Monday, January 6, 2014

Review: Once We Were by Kat Zhang

Once We Were (The Hybrid Chronicles, #2) "I'm lucky just to be alive."

Eva was never supposed to have survived this long. As the recessive soul, she should have faded away years ago. Instead, she lingers in the body she shares with her sister soul, Addie. When the government discovered the truth, they tried to “cure” the girls, but Eva and Addie escaped before the doctors could strip Eva’s soul away.

Now fugitives, Eva and Addie find shelter with a group of hybrids who run an underground resistance. Surrounded by others like them, the girls learn how to temporarily disappear to give each soul some much-needed privacy. Eva is thrilled at the chance to be alone with Ryan, the boy she’s falling for, but troubled by the growing chasm between her and Addie. Despite clashes over their shared body, both girls are eager to join the rebellion.

Yet as they are drawn deeper into the escalating violence, they start to wonder: How far are they willing to go to fight for hybrid freedom? Faced with uncertainty and incredible danger, their answers may tear them apart forever.


My Review:

This book was a good second installment in the Hybrid Chronicles.  It continues to develop the characters, and the world that they live in.  The world they live in is often a cruel world, especially to the hybrids, even though it isn't their fault that the recessive soul didn't just fade away.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

The conflicts between Eva and Addie were portrayed well in this book.  They were beginning to share the control of their body more, which made things much more complicated for them.  The problem is that sometimes Eva and Addie have different opinions.  For example, when the underground hybrid rebellion begins, Eva wants to be involved while Addie thinks it is too dangerous.  When Eva has control of their body, she is able to agree to being involved in the rebellion, even though she is going against Addie's wishes.  Sometimes, Eva and Addie get mad at each other, and they are able to actually just leave each other.  They have learned how to do this so they can have some time alone.  But when they use this when they are having a fight, they aren't able to talk about their problems that they are fighting about.

The romantic relationships in this book are interesting.  Of course, romantic relationships are quite awkward when every body has two souls, and each soul likes a different person.  Maybe it would be ideal that one soul liked one soul, and the other soul liked the other soul in the other body, but that's not how it happens in this book.  Eva likes Ryan, and she is able to have a relationship with him when Addie is not there.  Addie knows that Eva is in a relationship with Ryan.  The problem is that Addie keeps her relationship with a guy a secret from Eva.  That makes it super awkward when Eva wakes up and finds herself kissing a boy that she doesn't even like.  I feel like Addie should have told her about her relationship because that is something Eva should know.  Addie knows about Ryan, so she should have told Eva about her boyfriend.  

There is some interesting stuff going on in this book with the hybrid rebellions.  Some of the plans that they come up with are so dangerous and risky.  They don't really seem like the best plan.  And these plans are being kept a secret from the leader of the hybrids, Peter.  The main leader of the secret rebellions is Sabine.  She is keeping some secrets from Eva and Addie, though.  They think she is planning on bombing an empty building that is meant to be a hybrid institution, but what will they do when they find out her true plan?  Eva is more trusting of Sabine than Addie.  Addie doesn't want to be involved, yet they still end up involved.  What ends up happening to their plan is interesting.

If you like YA sci-fi, read this book.

Katie

1 comment:

  1. Yeah, I liked this one, too. Maybe not as much as I did What's Left of Me, but it was definitely a good and worthwhile installment to the trilogy. And I do agree that the way the romance is handled is really interesting.

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