Not the chocolate!

Book 3 - A book set in the future.

 

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

 

After a started reading this novel I discovered that there are actually two other books to follow it. I was not prepared for a trilogy when I set out on such an endeavor.

Although there was a slight cliff hanger (a set up for a second, as some would say) I don't feel as though it is necessary for me to continue with the trilogy.

That is not to say that I didn't enjoy this story, but if I went my whole life without reading the sequel, I would be okay with that. I often find, with a trilogy, that the first book is amazing and the next two just don't live up to the name.

The setting is New York City and the year is unbeknownst to the reader. The only indication of the time is that the narrator's grandmother was born in 1995 and is aged somewhere in her 80s.

The story takes one back to the times of prohibition in the early 20th century. This time they aren't outlawing alcohol, (rather supplying it to everyone and your uncle, no matter their age) they have taken to removing caffeine, chocolate and paper from the list of can-haves. Although, paper is something that can be bought, it is just very expensive, while caffeine and chocolate are actually illegal. It just so happens that the main character's family is a key ingredient in the underground chocolate industry in America. As one can assume, this causes some problems in the, normally safe, life of the orphaned narrator and her siblings.

As a person who doesn't see the world without chocolate, I don't know if I could truly live in such a situation. However, most of the people in question in the novel have gone their whole lives without chocolate so they don't really realize what it is that they're missing. I just hope that I don't have to be banned from chocolate eating at the prime of my life. That may put a damper on things.

I often find that futuristic novels show our world but with some sort of system that is created to make the world a better place. This novel shows our world, possibly 60 years from now, with low resources and little adaption. There is still water, but not an unlimited amount. Paper is used sparingly or not at all because everyone has a tablet like device to use. There doesn't seem to be any great advancements in technology and the systems of government haven't changed much. People go to school and then get jobs and then have families and then live out their days. Their world is just like ours only with a limited amount of resources. It makes me wonder if our world is headed in that direction.

If you like futuristic novels with a little bit of teenage love and a lot of chocolate mafiya family drama, then I recommend this novel to you.

 

Hide your chocolate, this is t-bear signing off

 

PS - Mafiya is not misspelled, read the novel.