Soulprint by Megan Miranda (Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Also by this author: Fragments of the Lost
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA on February 3rd 2015
Genres: Death & Dying, General, Love & Romance, Science Fiction, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 328
Format: ARC
Seventeen-year-old Alina Chase has spent her entire life imprisoned on a secluded island-not for a crime she committed in this lifetime, but one done by her past self. Her very soul is like a fingerprint, carried from one life to the next-and Alina is sick of being guilty. Aided by three teens with their own ulterior motives, Alina manages to escape. Although she's not sure she can trust any of them, she soon finds herself drawn to Cameron, the most enigmatic and alluring of the trio. But when she uncovers clues from her past life, secrets begin to unravel and Alina must figure out whether she's more than the soul she inherited, or if she's fated to repeat history.This stunning “new world†? romance from acclaimed author Megan Miranda will leave readers wondering how far they would go to escape the past.
Megan Miranda won me over as a reader with Fracture so when I saw Soulprint up on Netgalley I requested it before even reading the summary. I have to admit….it didn’t make a difference because when I read the summary, I just wanted to read it that much more. Miranda combines a great story with the idea that souls don’t die when someone passes on, they actually migrate to a new person…Interesting, right??
Alina has been held prisoner for 17 years on a remote island because the government has proven that her soul is that of a criminal named June Calahan. In order to “protect” Alina and the world from each other, it was decided to take her from her parents and keep her away from those that might want to access the information that June had…access to the soul database.
I liked Alina. She was smart and willing to do whatever it took to gain her freedom. She held to her beliefs and although she had to rely on others to get away and stay free, she was smart enough to figure out what she needed to do. I found it a bit odd that she would have been able to build the foundations of the friendships/relationships she built with both Cameron and Casey in such a short amount of time but other than that I thought her character was believable.
I enjoyed the other characters in this book too. Dominic is a bit of a mystery at first but as the pieces start to come together I found myself interested in his story. I can’t say too much without giving anything away but I thought he was a solid character and his motivations were interesting.
Cameron and Casey were solid too. Yes, Cameron is a lovely guy and I enjoyed his role in the story but he also has a critical part in the story as helps Alina in ways she never expected. There are a lot of secrets and things are revealed along the way. Cameron and Casey have a good story and while the reveal is a bit slow to come (which is why I can’t say anything) it is totally worth it. Once I found out what was going on with these two, it started to make more sense as to why they were in the mix with Alina.
I thought the idea that Miranda explored in this story is a unique approach. What if your soul is transitioned to someone else when you die – does that mean you have a predisposition to act the way that person acted or is there an option for that new person to become someone else entirely? This is the argument that Alina is trying to prove – she may have the soul of June, but she is Alina and she just wants to live her life and be her own person but some people won’t give her that chance.
If you like a good story with a bit of science, some mystery, and a bit of swoon you should definitely check this one out when you can. I flew through this one trying to figure it all out and also to see what would happen with these characters. Apologies on the somewhat vague review here but I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone. Just trust me when I say you should check this out when you can.
Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for the review copy.
About Megan Miranda
Megan Miranda is the author of the young adult novels Fracture, Hysteria, Vengeance, and Soulprint (all from Bloomsbury). Her debut adult suspense novel, Disappear, will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2016. Megan has a degree in Biology from MIT and currently lives near Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband and two children.
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