Cel's Reviews: Gabrielle Zevin's - "All These Things I've Done"
It’s 2082, chocolate and coffee are prohibited. Paper is hard to find and water is severely rationed. The economy has all but collapsed and New York is rife with crime and poverty. 16 year old Anya Balanchine is the daughter of the city’s most notorious (and dead) crime boss and determined to protect what’s left of her family from the rest of the relatives. When her ex-boyfriend is poisoned by her family’s contraband chocolate, the police are convinced Anya is behind it and Anya finds everything she has worked so hard to hold onto, on the line. The assistant D.A offers her a choice – stay away from his son or watch as he destroys her family. Now Anya finds herself having to choose between the boy she loves and her birthright.
All These Things I’ve Done is a fresh new dystopian adventure complete with a Romeo and Juliet-esque love story, classic mobster undertones and life lessons from the past and present that will have you thinking long after you’ve turned the last page. In fact it’s hard to sum it up, more than to say this is like nothing you have never read before and most likely will surprise you as much as it did me.
Even though it is perhaps best described as YA dystopian crime, that alone does not do justice to the the magic within it – it almost needs a whole new genre of its own. The world building is superb and compellingly visual. This is New York as we have never imagined it and you will find yourself walking its strange streets right alongside Anya and co. The narrative is told in first person from Anya’s point of view, but as a reflection, which gives you a greater clarity of the decisions made and family history but still firmly holds you in the moment and in the thick of the action.
The plot is completely unique and an amazing blend of seedy criminal dealings, mad government decisions, familial ties, first love and one girl’s struggle to find her place in the world. And it also offers the proof right on the page that more often than not we don’t learn from the mistakes of those who have come before us. The storyline retains an overall classic feel that will keep it fresh in years to come. There is also a delightful sprinkling of “ancient” pop culture references throughout the book that will give you a good giggle and make you wonder just what will be thought of us and our tastes by generations to come. Even the chapter headings are fun, fresh and sure to bring a smile to your face.
Quite frankly, this totally blew me away and left me in awe of both the world and the cast of colourful characters who inhabit it. Zevin’s skill in capturing the reader’s attention is evident from the very first page. All These Things I’ve Done is the first in the Birthright trilogy and I can’t wait to see what Anya gets up to next.
All These Things I’ve Done- Gabrielle Zevin
Pan Macmillan
ISBN:978-0-330-53789-6
351 Pages
Released September 6th 2011
