A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray

Series: Firebird Trilogy (bk. 3) final book

Genera(s): Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: multiverse, parallel universes, science, love

Setting: In multiple parallel universes

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Marguerite Caine

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 419 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “A million universes. A million dangers. One destiny.

The fate of the multiverse rests in Marguerite Caine’s hands. Marguerite has been at the center of a cross-dimensional feud since she first traveled to another universe using her parents’ invention, the Firebird. Only now has she learned the true plans of the evil Triad Corporation—and that those plans could spell doom for dozens or hundreds of universes, each facing total annihilation.

Paul Markov has always been at Marguerite’s side, but Triad’s last attack has left him a changed man—angry and shadowed by tragedy. He struggles to overcome the damage done to him, but despite Marguerite’s efforts to help, Paul may never be the same again.

So it’s up to Marguerite alone to stop the destruction of the multiverse. Billions of lives are at stake. The risks have never been higher. And Triad has unleashed its ultimate weapon: another dimension’s Marguerite—wicked, psychologically twisted, and always one step ahead.

In the epic conclusion to Claudia Gray’s Firebird trilogy, fate and family will be questioned, loves will be won and lost, and the multiverse will be forever changed. It’s a battle of the Marguerites . . . and only one can win.”

My Review:  A Million Worlds with You is the final book in the Firebird trilogy. If you have not read this series then I recommend it to fans of series and book including: Parallel by Lauren Miller, Tandem by Anna Jarzeb, 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil, The False Memory Series by Dan Krokos, Unraveling and Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris, Unremembered and Unforgotten by Jessica Brody.

It’s about parallel universes and traveling between them. Marguerite in an artist and her parent a physicist that built a device called the Firebird that a necklace that lets you consciousness travel into another version of you. Marguerite is in love with a young scientist named Paul who’s a grad student working under her parents. There’s another student named Theo. Marguerite has a sister named Josie, and there’s also the rich CEO Wyatt Conly, who is Josie’s fiancé in other universes.

In this final book Marguerite chases after the evil version of herself she call Wicked. Wicked is from the Home Office universe that’s very advanced. Josie, who was the perfect traveler from her universe, was splinted into many pieced, and parts of her are in other Josies. They plan on destroying the other universes to put her back together. In the previous book Paul was splintered, but only in four pieces, which only took a Firebird to put him back together. Paul is still damaged from this experience and even through Marguerite love him, he believe he is still dangerous and pushes her away.

This book is an epic saga of travel between dimensions. Wicked tries to kill the other Marguerites in ways that are slow so when our Marguerite jumps into them, she might die too. From futuristic London to an Egyptian dig to outerspace and so on. So many different Marguerites. Paul says there’s a way to prevent the destruction of a universe and builds stabilizers to save some, but it’s not easy. Can Marguerite, her family, Paul and Theo save the multiverse from the Home Office, or will someone have to make the ultimate sacrifice?

I was very pleased with this book. Like the whole series, it was so exciting I really didn’t want to put it down, but school and work go in the way, so I had to. This is best read when there’s nothing else going on, like on a snow day or something. This is probably one the best sci-fi series I’ve read. I’m going to miss it so much.

Cover Art Review: I love these cover so much. The watercolor is gorgeous, the skylines flipped are so cool. Very sophisticated typography too.

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

Series: Firebird Trilogy (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: multiverse, parallel universes, science, love

Setting: San Francisco, California, New York City, Paris

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Marguerite Caine

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 426 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents' invention, to cross into alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse—even hurting the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked and his consciousness scattered across multiple dimensions.

Marguerite has no choice but to search for each splinter of Paul’s soul. The hunt sends her racing through a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each world brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with each trial she faces, she begins to question the destiny she thought they shared.

The second book in the Firebird trilogy, Ten Thousand Skies Above You features Claudia Gray’s lush, romantic language and smart, exciting action, and will have readers clamoring for the next book.”

My Review:  This is a really awesome sequel. I’ve been waiting for this since I finished the first book and now I’m so happy to have read. Claudia Gray has made another great series, this time sci-fi instead of paranormal. These books have such beautiful covers, and wonderful content to match. I enjoyed every moment of this book. There are no dull moments. It’s like a thriller. The setting moves to different places, different worlds. It’s exciting and fast paced.

