Wednesday, February 1, 2012

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

Summary:(from book jacket) Chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is increasingly scarce, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen year old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine- going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant DA's son, and avoiding her loser ex boyfriend. That is until someone in her inner circle ends up poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight- at school, in the news, and, most important, within her mafia family.
Review: This book was pretty good. It was more toned down than most dystopian stories are, which at first kind of annoyed me but as the story went on I liked it better. Since this is the first in a series, large part of the book was buildup and introduction but I enjoyed seeing the small ways that this society differed from our own. I liked the crime family dynamic more than I thought I would, it kept things interesting and the feeling of no one being entirely trustworthy added to the plot. All the characters were really well developed and I enjoyed getting to know them all. Anya was a strong character and even though she occasionally did things without thinking them through, I was rooting for her the entire time. I thought Win, Natty and Leo were also very well written and over all really great characters. I am really excited and interested to see where this story goes next.

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