A Thousand Pieces of You

We again have another favorite book. I was highly anticipating the release of this book and that was mostly due to the cover. But this book was so much more awesome than the cover made me think it was. I was not disappointed in any aspect. The one flaw in the book and it is minimal, is the fact that I was able to predict a small detail that we learn at the end.

The writing and descriptions in this book were great. Claudia Gray has a very unique and intriguing way to draw you into the story. The way she described all the science in the book was great. She was descriptive and went in depth, but at the same time she would add humor to it to fit with Marguerite's lack of science understanding. I loved the way everything was introduced and explained in the different universes. Even when the universe was very similar to Marguerite's real home, we always knew what the differences were. Having Marguerite be an artist who focuses on detail was very important in regard to this story. The narrator needed to be someone who was detail-oriented but who also had a very limited understanding of physics. The whole basis of other universe travel was based on physics and using equations to understand why things happened.

Paul Markov was a very complex character who we knew very little about, however as the story went on we learned more about his life and his interactions with Marguerite. I loved the little flashbacks throughout the book that gave you a better understanding of why it was so shocking that Paul could kill Marguerite's father and destroy all the data and leave.

There were many twists and turns in this book that set many things up for the next book and the rest of the series. I appreciate that Claudia Gray didn't leave us with a huge cliffhanger because that is just cruel, but she still has me beyond anxious to read the next one and find out what they are going to do to stop the villain, (not naming him because spoilers).

Overall, this was an amazing start to a new series. It contained so many elements of what I appreciate in a book, there was the science aspect, the whole fantasy, multiple universes aspect, the humor, and of course the romance. The cover of this book is just as amazing as the actual book. And it is going to look great on favorites shelf.

Audiobook narration was cool. The Russia part had Russian accents so I enjoyed a lot. Otherwise, story was very weak.

—avert your eyes, spoilers ahead—

So many problems!
• Ok the SciFi was not my favorite as it wasn't well explained. Please just read Recursion by Blake Crouch which also has a consciousness device but it is so well thought out and properly explained.

• They made a dimension jumping device which lets your consciousness jump dimensions but the damn device jumps physically with you. That's basically a teleportation device! Leave parallel worlds, you guys can teleport. Just change your device a little and you have another scientific discovery.

• The body remains behind but in what state? What if somebody walks in on you while you're dimension jumping? Don't tell me it's quantum physics and say it's hard to explain. What is this, Ant-Man?

* Also just remembered, for you to be able to jump dimensions and come back to your original dimension, you would need to know how many dimensions in total there are, and what dimension you're jumping into next to act as a point of reference. But do we know that? Noooooo. Think Shades of Magic by Schwab where we knew and used tokens from each world. Otherwise, there is no way Paul knew which dimension he was jumping into next. (Can't believe I'm realising this 3 days after finishing this disaster).

• The romance! Ugh. The love triangle. Ughhhh. If I wanted to read a love triangle, I'd read Twilight.

• Stupid Russian storyline! Meg has sex with the love of her life in another dimension, TWICE, while she is in an alternate version of herself, with the guy from that dimension. Dudeeee! Think of the consequences for your other self! Also, if you're gonna do it, at least have safe sex. But nooooo! I really just stopped caring for the story at this point.

• The only likable character is Paul, but not by a lot. Theo is just downright suspicious from page one. Meg is awful for making stupid decisions. She went from trying to kill Paul to trying to kill Theo with barely any thought.

• Till the last page, we're talking about the love triangle. Oh go to hell, Theoooo! We don't like you. “If I have to let somebody else have you, at least it's him.” Oh fuck offfffff!

• Lastly, if people can overtake your body and consciousness and make you do bad things, maybeee make a device that blocks other people from jumping into you. Phhhhhbbbbttt!!!

Muito, muito bom. O livro foi uma curva gaussiana para mim. Como comentado, começou como uma distopia confusa com as várias idéias de mundos paralelos e destinos, mas que evoluiu para um romance, que embora baseado em uma tradicional cliché dos romances, foi adorável e apaixonante (sim, gosto de romance para menininha, julguem-me, I don't care). A parte da Rússia com certeza foi a preferida de todas.
A relação que a protagonista tem com sua família é muito boa, e rara nos dias de hoje termos personagens que são ligados à família amorosa. Marguerite não é a melhor das protagonista ou a mais forte, mas talvez sua personalidade comum tenha contribuído para desempatar (?) um pouco a história. Achei as atitudes dele de impulsos, mas toleráveis - licença poética ao sentimento e não ao raciocínio.
Discordo que seja um triângulo amoroso bem construído, já que, como ela mesma percebi em alguns momentos, há uma grande diferença entre o flerte e o se apaixonar.
O final teve o reviravolta esperada, mas fiquei surpresa com as descobertas e bem animada. Apenas achei negativo a falta de mais perguntas e pontas soltas para um próximo volume. Caso fosse um stand alone, mas com um pouco de detalhes, estaria de bom tamanho. A autora conseguiu amarrar os pontos da estória e não deixar muitas dúvidas.

This book was incredibly entertaining. It was so fun to follow the characters through all the alternate dimensions and watch them live those different lives. Highly recommend!

I also think it ends in a way that can easily be read as a standalone. Which is perfect for me sometimes when I don't necessarily want to get into another series.

Read my full review here: https://vicsense.wordpress.com/2018/01/07/a-thousand-pieces-of-you-firebird-1/

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THE COVER IS GORGEOUS.

RUSSIAN PAUL IS GORGEOUS.

THE CHIVALRY AND VALOR IS BLINDING.

I”m all about narratives set in Imperial Russia. Lieutenant Markov is the best; too bad he isn't a main character.

Ah, this saddens me immensely, because I am absolutely in love with the concept of this. Travelling between dimensions? Living the life that could have been yours, if only some choices had been different? Experimenting with what could have been! That is immensely cool! And that aspect of the book I think is great, though I think it's taken further in the next of the series, it's just that I was incredibly bored by everything else. I didn't find the characters too interesting and it probably didn't help that certain plot points about certain characters weren't very surprising at all, which is fine, but it might have helped otherwise.

Also, they touch upon this a bit at the end of the book, and this series obviously can't continue without that aspect of it, but I was a bit bothered with them taking over their other's selves bodies and doing whatever the heck they want with it. Marguerite at one point has sex with Paul while she's a Russian princess, which is sort of gross, but also brings with it that the other Marguerite may very well be pregnant (due to sex she'll barely remember) and that one instant may have just ruined her life. She thinks about that for an instant, and then is obviously distracted by that dimension's Paul being wounded and dying, so it was kind of *shrug* and move on. I mean, if they had to go there, I had hoped for more consequences for it. More repercussions. Anything.

I finished this pretty quickly because it was an audiobook, and maybe some of my lack of enjoyment was due to the narration and perhaps it would have been better if I had read it, but eh. It was a bit too much on the “YA side of YA” for me, if ya know what I mean.

Existem alguns livros que acabam com a gente, mas da melhor forma possível. Terminei de ler Mil pedaços de você há tempo o suficiente para me recuperar da história, mas ao abrir um post novo para escrever esta resenha, lembrei tudo o que senti durante a leitura.
A premissa de Mil Pedaços de Você é bem interessante: você fica pulando de dimensão em dimensão buscando vingança e de repente se depara com amor. À primeira vista, pensei que essa fosse uma história de vingança e perseguição, mas com o tempo percebi que mesmo que estejamos pulando dimensões, correndo através de universos paralelos uma e outra vez para vingar a morte do pai da personagem principal, essa aventura toda se torna pequena em comparação ao foco maior: o amor.
Honestamente, eu nem sei como escrever essa resenha (e essa é um das razões por eu demorar tanto para escrevê-la) porque a trama é recheada de plot twists, personagens adoráveus e seu “fio” condutor é brilhante. Nossa heroína é a filha de dois cientisitas brilhantes que vai utilizar a invenção de seus pais para perseguir Paul Marakov, um dos assistentes de se pai que era considerado um membro da família até os trair, de dimensão a dimensão com a ajuda de Theo, outro assistente. Ela é focada na vingança até se apaixonar e perceber que Paul pode não ser o responsável pela porte de seu pai – a ironia dessa paixão triangular foi o que me fiscou em um primeiro momento (ainda que eu não goste de triângulos amorosos).
Deixando de lado a questão amorosa por um momento (porque o senso de imediatismo de Marguerite, sua proatividade, só funciona para o amor – ela poderia sim ser mais proativa em outras questões, porém... provavelmente isso foi importante neste momento para o crescimento da personagem), o ritmo da narrativa é muito fluído, os pulos de uma dimensão para outra são bem explicados e a experiência desse deslocamento foi maravilhosamente descrita – as explicações cientificas também parecem terem sido muito pesquisadas (e de forma completa). O romance começa de forma rápida e faz nosso coração bater em seu ritmo.
Antes de acabar essa resenha, vamos falar de alguns aspectos gerais: A forma como Claudia Gray construiu esse mundo não foi nada do que eu esperava (de um jeito bom), entretanto o triângulo amoroso é tudo aquilo que já encontramos anteriormente: os dois interesses amorosos são um pouco genéricos demais para a profundidade ansiada pela premissa, Marguerite [ainda] não tem uma voz ativa e distinta na trama (entretanto, ela cai de cabeça em tudo o que faz, o que é uma boa característica) e mesmo que eu tenha adorado tanto a narrativa quanto os personagens, ainda procuro o que faz deles personagens únicos. O uso de referências da cultura pop teve o propósito de linkar a trama com a realidade do leitor e essa foi uma manobra inteligente – é claro, alguns podem não gostar, mas as referências a Beyonce e Leonardo DiCaprio, por exemplo, estão lá.
De forma geral, foi um começo completo para a série. É uma boa trama sci-fi com pouco sci e mais “amor”, porque mesmo que Marguerite esteja procurando justiça por seu pai, ela o deixa em segundo plano em sua jornada pelo amor. Tenho boas expectativas para os próximos volumes, já que o jogo com a moral e o que os americanos chamam de “grey area” (area cinza) estão com tudo. A escrita de Gray é sempre um ponto muito forte, delicada e sensível, em certas cenas era como seguir uma canção e me deixei envolver por suas palavras.
Para finalizar, a trama não é perfeita, mas algo na escrita realmente fez sua mágica já que há algo de poético na ironia do desenvolvimento dessa história romântica. E mal posso esperar para te contar o que achei do segundo volume.