Review: What's Left of Me (The Hybrid Chronicles #1) by Kat Zhang

Title: What's Left of Me

Author: Kat Zhang

Release Date: September 18th 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins

Read synopsis: Goodreads

Rating: 4 stars

The first time I saw this I wasn't really that interested. Although the premise does sound intriguing it wasn't that enough for me to be very excited about this one. So when I saw this in Edelweiss I wasn't really planning on requesting it, however my fingers have their own minds and took the liberty to click it and started typing why I wanted a review copy. And to my surprise I actually got approved. Then comes the glowing reviews from my GR friends and I was like, maybe I should thank my fingers for requesting this, this could only be so good. And so I read it and boy I couldn't thank my fingers more because this book is just great, really great!

The originality of this book is one of the major aspects that made this book so good and very intriguing. The concept of this book was definitely a first for me; I never encountered a book with the idea of a world where people lived with two souls. That idea although made me interested also made me anxious to read it; wouldn't it be difficult? How can I like the MC if there are two personalities in them? How could there be a romance in this one? Wouldn’t that be awkward? Can the author pull it off? 

But all those worries soon fade away as I find myself gradually being devoured by the author's writing! Kat Zhang is an amazing writer and she definitely pulled this one off! Her writing was simple but gorgeous and the pacing was comfortably fast. The world and the characters she created were all very well thought and written. The world-building is one of a kind and although I had some little issues with it I can wait for them to be resolve more in the following books. The characters were my favorite part of this book. I loved how she wrote them especially the relationship of the sisters, Addie and Eva. 

The relationship and the emotional struggles they had were very realistic and heartbreaking. I saw the conflicting feelings each shared with one another. And how they struggled in doing and choosing things they wanted for their own but not wanting to hurt or be selfish to the other one. I love how Zhang showed that with all the hurting, Eva and Addie really care and love each other. Through the different circumstances and obstacles thrown to Addie and Eva we were able to see the two differently - how they take and handle things, how they talk and think, their expressions and mannerism. So as the story went on, when they shift it wasn't really confusing. She wrote the sisters in a way that we could really see them separately, two entirely different and unique characters, sharing one body. 

Other characters like Hally and Lissa, Devon and Ryan, and Kitty and Nina were great supporting characters. They were never left on the sides and I liked how they contributed on the development of the main character.  

There's a very light touch of romance in this one and it surprised me that it was actually fine with me. Because I am a major sap and I love romance! It's one of the things I always consider when reading a book but throughout the course of the story I was just so busy thinking of how they're gonna overcome their problems and obstacles. So when this one sweet moment came I was just like, aww. It made me really smile and for some reason I was pretty satisfied with it...for now, even though I still have very little idea of how the romance will gonna work. But I hope it would be more apparent in the next book.  

With original plot, great world-building, and well written characters this book promises a definitely wonderful and engaging reading experience. This book did not disappoint. I highly recommend this.

*Thanks to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for providing an ARC of this book!