Ten Thousand Skies Above You

Goodreads
Author: Claudia Gray
Find the author: Website, Twitter, Goodreads
Also by this author: A Thousand Pieces of You, A Million Worlds with You
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: November 3rd 2015
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC from publisher (thank you!)
My rating:
Buy It: Indigo.ca | Amazon.com | The Book Depository | iBooks | Google Books | Audible

In this sequel to A Thousand Pieces of You by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray, Marguerite races through various dimensions to save the boy she loves.
Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents' invention, to cross through to alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse—even hurt the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked, and his consciousness is scattered across multiple dimensions.
The hunt for each splinter of Paul's soul sends Marguerite 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 dimension brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with every trial she faces, she begins to question the one constant she's found between the worlds: their love for each other.

Review:

Spoilers for A Thousand Pieces of You, the first book in the series. Don’t you dare read on if you haven’t read the first one – go check out my review for ATPOY instead. 

Claudia Gray, you brilliant, evil genius, you.

In A Thousand Pieces of You, I raced through the different worlds with Marguerite, fell in love with Paul right with her, and learned about how to traverse the universes. Descriptive world-building and a fast-pace kept things going, but left me wanting more character development. Ten Thousand Skies Above You has Marguerite whipping through worlds with a lot more understanding of how to manage, but also gives us the character development that I longed for. Every character and plot deepens in this second book, leaving me completely breathless at the end.

In fact, for me, the most interesting part of this book was how the fundamental things that Marguerite learned in the first book – about fate, destiny, and love – are both dismantled and reaffirmed in a way that reminds me of how I learned things at Marguerite’s age. At the beginning of the novel, Marguerite has the absolute belief that she and Paul are meant to be – that their love is destiny. It’s a bit of a naive view, and a big part of this second book is Marguerite reevaluating that (I’m not going to say more, I don’t want to spoil it!).

This reevaluation is a big part of why this second book worked so well for me. As much as it’s about a girl who is traversing radically different worlds in different bodies, it’s also about learning something, questioning your beliefs, and discovering what is right and wrong. It’s completely true to how I was at 17-18 years old, with each new learning just blowing the other out of the water…but when you add that growth to the concept of the story, this book just completely knocks your socks off.

That said, in attempting to develop her characters, there were moments when I felt the plot lagged a bit and we were stuck in universes a little too long. But guys…there were REASONS for everything. That is the thing I want you to remember if you’re in the middle and feeling a little confused. EVERYTHING IS FOR A REASON. That reason becomes clear in the back third of the novel.

That’s all I’m going to say for now. But stay with it, because the reveals and the plotting are incredible, and [very minor spoiler] the ending has the craziest, most awesome, I-didn’t-see-this-coming cliffhanger ever [end spoiler]. I am floored and absolutely desperate for book three. Is it next year yet?

Bonuses:

Love Triangle Done Right: I can’t say this enough. I know a lot of you hate love triangles, but to me, when it’s done right, you honestly have two very, very good options that are swoony and worthy (not one with less screen time) and it matters less who the person ends up with than that he/she is happy in the end. This one is done right.

 

I Want to Go To There: MOAR AMAZING TRAVEL. In this book, Marguerite hits up some really amazing locations, some darker than in the last book, but also some I was so excited to see in print. And the world building and description are just as amazing as in the first book.

 

All the Feels: Seriously, how does Claudia Gray do this? Her romance writing, her angst…all of it is pitch-perfect, intelligent, and just makes me want more.

 

Pop Culture References: Remember how in the first book, there would be this occasional mention of a band or book you liked and knew about, but with a twist? This one has that again. Total red herrings, but SO FUN.

 

Scientific Philosophy: This one has even more of the physics/philosophy talk that made the first one really work…and some of it is pretty damn abstract, but I love that Claudia Gray has no qualms about throwing it in there. She doesn’t dumb it down at all, and it just makes this book even more fun to figure out.

Book Theme Song:

Mirrors by Justin Timberlake

‘Cause I don’t wanna lose you now
I’m lookin’ right at the other half of me
The vacancy that sat in my heart
Is a space that now you hold
Show me how to fight for now
And I’ll tell you, baby, it was easy
Comin’ back here to you once I figured it out
You were right here all along

It’s like you’re my mirror
My mirror staring back at me

The Final Word:

I said this about A Thousand Pieces of You, and I’ll say it again for Ten Thousand Skies Above You: this series has something for everyone. Amazing plotting, great characters, interesting concept, swoony romance, discussions of art/philosophy/science…if you haven’t read this series yet, you really, really should. And if you’re as obsessed with me, just know that the second book is slower, but absolutely necessary and brilliant. I can’t wait for Book Three.