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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
I wanted to really like All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin. In fact, there are many aspects of the book that almost demand that I like it: crime drama, vintage clothes, (arguably) dystopian setting, mafia family, Prohibition era inspired laws, smart protagonist. I was basically imagining Anya as Tommy from The Black Donnellys; smart, sensitive, really wants out of the family 'business' BUT a) has an older brother with disabilities and poor judgment to take care of and b) stuff just keeps coming up that drags them ever deeper in -- only, you know, a girl. Unfortunately, much of the dialog between Anya and Win (and Zevin's physical descriptions of Win, his hats and his non-band) reminded me of a younger Gabriel Macht as Johnny Dresden in Because I Said So. Inevitably, this how I envisioned Win:
Which, naturally, led me to picture Anya in her ever present red dress like this:
After that, for good or ill, Anya was Mandy Moore.
I had a hard time buying the plausibility of Zevin's vision of the future. I can understand a culture getting caught up on health food and banning something like high fructose corn syrup, and, yes, even caffeine -- but chocolate? It just seem irrational and unlikely; the parallels made between chocolate production and organized bootlegging were tenuous. I also wanted more, needed more, than a curfew and supply shortages to make this a dystopian book (for starters, a repressive and controlled state disguised as an utopian society.) As it is, it is just a crappy vision of the future -- no better or worse than many eras our grandparents or parents have gone through. (Honestly, a good deal better than my grandmother's descriptions of growing up in rural Arkansas during the Dust Bowl, but I digress.) The only real dystopic flavor I tasted was Anya's incarceration in Liberty -- which was all too short and felt like a plot device constructed exclusively to introduce Anya to Win's father. Can we please explore the issue of the tattoos a little more?
The romance between Win and Anya also feel very flat. It just felt too contrived and convenient. Win is almost too nice to be real, and all the interesting bits of him were external -- so, he wears cool hats. Does he have cool thoughts? He was great with witty and charming one-liners, but I never saw substance. I felt like a lot more could be done with him. I found his dad to be substantially more interesting and compelling a character than Win.
I actually feel pretty conflicted about Anya. I appreciate that she is so smart, tough, responsible and self-reliant. However, unlike the aforementioned Tommy, I never really empathised with her. Along with those wonderfully positive traits came a heaping dose of smugness and ego. The first person narrative felt authentic -- I just didn't like her. She was a bit like Mrs. Elton from Jane Austen's [b:Emma|6969|Emma|Jane Austen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309203623s/6969.jpg|3360164], "I would never brag about myself, but my friends say..." Her "confessions" don't read as, "Please forgive these things I've done?" but rather, "Hey, did you hear about all these things I've done?!" Anya constantly underestimates those around her, while simultaneously remaining firmly convinced that she is right about everything. So many of her problems arise from her inability to see past what she thinks about everyone around her to who and what they truly are.
I don't really know where I stand on All These Things I've Done. It wasn't what I wanted it to be, nor was it what I expected it to be. However, it wasn't bad either. I liked quite a few of the characters, and I might even read the next books. I guess I am in that rare place of being truly indifferent.
Rating:
2.5 of 5 Stars
Review also appears on Chronicles of a Book Evangelist.
Which, naturally, led me to picture Anya in her ever present red dress like this:
After that, for good or ill, Anya was Mandy Moore.
I had a hard time buying the plausibility of Zevin's vision of the future. I can understand a culture getting caught up on health food and banning something like high fructose corn syrup, and, yes, even caffeine -- but chocolate? It just seem irrational and unlikely; the parallels made between chocolate production and organized bootlegging were tenuous. I also wanted more, needed more, than a curfew and supply shortages to make this a dystopian book (for starters, a repressive and controlled state disguised as an utopian society.) As it is, it is just a crappy vision of the future -- no better or worse than many eras our grandparents or parents have gone through. (Honestly, a good deal better than my grandmother's descriptions of growing up in rural Arkansas during the Dust Bowl, but I digress.) The only real dystopic flavor I tasted was Anya's incarceration in Liberty -- which was all too short and felt like a plot device constructed exclusively to introduce Anya to Win's father. Can we please explore the issue of the tattoos a little more?
The romance between Win and Anya also feel very flat. It just felt too contrived and convenient. Win is almost too nice to be real, and all the interesting bits of him were external -- so, he wears cool hats. Does he have cool thoughts? He was great with witty and charming one-liners, but I never saw substance. I felt like a lot more could be done with him. I found his dad to be substantially more interesting and compelling a character than Win.
