Line #15 Literature/Birthright


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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3	The ''Birthright'' trilogy is a [[YoungAdultLiterature young adult]] [[GenreBusting gangster]] [[{{Dystopia}} dystopia]] written by Creator/GabrielleZevin.
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5	In [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2083]], [[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin chocolate and coffee]] are illegal, [[NoPaperFuture paper is hard to find]], water is carefully rationed, and [[TheBigRottenApple New York City is rife with crime and poverty]]. Anya Balanchine is the sixteen-year-old [[MafiaPrincess daughter]] of the city's most notorious (and dead) [[TheDon crime boss]]. The series begins when her ex is accidentally poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures, and the police [[WrongfullyAccused think she's to blame]]. Throughout the course of the series, Anya is constantly forced to choose between accepting her [[TitleDrop birthright]] and following her heart.
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7	The books in the trilogy are:
8	* ''All These Things I've Done''
9	* ''Because It Is My Blood''
10	* ''In the Age of Blood and Chocolate''
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12	Unrelated to the [[ComicBook/{{Birthright}} comic book]] or [[TabletopGame/{{Birthright}} board game]] by the same name.
13
14	!! This series provides examples of...
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16	%%* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Anya is one.
17	* AmoralAttorney: At first, Charles Delacroix seems like a far if pragmatic District Attorney, though the second book has him [[spoiler: attempting murder just like everyone else]].
18	* AttemptedRape: Gable attempts to rape to Anya early in the first book. She ends her relationship with him shortly after.
19	* TheBigRottenApple: Filthy, poverty-stricken, and crime-ridden, New York City in 2083 ain't pretty.
20	* BlackAndGrayMorality: Lawmakers and criminals alike are corrupt and amoral in Anya's universe, leaving her with nowhere to turn and no one to trust.
21	* BlackMarketProduce: Chocolate and coffee are in such short supply that there are mafias that control their trade and sale. They're considered to be such a luxury as cocaine, in-universe.
22	* BuryYourDisabled: Subverted in the second book, since [[spoiler: Leo isn't actually dead]].
23	* ChildhoodBrainDamage: Leo, Anya's older brother, had this, leaving him severely mentally disabled.
24	* DaddysLittleVillain: She may be conflicted, and struggle with loathing that aspect of herself, but Anya is undeniably skilled at her father's steely, business-like management of the ruthless mafia business. Plus, however deep-down, she does [[DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster enjoy it]].
25	* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster: Deconstructed. Anya is morally and religiously opposed to the mafia, but she is drawn to it - by circumstance, by the fact that it's [[VillainousLineage in her blood]], and by the fact that [[EvilFeelsGood a part of her loves it]].
26	* DatingCatwoman: Win Delacroix, son of the assistant DA, romances Anya Balanchine, successor to the Balanchine mob and murder suspect.
27	%%* TheDon: Leonyd Balanchine, Sr.
28	%%* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Anya.
29	* GirlsBehindBars: Anya spends time in a female correctional facility. Unusual to the trope, hers is more akin to the male depictions of prison, unglamorous, with ruthless occupants, abusive wardens, and a protagonist desperate to get out.
30	* HairContrastDuo: Anya, as the dark-haired, troubled, angsty cynic, and Win as the blonde level-headed, law-abiding romantic.
31	* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: Chocolate and coffee are treated as illegal drugs by both law and by their abusers. The illicit substances we know today are nowhere to be found; perhaps, given limited water, they are too expensive or difficult to be produced.
32	* MafiaPrincess: Anya Balanchine may have been one as a girl, but she inherits the family business young, what with the death of [[TheDon her father]].
33	* TheMafiya: The Balanchine family, dealers of illicit chocolate and coffee, are the future version of the Russian mob.
34	* MeaningfulName: Gable Arsley is quite the arse, to say the least.
35	* PromotionToParent: With an inept older brother, neurotic younger sister, ailing grandmother, and two dead parents, Anya runs her own household as she tries to get through school and eventually take over the family business.
36	* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: 2083 sees a dramatically negative shift in society, but it's not unbelievable - much of the events feel eerily similar to Prohibition or the urban crime of the 1970s, coupled with the increasingly imminent issues caused by global warming.

Context Literature / Birthright