It is 2083 in New York City, where water is strictly rationed, cell phones are not permitted, emails require postage, and the ban on caffeine and chocolate means that organized crime has stepped in to fill the demand. Seventeen-year-old Anya Balanchine is the daughter of a notorious crime boss who was gunned down five years ago in their Manhattan apartment, leaving Anya the heir-apparent to the family business--Balanchine Chocolate. Now that she has been released from Liberty Children's Facility, Anya wants more than ever to live an ordinary life. But this is not as easy to achieve as she had hoped. Finding a high school that will take on a student with a criminal record is next to impossible, her best friend Scarlet is now officially with her ex-boyfriend, and the boy she's in love with has moved on. Just when things seem to be settling into a normal routine, a political vendetta lands her back at Liberty, and Anya has no choice but to escape and become a fugitive. At the same time, her immediate family becomes the target of a power-play organized by those who wish to control the chocolate business. So Anya's plans must be set aside because, before anything else, she is a Balanchine after all.

Picking up right where All These Things I've Done left off, Because It Is My Blood takes place in a future New York City where things have changed just enough to be different, yet are still plausible. Anya is an extremely strong female character who is the fierce protector of what remains of her family--her younger sister and older disabled brother. Anya's unwelcome position as the heir-apparent to her father's illegal chocolate business means that she must make very adult decisions although she is only seventeen. She handles her obligations with maturity while she battles against those that make assumptions about her because of her family history, even though she is decidedly her own person. Anya values her chosen Catholic religion, although her faith is tested when her family is endangered and friends are killed or injured as a result of their relationship to her. Language is relatively mild (b-stard, pr-ck, cr-p, d-mn), there is a bit of kissing, and Anya's best friend Scarlet becomes pregnant. Scarlet, whose family is also Catholic, completes her senior year and keeps the baby. This series is best read in order and fans of the first two books will look forward to the release of the final installment in the trilogy.
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