I actually feel pretty conflicted about Anya. I appreciate that she is so smart, tough, responsible and self-reliant. However, unlike the aforementioned Tommy, I never really empathised with her. Along with those wonderfully positive traits came a heaping dose of smugness and ego. The first person narrative felt authentic -- I just didn't like her. She was a bit like Mrs. Elton from Jane Austen's [b:Emma|6969|Emma|Jane Austen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309203623s/6969.jpg|3360164], "I would never brag about myself, but my friends say..." Her "confessions" don't read as, "Please forgive these things I've done?" but rather, "Hey, did you hear about all these things I've done?!" Anya constantly underestimates those around her, while simultaneously remaining firmly convinced that she is right about everything. So many of her problems arise from her inability to see past what she thinks about everyone around her to who and what they truly are.
I don't really know where I stand on All These Things I've Done. It wasn't what I wanted it to be, nor was it what I expected it to be. However, it wasn't bad either. I liked quite a few of the characters, and I might even read the next books. I guess I am in that rare place of being truly indifferent.
Rating:
2.5 of 5 Stars
Review also appears on Chronicles of a Book Evangelist.
This book was meh. It wasn't horrible, it wasn't great, it was exactly the type of book I would call average. The plot was quite predictable, the writing was basic, the characters were flat and while the narrator was supposed to be a teenage girl, it didn't have the feel of authenticity.
That being said, there were definitely a few parts that I enjoyed, and although I found the characters to be very one dimensional, I really did feel for Anya during some parts of the book.
Overall, nothing unique or mindblowing. If you like generic YA dystopian novels, you might be into it. The idea behind it is quite good, but I felt it could have been better executed and I would have loved to learn more about how the world got the way it is in the book.
That being said, there were definitely a few parts that I enjoyed, and although I found the characters to be very one dimensional, I really did feel for Anya during some parts of the book.
Overall, nothing unique or mindblowing. If you like generic YA dystopian novels, you might be into it. The idea behind it is quite good, but I felt it could have been better executed and I would have loved to learn more about how the world got the way it is in the book.
4.5/5
It’s the year 2083, and New York City is riddled with crime. Chocolate and coffee are illegal, and paper and clothing hard to obtain. 16 year old Anya Balanchine, daughter of a notorious crime boss, is just trying to lead a normal life. She’s fallen in love with the D.A.’s son (the D.A. is none too happy that his son is dating an infamous Balanchine), and is busy taking care of her family after the murder of her parents. Her grandmother is bedridden and dying, and her older brother is mentally challenged, so things are hectic at home. Things get more crazy, though, when her ex-boyfriend is immediately poisoned and hospitalized after eating one of Anya’s contraband chocolate bars. Fingers are immediately pointed at Anya, because her family produces and sells the illegal chocolate, and she is thrown into a juvenile detention center. Anya knows she didn’t poison the chocolate, but now she must figure out who did, and why they are after the Balanchine family.
This book was AWESOME! Anya was a great character and the writing was phenomenal. Even though the events of the story seemed unrealistic, I was totally wrapped up in it and was rooting for Anya the entire time. I liked her because she was a really strong female who showed no fear, and embraced her responsibilities without ever complaining. She was wise and courageous – definitely a strong character that readers will admire and look up to.
I loved reading about the intricacies of Anya’s crime family, the “mafiya,” (no, not mafia), and hearing all about the “family business.” Even though Anya’s father was a criminal, Anya admired him and he took care of his family, so it was easy to like him as well… a likable criminal – how about that! Even though Anya was brought up in a world of crime, she tries to stay away from it and keep her immediate family out of it, and as safe as possible, which proves to be difficult when her brother gets involved anyway. The romance story line was great as well… a forbidden love sort of thing – very intriguing (and frustrating)! Though it wasn’t really necessary for the story, I am a sucker for some romance, so whatever, I liked it.
I loved this dystopian novel, and the fast pace it moved at throughout the duration of the story. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel that’s due out this September!
It’s the year 2083, and New York City is riddled with crime. Chocolate and coffee are illegal, and paper and clothing hard to obtain. 16 year old Anya Balanchine, daughter of a notorious crime boss, is just trying to lead a normal life. She’s fallen in love with the D.A.’s son (the D.A. is none too happy that his son is dating an infamous Balanchine), and is busy taking care of her family after the murder of her parents. Her grandmother is bedridden and dying, and her older brother is mentally challenged, so things are hectic at home. Things get more crazy, though, when her ex-boyfriend is immediately poisoned and hospitalized after eating one of Anya’s contraband chocolate bars. Fingers are immediately pointed at Anya, because her family produces and sells the illegal chocolate, and she is thrown into a juvenile detention center. Anya knows she didn’t poison the chocolate, but now she must figure out who did, and why they are after the Balanchine family.
