What's left of me by Kat Zhang

It is normal to have only one soul, but everyone has two souls when they are born, it is only as they grow from child to teenager one of the souls fades away and the body settles with only the dominant soul left behind.  It is the way things are, any body that fails to settles and leaves the two souls intact is considered an abomination that must be fixed - the person is labelled a hybrid and the government will stop at nothing to make sure the hybrid is cured. 

Because Addie and Eva failed to settle at the normal time they were watched closely, subjected to tests, and were only left to settle in their own time because their parents begged for them to be left alone until they were ten years old.  It was a plea that worked because Addie finally settled, with Eva fading away into nothing - the general consensus was better late than never.  Three years later and the family is settled in their new home, away from the stigma of being the family with the child that settled late, the child that was a danger to all those around them.  Addie is enjoying being normal, except for the little voice only she can hear - the voice of Eva who is hidden away rather than gone.

Addie is the dominant soul, the one with control of their voice and body, the one that everyone sees and hears.  The only person who can hear Eva is Addie, and while most of the time they are content, Eva does dream of more sometimes.  When they meet another hybrid it seems as though the dream Eva never dared dream, the hope she never dared to hope for has come true - this hybrid has dual control of their body, both souls can use the same body and speak with their own voices.  But now Addie and Eva are in danger, danger that they may not be able to escape without paying a terrible price.

If you like this book then you may also enjoy The hunger games by Suzanne Collins, XVI by Julia Karr, Variant by Robison Wells, and Eve by Anna Carey.

~ Reviewed by Elspeth Sweetman

When we wake by Karen Healey

Tegan Oglietti was a normal sixteen year old girl, until she woke up one day and discovered that she has been in cryogenic status for just over a hundred years, that the world she once knew is now dust and memories.  Adjusting to her new world is not easy, there is new technology to master and while the people around her still speak English they also have a confusing amount of slang that means nothing to a teenager from Tegan's time.  As she adjusts to her new world, Tegan comes to realise that things are not as they should be, that the military is keeping secrets from her - the military that owns her because they are the ones that brought her back to life and gave her a new start in their world.

Tegan quickly settles into a new rhythm of life, but she can't quite get used to the bodyguards that follow her everywhere - especially when one of them acts to protect her.  The world Tegan is coming to know is not a land of plenty, it is a country where you can not cross the border unless you are Australian or have a special visa - you can only be an Australian if you are born there.  To make matters worse, there are people who want to see Tegan dead because of what she appears to stand for - for some she is a soul less abomination who should make every effort to return to her god, and for others she needs to be dealt with because she can never be Australian again.

If you liked this book then you may also like Revived by Cat Patrick, The interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina, Arrival by Chris Morphew, and Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans.

~ Reviewed by Elspeth Sweetman