Seen at Bookish Antics! 
 I've wanted to read Claudia Gray's Evernight series for ages, so when I heard that Gray was coming out with a science fiction book I knew I had to read it. By all counts, A Thousand Pieces Of You shouldn't work: it deals with alternate dimensions, features a love triangle, tackles Russian history and is slightly based in science. Despite my doubts, A Thousand Pieces Of You is an effective sci-fi book that explains multi-dimensional travel without resorting to convoluted explanations. 
 Marguerite's parents have made the impossible a reality by creating the Firebird, a device that makes multi-dimension travel possible. When Paul (one of her parents' assistants) kills her father and escapes with a Firebird, Marguerite takes it upon herself to seek revenge. With her parent's other assistant, Theo helps Marguerite travel across dimensions and discover the truth which she so desperately wants. 
 Multidimensional travel ranks as one of the hardest topics to explore in a fictitious novel, closely followed by time-travel. There's so much that can wrong in such a novel because the science behind alternate realities is so complex and abstract. This usually leads to books with plots that are all over the place with explanations that are laughably bad. Gray has convinced that multidimensional travel is possible in ATPOY by making the science behind it extremely accessible and intriguing. I'm no physicist, but I was interested by the unique, multi-faceted dimension hopping system that Gray created. 
 I wasn't a huge fan of the romance in this novel, which is a shame considering it's such an essential part of this novel. Both of the guys in this novels are largely mysteries to the reader to add an extra layer of uncertainty to the story. The problem is that I felt like I couldn't trust either guy and so, I couldn't root for either of them to be with Marguerite. I really would love to see further character development because there's so much potential within Theo's and Paul's character arcs. 
 One of the most exciting parts of ATPOY was seeing the different dimensions that the characters travel to. Each dimension was a treat to visit and had its own signature feature that set it apart from the rest. One of my favorite dimensions is a Russian one (that's why Saint Basil's Cathedral is on the cover) and this setting was so expertly crafted. 
 ATPOY started off with a decent amount of action, adding much excitement and tension, but the rest of the novel wasn't nearly as fast-paced. This was definitely an excellent hook, but I just wish some parts of this novel didn't feel so stagnant. Towards the end of the novel, things become extremely slow-paced as things start to fall together. The ending of this novel didn't feel like it was very conclusive, I felt like it needed something to tie everything all together. There wasn't anything to make me want to read book two immediately, this ending felt entirely forgettable. 
 With strong world-building and explanations for the Firebird, APOTY is a compelling venture into science fiction. I'm truly impressed that Claudia Gray was able to shift from writing paranormal fiction to writing sci-fi and it's a transition that seems seamless while reading ATOY. Sure, ATPOY has it's faults, but it's still an entertaining and worthwhile read.