Anyas new prominence brings out friends, foes, and ghosts from the past. Certain scores must be settled; certain debts must be paid. Surviving a crime-ridden New York City in the 2080s is looking harder and harder for Anya-- A conclusion to the series that includes All These Things Ive Done finds 18-year-old Anya struggling with loss and disgrace as well as an estrangement with Win after opening a nightclub with Charles Delacroix, all of which are further complicated by a life-threatening choice. When Anyas new prominence brings out friends, foes, and ghosts from the past, she finds surviving a crime-ridden New York City in the 2080s harder and harder. All These Things Ive Done, the first novel in the Birthright series, introduced us to timeless heroine Anya Balanchine, a plucky sixteen year old with the heart of a girl and the responsibilities of a grown woman. Now eighteen, life has been more bitter than sweet for Anya. She has lost her parents and her grandmother, and has spent the better part of her high school years in trouble with the law. Perhaps hardest of all, her decision to open a nightclub with her old nemesis Charles Delacroix has cost Anya her relationship with Win.Still, it is Anyas nature to soldier on. She puts the loss of Win behind her and focuses on her work. Against the odds, the nightclub becomes an enormous success, and Anya feels like she is on her way and that nothing will ever go wrong for her again. But after a terrible misjudgment leaves Anya fighting for her life, she is forced to reckon with her choices and to let people help her for the first time in her life. In the Age of Love and Chocolate is the story of growing up and learning what love really is. It showcases the best of Gabrielle Zevins writing for young adults: the intricate characterization of Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac and the big-heartedness of Elsewhere. It will make you remember why you loved her writing in the first place.
