Review: A Million Worlds With You (Firebird #3) by Claudia Gray

A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray

Released: 1st November 2016

Published by: HarperCollins 

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Source: Publisher

Pages: 419

My Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Goodreads | QBD | Booktopia

The fate of the multiverse rests in Marguerite’s hands in the final installment of the Firebird trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Ever since she used the Firebird, her parent’s invention, to cross through alternate dimensions, Marguerite has been at the center of a cross-dimensional feud. Now she has learned that the evil Triad Corporation plans to destroy hundreds of universes, using their ultimate weapon: another dimension’s Marguerite who is wicked, psychologically twisted, and always one step ahead.

Even though her boyfriend Paul has always been at Marguerite’s side, the Triad’s last attack has left him a changed man, and he may never be the same again. Marguerite alone must stop Triad and prevent the destruction of the multiverse. It’s a battle of the Marguerites . . . and only one can win.

In the epic conclusion to the sweeping series that kicked off with A Thousand Pieces of You, fate and family will be questioned, loves will be won and lost, and the multiverse will be forever changed.

Thank you to HarperCollins Australia for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

*This review may contain spoilers for the previous books in the series*

Each new quantum reality splits off when someone makes a decision. Every single world we've visited isn't just random - it's the result of countless choices, all of them combining to make a new reality. 

This highly anticipated conclusion to Claudia Gray's exhilarating Firebird series not only continues to explore the multiverse, but further inspect the characters themselves. With the stakes higher than ever as Wyatt Conley threatens to assert his dominance over multiple dimensions, and Wicked wreaking havoc wherever she travels, Marguerite is faced with more difficult decisions than ever before.

If our destiny is nothing more than a prediction of a collision, an intersection between two paths, then we don't have a destiny at all.

What first drew me to this series was the different settings, as with each new world Gray transported us to, there were new challenges for the characters to face. In A Million Worlds With You, each of the universes mentioned in the first two novels are once again acknowledged, along with a few new additions. What I did appreciate in this finale however, was the main focal point on Marguerite, Paul and Theo as they are confronted with their other selves on a deeper level. It's the dynamic trio against Triad, a mammoth task considering the cunning Conley and even more devious Wicked - one of the 'other' Marguerites, have other plans in store which could change their lives entirely. The Firebird devices themselves and the 'science' behind them were once again pivotal to the plot - especially when the situation demanded a decision which could mean the difference between life and death. The storyline was definitely taken up a notch in terms of suspense, with an epic showdown never far behind. It's a matter of good and evil, grappling with the moral question of whether it is acceptable to sacrifice a life when there is the possibility of saving many.

I've been so shaken by finding my one worst self that I never considered how much it might change our fates by finding someone else's best self. Travel through enough dimensions and maybe you'll find the hero and the villain in everyone. 

The complex romance between Paul and Marguerite is finally given some closure in this book, but what I really loved to see was Marguerite come into her own. All dimensions of her character were addressed, and her attempts to consolidate her different selves and understand who she wanted to be in her own world was a plot point skilfully executed. Gray has successfully built on all her characters in this novel, exposing their flaws and embracing their courage in the face of imminent danger. Even Marguerite's parents played an even greater role which pulled everything together as their own inventions threatened to become weapons of mass destruction. When worldbuilding and character development come together so successfully as they have in this case, it's no wonder that this series has been so popular.

FINAL THOUGHTS

A Million Worlds With You is a fitting end to a series I won't be forgetting anytime soon. This final instalment of a trilogy which I've been invested in from the first page has matched the ingenuity of its predecessors, defied science as we know it, and taken us on a whirlwind of a journey across the universe.