Marguerite travels to different dimension, into different versions of herself to collect the pieces of Paul soul that were splintered. She’s been made a “perfect traveler” so she has complete control over herself in the other universes. Conley is forcing her to destroy her parent’s Firebird project work in these other dimension. The Firebird is a device that lets people’s consciousness travel into other version of themselves. They can’t physically travel there; only their minds do. I love seeing how different or similar each universe is. It’s like a surprise every time. There are different circumstances, so people may be different from their other selves in some ways. Sometime she finds herself in California, where she lives currently. Sometimes in England, New York, or Russia. The travel part of this book adds interest.

Somehow Marguerite is connected to Paul in some way in most of the universes. Also Theo is there frequently too. Marguerite discovers that she sometimes is in love with Theo, not always Paul. She loves Paul deeply, though. Theo is a great friend to her. I personally like Theo more because he’s got a great sense of humor and dresses like a hipster, and Paul is kind of quiet. They’re both smart, though. It’s not truly a love triangle.

I recommend it to those who enjoyed: Parallel by Lauren Miller, Tandem by Anna Jarzeb, 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil, The False Memory Series by Dan Krokos, Unraveling and Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris, Unremembered and Unforgotten by Jessica Brody, and other parallel universe book, and The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges, which is set in Russia.

Cover Art Review: I still love the use of watercolor texture and the city skylines. These are still some of my favorite covers and make me wish I bought them, but I liked the colors of the previous cover better. The indigo/navy blue with the stars in it is nice and reminds me of my own watercolor paintings of night skies.

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Series: Firebird Trilogy (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: multiverse, parallel universes, science, love

Setting: California, England, Russia, and the Ocean

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense: Marguerite Caine

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 357 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.”

My Review:  I’ve been anticipating this book for a long long time and now I finally read it. I remember at Claudia Gray’s signing for Spellcaster at Anderson’s Bookshop, when she mentioned that she was writing a series called Firebird. I thought it sounded awesome and couldn’t wait and now that I read it I can say that it definitely was awesome.

This pretty cover is not some disguise for a book that’s no good. The book inside is just as wonderful as it is on the outside. It’s sci-fi and has multiple settings in different versions of the world. This is pretty much the best YA book about parallel universes that I’ve ever read. It’s kind of like Unremembered and Unforgotten by Jessica Brody, except, instead of time travel, it’s parallel worlds.

It starts out with Marguerite in London, which seems to be futuristic. Marguerite is from a world almost just like ours, and from California. Apparently she’s living in London in this other universe and has a British accent. Marguerite paints portraits in her universe, but in this world there no art supplies in her apartment. Theo is in Boston and has to travel to her. They are tracking down Paul who may have killed Marguerite’s father back in their world. Claudia Gray really knows how to write love interests and heroines. I loved Bianca, Lucas and Balthazar, but now I get to love Marguerite, Theo and Paul. Theo is somewhat cocky and funny, while Paul in kind of intense and hard to understand. Both are very smart guys.

Later on in the book Marguerite is in a universe in which she’s a Grand Duchess of Russia (her mom is descended from Russian nobility). This world it’s less advanced and like the early 1900s instead of 2014. I really enjoyed the Russian setting. It reminded me of The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges. St. Petersburg, Russia at Christmastime is a perfect setting for this time of year. I’m not a fan of historical fiction, but this part of the book feel more fantastical that historical.

This book is very complex and entertaining. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for more. I recommend it to those who enjoyed: Parallel by Lauren Miller, Tandem by Anna Jarzeb, 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil, The False Memory Series by Dan Krokos, Unraveling and Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris, Unremembered and Unforgotten by Jessica Brody, and other parallel universe book, and The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges, which is set in Russia.

Cover Art Review: I love the use of watercolor texture and the city skylines. This is my favorite cover of the year and even won a cover love award on EpicReads. It’s so gorgeous that I wanted to buy it so bad, but I didn’t because I had already got it from the library. It’s just the most enticing cover ever.