Audio Book Review: Because it is My Blood

Title: Because it is My Blood
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Series: Birthright #2
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Find it Here: B&N, Goodreads, Mysterious Galaxy
Source: ARC from ALA/Audio book for review from publisher

“Every time I think I’m out, they pull me back in.”- Michael Corleone, The Godfather

Since her release from Liberty Children's Facility, Anya Balanchine is determined to follow the straight and narrow. Unfortunately, her criminal record is making it hard for her to do that. No high school wants her with a gun possession charge on her rap sheet. Plus, all the people in her life have moved on: Natty has skipped two grades at Holy Trinity, Scarlet and Gable seem closer than ever, and even Win is in a new relationship.

But when old friends return demanding that certain debts be paid, Anya is thrown right back into the criminal world that she had been determined to escape. It’s a journey that will take her across the ocean and straight into the heart of the birthplace of chocolate where her resolve--and her heart--will be tested as never before.

My thoughts:

I really loved All These Things I've Done! So when I picked up the ARC of Because it is My Blood at ALA I was really excited to read it! But because I am a blogger and I always have a stack of books screaming at me to read them, the ARC got pushed aside all summer. Then I received the audio book in the mail and I saw the perfect opportunity to continue the story!

When I finally got into Because it is My Blood (not a fan of that title) I felt like the story was night and day from All These Things I've Done! Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I read the first and listened to the second. The story just seemed to trudge along and not really have any direction! There were so many times I thought, “Where is this story going? What does the main character wish to accomplish?” There were a least three or four times where I thought the story could end between discs seven and nine but it continued on, in my opinion, aimlessly. I also felt that Anya getting in trouble and going back to Liberty Island was just another repeat of what happened before! I was really hoping that Zevin would have moved on and been able to further the story of Anya’s life.

As for Anya herself I thought she was complacent and somewhat removed from her family and the plot line. Instead of Anya being pro-active and moving the plot forward, the plot was moving her. It was annoying because I wanted to do something about it! Where as in All These Things I've Done, she is very involved in the affairs of her family and is very much the protector but in Because is it My Blood she seemed knocked down and for most of the book she allowed herself to be. Don’t even get my started on the way she acted with Win! She was like a deflated balloon the whole book! The only glimpse of the Anya I recognized was when she used her badass machete and cut off that guy’s hand!

I really believe that some of these complaints stem from the fact that I listened to the audio book. The narrator’s voice grated my nerves and didn't really embody the character of Anya that I had grown to love in All These Things I've Done. I am tentatively giving Because it is My Blood 3 hearts because I still want to know what happens in the next book. And I really hope there is only one more book in this series.