Review: Soulprint by Megan Miranda

Review: Soulprint by Megan Miranda Soulprint by Megan Miranda
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing on February 3rd 2015
Pages: 368
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

From the author of FRACTURE, a riveting new thriller which draws on cutting-edge science.

Alina Chase has been contained on an island for the last 17 years—whether that’s for the crimes of her past life, or for her own protection, well, that depends on whom you ask. With soul-fingerprinting a reality, science can now screen for the soul, and everyone knows that Alina’s soul had once belonged to notorious criminal, June Calahan, though that information is supposed to be private. June had accomplished the impossible: hacking into the soul-database, ruining countless lives in the process.

Now, there are whispers that June has left something behind for her next life—something that would allow Alina to access the information in the soul-database again. A way to finish the crimes she started.

Aided by three people with their own secret motivations, Alina escapes, only to discover that she may have just traded one prison for another. And there are clues. Clues only Alina can see and decipher, clues that make it apparent that June is leading her to something. While everyone believes Alina is trying to continue in June’s footsteps, Alina believes June is trying to show her something more. Something bigger. Something that gets at the heart of who they all are—about the past and the present. Something about the nature of their souls.

Alina doesn’t know who to trust, or what June intends for her to know, and the closer she gets to the answers, the more she wonders who June was, who she is, whether she’s destined to repeat the past, whether there are truths best kept hidden—and what one life is really worth.

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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.Rapunzel-Flying-Down-the-Tower-disney-princess-25114603-491-275

This was the escape, but only in my twisted mind. 

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.
  • 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.4strs

So here’s a deep question for you: Do you think souls are real? 

Posted January 19, 2015 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Review , / 18 Comments

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18 responses to “Review: Soulprint by Megan Miranda

  1. I’ve kinda been going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to give this one a try but after reading your review, I think I’ll definitely give it a go. I’m glad that even though you figured out some of the twists that there were still some that took you by surprise, I hate when I have EVERYTHING figured out before the end 🙂

    • There was a lot to the story, so figuring out a couple things didn’t really take a ton away. It was multifaceted, but not in a disorganized way. I agree with you, I loathe knowing the ENTIRE story like that. This is why I didn’t like We Were Liars, I think.

  2. Eek! Loved this one (think I gave it a 4.5) and I only knocked that off because I suspected who Liam’s soul was in. I was still surprised I was right though, since I wasn’t 100% sure, and really, throughout the whole thing, I didn’t want to guess, I was having too much fun with it. I totally shipped the romance, and it’s one that I did wish there was more of it 😉 but I did like it concentrated more on the story, I wouldn’t have minded if it didn’t though. *cough* I was disappointed we didn’t have a full explanation for the soul thing, but with your point, exactly, it wouldn’t have believable whatever it might’ve been. I WANT MORE OF THIS BOOK. 🙁

    • Yeah, I was pretty sure I knew, though I don’t remember why I thought I knew hah. I DO wish there was a little more romance too, actually. I was hoping there’d be a sequel really, since I did enjoy this whole story!

  3. This sounds wonderful! I couldn’t decide if I thought the cover/synopsis of this book was really cool or not. Was afraid it would be lame but your review has convinced me otherwise. Can’t wait to read it now. Thanks for the review!

    • I HATED the cover. It looks incredibly amateurish to me. I almost didn’t request it because I thought the cover was cheesy, and the book would be too! But the book was MUCH better! I hope you enjoy it!

  4. I hadn’t heard of this one before but now I’m greatly intrigued. I’m always interested in books that have to do with souls and stuff and I’m glad this one does it fairly realistically with not really knowing how souls transfer and everything because I agree, that would just be unbelievable.

    Glad you enjoyed this one, Shannon! =)

  5. OH GOOD. I got a surprise ARC of this and I was feeling very unenthused. *sigh* BUT NOW I FEEL BETTER. I want to try it. XD I like sci-fi and the whole soul thingy sounds amazing and if there’s a Rapunzel like escape? *nods* I’m in.

    • I mean, there was an escape. I guess it was slightly Rapunzel-y, though more in my head. She did not escape using her hair, I will tell you that 😉

      I think the cover is deceiving on this. I mean, it looks… meh. But the inside was much better. I hope you like it!

  6. I remember when this was a waiting for Wednesday post. I’m glad you got it and enjoyed it. Yeah if they’d tried to science fiction explain the soul it would’ve been just ridiculous. I like the idea of her being innocent but convicted of crimes her soul committed. I’m glad about thee romance and the ending. Okay I have to add this to my list now.

    Deep question. Yes I believe in the soul. Do you?

    • Hm. I WANT to believe in a soul. But my logical mind doubts it. Then, I read this REALLY depressing article in Psychology Today about how we don’t even have actual SELVES, we are just a bunch of processes, and if any of them fail or work differently, we’d be a whole different person. So my answer is that I HOPE in a soul, but I am not at all sure of one.

  7. Wow this sounds intriguing! Usually I wouldn’t like the fact that there’s no explanation, but it reminds me of the Machine of Death anthology (I will mention this book til the end of time). If I see this at the library COUNT ME IN. I will read this 🙂

    • Ohh yes I HAVE to read that one! It is on my TBR since you mentioned it, I really want to read it soon. I think it is even on my Amazon wishlist, since you have spoken so highly of it!

  8. Reading the synopsis it sounds intriguing, but something I would be wary of going in, thinking it would be awfully cheesy. I’m glad to see in your review that it wasn’t so! I like thought provoking books and the mix of science and fantasy. I really want to read it when I get the chance. As for believing in souls…That’s a hard one. I guess I tell myself that I do, to keep from going crazy, but the rational voice in my head screams “not possible”. That’s the meaning of faith, I suppose. Believing in what you can’t rationalize.

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