In the Age of Love and Chocolate

A Novel

By: Gabrielle Zevin

Narrated by: Ilyana Kadushin

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 Zevin's writing for young adults: the intricate characterization of Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac and the big-heartedness of Elsewhere.

All These Things I've 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 Anya's 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.

Critic reviews

“Zevin has crafted a delicious tale that isn't without bitterness and darkness that rightfully finishes on a sweet and satisfying note.” —<i>School Library Journal</i>

I loved this series

great series love the author. wish there'd be a happier ending to this story.

So good

This book, actually the trilogy of books, is so good I’ve read them all twice. Annie is a resourceful, well written character that is easy to love, even when she is frustrating. The other characters are interesting and have depth to them. You walk away feeling like you’ve met an interesting cast of characters. I read this story last year and decided to reread it this year and will probably read it again next year. The narrator does an excellent job with multiple voices and does a wide array of accents which helps as there are multiple continents contained in the pages of this trilogy. It’s a good read and well worth the time.

I want more of Anna and Win and of course chocolat

I want more about Russia and Anna Win and what does Maddie do about trash and water