What's Left of Me (The Hybrid Chronicles #1)
by Kat Zhang
Review:
The cover of this book caught my eye long before it came out. As you read the first few pages the meaning really sinks in.
You know how you are born, one soul, one name, one life? Well, this book puts a big twist on being human. In this book we are all born with two souls, two names are given to us and eventually the dominate soul takes over while the other disappears. Normally, this happens by the age of 10 or so. For those whose souls don't "settle" and one does not disappear, they are termed a hybrid. Part of the world is hybrids while the other part is not, and the two sanctions are at odds with each other. Wars have been going on and in this story, hybrids are the bad guys.
This story centers around Addie and Eva. These souls share one body. Nobody knows about them. Everyone thinks that only Addie is present. If anyone found out different, they would be sent away, institutionalized, never to return. That is until another hybrid confronts them. Even though Eva is still there, she hasn't actually moved their body in about 3 years, only Addie has had that capability since than and neither souls thought that would change. The other hybrid lets them know that there is a way for Eva to regain full functions. From here things find a way of going awry. Slowly they are found out by higher authorities. Soon after that they are institutionlized. The horrors they face, the lives they see changed, the truth they find out bring them closer to the end but also closer to those that want to help.
The story was a bit slow to start, but surprisingly with all the additional souls you learn it wasn't hard to keep track of who was who. A twist on the prejudice many have faced through the years, be it race, sexual orientation, religion, disabilities, this story is completely unlike others. The action really kicked into high gear once Addie and Eva arrived at the facility and the ending reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which is one of my favorites.
I look foward to the second book in The Hybrid Chronicles, Once We Were, which is to be released the end of August of this year.
You know how you are born, one soul, one name, one life? Well, this book puts a big twist on being human. In this book we are all born with two souls, two names are given to us and eventually the dominate soul takes over while the other disappears. Normally, this happens by the age of 10 or so. For those whose souls don't "settle" and one does not disappear, they are termed a hybrid. Part of the world is hybrids while the other part is not, and the two sanctions are at odds with each other. Wars have been going on and in this story, hybrids are the bad guys.
This story centers around Addie and Eva. These souls share one body. Nobody knows about them. Everyone thinks that only Addie is present. If anyone found out different, they would be sent away, institutionalized, never to return. That is until another hybrid confronts them. Even though Eva is still there, she hasn't actually moved their body in about 3 years, only Addie has had that capability since than and neither souls thought that would change. The other hybrid lets them know that there is a way for Eva to regain full functions. From here things find a way of going awry. Slowly they are found out by higher authorities. Soon after that they are institutionlized. The horrors they face, the lives they see changed, the truth they find out bring them closer to the end but also closer to those that want to help.
The story was a bit slow to start, but surprisingly with all the additional souls you learn it wasn't hard to keep track of who was who. A twist on the prejudice many have faced through the years, be it race, sexual orientation, religion, disabilities, this story is completely unlike others. The action really kicked into high gear once Addie and Eva arrived at the facility and the ending reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which is one of my favorites.
I look foward to the second book in The Hybrid Chronicles, Once We Were, which is to be released the end of August of this year.
Buy Links:
Amazon: Print
Amazon: Kindle
Barnes and Noble: Hardcover and Nook
Barnes and Noble: Paperback Pre-order
Author Bio:
Kat Zhang spent most of her childhood tramping through a
world weaved from her favorite stories and games. When she and her best friend
weren't riding magic horses or talking to trees, they were writing adaptations
of plays for their stuffed animals (what would The Wizard of Oz have
been like if the Cowardly Lion were replaced by a Loquacious Lamb?). This may or
may not explain many of Kat's quirks today.
By the age of twelve, Kat had started her first novel and
begun plans for her life as a Real Live Author (she was rather more confident at
twelve than she is even now). Said plans didn't come into fruition until seven
years later, when her agent sold her trilogy, The Hybrid Chronicles, to
HarperCollins. The first book, What's Left of Me–about a girl with two souls–will be released
September 18, 2012.
Kat is represented by Emmanuelle Morgen of Stonesong. She
also performs as a Spoken Word poet and contributes to Pub(lishing) Crawl, a
site for aspiring writers to talk about books, storytelling craft, and the
publishing process. Kat has also had the pleasure of remote interning for a
literary agent, specializing in Young Adult fiction.
When she is not exploring the world of her characters,
she is exploring her own. To date, she's had the pleasure of visiting five
countries, including more than half of the United States. She hopes to always
keep writing and traveling.
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