BOOK REPORT for What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang
Cover Story: We meet again, Big Face
BFF Charm: Yay!
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: Ethereal
Bonus Factors: Identity, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Relationship Status: Call Me, Maybe?
Cover Story: We meet again, Big Face
So, Big Face, we meet again. It's been a while since I've seen you 'round these parts. I thought we'd settled our debt. But no, Big Face. No, it doesn't seem that we have. Because here you come again, looking like you're good enough to be a subject in a Dolly Parton song. But you aren't, Big Face. You aren't good enough. No one is, except for Jolene, and, like, Kenny Rogers, and other people that Dolly sees fit. Maybe I will be, someday; that's my dream in life. But not you, Big Face. It will never be you.
The Deal:
Addie and Eva. Eva and Addie. One body; two people. Two souls; two minds; two personalities. Addie. And Eva.
Everyone is born a hybrid, with two souls. Parents name their children; they love their children. But then one child is supposed to defeat the other. One soul is supposed to be the dominant one; it is supposed to overcome the recessive soul. By the time a child is six or seven, ten at the most, it should settle - the dominant soul should be the only soul. The recessive soul should be dead. Eva should be dead, but she never died.
Now Addie hides the truth, pretending to be a normal fifteen year old like everyone else. Pretending that Eva no longer exists, pretending that she and Eva no longer share the same body, that they no longer decide which clothes to wear or which people to befriend or which situations to avoid. Because everyone knows that people who don't settle are dangerous, and no one can know that Eva still lives inside Addie's body.
But then Addie and Eva meet Hallie (and Lissa) and Devon (and Ryan) and they learn that there are others like them, other kids who never settled. But Hallie and Lissa and Devon and Ryan are unthinkable - they don't want to settle. They like being hybrid.
Can Addie and Eva learn to love themselves? And will their unsettled duality end up getting them all into big trouble?
BFF Charm: Yay!
Eva is actually the narrator of this book, trapped as she is in Addie's body. (Addie is still the dominant soul, and has 98% of the power over her body and speech.) I really felt for Eva; the sense of having a body but not being able to control it is one I've dealt with a little too often for comfort recently. And even though she loves her sister Addie and they're as close as they can possibly be, you can really understand her frustration with Addie because Eva really has nothing to bargain with, you know? If Addie wants to go left, they go left.
That said, I really loved Addie, too!! Because think of it from her perspective! She didn't do anything wrong, yet she is NEVER ALONE. If there's a cute boy that she likes? Nope, her twin sister's TOTALLY hanging out, INSIDE OF HER HEAD, while Addie tries to kiss him. If Addie's had a bad day and just wants to like, lay on her bed and listen to Sarah McLaughlin cds really loud while staring up at her poster of Devon Sawa, or, like, whatever it is that 15 year olds do now to FEEL THEIR FEELINGS, I don't know, she can't, because Eva is ALWAYS THERE. That is, like, literally my definition of what hell would be like, having someone follow you around 24/7/365. I mean, that's basically what parenting is also but that's why God invented babysitters, spouses and a bathroom door that locks.
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
I find the romance in this book to be both SWOONTACULAR, Hilariously Awkward! and also VERY REFRESHING. Let me explain!
The SWOONTACULAR part comes from the super-crush developing (yeah, this is first in a trilogy, of course.) between Eva and Ryan (Devon's other soul). It's important to realize, if I haven't made it clear, that just because two souls share a body, they're only as alike as siblings would be. So Addie doesn't have a crush on Devon or Ryan, and Eva doesn't have a crush on Devon, get it? But when Ryan's got control of the body, and Eva's got control of the body? HOO BOY! Sparks are a-flying!
The Hilariously Awkward park? THINK OF IT FROM ADDIE'S POINT OF VIEW. Devon and Ryan, because they're, like, experts at being Hybrids, are really good at fully inhabiting their body. In other words, when Ryan is taking their body for a spin, it's just Ryan. But Addie and Eva are still on training wheels, so they usually end up sort of splitting the difference, with one soul just slightly overpowering the other. So if Eva and Ryan are macking, that means Addie's stuck having to watch/experience/live the whole thing, with no control over her body, kissing a boy she doesn't even like. See? Totally not fair, right?
Very Refreshing? Absolutely NO insta-love in this book! Praise the Baby Jesus, Hallelujah! The sparks that develop between Ryan and Eva are slow and natural; Addie shows no interest in anyone as of yet, and my assumption is that Hallie is a lesbian (I don't think Lissa is though). I can't wait for my theories to be born out!
Talky Talk: Ethereal
Man, you know what I hate? Talented people. Why do talented people have to get all up in our business and do their fancy, talented things and make the rest of us look bad? I call for more mediocrity in this world! I mean, I'm doing my part! The very least everyone else could do is play along.
But yes, this book was written by an 18 year old, and it's her debut novel, and it's lovely and ethereal and has some achingly-great passages in it. I'm a little concerned about its pacing (it dropped off a bit in its rush to a conclusion) and I really hope this trilogy doesn't go the way of most trilogies ever written, because I think the author could do a lot with the themes in this novel. I'll be first in line to find out where they go from here.
Bonus Factor: Identity
Oof, this book got me here and it got me right here! (That only makes sense if you're looking at me pounding on my chest and my gut, I guess.) I loved the themes of identity as they were explored in the novel, and I thought it was particularly wise that the author had the age of "settling" typically happen around the time kids are entering first or second grade, because I think, if we all look back, that's the time that most of us "settled." I'm not saying we had dual souls, of course, but dual identities, maybe. You hear it all the time from parents who send their kids to school - "my kid was so sweet before" - and then he or she turns into a little rage tumor in a ski suit. And that's because at some point, we settle. We become someone we weren't; someone who won't get teased as much at school, someone who won't discuss their blankie, someone who becomes tough, or girly, or shallow, or nerdy, or whatever heightened sense of ourselves we think we need to be in order to get through the social heirarchy that is the playground. It's a sad state of affairs when even a seven year old knows that you aren't really free to be you or me.
Bonus Factor: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Without spoiling too much, there's a place for Hybrid kids, and the whole hospital is filled with Nurse Rachetts.
Casting Call:
I have not seen the new Wuthering Heights yet, because, you know, I hate Wuthering Heights. But it sure does LOOK pretty. So:
Kaya Scodelario as Addie/Eva
James Howson as Devon/Ryan
Relationship Status: Call me, maybe?
Look, book, I just met you, and this is crazy, but our date was super exciting, so call me, maybe? It's not hard to look right at you baby, because I don't have some sort of social anxiety disorder, you should call me, maybe? All the other books aren't trying to chase me; they aren't corporeal beings; but still: call me, maybe? Oh, book, I'm glad you came into my life, I hope you know that, you should know that, I enjoyed you, so call me, maybe! (No, definitely, when your sequel comes out!)
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book from Harper Collins Publishing. I received neither money nor Cocktails for this review (damnit!). What's Left of Me is available in stores now!