Review: What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

What's Left of Me
by Kat Zhang
Series: The Hybrid Chronicles, #1
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 343
Format: Advance Reader Copy
Source: Publisher (BEA)
Challenge: 2012 Debut Author Challenge
Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Goodreads

I should not exist. But I do.

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.

(Goodreads)

When I first read the premise of What’s Left of Me, I did not necessarily think it would be my “type” of read. Then, I read the first chapter and I knew that this book was different, and that I may actually have a “type” that I was not aware of.

What’s Left of Me is an idea that I have never seen explored before.  Addie and Eva are two souls that share one body -- in Kat Zhang’s world: a hybrid-- where Addie is the dominant soul and Eva is the recessive soul.  I was skeptical at first as to how interesting I would find hybrids to be, but Addie and Eva’s world is mysteriously fascinating.  Which sister will settle, or take complete control while the other fades away to nonexistence? Will the sisters settle? Or, will they be this way forever? and the most interesting question: What will their lives be like if Addie and Eva never settle?

In the fashion that What’s Left of Me is written, Eva foreshadows the future (having already experienced the events in the book) but tells most of the story in a present sense of time.  I happen to find that particular way of storytelling to be extremely engaging, and it certainly worked in What’s Left of Me.

Although, the majority of the plot is not action filled, I did not find that that detracted from the story. The slower pace works well with Zhang’s writing, and left me captivated throughout the entire book.

From early on, I found myself pulling for Eva. Eva is the storyteller and we see everything from her point of view.  I do not believe that I favored her because she was the one telling the story (as I normally do); rather because (for the most part) Eva saw things as I believe I would see them and acted on things the way I would have acted on them -- if I was a hybrid in Kat Zhang’s future America.

As the story progresses we are introduced to a number of new characters who I also found myself caring for, including the boy who will bring a slight romantic touch to the story.  I will say the key word in that sentence is “slight.”  Normally, I would have wanted more romance, but in this (rare) case I was so caught up with what was happening emotionally and physically with the characters that I didn’t notice the lack thereof. However, the little romance that we do get is really quite interesting, and plays back on the question of what Addie and Eva’s lives will be like if they do not settle.

Overall, Kat Zhang’s What’s Left of Me is a touching and daring debut that happened to grace me with the variation I was needing in my choice of reading material, and leave me enthusiastically awaiting book two.

Disclosure: I received an Advance Reader Copy of What's Left of Me from the publisher via Book Expo America. I was in no way compensated (monetary or otherwise) for my review and was not influenced by anyone other than myself and my own opinions.