Review- All These Things I've Done and Giveaway!

Title: All These Things I've Done
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Series: Birthright #1
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of MacMillian

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 the importantly, within her mafia family.

My thoughts:

I just can't seem to get enough dystopian! In All These Things I've Done, most everything that we find common and everyday things that we use, are either illegal, highly rationed or just don't exist anymore.  I thought about how my normal day would compare in Anya's world:

1. I wake up and immediately pour myself a cup of coffee.  In 2083 coffee is illegal so I wouldn't have coffee at my house.

2. I take a nice long, hot shower where I take my time washing my hair and shaving my legs.  In 2083 water is highly rationed so when the timer goes off after 2 minutes, my shower would be over.

3. I peer into my closet and wonder, out of all my clothes that I have bought myself, what do I want to wear today.  In 2083, new clothes aren't made at all and I would have to wear something that my mom or other family member has passed down to me.  That also means no more hitting the mall and picking up a new pair of skinny jeans.

4. Jot down a list on a piece of paper before hitting the grocery store? Nope.  Paper is very hard to find and there's not much to find at the grocery store either.

All These Things I've Done really made me think about how life would be without these types of everyday objects.  And chocolate? OMG! Chocolate is like my go-to when I'm having a bad day! 2083 reminded me a lot of the 1920's and the prohibition.  Expect it's chocolate and coffee that illegal not alcohol!  And in the book they called the places where the teenagers went to get coffee or chocolate speakeasies just like in the 1920's.

I really enjoyed the whole mobster aspect to the book and I felt like they should all have been wearing fedoras and wielding Tommy guns.  I liked the whole atmosphere of the book and the angle of the star-crossed lovers.  Anya being the most famous mobster's daughter and her boyfriend Win is the new DA's son.  It seemed like Win's father's disapproval just made then want to be together even more.

I'm really interested to see where this story goes in the next book because really the main plot has to do with the family business and now that Anya and her brother are getting old enough to know what goes on (illegally trafficking chocolate), who should be the one to take over as head of the family.

Giveaway! 

Just recently I received All These Things I've Done in audio book format! Just fill out the form below as directed and you will be entered to win!

Rules:

• Must be 13 or older
• US only
• 1 entry per person
• Ends Thursday September 15 at midnight