This book was AWESOME! Anya was a great character and the writing was phenomenal. Even though the events of the story seemed unrealistic, I was totally wrapped up in it and was rooting for Anya the entire time. I liked her because she was a really strong female who showed no fear, and embraced her responsibilities without ever complaining. She was wise and courageous – definitely a strong character that readers will admire and look up to.
I loved reading about the intricacies of Anya’s crime family, the “mafiya,” (no, not mafia), and hearing all about the “family business.” Even though Anya’s father was a criminal, Anya admired him and he took care of his family, so it was easy to like him as well… a likable criminal – how about that! Even though Anya was brought up in a world of crime, she tries to stay away from it and keep her immediate family out of it, and as safe as possible, which proves to be difficult when her brother gets involved anyway. The romance story line was great as well… a forbidden love sort of thing – very intriguing (and frustrating)! Though it wasn’t really necessary for the story, I am a sucker for some romance, so whatever, I liked it.
I loved this dystopian novel, and the fast pace it moved at throughout the duration of the story. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel that’s due out this September!
Alrighty. Here I go. Here's the scoop.
While reading this book, here's all the things that I did:
*I admired the cover and binding(because it really was an awesome looking book).
*I got annoyed with the characters(especially Win)
*I wondered about their ethnicity(are they Italian, Russian?)
*I restrained myself from telling Ashley what it was about(she wants to read this too).
*I got disappointed.
*I realized that ( ) should only be used occasionally in books.
In short, "All These Things I've Done" turned out to be "All These Things I've Done w/ Very Little Detail or Passion". Seriously. I did like the whole futuristic things, but it seemed a bit contrived. I mean, when you have read as many dystopian novels as I have (Including the Hunger Games), after awhile any other dystopian books you've read seem to get cliche. At times, it didn't really even seem like they were in the future. And if Anya(the protagonist in this story) is suppose to be some daughter of this gang member, why wasn't she more...tough? I mean she was pretty tough but not in the gang kind of a way. Like, I wanted her to shoot someone and act like it was no big deal. And her boyfriend...Win. I wanted to like him. I really did. But I didn't really feel anything for him. Sure he had some personality. But for the most part, he was pretty bland and he was almost unneeded throughout the story. I honestly just wanted him to leave and quit bothering Anya.
Okay, so maybe that wasn't all that short.Although I gave this 4 ****, this disappointed me and did not live up to Zevin's other novel, [b:Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac|317282|Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac|Gabrielle Zevin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317793286s/317282.jpg|308098]. Sigh. I kind of hope this is a trilogy because maybe the sequel will redeem some of the characters.
While reading this book, here's all the things that I did:
*I admired the cover and binding(because it really was an awesome looking book).
*I got annoyed with the characters(especially Win)
*I wondered about their ethnicity(are they Italian, Russian?)
*I restrained myself from telling Ashley what it was about(she wants to read this too).
*I got disappointed.
*I realized that ( ) should only be used occasionally in books.
In short, "All These Things I've Done" turned out to be "All These Things I've Done w/ Very Little Detail or Passion". Seriously. I did like the whole futuristic things, but it seemed a bit contrived. I mean, when you have read as many dystopian novels as I have (Including the Hunger Games), after awhile any other dystopian books you've read seem to get cliche. At times, it didn't really even seem like they were in the future. And if Anya(the protagonist in this story) is suppose to be some daughter of this gang member, why wasn't she more...tough? I mean she was pretty tough but not in the gang kind of a way. Like, I wanted her to shoot someone and act like it was no big deal. And her boyfriend...Win. I wanted to like him. I really did. But I didn't really feel anything for him. Sure he had some personality. But for the most part, he was pretty bland and he was almost unneeded throughout the story. I honestly just wanted him to leave and quit bothering Anya.
Okay, so maybe that wasn't all that short.
Ugh. The worst part about this stupid book is that I kind of what to know what happens next. The book read really slow for me, and the concept was just weird. I'm surprised I stuck with it, because it felt like it was never going to end. And mafia that sells chocolate...ugh. I don't even know.
Jahr 2083, Mafia-Familie, Tochter ist für alle zuständig, Vergiftung und Verstrickung in Familiengeschäft
My sixth grade book club picked this title from our recent book fair. Definitely too much talk about sex to put in my collection. The setting is intriguing, but I really wanted more back story.
This book wasn't the worst I have ever read, but it seemed fluffy and it lacked real substance. A lot of things were just thrown in there, with little explanation or thought. It is not a fulfilling book. It was okay, not the best read ever