What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

by:  Kat Zhang
published by: HarperCollins
publish date:  September 18, 2013

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 . . .

Eva and Addie live in a world where two souls are born into one body, but by 5 years old one soul takes over and the other fades away.  In their case, Eva and Addie wouldn't settle, they were at risk of becoming "hybrid" which was punishable in their society.  They become adept at faking it, Addie is the more dominant soul and Eva drifts into the back of Addie's consciousness.  Eva is there, aware, and able to communicate to Addie, but only to Addie.  Until they meet someone else at school that realized they are the same.  They also haven't "settled" and they can teach Eva how to come back out.

I liked this book.  It was an interesting concept of two souls living in one body and it brought up questions that I wouldn't have thought of right off the bat.  For instance, what do you do if one falls in love with someone that the other doesn't like...or does.  What exactly are the limitations on physical expression of love to someone else?  This was one of the issues that started getting touched on once Eva's presence became stronger and more assertive over their physical body.  

What's Left of Me was a very interesting sci-fi YA book.  I would definitely recommend it to the YA readers.  I think it would appeal to other YA readers, maybe the contemporary romance readers too, especially those looking to branch out a little.