What's Left of Me: The Hybrid Chronicles, Book One [Hardcover]

Kat Zhang (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 18, 2012 | Series: Hybrid Chronicles (Book 1)

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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Everyone is born with a twin: two souls-one body. Only, in America, it's illegal to remain that way-to be a hybrid. The dominant soul is supposed to take over, and the recessive, or weaker one is supposed to disappear, usually by the time the child is six. But even though Addie was the stronger soul, Eva held on. Despite the fact that she could no longer move or speak to anyone but Addie, she didn't go away. Now that they are teens, Addie and Eva have adopted rules of behavior in order to survive: don't stand out, don't be exceptional, blend in at all costs. But then the girls become friends with Hally and her brother, Devon, and the siblings show the sisters that there's another way to live-Eva can reemerge. But Eva's freedom comes at high price: imprisonment in a hospital that wants to "cure" kids of being hybrids and where patients who "go home" are never heard from again. This uniquely imagined novel doesn't fall short in the execution. Zhang's prose is lovely, and the plot is compelling to the last page. If there's one complaint to be made it's that the differences in characterization of the hybrid siblings are very subtle, and it's occasionally difficult to immediately see the change when different personalities take over. It will be easy to categorize this book as yet another dystopian novel, but it is remarkable and will stand out from the rest.-Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, COα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

"A deeply original tale of longing for identity, so skillfully crafted, the words float above the page." (Lissa Price, international bestselling author of Starters)

"A thought provoking first installment in a series that unflinchingly takes on ethically challenging topics." (Kirkus Review)

"Addressing issues of identity, ethics, and choice, Zhang's concept is original and provocative; the deep bond between Eva and Addie ... and the mystery about why their society is so desperate to "fix" hybrids are riveting." (Publishers Weekly Starred Review)

“A shockingly unique story that redefines what it means to be human.” (Lauren DeStefano, New York Times bestselling author of Wither)

Zhang’s concept is original and provocative; the deep bond between Eva and Addie (the shifts between I, we, and she in Eva’s narration are especially haunting) and the mystery about why their society is so desperate to “fix” hybrids are riveting. (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

“A deeply original tale of longing for identity; so skillfully crafted, the words float above the page.” (Lissa Price, international bestselling author of STARTERS)

An unsettling dystopian adventure of two souls trapped in a single body. (Kirkus Reviews)

“Uniquely imagined…Zhang’s prose is lovely, and the plot is compelling to the last page” (School Library Journal)

“An intriguing depiction of sibling relationships and the challenges of learning to live as distinct, though not physically separate, individuals.” (Booklist)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (September 18, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062114875
• ISBN-13: 978-0062114877
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kat Zhang is an avid traveler, and after a childhood spent living in one book after another, she now builds stories for other people to visit. An English major at Vanderbilt University, she spends her free time performing Spoken Word poetry, raiding local bookstores, and plotting where to travel next. She is represented by Emmanuelle Morgen of Stonesong. You can read about her travels, literary and otherwise, on her website or check her out on Twitter.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My Life is a Notebook: What's Left of Me September 18, 2012

By Gretchen @ My Life is a Notebook

Format:Hardcover

~A big thanks to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for this ARC!~

When I requested this on Edelweiss, I thought I'd make a big mistake. I already had a have-but-need-to-read list of 20 books. At least 7 of those were books I had to review. Some of them I'd had from NetGalley since the previous month and needed to be read YESTERDAY. But I thought "...what the heck?" Then it came through and I thought, "What have I done, I can't read this fast enough to get the review done in time!"

I finished this in one afternoon. I couldn't have put it down even when my mother asked me to.

The premise is just as interesting as it sounds. I drank up every little detail about it, and there was lots of that. In places it was a little infodump-ish, but I didn't mind. Zhang had so many layers built into this world that I never even dreamed of. After all, who would think to go PAST a world where two souls start out in every body? That's got enough going for it as it is. But Zhang also added a global element to this book. The setting is in a dystopian United States, where the Americas are supposedly cut off from the rest of the world because hybrids are burning up every other continent with their wars. This aspect was only mentioned briefly, but it opens up the other books in this series for literally a world of possibilities that are very intriguing.

The characters of Eva and Addie were also very well done. It was always easy to tell who was talking and thinking, because they did have a slightly different way of talking and acting. I also loved how yet another level of the plot was Eva and Addie's constant battle and pact with each other. After all, they are two parts of the same whole, yet they are two different people. It would have been so easy to make Addie seem evil for not wanting Eva to take control, but Zhang gives you just enough of each girl so that you are emotionally invested in both their sides of the argument and there is no black and white.

The plot never stopped moving. Eva and Addie had to roll with so many punches that just kept coming and coming and coming. I wasn't particularly shocked by any of them, but Zhang's impeccable writing kept my heart rate up the whole time. Even in moment's where it seems like the plot is slowing down, your nerves aren't because you just KNOW something is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.

