[review] All These Things I’ve Done (Birthright #1) by Gabrielle Zevin (2011)

Tags

book, book review, dystopia, dystopian, family, love, mafia, romance, self respect, sexual assault

All These Things I’ve Done (Birthright #1) (2011)
by Gabrielle Zevin
Hardcover Edition
Publication Date: September 6th, 2011
Publisher: Macmillan; Farrar, Straus and Giroux
buy a copy via Amazon.
synopsis via Goodreads.

In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, 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. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.’s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently 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 importantly, within her mafia family.
Engrossing and suspenseful, All These Things I’ve Done is an utterly unique, unputdownable read that blends both the familiar and the fantastic.

My Thoughts:
The only major problem with Gabrielle Zevin’s All These Things I’ve Done is the misleading blurb which sets up the misguided reader expectations, and makes you excited for things that aren’t even featured prominently in the novel; from the blurb we expect a dystopic future and cunning mafia leaders-both seem to promise non-stop action and suspense, and both are pretty much non-existent. There is no underground conspiracy movement, evil governments, or dueling mafia families. I knew I wasn’t going to get my unputdownable, face-paced page-turner, but I stuck it out for the incredible, heart-wrenching characters. All of the characters had a layer of complexity about them-even the hateful ones. I daresay Zevin has created some of the most poignant characters I’ve ever encountered in YA. Ever. All These Things I’ve Done may not be the heart-pounding dystopian, but it is a powerful, romantic story about familial love, self respect, prejudice, and making difficult sacrifices.