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

Overview

Fans of Stephenie Meyer's The Host will enjoy What's Left of Me, Kat Zhang's shocking, thought-provoking, and emotionally charged story of two souls sharing one body.

What's Left of Me, the first book of the Hybrid Chronicles, is set in an alternate reality where everyone is born with two souls. But one soul is naturally dominant, and in early childhood, the other soul fades away.

That didn't happen for Addie and Eva. Now fifteen, Eva clings to life inside the body she shares with Addie, although she can no longer speak or even move.

Addie does everything she can to hide the presence of her sister soul. Eva's very existence is illegal. If their secret is revealed, it could mean death for both of them.

Editorial Reviews

Lauren DeStefano

“A shockingly unique story that redefines what it means to be human.”

Publishers Weekly

First in the Hybrid Chronicles, Zhang’s debut novel, set in a xenophobic alternate America, is narrated by 15-year-old Eva, who shares a body with her “sister,” Addie. The girls are a “hybrid,” with Addie controlling motor function and acting as their public persona. They live in a society in which hybrids have been forbidden for decades. “Settling”—allowing the dominant soul to assert itself— is mandatory, so Eva’s existence must remain secret, even from their family. Soon after Addie and Eva meet two other hybrids, they are all in danger of being discovered and taken away for treatment. Addressing issues of identity, ethics, and choice, 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. An abundance of questions remain, even after Zhang’s well-orchestrated nail-biter of an ending. Zhang’s singular premise all but guarantees that readers will be eagerly awaiting those answers in the next installment. Ages 13–up. Agent: Emmanuelle Morgen, Stonesong. (Sept.)

Kirkus Reviews

An unsettling dystopian adventure of two souls trapped in a single body. Like all children, Addie and Eva were born as two souls in the same body. As young children, the two personalities were both loved and indulged by their parents, but, unlike all the other children, Addie and Eva didn't "settle." In settling, the dominant soul takes over the single body and the recessive soul fades away. Children who don't settle are labeled hybrids and institutionalized. At age 6, Addie and Eva started seeing specialists to hasten the settling process, but the years of treatments have been unsuccessful. To hide their shame, Addie takes the dominant role and Eva becomes invisible to the outside world, thereby convincing society that they are not a hybrid. However, when an experiment with their classmates goes wrong, Addie/Eva find themselves institutionalized and wrestling with what it means to have a voice. Brackets within the text differentiate Addie's external communication and Eva's internal dialogue with Addie, helping to clarify who is speaking when. Worldbuilding is a little on the thin side, but Addie and Eva's emotions are more than enough to carry readers along. A thought-provoking first installment in a series that unflinchingly takes on ethically challenging topics. (Dystopia. 13 & up)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780062114884
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 8/13/2013
Pages: 368
Sales rank: 560,774
Age range: 13 - 17 Years
Product dimensions: 5.31 (w) x 8.00 (h) x 0.82 (d)

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Lauren DeStefano

Publishers Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

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