What's Left of Me (the hybrid chronicles) Review

One of my favorite types of sci-fi and dystopian novels are ones that are parallel to our own. I love stories that align with our world, except for one thing. In the Hybrid Chronicles that one small thing is that every human is born with two souls. Around the age of six of seven one of the souls fades away, leaving the dominant one behind. At least, that is what is suppose to happen.

Eva and Addie are fifteen, and while to the rest of the world and her family Addie triumphed as the dominant, surviving soul, Eva is still inside her head. She can’t control the body that they share, but Eva’s spirit is still there talking with Addie everyday. Eva helps make sure that Addie never forgets anything, notices the surrounding areas . Addie cannot imagine Eva not being their, but they have to be careful. Souls that don’t settle end up in mental hospitals, or get experimented on. They are thrown in the middle of somewhere and just, forgotten. So far, they have been careful.

And they must be careful, because Hybrids (unsettled adult souls) are dangerous. Two souls fighting for dominance, fighting each other for control leads to danger. Wars have been fought. Humans, whole countries are hard enough to keep peace between, but when people fighting share the same body, disaster strikes. While this book never goes into real detail on past problems with hybrids, it is clear that humanity was going to end up killing itself. That is when America shut its borders, not allowing anyone in, and monitoring anyone who remained unsettled in case the threat of Hybrids overtake their country.

That is before Hally, the foreign and overly bubbly girl from their history class starts talking to them. Hally is not popular, and doesn’t seem to be able to take the hint that Addie doesn’t want to be friends. Hally begins tagging along wherever Addie goes, and when Addie’s shirt gets ruined invites her over to wash it so she won’t get in trouble. Hally’s house is where everything goes wrong for Addie. Hally tells Addie she knows her secret, she knows there is another soul in her body, but no to worry because Lissa is still with her and her brother Devon never let his other soul Ryan die either.

There is a difference though, Lissa and Ryan can take control of their bodies and they want to teach Eva to do the same. For weeks they practice, and every day Eva becomes stronger. But they are discovered, and the three are taken hundreds of miles away to a treatment facility that promises to cure them. Of course, those kinds of centers are never what they appear to be, and Addie doesn’t want to lose Eva. They are best friends, sisters, connected through everything and so they begin to plan their escape.

While escaping they discover something terrifying, everything they have been told is a lie, and they don’t know what to believe anymore. The shots and vaccines children receive before they start school is a poison meant to kill of one of the souls, and the shots are being imported. Meaning that America hasn’t closed its doors to protect them from outside threat, but that the outside is wary of them.

I loved the first half of this book. I loved the dynamic between Addie and Eva, and when Eva was learning to take back control. I thought the time spent in the hospital was rather boring until the end when you discover that there are things the government is lying about. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.