Currently Reading│Book Beginning : A Thousand Pieces of You & Sample: A Darker Shade of Magic

Currently Reading #35

Name: A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1)
Author: Claudia Gray
Number of Pages: 368 pages in Hardcover
Published: November 4th 2014 by Harper Teen
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him. Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

Finally. Reading this. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, perhaps you would remember me posting a blog about Claudia visiting the Philippines for a book signing tour and unfortunately, I’ve missed it. Imagine the frustration I felt when Claudia is just a couple of blocks away signing books and I’m sitting in my office so unaware. I’ve read it in an article a day after only to learn that Claudia’s already in Cebu and that’s far from where I am. As in you need to take an airplane far. How in world could I missed it? Anyway, I moved on. I just want to share it for those who missed that blog I posted about it. Here’s a five star, three star and one star review respectively. Got them from book lovers on Goodreads.

One of the most interesting, unique stories I have had the privilege to read in quite some time. I can’t even begin to capture a picture of the basic story for you, all that would do is serve an injustice. Just trust me, you need to go pick this book up and me as captivated as I am now. I can def see this being made into a major motion picture. Why can’t all stories take you on a journey such as this one?!  Now, I’m going to need Claudia Gray to hurry up and finish the 2nd book in this series so I can finish it in a day. 🙂  MUST READ!
— Jessica of My Kaleidoscope Heart 

Hmm. I’d never read anything about inter dimensional travel before so I really don’t know what I was expecting going into this. Complete and utter madness maybe. But that wasn’t really what I got. The story was interesting and all but I found myself skimming huge sections at a time to get to the important parts. Overall it was entertaining enough but I don’t know if the next chapters of the story are for me.
— Michael of The Young Folks

Nothing hurts more than the sense of betrayal wrapped up in a gorgeous book cover and a more-than-promising blurb. Perhaps a single-star review is slightly harsh for Claudia Gray’s “A Thousand Pieces of You” (more truthfully “only five pieces of you”) and perhaps I’ll regret that later and change it to two stars out of pity and a sense of inconsistency (I mean I did have the decency to give John Green’s “Paper Towns” two stars…), but honestly I can only award praise to this book for its premise. The book promised world class physicists, a dimension jumping story line, and a hot chase for vengeance. Sure enough, I was lured spectacularly into this book’s clutches. Expecting a thrilling science-fiction tale, I was met with, poor characterization & character motivation, Romance with a capital R, and poorly written science-fiction full of plot holes that are probably more suited to the fantasy genre.
— Linna of Kirayukiruma

Pretty intense reviews. Don’t you agree? To be honest, I’m quite worried about the one star reviews I’ve read, but I hope this works for me. I really want to love this. Anyway, I’m also reading the Sneak Peek of A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab which I was approved from NetGalley. 😀

Name: SNEAK PEEK:
A Darker Shade of Magic SAMPLE
Author: V.E. Schwab
Number of Pages: 150 pages in Ebook Sample
Published: November 2014 by Tor Books
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction

Kell is one of the last Travelers—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes—as such, he can choose where he lands.
There’s Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there’s Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne—a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London…but no one speaks of that now.
Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see—a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—and that is proving trickier than they hoped.

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader, where we share the first sentence (or so) of the books we are reading, along with initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Here’s the book’s beginning for A Thousand Pieces of You:

“My hand shakes as I brace myself against the brick wall.
Rain falls cold and sharp against my skin, from a sky I’ve never seen before.
It’s hard to catch my breath, to get any sense of where I am.”

Hmm.. I wonder what happened since it seems like she doesn’t have the faintest idea where she is and most likely what she’s doing there either. Intriguing. Yes? 😀 Hey, I don’t want to reveal anything about A Darker Shade of Magic yet. Perhaps I will when I have the book itself, but since it’s only a Sneak Peek, I’ll save my thoughts on my book review when I’m finished reading the sample.

What do you think of the book’s beginning? You could share book beginnings on your current read too. Comment the link of your own Book Beginnings on Fridays so I can check it out and have an idea of amazing books that I would want to read. Come on! Join us! 😀