[Review] Defy the Stars and Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray

Defy the Stars and Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray

Series: Constellations #1 and #2

Overall Rating: 3 stars 

Goodreads Synopsis:

Defy the Stars:

She's a soldier - Noemi Vidal is willing to risk anything to protect her planet, Genesis, including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she's a rebel.
He's a machine - Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel's advanced programming has begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he's an abomination.
Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they're not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they're forced to question everything they'd been taught was true.

Defy the Worlds: 

An outcast from her home -- Shunned after a trip through the galaxy with Abel, the most advanced cybernetic man ever created, Noemi Vidal dreams of traveling through the stars one more time. And when a deadly plague arrives on Genesis, Noemi gets her chance. As the only soldier to have ever left the planet, it will be up to her to save its people...if only she wasn't flying straight into a trap.
A fugitive from his fate -- On the run to avoid his depraved creator's clutches, Abel believes he's said good-bye to Noemi for the last time. After all, the entire universe stands between them...or so he thinks. When word reaches him of Noemi's capture by the very person he's trying to escape, Abel knows he must go to her, no matter the cost.
But capturing Noemi was only part of Burton Mansfield's master plan. In a race against time, Abel and Noemi will come together once more to discover a secret that could save the known worlds, or destroy them all.

I loved Claudia Gray's Firebird series and thought the romance and alternate dimensional travel was fantastic. However, moving on to her more speculative sci-fi series, Constellation, I was just... confused? I'm not sure how to describe how I feel because the two books, Defy the Stars and Defy the Worlds, tackle intergalactic space travel on a grand scale, as well as a human/robot romance.

[Review] A Thousand Pieces of You and Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

A Thousand Pieces of You and Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

Double Review

Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

A Thousand Pieces of You

Marguerite Caine's physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes—and promises to revolutionize science forever. But then Marguerite's father is murdered, and the killer—her parent's handsome, enigmatic assistant Paul— escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of the people she knows—including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul's guilt—as well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father's death is far more sinister than she expected.

Ten Thousand Skies Above You

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. 
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.

As I haven't reviewed either of the two books of the Firebird series, I decided to combine this into a dual review. Granted, I also read the first book in the summer, so let's see how good my memory is!

A Thousand Pieces of You tells the story of Marguerite Caine, the artistic daughter of two genius physicists, who uses her parents' invention, the Firebird, to travel to alternate dimensions in order to avenge her father, who was apparently killed by his student, Paul Markov. The Caines' other student, Theo Beck, accompanies her on this journey, and realizes that the mystery behind her father's killer is more complicated than she thought.

Waiting on Wednesday (22) - Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Grey

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Ten Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: November 3rd 2015

Goodreads Summary: 
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. 
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 Youfeatures Claudia Gray’s lush, romantic language and smart, exciting action, and will have readers clamoring for the next book.

Why Ten Thousand Skies Above You? 

A Thousand Pieces of You was amazing. Time-traveler obsessed chick over here! I know the Firebird series isn't time travel, more like dimensional travel, but that's still really cool. And Claudia Gray creates such artsy, unique worlds - I can't wait to see all the new dimensions she's jumping to. Plus, a scattered consciousness? This is like a video game now.

Now if this was a real thing, it makes me wonder how each Raisa would differ from the next. Maybe I'd be in the Philippines instead... Or maybe New Jersey? All the possibilities, if only one thing was changed. Ah I can't wait until next month!

Waiting on Wednesday (10) - A Thousand Pieces of You

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Firebird #1
Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication Date: November 4th, 2014

Goodreads Summary:

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.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

Why Pieces?

Future world, new technology, and a mystery to solve- it sounds fabulous and oh so very interesting. There are so many elements that I want to know more about just from reading the summary.  And there's also ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COVERS EVER on the front to make me even more interested.