I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This book is a great think piece about the social, political, and moral implications of a world where reincarnation is a proven fact and your current state can be linked to past lives. There were lots of twists in the book including a compelling love triangle (square?). The characters were well written and I found their actions believable for the world they live in. Highly recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Such a unique dystopian romance! This story pulled me right in with its fresh concept of soul-identification and reincarnation. The audiobook, narrated by Gilli Messer, was absolutely fantastic—it made the experience even better, and I can’t recommend it enough!

For a debut novel, this was really impressive. I love a good dystopian world, and this checked all the boxes for me: an always-looming government presence, a sense of underlying threat, and cool futuristic tech woven throughout to remind you that you’re in a completely different timeline. The idea of people growing up knowing they’ll one day discover their past lives—and maybe even their soulmate—was fascinating. And what happens when that discovery isn’t what they wanted? That’s exactly what this book explores, and it does so beautifully.

✅ No spice
✅ No language
✅ 100% appropriate YA/Teen read (finally!!)

The only thing I’ll say is that the cover doesn’t fully capture how amazing this story really is. Gorgeous? Yes. But the story inside is on a whole other level!

📖 Briefly: In a post-WWIII world, eighteen-year-old Sivon discovers her soul’s shocking past during mandatory testing, entangling her in a deadly game where souls are pawns and love feels impossible.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Highly recommend!!

The premise of this book was very promising, and it started off strong. Unfortunately, it fell very flat for me. Nothing about it was exciting or kept me hooked. I also feel like it wasn’t creative at all. Reframing Washington D.C. as Washington C.D.? I wasn’t impressed.

This was a fantastic YA Dystopian novel with an amazing new concept!
How would you feel if you were about to find out all about your past lives? Whether you're a good soul or a bad soul and what would you do if you were something different entirely? Sivon is thrown straight into the public eye after her Kirling process and deep within her soul she knows everything isn't as it seems.
Soulmatch delves deep into the concept of reincarnation and the moral and ethical dilemmas surrounding it. Highly recommend!

“𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠—(𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐋-𝐢𝐧𝐠) 𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭-𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 (𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢) 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 (𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐢).”

𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 7/29/25

𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁: ebook/physical book 📖

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆:
In a world where past lives determine your future, a sharp-witted girl confronts a major twist of destiny, embroiling her in a high-stakes game of danger, corruption, and heartbreak in this young adult speculative romance perfect for fans of Scythe and Matched.

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
⭕️ YA Dystopian
❌ Star crossed lovers
⭕️ Mind bending world building
❌ Reincarnation

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
This debut gave me major Hunger Games meets Divergent vibes, and while I haven’t read Matched or Scythe myself, I know it’s often compared to them. I was invested from the very first page and the story never let me go—despite usually reading multiple books at once, I kept coming back to Soulmatch. The plot was complex yet explained with ease, making it easy to follow, and the characters—both main and supporting—were completely loveable. The relationships felt genuine, which made me even more invested in the story. Whether or not there’s a sequel, the ending was beautifully done, and I’ll definitely be watching for more from Danzenbaker.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*Thank you @NetGalley and @SimonTeen for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

#SoulMatch

This is something I was really looking forward to. As soon as I read the summary, I thought it would be an interesting topic to dive into—reincarnation, its implications, and its benefits to society. However, as I progressed through the story, I found myself confused by the fmc point of view. It felt dramatic, shallow, and immature, which I wasn’t expecting, and it ultimately disappointed me.

I did find the plot intriguing, but I cringed multiple times at Sivon’s behavior and impulsive actions. With the shallow development of the characters and the worldbuilding, I tried my best to connect with both, but I couldn't. I also felt that this type of story might not be what I was in the mood for, which could have influenced my perception. However, the things I found lacking in the story were overwhelming for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing, I received an ARC for an honest review!

Uniquely fun and twisty!

Sivon loves her twin sister best friends, Vivi and Corah, who have helped her prepare to attend the institute to learn about her soul through the kirling process. Now it’s Sivon’s turn to attend the kirling and she arrives at the institute full of anxiety. When her soul identity is revealed after her kirling, Sivon has a new world of possibilities opened up to her. Vivi and Corah are there to support her every step of the way. Her mom has always told Sivon she’s hard to read and Sivon discovers why, as she learns more about herself and her shocking experiences from her past lives.

Likes/dislikes: The more I read this book, the more I wanted to read. Unique story! More complex than I thought it would be when I picked up the book.
Mature content: PG-13 for passionate kissing.
Language: R for 123 swears, 40 f-words.
Violence: PG for gunshot wound and fighting.
Ethnicity: Sivon has bronze skin two shades lighter than her mother’s terracotta skin.
Janus, the prime minister’s nephew, has bronze skin. Twins and Sivon’s best friends, Vivi and Corah, have russet-toned skin. Windrose, the counselor, has warm brown skin. Peach skin and ebony skin are also mentioned.

I had my review ready to go on pub day last Tuesday, but I saw on my mail app that the book gifted by @simonteen was on the way. I’m so happy I waited! The cover is even more beautiful than I expected! 😍
I loved this one! It’s been a while since I’ve had a book that was truly unique. It starts 200 yrs after WW3 and every 18yo goes to see who their past lives were and possibly find their Soulmatch if they have one. Sivon is terrified of spending her life in prison if her soul is deemed bad from her past lives. But she gets an even bigger shock and is thrown into a world where one misstep could become her last.
Along the way she meets friends and an infuriating bodyguard that she can’t help but be drawn to. The story takes you up and down and through situations I couldn’t predict. The twists and reveals had me glued to the pages and couldn’t wait for the end.
Props to the author on her debut because this one moved up to my top books of the year! Thank you again to Simon Teen for the final copy, I’m in love!

First, thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was hooked from the start- think high-stakes in a fractured YA dystopia that is reminiscent of The Uglies or Matched.

The world-building is vivid and the FMC, Sivon, is a standout heroine—smart, questioning orders, and always plotting her next strategy, just like you'd expect from a good chess player. While I enjoyed her brilliant solutions, I guess I wish it was a little more clearer, or maybe I just need to up my own strategy skills...

The romance is a slow burn with that lovely trope of miscommunication, and several side characters pop in and out too quickly. It seems as though this is a stand-alone, but it could use either another book, or some fleshing out if possible. Plus, those kirling origins? Total spin-off potential.

All told, Soulmatch is full of political intrigue, tactical duels, and moral complexity. If you can power through the middle lulls, you’ll get a payoff that’s worth the read.

This was one of the most fun reads I’ve had this year! I loved the world building and trying to figure out foreshadowing for all of the twists. I was genuinely invested in the characters and their lives. It’s been years since I have found a dystopian/sci-fi world that I have been this interested in.

A great YA Dystopian adventure. There were a lot of characters introduced in the second half of the book, and it made it slightly difficult to keep up with who people were. This is complicated by the fact that everyone has two names, since they have a regular name and a soul name. Overall, though, this was wonderfully fast-paced, with several twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Really liked this story.

This book was very enjoyable. It had a unique world, and interesting magic or magicish system, and complex characters. The plot twists in this were crazy. They were coming from the left and right and clocking me at every turn. This was a really fun dystopian to read and I highly recommend it to people who miss the dystopian era and are looking for new and unique worlds!

When happens when reincarnation is scientific fact but you don't have any recorded past lives?

Sivon just turned 18 and is nervous to find out about her past lives about even her mother, who can see auras, can't give her a hint about the person she is. When she is labelled as a "new soul" Sivon is suddenly thrust into a world of fame, politics and suspicious coincidences. The book follows Sivon as she tries to figure out who she can trust and try to unravel the mystery of who is after her.

I really liked this book! I haven't had consistent luck with YA or new release fantasy in general recently but I had a lot of fun reading Soulmatch. Being YA, the characters very much act their ages at time which was being a struggle for an adult reader such as myself. As long as the reader keeps that in mind the moments of immature dialogue are not the worst.

The love triangle is a bit weak because the author gives you enough hints throughout that you suspect who ends up together and why. As for the rest of the twists, I has suspicions in a broad sense but I couldn't puzzle out the specifics which was delightful. I've seen a few other reviews that mentioned the ending was a bit rushed which I can't say I disagree with but it did have a satisfying conclusion in my opinion.

This was my first book by this author and I will definitely be trying more by them.

This is written so compellingly that I just kept turning the pages. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys scifi/fantasy stories, This has such a unique premise and I hope it finds its readers!!!

If you liked Matched and Divergent, then you will love this book. This was a unique storyline and very well written.

What would happen if you found out your soul is not like other souls... that in a world where your past lives impact your future, her's is one of a kind... and she has no soul mate but she has free choice. The premise of this story was initially super interesting... however it kind of all fell apart for me the further along I got into the book. I really wanted to get invested in this story but found myself getting bored. I don't think the way the story was executed actually worked all that well, the flow didn't feel smooth and the protagonist just didn't hook me. I didn't care all that much for the romance and am honestly just happy I made it to the end. This unfortunately missed the mark for me and I just feel like while it was a unique premise, it didn't hit the mark in the end.

Release Date: July 29, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you @simonteen and @simon.audio for the #gifted DRC and ALC.

2.5 stars

This started out so exciting. The concept felt new, and the more I read the more I was convinced that it was a four or five star read. After reading the first few chapters I downloaded the audio so that I could continue reading. Sometimes when I’ve read a chunk of a book and then I swap to audio it doesn’t work for me because the narrator doesn’t sound as I expected. In this instance, the transition was seamless, Gill Messer was exactly the voice I imagined.

The first half or so was unputdownable. Sadly the second half lost me completely. There were a lot of characters. Some characters were part of their history which we learned early on and is discussed here and there throughout. But they all became important to the overall story and ending, it was too much for me to keep track off. Then there were so many twists and turns that I had to turn off the audio and just read, but it was still a struggle to keep up. There were also big chunks of Sivon figuring out the mysteries just by sitting down and thinking out loud, then explaining it all to her friends.

All that being said, this is a YA novel, and I can see it appealing to that age group.

I loved this book. The story was original, the characters were interesting, and the continuous development was something that i didn't expect from where it began. It was really refreshing to read, somethings were a little cliche but it worked really well. at the end.

I have not ever heard of any book similar to this one and for that reason I decided to give it a go. What I wasn't expecting was for it to blow me out of the water with just how good the plot is. There is a mix of intricate storytelling, futurism, romance, and murder. It definitely gave off some dystopian vibes and I think this is probably one of the best books I have read in 2025. What I loved the most about it is that I really did not see certain things coming in the book so it's unpredictable unlike many other books. The only thing that I felt was confusing was just visualizing the characters because they talk about different lives (same soul) they've been in the story and it was hard to just envision all of the characters physically. If you're thinking about reading or listening to it on audiobook please do, and thank me later.