Split

by Michael Swartz

Sixteen-year-old Ethan Rivers knows he isn't natural. His two different-colored eyes set him apart at school and make him a target. When Ethan learns that his eyes are the result of having two different sets of DNA, he starts to catalog his physical attributes and recognizes that the traits on his left resemble his father and the characteristics on his right mirror his mother.

One side has to win, and lately, it's looking like it's going to be his left. Ethan has seen firsthand the repercussions of his father's actions, and Ethan can't control his genetics. Is there any way he won't repeat his father's mistakes?

264 pages, Paperback

Published August 29, 2025

About the author

Michael Swartz writes about protagonists that have a unique medical or scientific diagnosis. The idea for writing his debut novel, Split, came after meeting a chimera patient. After spending way too much time in college (one bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees, and a PhD), Michael has worked as a physician’s assistant specializing in adult, transplant, and pediatric cardiac surgery while running a research lab that investigates the outcomes of children born with congenital heart disease. He has co-authored 70 scientific manuscripts published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and the New England Journal of Medicine. He plays guitar and piano when he can, coaches baseball and softball, and lives with his wife, two kids, and Bernese Mountain dog. You can read more about his on his website: www.michaelswartzwrites.com

Reviews

[Book Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Split, by Michael Swartz, is a haunting story about Ethan, a boy born with genetic chimerism, carrying two sets of DNA and the confusion, pain, and strength that come with it. The novel follows him through a gauntlet of bullying, identity crises, and family wounds, all while his body betrays him with asthma, and his mind struggles with the fear of becoming like his violent father. Along the way, friendships bloom, love steadies him, and the truth of his condition forces him to question who he really is and who he wants to become. It is both a coming-of-age tale and a raw look at survival when the world tells you that you are broken.

The writing is sharp and urgent, with scenes that left me squirming in discomfort, not because they were bad, but because they were so brutally real. The cafeteria humiliations, the suffocating asthma attacks, the relentless bullying, all of it dropped me straight back into the shaky insecurity of youth. Swartz doesn’t soften the edges. He makes you sit with the pain, and in that pain, I found a strange kind of beauty.

At the same time, there’s a tenderness here that surprised me. Moments with Mo and Aia glowed like little lanterns in the dark, and those relationships kept the story from sinking into despair. I loved how the book didn’t give easy answers about identity or fate. Ethan’s split nature felt like a metaphor for all of us who feel divided between who we are and who we’re supposed to be. I kept thinking about genetics versus choice, destiny versus defiance, and it made me restless in the best way. I didn’t agree with every decision Ethan made, but I understood them, and that made the story hit harder.

I would recommend Split to readers who want more than just a story, to anyone who likes books that dig under your skin and refuse to let go. Teenagers who feel out of place, adults still wrestling with family scars, and anyone who has ever carried the weight of being different will find something of themselves in these pages.

[Country Mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Split by Michael Swartz is a YA coming of age story by the author. Our MC is named Ethan, who has two different colored eyes. Ethan figures out he has two different DNA strands, like all kids do from their mom and their dad. Ethan starts to recognize the differences in the two sides of himself and he is trying to see which side of himself will he be more like with his life, more like his dad or his mom? Aka the left versus right side in this book. I love when we meet Dr.Meyers who explains to Ethan that no person is dominated on one side of their bodies, it is not scientifically possible. I love how this book explains DNA and how kids and people are mixed together from both parents. This is an excellent teaching book in my opinion. I think that the author did a great job with explaining how even having a violent parent doesn't change who you can become as a person.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one that kept me thinking long after reading it. As a teacher I cannot wait to introduce it to my students! At what point does free will go away and genetics take over? How much can we trust science when it is ever changing? Ethan has always struggled with being different, especially when his left side has different qualities from his right. As Ethan goes through the wear and tear of adolescence he fears that he will become more and more like his father and lose himself. I have met so many Ethan's in my life who are going through this same struggle. Hopefully this book will help them to think more about their choices.

[Books Forward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! This was a compelling coming-of-age novel that explores heavy themes of bullying and domestic violence, but also self-discovery. Even though this is a YA novel, it definitely explores some heavier themes that I think are important for upper YA readers to explore and grapple with. Loved the representation of Chimera in this book!

[Katrina Mackrides · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gritty novel explores the horrors of learning to navigate life in a dysfunctional family while facing a unique medical diagnosis. Ethan grapples with internal turmoil, resulting in erratic mood swings and a crisis of identity. You can feel the raw pain and emotion.