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.

Kalahari by Jessica Khoury

Series: Corpus (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Sci-fi Thriller

Subjects: experiments, animals, scientists, deserts, mystery, survival, adventure

Setting: The Kalahari semi-desert in Botswana, Africa

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Sarah

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 354 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Penguin: Razorbill

Summary/ product description: “Deep in the Kalahari Desert, a Corpus lab protects a dangerous secret…

But what happens when that secret takes on a life of its own?

When an educational safari goes wrong, five teens find themselves stranded in the Kalahari Desert without a guide. It’s up to Sarah, the daughter of zoologists, to keep them alive and lead them to safety, calling on survival know-how from years of growing up in remote and exotic locales. Battling dehydration, starvation and the pangs of first love, she does her best to hold it together, even as their circumstances grow increasingly desperate.

But soon a terrifying encounter makes Sarah question everything she’s ever known about the natural world. A silver lion, as though made of mercury, makes a vicious, unprovoked attack on the group. After a narrow escape, they uncover the chilling truth behind the lion’s silver sheen: a highly contagious and deadly virus that threatens to ravage the entire area—and eliminate life as they know it.

In this breathtaking new novel by the acclaimed author of Origin and Vitro, Sarah and the others must not only outrun the virus, but its creators, who will stop at nothing to wipe every trace of it.”

My Review: Kalahari is the third (and final or not final?) book in the Corpus series, a companion to Origin and Vitro. I’m not sure if this is happening at the same time or after those books. There are no shared characters, but Strauss was mentioned once. Sarah and her father live in the Kalahari. Her father is a zoologist originally from New Zealand, and is studying the migration of animals. Sarah’s mother died four month ago in an accident, and she was from North Carolina originally.

Five teens arrive at their camp for a week of learning about wildlife and the ways of the Kalahari. All the fun is pushed aside when Sarah’s father and half-bushman Theo go off to get the location of poacher hunting a white lion. They don’t return by nightfall and the next morning Sarah takes the teens in search of her father, who may be dead by now. They come upon a metallic lion and can’t believe their eyes. Lots of struggles happen. Surviving this semi-desert is not easy, and thankfully Theo taught Sarah the ways of the Bushmen.

I have never read a book with a setting like this before! Not many books I’ve read have even been in Africa, and none in southern Africa. Instantly it reminded me on Zoo, the TV show based off the James Patterson book of the same name. It also made me think of Inhuman by Kat Fall, a book I recently read about a virus that turn people into animal. This virus/infection spreads by touch and turns animals and people into metal (not normal metal. It’s not like King Midas’s touch). This is like those adventure movies where there’s something mysterious going on. Movies like the Mummy or Indiana Jones or the Ruins.

The characters were pretty interesting. Sarah, our narrator, was kind of awkward and not used to being around people her age. Sam was helpful and protective, and her love interest. Miranda and Kase, both from Boston, were together and kind of rich and spoiled and not used to the wild. They complained a lot. Kase is a photographer, and he brought Miranda along. Joey is an Asian guy from California whose always joking around. Avani is half-Indian, half-Kenyan and Canadian. She very book smart and likes to study and really prepared for this trip. I like it when there are not so many characters that you get confused. The adult characters are less developed, but add to the story.

I’d recommend this book series to fans of Unremembered, Maximum Ride, Altered by Jennifer Rush, The Rules by Stacy Kade and other books about when science goes wrong. Also, if you like foreign settings or you just love animal, you’ll enjoy this.

Cover Art Review: These new cover for this series are not that compelling. Though, this cover does show an African landscape. But in the book Sarah said there were no rocks, only sand and here I see boulders or a rocky ridge.