2.75 stars
Well, I'm done.

While I liked this book more than the second, I feel like the plot in this installment got so convoluted that I found myself confused.

What I liked:

1. (Almost) no love triangle. I didn't mind the love triangle in book one because I felt like both potential couples were intriguing. The second book was almost insufferable with the amount of whiny, mopey melodrama, much of which was related to the love triangle. In this book, it's almost non-existent. Theo isn't in as much of this book as he was the previous two, and when he is, he isn't acting like a lovesick teenager. There is still a lot of relationship angst between Paul and Marguerite, but it's more about their own issues with themselves.

2. New universes. This has been my favorite aspect of this entire series. I can't imagine trying to come up with all of these different universes and make them recognizable but also unique. I think it was definitely the strongest part of the series. That being said, it wasn't perfect, which I will get to in a moment.

What I didn't like:

1. Info-dumping recap. This has been one of my biggest pet peeves with the second and third book.
There is always a huge info-dump of information at the beginning of this book, recapping the previous two books. It shouldn't be necessary if people have read the previous books. I'm not saying that there is never an occasion for a little recap, but this is done very poorly. It's just one big expositional dump of information that everyone should already know if they're picking up the third book.
I almost feel like I could've picked up the third book and read it as a standalone because of all of the information we are given about the first and second books. And it's not just in that first few pages. It's throughout the book. If there was something that wasn't recapped at the beginning of the book that is mentioned, Marguerite will launch into a paragraph or more describing the context of the comment. I wish authors would trust that they created stories memorable enough that they don't need to recap the previous books to such an extent.

2. Repetition. I feel as if the second and third books could've been one book if it wasn't for the repetitive nature of these books. How many times do I have to read about Marguerite coming to the realization that people aren't the same in every universe? Seriously, it must've happened at least 50 times in the last two books. The most frustrating part is that then she would forget that epiphany and say idiotic things like, "If Wicked (her silly name for the villain version of herself) is a bad person, then a piece of her must live in me." This happens over and over again with all of the characters, as she meets evil versions of all of them. Or good versions of the mostly-villainous characters like Romola and Conley. It got to the point that I would just roll my eyes when we got to one of those scenes. This is only one example of the repetitive nature of this book. Marguerite's inner monologue is so repetitive, I could almost write word for word exactly what she would say when talking about any specific version of herself. That should not be the case.

3. Marguerite. I still didn't like Marguerite. She is too impulsive and selfish. She tries to pretend that she is concerned about the multiverse and saving the different versions of herself, but at the end of the day, she spends far too much of her brain power on her love life. It's so aggravating. She's in a universe that is about to collapse. She is about to become non-existent. Is she trying to think of a way out? No. Is she reflecting on the fact that if her parents had never invented the Firebird that this wouldn't be happening. Nope. In fact, that NEVER is brought up. No, instead, she's lamenting the fact that Paul isn't there with her so she could be with him at the end. She even says something along the lines of, "I know this is not the time to be thinking about this, but I miss Paul. I wish he was here with me." That kind of stuff happens throughout the books. She is not focused on the important things.

4. Plot Hole. There is a 'rule' that two jumpers cannot inhabit the same body at the same time. So when Wicked (I really hate that nickname. Why couldn't they refer to her as 'Meg'?) jumps into a universe and tries to destroy it or put that world's Marguerite in danger, the main character Marguerite has to wait until Wicked leaves to jump and try to right the ship. When she tries to jump, it doesn't work. That is supposed to be one of the 'rules'.
At one point in the book, Marguerite is in a world where her father and sister died in an accident and her mother has fallen into deep depression. She tries to jump out several times, but isn't able to. Finally, she jumps, and finds herself in a world where her parents perfected the cloning process instead of developing inter-dimensional travel. There are six genetically identical versions of her. Wicked is still there, in one of the other clones. The explanation is given that since all of the clones have the same DNA, that is how Marguerite and Wicked ended up in the same place at the same time. But if that is true, why wasn't Marguerite able to jump before? It is established that Wicked had been there for hours, and if Marguerite is able to track her, she wouldn't be able to go to a different universe in between without Marguerite knowing about it. It just doesn't make sense. It seemed like a glaring mistake to me.

5. Confusing Plot/Changing Rules. As this series goes on, the plot becomes more and more convoluted. As much as I enjoyed the different universes, when they start to refer back to them it does start to get a little confusing, especially when all of the MCs are Marguerite, and all her love interests are Paul. Also, it felt like every time they were faced with a crisis, we would randomly learn something new about the world or the science of the Firebirds that would swoop in to save the day at the last possible moment.

6. Audiobook narrator. For the most part, this voice actor did a good job. However, there was one scene that I just couldn't take issue with. Another 'rule' we are told from the first book is that when you jump into another version of yourself, you will take on that version's language/accent. So throughout this series we've heard decent British, mediocre Italian, and annoying Russian accents as Marguerite jumps through the dimensions.
However, apparently that rule was forgotten by the person directing the audiobook and the voice actor because in the scene where all of the different Marguerite's from different dimensions jump into the clone universe so they can all pow-wow, they keep their respective accents. If we are following the rules set up by this series, they should all have American accents, like the Marguerite's they're inhabiting. I understand that this would be difficult to listen to if they all sounded the same, but Wicked and Marguerite sound different in tone and in the things they say, and that should also be true for the other Marguerites. They use different phrases, different inflections...or at least they should. I understand that this isn't necessarily a fault with the actual book, but it was something that hindered my enjoyment of that scene, which I actually think is one of the best scenes in the book.

7. Paul's 'death'. Did anyone actually think Paul was going to stay dead? It wasn't going to happen. So that entire part of the book only annoyed me as she grieved someone who was obviously going to be fine.

8. I wish there had been more of a discussion on the ethics of inter-dimensional travel throughout this series. It is touched on a little with Marguerite's guilt about what she did in the body of the Grand Duchess version of herself, but it doesn't stop her from other questionable decisions as she goes through the multiverse. That is, unless the plot dictates that it should. Occasionally she will talk about how she's not going to take away the choices of the Marguerite she's inhabiting at the time. But isn't taking over someone's body a violation in and of itself? Also, her parents never seem to feel guilty about inventing the technology in the first place. In fact, at the end of the series, after all these terrible things have occurred because of their scientific discoveries, they are still working on different applications for the Firebird and even talking about time travel. Seriously?! Did they not do enough damage to the universe?!

I had high hopes that this series would bounce back with the finale, and while there were scenes I really enjoyed, I was left pretty underwhelmed by this series. It took such an interesting concept and over the course of three books it boiled down to a super-special main character and her lackluster romance.