All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

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.

"Anya, people like you and me, don't get a choice. We were born into these destinies."

Review;
This isn't my first book of Zevin's, so I felt comfortable with her style of writing. Her books are focused, fast paced and witty but always with a clear message and direction. All These Things I've Done was no exception. I was definitely not disappointed.

Set in the heart of New York in 2083, it's a strange location to get your head around at first. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is now a nightclub called Little Egypt and chocolate is a banned luxury, however much Anya's Nana has stashed away in her safe. In some ways the story is frightening. It's hard to imagine the world changing so much within my own lifetime and yet it feels like a possibility because of Zevin's realistic narrative and precise descriptions. Imagine no chocolate or cups of coffee? I actually can't. And the way they talked about the stuff we use and go to see as if it were in the past? Spooky.

The characters in All These Things I've Done are probably my favourite element. There's the protagonist, Anya, who really holds everything in place. Not only does she keep the novel at its phenomenal pace but she also keeps her small Balachine family together and tight no matter what comes their way. Her extended mafia family can't deter her from keeping them safe, especially her older brother Leo. I also thought that Leo and Natty were great characters. Natty develops as the story progresses and I really liked how she had a clear personality and her own talent. Leo is a complex character and he was a really fantastic way of incorporating a complicated family dynamic. I liked how determined he was despite the challenges he faced.

This book is undoubtedly filled with action and the nature of the Balachine family means danger and trouble is rarely far away. However, romance is also a key theme and Anya's relationships with Gable and ultimately Win are integral to the plot. The way in which Zevin weaves together such different themes and storylines proves just how talented she is as the novel takes numerous twists and turns. As a relatively avid reader I can sometimes tell what is going to happen next in a novel; this is never the case with one of Zevin's books and certainly not in this one.

Overall, really enjoyed this book. The ending left me feeling a bit short, and then I realized there was a sequel which made sense. Sort of. 9.5/10 for this great read.