Review: What's Left of Me

What's Left of Me By Kat Zhang 

Publisher: HarperCollins 
Publication Date: September 18th 2012
Pages: 343
Source: Library
Genre: Fantasy
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.

This book plain old  blew me away. I have no words to express the impression the book has left on me.  What's Left of Me is such a unique idea, and the way it's presented so emotionally is just... *heart breaks*

What's left of me is about a society were people are born with two souls in their body, and by the time a child is ten one of the souls is supposed to become dominant and the other should fade away.  But sometimes that doesn't happen. Eva was supposed to fade away, but she didn't, and now she and her twin soul, Addie are doing their best to keep that a secret.

Though it's a bit harder to pick apart characters in this story because of the twin soul thing, it's still amazing how well each soul has their own personality. The book is told in Eva's point of view. Eva was supposed to fade a way, but she didn't. She doesn't have any control of the body she shares with her twin soul Addie, and life is often very hard for her because the only person who she ever talks to is Addie, her parents don't even know she's still there. Between Eva and Addie, Eva is the nicer of the two of them and she is much more sympathetic that Addie is. Addie is a little more selfish I think, though they both really care about with the other thinks and are very good... friends or sisters or whatever.

Other main characters include Hally/Lissa and Ryan/Devon. Hally and Lissa are a girl (oh my gosh that's an awkward sentence) who are secretly twin souls that befriend Addie/Eva and try to help them so that Eva will be able to control her shared body again. Lissa/Hally seemed really similar to me. I really didn't know how to tell them apart. Ryan/Devon are Hally/Lissa's brother (again with the awkward sentences) unlike Hally/Lissa I was easily able to tell the two apart. Devon isn't very sociable and kind of a mysterious soul. Ryan was much nicer and I really liked him <3.

My favorite thing about this whole book is, where the heck did the idea for this come from? I mean really, it's just the strangest idea and at the same time it just makes you sit down and think "What if?" What if there was another soul in my body, how would I be different? It's just so interesting!

The not so good? When I first heard about this book I heard it was a dystopian? Not really... the government is kind of messed up, but the book feels more like an alternate present day society with a fanatical element. It was sort of pushed towards dystopian because of how they decide to create a revolution and all that, but that's not necessarily dystopian because of that.

Overall this was a super awesome book with great characters and one of the most interesting stories I have read in a very long time!