What's Left of Me

What’s Left of Me, Kat Zhang, 343 pages

Eva and Addie are two minds in the same body. That’s not unusual – everyone starts out like that. But most people “settle” by the age of eight or so, one mind becoming dominant and the other disappearing. Eva and Addie are fifteen, and although Eva hasn’t moved or spoken in four years, she’s still there, making the two of them a dangerous, illegal hybrid. They meet Hally and Devon at school, and learn that Eva can, with practice, regain her ability to step forward in their body. But this is a dangerous prospect – the government cracks down hard on hybrids. How far is Eva willing to go to be present again?

This book paints a bleak picture of an alternate, dystopian United States, 150 years past a revolution where settled people rose up against their hybrid masters. As the rest of the world dissolved into chaos (for how could two minds in one body ever come to an accord?), America isolated itself, drove out immigrants and hybrids, and became a nation solely of settled people. The racial implications of this are hard to miss, but What’s Left of Me barely pays this any mind, presumably because Eva and Addie are products of the system. I found myself hoping this book would temper this depressing reality with even a few lighthearted moments – some banter, happy relationships between the characters, anything – but even the romantic subplot is very serious. Go ahead and read this if you like downers; I’ll be aiming for cheerier books.