Review Detail

I have Jenn, from the YASisterhood to thank for this ARC because she was kind enough to grab it for me at this year's ALA.

A note about the cover changes - I know All These Things I've Done has a new cover and it coordinates with this one, but I actually prefer the original cover.

This was one read I was really looking forward to! I thought the concept of coffee and chocolate being illegal was so interesting and entertaining in the first book and I fell in love with Anya and Win. This second installment in the Birthright series is good but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book. There were times I experienced extreme frustration with these characters and other times they broke my heart. *cries*

Because It Is My Blood picks up with Anya's release from Liberty and her desire to move on with her life but not everyone around her is willing to let her do that. Her sister Natty doesn't want to see her, Scarlet, her BFF is now dating her archenemy, Win's father still seems hell-bent on making Anya's life miserable and then there's Win whose gone off and gotten himself another girlfriend. *sighs* Boys!

However, not everything is as it seems and try as she might to find a new normal, Anya ends up caught in the middle of a political scandal that sends her right back to jail. (No passing "Go" and no collecting $200 - poor girl) But before she has a chance to get settled, her life is threatened, a chance to escape arises and an unexpected visitor shows up with the hopes of setting the record straight.

Anya manages to get away and while she's gone not only learns a lot about the "family business" but a lot about herself too. She knows what's important and what she's willing to fight for and who. When yet another life is threatened because of her, she'll be forced to return home and try to make sense of what's left of her life, again. When Anya returns to NYC, she sees that the game may still be the same but the faces are all new. Her family is all she has to depend on but when she experiences betrayal after betrayal Anya begins to wonder if the only person she can really trust is herself.

The pacing felt slower in this book than the first one and it seemed like each time Anya had a chance at happiness, it was ripped away. I found myself asking, "How many times does the girl need to be locked up?" Granted, her life in general is pretty much a prison, but still. I did like that she seems to be able to share more of her feelings instead of keeping them bottled up inside. She's doing the best she can with what she's been dealt but I really hope book 3 brings Anya some semblance of peace.

Win, whose character I adore, confused me somewhat in this book. He's always been torn between his feelings for Anya and his loyalty to his father but I've also felt it wouldn't hurt him to grow a backbone where his father is concerned. He does accomplish this but seems to direct it at the wrong person. I've enjoyed that his character has loved Anya through so much which is why I didn't understand some of the decisions he makes. *shakes him*

Potential Spoilers:

*Throughout the book, Zevin intersperses the titles of her other works, All These Things I've Done, Elsewhere and part of Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac which I thought was rather creative.

*There was a point where I thought Win and Natty were going to get together and I guess they still could in book 3 but honestly, if that happens, I will be upset. (like, really upset.)