Ten Thousand Skies Above You (Firebird, 2)
In this stunning sequel to A Thousand Pieces of You by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray, Marguerite must race through various dimensions in a desperate attempt 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.
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Community Reviews
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Discussion Type Review
One doesn't just read (& review) Ten Thousand Skies Above You. This book, like it's predecessor, is a journey. An experience. It opens up your mind to the possibility of other worlds and challenges your thoughts on right and wrong and what makes a person whole. What is destiny, even fate? It opens up a lot of different topics for discussion. Some on the lighter side and some with a lot more depth. Both make you think, long and hard after finishing and even though it's been over a week since i have finished, I am STILL thinking about this book.
I will start off and say that I really loved this book. Not only do I love Claudia's writing, I love everything that she brings to us on the pages. Ten Thousand Skies Above You lacked the "middle book syndrome" we all know and hate, and from a personal standpoint, I liked this one more than the first.
So this series, as you know, focuses on many dimensions. The possibility for so many worlds is endless. In the first book, Marguerite falls in love with Paul from another dimension. But she is so hung up on the fact that every YOU is the same YOU in every dimension, so that love carried over to her world's Paul. In this book, it's evident that while some of those good parts of us are present in many different dimension, those BAD parts follow us too; even standing out in more worlds than one.
One of the things that really bothered me was how Marguerite held one dimension's version of someone accountable to ALL of them. Example, Theo and Conley. In essence, each person is similar from dimension to dimension but it becomes CLEAR that while it's YOU it's a different YOU and THAT DIMENSION'S YOU could (and does) make choices that you never would. Does that make YOU bad? No. It makes them/you unique and different. It makes them human. But. Marguerite made some awful choices while in other dimensions (um, Russiaverse) yet no one really held her to that.
Another thing - each character feels so much guilt over what their other self did in other dimensions. This, while in a sense, understandable, boggled my mind. In one hand, if a version of someone I loved hurt me or someone else I care about, it WOULD be hard for me to look that person in the eye at first, and not feel some sort of pain or anger. But I don't feel I would hold that version accountable, and judge them based on what their other self did. It's not fair. And Marguerite's constant hypocrisy with this angered me on many levels.
It also goes into the whole destiny/fate topic pretty hard and heavy. Marguerite's views that her and Paul are destined to meet/fall in love in every dimension are challenged by a few surprising developments. Again, what bothered me is that she held Russiaverse Paul and her Paul to a standard and was heartbroken when that standard wasn't met. Isn't it enough that they are destined to be in each other's lives, one way or another? Why is it so important that you have to be together across the span of ALL dimensions? WHY CAN'T YOUR LOVE FOR HIM AND YOUR RELATIONSHIP IN YOUR WORLD BE ENOUGH? It was SO FRUSTRATING.
Moving on.
We find out a HUGE development when Marguerite escapes to a world from the previous book. I had a feeling that THIS would happen, because I feel like something HUGE needed to happy for Marguerite to understand that what she does in other dimensions has repercussions. It's not her body, not her world. I am a little dumbfounded on the thought process of that, because there are many other things that would have happened to show her this. If you want to know - The Russiaverse Marguerite is pregnant. It was also an interesting development that each Marguerite remembers what happens when they are "taken over." SCARY.
Towards the end, when we learn about Triad and the means behind ALL of it, another topic comes up to think about and one that I think the third book will dive deeper into. I don't even want to discuss it (plus it's a spoiler), because it can open up a can a worms and the more I think about it, the more my brain hurts.
Speaking of the ending--- I was laughing at the irony of where the book left off. Not only because of the cliff-hanger, but because someone is getting a large dose of their own medicine. I am so excited to see how THAT turns out.
To sum up. I loved Ten Thousand Skies Above You. There are some elements in the series that I disagree with but I love how much Claudia gives us to think about and how well she has built up this world. I recommend this series!
Discussion Type Review
One doesn't just read (& review) Ten Thousand Skies Above You. This book, like it's predecessor, is a journey. An experience. It opens up your mind to the possibility of other worlds and challenges your thoughts on right and wrong and what makes a person whole. What is destiny, even fate? It opens up a lot of different topics for discussion. Some on the lighter side and some with a lot more depth. Both make you think, long and hard after finishing and even though it's been over a week since i have finished, I am STILL thinking about this book.
I will start off and say that I really loved this book. Not only do I love Claudia's writing, I love everything that she brings to us on the pages. Ten Thousand Skies Above You lacked the "middle book syndrome" we all know and hate, and from a personal standpoint, I liked this one more than the first.
So this series, as you know, focuses on many dimensions. The possibility for so many worlds is endless. In the first book, Marguerite falls in love with Paul from another dimension. But she is so hung up on the fact that every YOU is the same YOU in every dimension, so that love carried over to her world's Paul. In this book, it's evident that while some of those good parts of us are present in many different dimension, those BAD parts follow us too; even standing out in more worlds than one.
One of the things that really bothered me was how Marguerite held one dimension's version of someone accountable to ALL of them. Example, Theo and Conley. In essence, each person is similar from dimension to dimension but it becomes CLEAR that while it's YOU it's a different YOU and THAT DIMENSION'S YOU could (and does) make choices that you never would. Does that make YOU bad? No. It makes them/you unique and different. It makes them human. But. Marguerite made some awful choices while in other dimensions (um, Russiaverse) yet no one really held her to that.
Another thing - each character feels so much guilt over what their other self did in other dimensions. This, while in a sense, understandable, boggled my mind. In one hand, if a version of someone I loved hurt me or someone else I care about, it WOULD be hard for me to look that person in the eye at first, and not feel some sort of pain or anger. But I don't feel I would hold that version accountable, and judge them based on what their other self did. It's not fair. And Marguerite's constant hypocrisy with this angered me on many levels.
It also goes into the whole destiny/fate topic pretty hard and heavy. Marguerite's views that her and Paul are destined to meet/fall in love in every dimension are challenged by a few surprising developments. Again, what bothered me is that she held Russiaverse Paul and her Paul to a standard and was heartbroken when that standard wasn't met. Isn't it enough that they are destined to be in each other's lives, one way or another? Why is it so important that you have to be together across the span of ALL dimensions? WHY CAN'T YOUR LOVE FOR HIM AND YOUR RELATIONSHIP IN YOUR WORLD BE ENOUGH? It was SO FRUSTRATING.
Moving on.
We find out a HUGE development when Marguerite escapes to a world from the previous book. I had a feeling that THIS would happen, because I feel like something HUGE needed to happy for Marguerite to understand that what she does in other dimensions has repercussions. It's not her body, not her world. I am a little dumbfounded on the thought process of that, because there are many other things that would have happened to show her this. If you want to know - The Russiaverse Marguerite is pregnant. It was also an interesting development that each Marguerite remembers what happens when they are "taken over." SCARY.
Towards the end, when we learn about Triad and the means behind ALL of it, another topic comes up to think about and one that I think the third book will dive deeper into. I don't even want to discuss it (plus it's a spoiler), because it can open up a can a worms and the more I think about it, the more my brain hurts.
Speaking of the ending--- I was laughing at the irony of where the book left off. Not only because of the cliff-hanger, but because someone is getting a large dose of their own medicine. I am so excited to see how THAT turns out.
To sum up. I loved Ten Thousand Skies Above You. There are some elements in the series that I disagree with but I love how much Claudia gives us to think about and how well she has built up this world. I recommend this series!
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