Author: Claudia Gray
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
Goodreads
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.Review by Nara
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.
If you think about it, the idea of a book with alternate universes is actually kind of a genius one. If you don't like certain things about one timeline as the reader, it's okay, you might like the next one. In Ten Thousand Skies Above You we visit at least five different universes, and that makes for a lot of variety. It was interesting to see how the worlds differed in small ways that ended up having huge consequences.
Something that made a lot of people quite angry in the first book was how Marguerite treated one of her alternate bodies, and how she took away the choices of that version of herself. If that was the only or the main reason you didn't like the first book, I'd definitely recommend you continue reading the series, because this issue is dealt with really well. You can see her reflect on her choices and while the result wasn't completely ideal, I feel like it was quite realistic.
In this book, Marguerite is separated from Paul and is forced to go through several universes to find the pieces of his soul. Through doing so, she discovers that "destiny" isn't always something that's fixed and grows quite a lot as a character in terms of her relationship with others, romantic or otherwise. It's interesting, the book brings up this concept of nature vs. nurture and how the same person could be shaped by the circumstances and environment they're brought up with, even with the same genetics. I found this concept rather fascinating- it's like anyone can become someone "evil" if they're influenced by certain factors while growing up.
The Paul-Theo-Marguerite love triangle is made a lot more complicated in this book with so many different versions of Paul and Theo and Marguerite from the different worlds. I do think Marguerite eventually reaches an understanding about who she loves, and I think you as the reader get a pretty good idea of who she'll end up with in the third book. Unless there's some massive twist that Gray has yet to pull out.
And seriously, dat ending. DAT CLIFFHANGER OF AN ENDING. To be honest, I predicted it, but to now have to live through not being able to find out what happens next until next year...Claudia Gray. So evil.
Really liked it
RatingsOverall: 8/10
Plot: 4/5
Romance: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
World Building: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 5/5
