If You Like This Then…..#16

It’s been over a month since my last instalment in this recommendation series! How?! Time flies too quickly sometimes. But I haven’t forgotten about it. In fact, since that last post, I’ve made a list of quite a few more recommendations! Now I just need to remember to post them!

This week I will be talking about 2 science fiction books that totally blew me away. One is adult, and one is young adult. Both have similar elements and explore how your relationships and lives can change within that element. Let me explain:

The first book I will talk about is A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU by Claudia Gray. This is the young adult novel that follows a young girl with brilliant parents. Her parents created this thing called the Firebird which, when the device is worn, allows the wearer to travel to another dimension. These dimensions are all different and each one progresses at its own speed. Some are still as if it’s back in the 1600’s, some are very advanced and seem futuristic, and some are at war. Basically, these dimensions follow many different paths, where a version of ourselves made a different decision and took their life along another path. They hadn’t tried out these devices though, that is, not until her father is murdered and the murderer escapes after using his own Firebird, making her chase him through dimensions to get her vengeance. I absolutely LOVED this book and rated it 5 stars. It was such a pleasant surprise! Click HERE for my full review.

The next book I want to talk about is DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch. I read this almost 2 years ago when it was released, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since – seriously! Two years later and this book still blows my mind! It’s really confusing in the beginning though as the main character, a brilliant college professor, is kidnapped and brought to a warehouse. He’s strapped down, surrounded by people in hazmat suits, and a man he’s never met before says “welcome back, friend”. When he wakes up, his life is totally different. His wife isn’t his wife, his son no longer exists, and he’s a celebrated scientist instead of a college professor. He struggles to find out how this all came to be or if it was just a dream. But the truth is FAR LARGER than he could ever imagine! This is one of my first ever book reviews on the blog (EEP! cringe), click HERE to read more.

HERE’S WHAT THESE TWO BOOK HAVE IN COMMON:

• The main science fiction elements in this book is a multiverse – I don’t think that telling you this is spoiling anything. How these two multiverses work, and how they travel between worlds is totally different and unique in their own way. But both of these books have characters that need to travel to different worlds to bring back someone they love.
• Outstanding character development – Books like this can be very make or break with the character development. Both of these books have characters who meet other “versions” of themselves. They may not meet directly, but they encounter other versions of themselves and they may need to take the roll of that person to make it seem real. With so many different versions of the same person, it gets confusing and messy. But both of these books were so well written and each version of the characters stood out on their own.
• Incredible world building – Since both of these books deal with different dimensions, world building is everything! The different worlds plays a part with the characters and their reactions to their surroundings. Each part can’t be too long (or else the book would be MASSIVE!) so the authors have very little time to build a world, create an atmosphere, and set the stage for the characters. Both authors created vivid worlds in such a short time and it was amazing!
• Exploring characters emotions through their different relationships – This one sounds a little confusing. But in each book, the characters were presented with different people in their lives. For example – a love interest. In each world, that love interest wasn’t always the same. Some they were still madly in love and then the next place they would visit, that same love interest would be their enemy. The emotions that come along with that, and dealing with the events that lead to their relationship was confusing and difficult. We got to see how each character dealt with those emotions and relationship differences, along with how their connections carried on from that point.

If you’ve read A Thousand Pieces of You and are looking to take a step into the adult genre, I HIGHLY suggest Dark Matter! Be warned though, Dark Matter is brutal. There is some descriptive violence. I hope that you give either one of these a try! They’re both up there in my all time faves list!

Until next time, happy reading!