September 6th 2011, Farrar, Straus and Giroux354 pages, Hardcover
Received from Publisher
First in the Birthright Series
Young Adult
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.
Opinion:
Although, I have never reviewed a Did Not Finish, I wanted to review this one because it’s me not the book.
This a dystopian-like novel placed in a world much like our own. Bring back rations and outlaw something everyone adores, such as chocolate, and you have the world that this book plays out in. And it stresses me out.
This is not a world like the one Hunger Games, Divergent, etc play out in. Meaning a world I can’t see America going in anytime soon. This is our own world gone wrong. This is 1940’s Germany mixed with today’s economy.
Anya is in charge of her family at a young age and you can literally feel the stress she is under trying to take care of her little sister and mentally handicapped brother.
Another aspect of why I didn’t finish this book wasn’t action packed in order to alleviate the stress and when I wasn’t stressed I was bored.
I read to escape and this book brought the current political climate and economy to me in a way that I can’t quite explain.
Rating:
DNF
Rating:
DNF
Reviews of those who have finished:
Rie
I'm a wife, student, and a dog-lover who reads when I should be folding laundry (bane of my existance), I write (rarely as academic papers consume my life), and love getting wrapped up in fiction.
So sad you didnt enjoy it. I havent rad it yet but I do want it bcs I have read great stuff about it as well as bad stuff. I guess it is not a book for everyone I hope it will be for me. =)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the honest review.
http://dazzlingreads.blogspot.com
I agree. I hope I will like it more than Rie did as the copy I won just arrived last week. Though based on what she said about economy and politics it might be a while before I pick it up and read it.
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