realistic and brilliant in a YA novel. 1) They existed and actually had some page time; 2) Her parents had tangible, multi-faceted personalities, and 3) they were actually properly individual.

Sorry, maybe my boundaries were unfairly low there. But you get my point about it being refreshing (not to mention downright AWESOME) to see a well thought-out and described family in non-contemporary YA, right?

Hmm ... plot. It was very twisty-turny, which I found majorly exciting - especially when combined with all the dimension-hopping - but it meant that the characters weren't working to a consistent goal the whole time. I barely even noticed, to be honest, but you might get annoyed by it, so consider this a warning if you get fed up with that sort of thing.

In conclusion: parallel universes = many many vivid settings from many genres wrapped up in one beautifully original package, and a love triangle I don't actually get frustrated by because the characters are all great. GIVE IT A SHOT, OKAY?

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