Soulprint

by Megan Miranda

[shannonmiz]

Well, well, wasn't this the pleasant surprise! I honestly didn't know what to think of this going in, and figured it was going to go one of two ways: Unbelievable and silly, or thought provoking and exciting. And thankfully, it was the latter.

The thing that made it really work for me is that no one completely understood how the soul worked. I liked that they admitted that, because I think anything else would have been really hard to believe. In Soulprint's world, souls move on to another body after death, and science has allowed for the soul to be "tested" so a person could find out who their soul belonged to before them. In this situation, it was "we know souls transfer, we just don't know why or how", and honestly, I can't imagine any other way to feasibly handle the topic.

Alina, whose soul used to belong to a wanted criminal who was attempting to overthrow the soul database system, was quite a sympathetic and likable character. She was literally paying for someone else's crime, as she was confined to an island. It seemed a bit farfetched, but the government didn't want to appear to be imprisoning children for something they had no control over, so they basically locked her up, just in a luxurious setting.
Alina wants her freedom, of course, so when the chance arises, she grabs it. Her escape comes at the hands of siblings Casey and Cameron, and former guard Dominic. These characters had good backstory and development as well, so I found myself invested in each of them. Though I had figured a few major things out early on, the unravelling of their individual stories was almost as intriguing as Alina's.

Obviously, Alina and her escape partners are on the run. They have to hide, and for some time it seems that Alina has simply traded one prison for another, much less comfortable one. But since Alina is a strong willed character, and wants to have an actual life, maybe even find her family, so she decides to try to figure out what June was involved with and attempt to clear her name- or go down fighting.

Some other aspects that I enjoyed:

-The romance was enjoyable, but not the main focus. I was definitely invested in it but it didn't take over the story.

-I loved the questions that were brought up. I mean, the entire concept of a soul was at the core of this book, and what exactly makes us who we are is questioned. I love a book that can really make the reader think, even long after the book is read. This fits the bill.
-The ending was really quite perfect. Not wrapped up completely, but enough that you didn't want to rip your hair out. Hopeful, but not unbelievable. I really thought it was well done, and fit with the tone of the book.

-June's backstory was so fun to delve into. Imagine trying to find clues from someone who'd been dead as long as you'd been alive, someone who you have a connection to that goes beyond life. It was all pretty incredible.
The only thing that really kept me from giving the book five stars was that some of the plot moved a little slow at times. I didn't exactly mind, because I was anxious to continue the story, but it was a factor. My other issue was that I did figure out a few of the twists quite early on, which was kind of a bummer, BUT there were a lot of other twists that took me by surprise, so it ended up working out fine.

Bottom Line: This book kind of has it all: Science, romance, mystery, conspiracy, friendship, and quite a bit of thought provocation. Definitely a win.

*I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for review.*
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight