So...is WHAT'S LEFT OF ME really a dystopian novel?

Barnes & Nobles seems to think otherwise ;)

Since the early days of What’s Left of Me’s publication, I’ve gotten emails from time to time from readers asking things like: “What genre is What’s Left of Me really? Dystopia? Sci-Fi? Fantasy?” Or “How come What’s Left of Me is a dystopia but they don’t have futuristic technology or anything?”

If you go to Goodreads, What’s Left of Me is certainly categorized as Dystopia by many people. In my head, though, it never really was one. But then, I do have a pretty limited definition of “dystopia,” one that may now be out of date as more and more books I’d never have thought of as dystopia are categorized as such.

When I was writing What’s Left of Me, the YA dystopian boom hadn’t yet occurred, so really, the idea that anyone would categorize the book as a dystopian didn’t even cross my mind. I know, it’s actually kinda crazy considering the YA book world now. But once upon a time, the only famous YA dystopia out there was really THE GIVER, and that was about it!

So, why is What’s Left of Me not a dystopia in my mind?

Well, first (and most important, I think), it’s not set in the future. That’s why there’s no futuristic tech ;) Instead, it’s set in an alternate version of our time. Think parallel universes or something. In this version of the world, people have always been born with two souls in one body, so while some parts of world history have developed the same, others have differed. The level of technology in the “Americas” (in this world, all of North and South America is one country) that’s available to the general public is actually lower than what we have in real life in the United States…(thus the use of things like pay phones in What’s Left of Me that have mostly been phased out in real life). 

To me, real dystopia should always be set in our future—so that on some level, you can think “Oh, wow, this could happen to us.” An alternate reality, on the other hand, runs parallel to our own. It's our world...but with a big "What if?" question thrown in. In this case, of course, the "What if?" is "What if everyone was born with two souls?"

So...is What’s Left of Me sci-fi, then? The hardcore sci-fi people would say no, I think, haha. I took a science fiction class last semester, and in the strictest sense of science fiction, the fiction should really stem from something technically scientifically possible—or something close to scientifically possible, with one or two twists. Of course, the average person’s definition of sci-fi is much more broad. In fact, if pressed for a genre in which to place What’s Left of Me, I’d go for “sci-fi-lite” or something similar.

Weirdly enough, the one genre I do think What’s Left of Me can undoubtably fit into is the one almost no one mentions in relation to the book—straight up fantasy. The core concept in the series is really a fantastical one, rather than a more hard-core scientific one. Although, I do like the idea of calling it “science-fantasy”… can we make that a thing? ;)

Now you might be asking yourself, “Why all the discussion? Why does it matter what genre people think a book is?” 

On many levels, it doesn’t! Readers are, of course, free to label What’s Left of Me however they want. Everyone has different criteria for what makes a book belong to a certain genre, and sometimes, it’s just a lot easier to say, “this book is so-and-so” when describing it to someone. After all, one of the perks of having genres in the first place is so people can say, “Oh, I like this sci-fi book...look, there’s another book labeled sci-fi...maybe I should check it out, too!”

Looking at it like that, it makes a lot more sense to label What’s Left of Me as a dystopia or a sci-fi book. It does share many things thematically with dystopians—the idea of a Big Brother government, the “discovery of the truth” by the protagonists, etc. Calling the book a fantasy to those who don’t know much about it might make people think more in the direction of high fantasies like Lord of the Rings, with dragons and magic and whatnot...meaning they’d be quite disappointed if they went into What’s Left of Me looking for those sort of things!

What do you think? As a writer, do you believe “writing-to-genre” hampers or helps you craft a story? As a reader, do you like books that fit neatly into one genre, or ones that cross genre?

...and what genre do you think What’s Left of Me belongs in? ;)

ETA: Kat C totally reminded me with her comment that my real favorite "label" for What's Left of Me is "speculative fiction"! Thanks, Kat C! :D