What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Summary from GoodReads:

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.

My Review:

Before I get started on this review I need to rave for a minute over the cover of What’s Left of Me. Y’all, it’s gorgeous – and not only is it gorgeous it FITS the story in so many ways. The outline of a face in profile half covering another, the expression, the coloring, the text with the large “ME” – everything is perfect.

So that said, I think this is one of my favorite dystopian young adult reads this year. It’s smart, it’s well thought out, and it has such creative, fantastically likeable characters. Within just a few pages I knew Addie and Eva – I can’t stress that enough, I just knew them. I knew who they were, who they would be, what decisions they would make and I relished the thought of reading a story where I knew characters so well, so quickly, and could enjoy seeing their decision making process as they hurdled each challenge thrown at them.

The idea of two people inside each body is a different one for me. That said, having just come from reading a book in which the main character jumps to a new body every day, I think I was primed to read this book. My mind was open and I eagerly embraced the idea of two personalities – because in a way, don’t we each have one? That dominant voice which determines our outward actions and the quiet voice which pushes us to do something against our instincts. I know I have them – so seeing them named in Addie and Eva, and feeling the pain through both personalities at the circumstances surrounding their life was thrilling and exciting and heartbreaking all at once.

The only flaw this book had – and it’s mostly a bunch of little things – was that there were times the action was paced too quickly. I had to go back and re-read some sections because I’d missed something in the flurry of everything else. Also, I dislike the whole mechanism of using a character to push the story forward (as in: harm of that character) and failing to follow through on it. I will not elaborate further here because I don’t want to spoiler it, but you’ll know what I mean … if that sort of thing bothers you. But it’s such a small thing that it won’t prevent me from recommending this book like crazy.

And, like I said earlier, if others out there are wow’d by the cover like I was, this will be a very, very widely spread read novel.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

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