Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

book two in the Firebird series

5/5 STARS

Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi [Dimensional Travel/Parallel Worlds]
Author: Claudia Gray
Published: November 2015
Publisher: Harperteen
Pages: 432 {paperback}

Originally posted on Goodreads

This review is spoiler-free until I state otherwise 

MY REVIEW OF BOOK ONE

---

Initial Thoughts Upon Finishing

VREJKNCLINCIOUN I AM NOT OKAY. What was that ending. *screams* Oh my lord, I’m finding a copy of book three tomorrow. WHYY. The panic is real, the chaos is nigh. This series is going to kill me omg. I can’t deal. I won’t sleep tonight for worrying!

---

Ten Thousand Skies Above You

Wow, so this book has blown my mind. This series have so far done so much more than impress – it has appealed to every aspect of my imagination and I love visiting all the different dimensions that Gray throws our way.

What I loved about this book was the way that it transitioned from the problems of good vs evil in the literal sense, to accounting for your actions and therefore good vs evil within yourself. I thought this was very clever and the whole thing certainly played with my mind.

*

*

*

If you haven’t read book one, then leave now or be spoiled!

*

*

*

Ten Thousnad Skies Above You picks up soon after the events of book one. The Nightthief drug that Theo has been on has had adverse effects on his body. Paul has decided to once again jump to other dimensions to find a cure. Except something goes very wrong.

Wyatt Conley is at it again in this book and he doesn’t fail to frustrate you on multiple levels (multiple dimensions? XD Yes okay. Too far). We follow Marguerite through multiple dimensions on a mission to save Paul and also Theo and there are so many things that we confront along the way. This is the toughest self-discovery path I think a character has ever taken.

If you like book one, you’re going to love this. Just make sure you buy/borrow both this and book three because holy cheesecake, that cliff hanger actually hurt.

*

*

*

If you haven’t read THIS book, then skip down to the summary!

*

*

*

---

Troubles to Infinity and Back

This book messed with my mind so much. As I got towards the end I was frequently cursing out loud and scared the other people present in the room with my exclamations of OH GOD NO THIS ISN’T HAPPENING. I think I’m going to need therapy.

It was heart-breaking to see what Marguerite was going through. With Paul’s soul splintered into four pieces, it sure is a bumpy ride. We learn a lot of things about the characters and everything that Marguerite believes to be true is challenged: is destiny real? Would Paul and herself always find each other? What about her and Theo? How do people react to grief? How far do people go for love?

I love how this book repeatedly challenged both Marguerite’s and the reader’s moral compass. There are a bunch of situations where it seems like and us or them situation. Such as, the Warverse where she has to sabotage the Firebird progress there – because her Paul is more important than that world, right? WRONG.

What about her returning to the Russiaverse only to find she’s gotten herself pregnant there from her actions. Whew. That was a slap in the face. I thought that was very clever on Gray’s behalf; it makes everyone realise the depth of the consequences of our decisions on others when you put yourself first without thinking. Tsk.

And let’s not forget about that skyscraper world where everything is just wrong. I was shocked to find out about that, but more on that later.

---

Frustrating Characters

About halfway through the book I was becoming increasingly frustrated with Marguerite. She seemed really slow on letting go on her theory on destiny — like, I get it, it’s hard to let these things go. But the way that she was insistent on proving that everyone was more or less the same in every dimension was silly. It’s so easy to create an entirely different person in a different set of circumstances. To me, this seemed blatantly obvious. I actually thought that if that had continued any longer than it had, it would have dragged the book down for me.

Thankfully, Marguerite sorts herself out and the whole book is a revelation for her in finding out about what it means to be, well, human.

It was really hard to watch Theo go through the emotional struggle that he did — especially having seen himself together with Marguerite in the Warverse. It was a beautiful journey for him and I’m glad that there was reconciliation between him and Marguerite by the end. Which only made it harder when that horrible Theo took over his body once more. I might’ve screamed.

The most difficult part of this book, though, had to be Marguerite testing the strength of her love for Paul. When she’s confronted with the Mafia version of him in particular, that was difficult. How could it not be when he practically blows off Theo’s legs? Gah. But when they’re reunited at the end and Paul isn’t quite himself with the trauma of knowing what he’s done — let’s just say I’m worried. I’m semi-panicked as to what I’m going to find in the next book because I don’t think Paul thinks himself worthy anymore. Let’s pray that he doesn’t do anything silly — he has to save Marguerite, after all!

---

Plot Revelations

I died when I found out about that other dimension planning on destroying other dimensions to retrieve a loved one. I thought this was, again, a clever element on Gray’s behalf. It gave a good mirror image of what Marguerite could have become if she’d decided to not care about the other dimensions. It was scary how thoroughly her parents had convinced themselves that they didn’t care — or that the lives of the people in the other dimensions didn’t matter.

I’m terrified to see how this pans out but I have faith that everything will be okay in the end. It has to, doesn’t it?

Then, of course, there’s the fact that Theo is re-taken over by the evil Theo. I could just die. I feel so sad and upset that Theo is already dying from the impact of this bastard taking over his body once, and now he’s doing it again! When he called Marguerite “Meg”, I nearly threw the book across the room in fear.

AND THEN THE EVIL MARGUERITE GOES INTO MARGUERITE’S BODY. I feel sick. I need the next book to know that everything is going to be okay. Because right now, everything is about to implode and just kill me. That was a horrible plot twist (but so good) and oh my lord, I need to lie down.

---

Summary

This book was just fabulous. I loved every second of it and think that Gray has done a magnificent job in creating this story. I cannot wait to pick up book three so that I can avoid having a heart attack from anxiety. You so, so, so need to read this if you haven’t already!

View all my reviews

// GOODREADS //

---

 You might also like . . .

If you like books that mess with reality in a fun way, After the End is for you.

If you like books that explore new worlds with a bit more of a OH-NO-THE-WORLD-IS-ENDING vibe, These Broken Stars is for you.

If you can’t get enough of the multiple worlds business based off different decisions made, Tandem is for you.

---

 Have you read this? What did you think?

Share your thoughts below!

---

~~ Kirstie ~~

Follow @ozbooksnail