The idea of government using science to control its people without consent is not a new one, but it is definitely one that we need to keep happening especially since teens are now developing their ideas and opinions regarding democracy, the limits of government, and the ethics of science. In the past, US citizens were subjected to radiation, agent orange and more without their consent. Because I spend a lot of time reading in the Autism community, I know that there are some who believe that the government is trying to put either nanochip tracking devices in our vaccines or use the vaccines as a sort of population control. And there is some definite non-consent happening here. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but there is some interesting discussion to be had regarding the limits of science and what we can, and should, subject people to with or without their consent.

Eva and Addie reminded me not so much as two souls inhabiting one body, but of the various parts of ourselves that we choose to show depending on the situation we are in and the company we are with.Ī big theme that keeps coming up in the books I have been reading lately revolves around the ethics of science. I think teens especially do a lot of this as they try on different roles and try to fit into the various different parts of their lives. And then there is our inner self, that part of us which we hide. There is that part of us that we present to the world around us, our outers selves. I can’t tell you that this is what Zhang intended, but as I kept reading What’s Left of Me I thought about Carl Jung and the idea of the Shadow Self. There is a lot of discussion to be had surrounding What’s Left of Me. The action picks up once they are inside the facility, but unfortunately I can see a lot of teen readers giving up on this book before it gets there, which is unfortunate.

It’s a slow, though very interesting start. This is some seriously cerebral science fiction Addie and Eva spend a lot of time in dialogue inside their head. It soon becomes clear that the people in charge are conducting experiments on these children and Addie/Eva must fight their way out of the facility, while fighting for control of their body, if they want to survive. Soon they are captured and taken to a facility where they are held prisoner. Outside of the US borders hybrids still exist, but inside a sort of peace has been afforded by creating a rigid society in which hybrids are no longer encouraged.Īddie and Eva think they are doing a pretty good job of keeping their secret until they discover that there are others like them. Children who don’t settle are taken to institutions to be “fixed”.

At this point no one knows the truth – they have never settled. Eva exists inside her and the two have frequent conversations with one another. Inside her body lives not one soul, but two.

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang