review: What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

September 18, 2012

HarperTeen

Young Adult | Dystopian

The Hybrid Chronicles #1 

Pages: 356

Source/Format: Edelweiss/egalley

Rating: ★★★★★

Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t…

For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable–hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet…for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.

REVIEW:

Oh my gosh, how much do I love What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang? So much. Like seriously, this book is so amazing I just wanted to hug my iPad while reading it. It’s so different from the usual dystopians out there that I questioned if it really was a dystopian. I think of it as more of an alternate history, and you’ll understand why when you read it.

What’s Left of Me is such a gorgeous book, especially how it’s written. In first person present plural, it’s not something you see in YA fiction every day, and at first I really thought it was going to drive me insane, yet Kat Zhang does it so effortlessly it’s hard to believe that it’s written in a different tense we’re used to. I love it. I love that she brings beauty by her choice of words. What gorgeous prose. 

And then you have these characters; Addie and Eva. I love that it’s Eva’s story, not Addie’s, although they do occupy the same body, we are firmly in Eva’s mind. I love that both are so different it’s hard to believe they are the same body. 

The world is so fantastic. I so adore it when a world comes to life, and Kat Zhang’s hybrid world breathes on the pages, just like the characters do. Oh man I love this book. 

Yet, What’s Left of Me has a dash of romance. And while it’s nice that it doesn’t take over the entire story, I wonder: how would it work, when the recessive souls fall in love? That question sounds like I’m asking naughty things, but I mean in general. Get your mind out of the gutter. I really do want to know how the love would happen since there are TWO souls in ONE body; what if they both fall in love with a soul and the other falls for another soul in another’s body? (If that makes sense.) I’m just curious. 

But even after that, I still really loved this one and am dying to have the sequel. It’s such a gorgeous book that changes your view of how you live, and I want everyone to read it.