Book Review: What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Title: What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang
Series: The Hybrid Chronicles #1
Finished on: December 20, 2012
Released: September 18th 2012 by HarperCollins
Source: Public Library E-Book
Rating: 3/5

Summary from 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 was a case of a good book but at a bad time. I've been on a huge contemporary, mainly new adult contemporary, binge lately and I can't get enough. When What's Left of Me came in for me at the library after being on hold for weeks, I new I had to read it now or risk never giving it a chance again. I had also just filled my e-reader with a ton of fantastic looking new adult contemporaries that I'm super anxious to break into! All of those factors combined, I felt rushed and forced to get through this book and was never quite able to get fully immersed into the story. However, I honestly feel that if I would have picked up What's Left of Me before my current contemporary addiction, I would have really loved it.

What this book does have is uniqueness. The whole premise is very different from anything else I've read in the same genre this year and Kat Zhang does a very good job with it. To be honest, the setting of the book almost had me more interested than the actual story itself. I found myself very curious about the world it was taking place in and wanting to learn more. Unfortunately, information about this world was given only on an as needed basis. However, I can see where this would be refreshing for some readers. There's not as much set-up as there is in a lot of other books in the genre and we are able to get directly into the story a lot sooner.

The story is original and Kat Zhang's writing style is wonderful, but I did not find myself connecting with the characters. The closest I came to it was with Eva (who's point-of-view the story was told in). And I didn't like Ava very much at all. For me, this didn't detract from the story though. Whereas I didn't connect with the characters, I still enjoyed the storyline. I stayed curious about and interested in everything going on. Surprisingly, it was the last chapter that hooked me and ensured that I'll be reading the next book in the series.

Like I mentioned before, I don't think I can do this book the justice it actually deserves, only because of the circumstances surrounding my reading of it. If the summary sounds good to you and it's something you feel in the mood for, I definitely recommend it.