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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Book Review: Because it is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin

Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin
Publisher: Macmillan
Publication date: September 2012
Pages: 368
Source: ARC from ALA
For: Review
Series: Birthright, Book 2

*Spoilers possible for the first book*
Anya Balanchine just spent the summer in Liberty Children's Facility and is determined not to get tangled up in the family business. But she just can't get away from it, especially when she can't get back into school because of her past. When she ends up somewhere far from home, Anya begins to learn there's more to this illegal chocolate life than she ever knew.

Things I Liked:
I really love this series.  There's something so enticing about illegal chocolate, a mob daughter falling for a cop's son and all the futuristic details.  I really love the characters, though, particularly Anya.  She is very complicated, very human in her feelings.  Her life is anything but normal and she tries to cope with the problems sometimes in very stupid, very teenage ways.  I think one thing I especially enjoyed was just how unpredictable this one was for me.  I really wasn't sure what Anya would do and where she would end up.  I had some ideas about where she end up, but they didn't always happen.  Things are never easy for Anya and I like that Zevin doesn't mind giving her hard decisions and watching the consequences pan out.  I was entertained from beginning to end and once again, I'm interested to see what happens next.

Things I Didn't Like:
I was occasionally bored when the action would hit a lull and it became more about what Anya was feeling, though that was sometimes interesting too.  I know there are flaws to this book, but I just really enjoyed reading it and thus didn't care. :)

Read-alikes:
Start with All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
Reminds me a little of the Curse Workers series by Holly Black
Heist Society series by Ally Carter

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@
here and there, scattered

mrg-factor: XX
talked about, kind of implied, but no page action

v-factor: ->->
a couple of violent instances, some a little gory

Overall rating: ****

What appeals to you about this series, or what makes you not like it?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

8 comments :

  1. I still haven't even read the first one. :( One of these days. And I've bought it now so soon, soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This seems like your kind of book - I think you'd like Anya...maybe :)

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  2. I really enjoyed the first book, so I'm excited to read this one. Glad to hear you're still loving the series :) It's a fun one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you enjoy the second one too! They are so fun.

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  3. Oh I was excited to see this review because I didn't realize that there was a second book out for this. I am actually reading the first book right now so I didn't read through all of the review but I do love the cover of it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It comes out this month! Hope you like the first one. I'm a fan of these new covers, though the first one with the chocolate heart wasn't too bad.

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  4. Gah! I can't wait for the next one. Something about Birthright trilogy is addicting. Here's mine if you don't mind: http://lorxiebookreviews.blogspot.com/2013/02/because-it-is-my-blood-by-gabrielle.html

    Thanks and have a nice day! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree that the series is rather addicting. Thanks for stopping by!

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