Somehow, this plot is also devoid of some of my "favorite" clichés. Insta-love? Addie and Eva never had the freaking time, they were too busy trying to survive. Love triangles? I thought it would be way too easy to fall into this, what with two people inhabiting a bunch of bodies and all, but Zhang didn't lower herself to that, either. Instead, the small fraction of romance in this book was done spectacularly well, yet somehow made me feel so sad for both Addie and Eva at the same time. (No, I won't tell you which one is in love. Read it and find out!)

Basically, this book is everything I want a book to be, which makes it really hard to write a review about it. It had plenty of action, a fantastic premise, impeccable writing and great characters. It lacked any YA love clichés and wasn't romance focused, though it did include romance that I actually enjoyed. I have nothing left to say besides READ THIS BOOK ASAP!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, original and striking- a terrific first novel for Zhang November 25, 2012

By Christina (Ensconced in YA) TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Several of my author friends were gushing about this book, and I just knew I had to move it up on my to read list. Boy, am I glad I did.

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang is about Hybrids-- specifically Eva and Addie. There is typically a dominant and recessive soul in each body and Eva is the recessive soul. She is supposed to disappear by their 5th birthday, but she hangs on, determined to live. But because of this, they are different from the rest of the population, and hide their secret from even their loved ones. Then they meet Hally, someone just like them-- and their world changes forever.

I can't even imagine the complexity of writing this book. To clarify what I mean is-- you have two souls inhabiting one body. There are references to Addie saying something, but then when she does something, it is talked about in the collective plural "we." The connotation was always clear and I never saw a misstep, but what a difficult way to write-- very impressive. Eva is a terrific character, as is Addie, and Zhang does a wonderful job of keeping a balance between the two. The pace of the novel is lightning quick, and I kept turning the pages faster and faster to see what would happen. I loved how three dimensional all of the characters were-- and what a feat to keep each half so distinct and separate.

I am curious about the world building because it is not clear what happened before-- why there are Hybrids, etc. But the ending of this first entry in what is likely to be a trilogy hints there is much more up Zhang's sleeve.

A terrific first book for Zhang-- and I'm eager to pick up the next book in this series!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you love dystopian YA, you'll love this! September 18, 2012

By Sarah

Format:Hardcover

(I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins publishers, and Edelweiss.)
15-year-old Addie lives in a world where every baby is born with two souls; two different consciousness' living in the same body and mind. Between the ages of 5 and 10, every child loses their second soul, in a process known as `settling'. The dominant soul fully takes control of the body, and the recessive soul simply fades away.

Addie is unusual in that she didn't settle until she was 12. A fact that nearly cost her her life, but what nobody knows is that while Addie has full control of her body, her sister Eva still lives on within her mind. Addie/Eva are what is known as a hybrid, and in the USA this is basically illegal, if they are caught they will be experimented on or killed, so Addie says nothing, and Eva remains trapped in her own body.

When a girl at school Hally reveals herself to Addie as a hybrid too and tries to get Addie to admit that Eva never disappeared, Addie wonders if it is a trick, but Eva is desperate to find out if she could get her control back and no longer have to live imprisoned in her body.

Unfortunately though, Hally manages to get herself sent to an institution for hybrids, and tells the people there Addie's secret, meaning that Addie is taken too, and must now find a way out, before the people there try to take Eva away from her forever.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the relationship between Addie and Eva, and felt sorry for poor Eva being totally unable to exert control over her own body. Eva was such a strong character, stronger even than Addie who was supposedly the `dominant' soul. She hung on in there, desperate to hang onto life, not wanting to fade away, always wanting to experience more, even when everybody told her that she should be gone already.
I felt sorry for Eva in the way that she was treated, even by Addie, who at one point blames their hybrid status on Eva, because if Eva had just let herself fade away like she should have, Addie would be normal.
I also felt sorry for the other children at the institute who were being experimented on. It was so terrible how their other halves were being ripped away from them, and how they were told that they were sick and wrong because they were hybrids.

I really don't understand how people could possibly live with this kind of torture! Having a child who has two separate personalities inside, naming them different names, and then having to live with the knowledge that at some point one of them will basically cease to exist! I also find it very difficult to imagine living with someone else in your head, and having to share a body, but also, if you had had someone else in your head since birth, how would it be to have them disappear and be no longer there! The grief that the children felt about the loss of their twin was just so poignant, and sad.

I did find it quite strange initially that the story was told from Eva's point of view, but this wasn't an issue once I got into the story, and it was interesting to see things from Eva's point of view. I did find it a bit confusing at times though when Eva referred to things as `ours' - our arm, our sock etc. I also cringed every time Addie accidentally said `us' instead of I; convinced that they were going to give themselves away!

The whole idea of two souls in one body, and the way one was dominant did massively remind me of `The Host' by Stephenie Meyer, even though the story itself wasn't similar. The way that the two different people communicated and had different ideas and desires, was very similar though - not that this was a bad thing.

The story was well paced, and the finale was so tense! My heart was racing, my hands were shaking, and I was silently begging `They've got to make it, they've got to make it!'
There was a little touch of romance, but nothing too much, I'm guessing that this might be explored more in future books.

Overall; I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next books in the series! If you love dystopian YA, you'll love this!
8.75 out of 10.