"All These Things I've Done" by Gabrielle Zevin

The Balanchine family doesn't really follow the laws of 2083. They have chocolate in the safe and Anya goes to back rooms to enjoy coffee. Their world isn't too different from the one we live in now, just with different laws about what is and isn't illegal. At the start of the novel, Anya breaks up with her boyfriend Gable which in turn causes a lot of problems for her. She soon meets a boy named Win and of course we know that he is going to become the romantic interest of this novel. Too bad he is the son of the new assistant D.A. When Gable shows up at Anya's apartment begging for chocolate, she has no idea that it has been poisoned and that she will soon be a suspect of his near death.  She then spends that rest of the novel struggling with following the path set for her because of the family she was born into or following her heart's desires. There is quite a bit going on in this novel- suspense, family drama, illegal doings and decent amount of action. 

This book is one that has intrigued me for quite some time. The cover has a heart dripping chocolate on it, of course it caught my interest. It wasn't really what I expected, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. It's a world that's not super familiar to me where family is often corrupt (as are those you're not related to), where family members close to you may get killed and where you have to be aware of your every action. Though these are concepts that aren't that unique, this is one of the few books I have read that has dealt with such topics. It is very interesting to see how in Anya's world many things are extremely different from the way things are now, so many many others shows how events can repeat themselves through history.  I am glad that I have read so many books this year that don't feel like books I have already read. This is yet another plot that feels like it is telling it's own story and not just retelling something that has already been told over and over again. I think that Zevin has created a very interesting story and I can't wait to read past All These Things I've Done.



Happy Reading!
-Melly