🔶️Spoiler free thoughts
I took a break from reading Fourth Wing to dive into this dystopian , slow burn, thriller. Sivon is the main protagonist. The location of the story hits close to home as a resident of the DMV. Without giving too much away, the story reminded me a little of the Divergent series and the Hunger Games. It is definitely a slow burn, but the ending is definitely worth it. What would you do if when you turned eighteen that your past lives determined your future, including who your soulmate is? For Sivon it could either make or break her. Heartbreaks, death, fear. It is all a game of danger and learning who to trust is even more dangerous. The events of Soulmatch occurs 200 years after World War III. There were moments where I felt the pain of the characters.

The premise of Soulmatch is spectacular. I am a sucker for a good dystopian and what is more dystopian than reaping the rewards or punishments of your previous life?

The pacing itself was shaky and it alternated between long drawn out periods where nothing happened and chaos where everything happened all at once. I feel like the book spent more effort on trying to show off how cleverly everything interconnected than it did building relationships I could get invested in. Other than Vivi and Cora, I will fight anyone who says a bad word about them.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for the gifted copy!

Dystopian, reincarnation, souls, atoning for past sins, what more could you ask for? I absolutely loved this story. The main characters were so likable, especially the twins! The plot stayed interesting all the way through. It was honestly so cool and a different kind of read. Highly recommend.

4.25 stars

The first third of this book reminded me of why I loved dystopia fiction so much. The concept of reborn lives and all the connections of the soul network was so cool. Where this fell apart for me was how much other people did the investigating for Sivon, especially for someone who was supposed to be strategically brilliant. I also had anticipated the twist almost from the start, though the journey had me second guessing at times. I wish this had been a duology with Sivon doing more of the action to discover the truth. This is an entertaining debut and I hope to see more from the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Oh man did I devour Soulmatch! Hard to believe that this is a debut honestly, because there were just so many twists and turns, and so many little details that were woven together in just... perfection. And my highest compliment here has to be that I understood the soul system. It had the potential to be confusing, because it is very intricate, but somehow it all came together very well, and was coherent and just worked. Now, I also loved plenty of other things about the story! Things like...

►The characters! I was worried, because how can they be well-developed and then find out their soul at 18 and all these questions, but dear reader, I was really overthinking and just go with it, it works, and the characters are really great!

►The chapter headings being glossary entries is perfect! Because it functions as a little indication about the chapter, tells you more about the whole world, and is just entertaining!

►I was so invested. Like- are you ever so invested in a story and its characters that it stresses you out? This was me. Legit having trouble putting it down because I was just so worried about the outcome.

►The ending was satisfying and I felt wholly content at the finish line. Yay for sticking the landing!

Admittedly, a few parts toward the end maybe felt a little bit easy, but that is a very minor complaint, if it can even be considered one. Basically, I was invested from start to finish, and absolutely adored this book. Cannot wait to see what the author does next!

Bottom Line: Fabulous characters and an exciting plot with intricate and impressive worldbuilding, this is a debut you won't want to miss!

I loved this book! 😍 It is Rebecca Danzenbaker's debut novel being released July 29th, 2025 and I hope for many more to come from her.

Soulmatch kept me intrigued from beginning to end. One second you think you've figured it out and then the next you're just as baffled as before. Rebecca does such a good job of giving us Sivon's perspective as a young girl just trying to make her way. However, in a society where, no matter how you've lived your life up to now, you could be branded a criminal and thrown in prison based off of what your soul has done in a past life, does she even have a chance?

Rebecca's expert use of imagery beautifully paints a picture in the reader's mind. She was so descriptive it was easy to feel like I was there, running right along with Sivon as she jumped from the hover. Throughout the story I got a clear picture of Sivon's feelings in every scenario as I was let into the inner workings of her mind. The tumultuous feelings of youth as well as souls intertwined was so well crafted. I couldn't wait to read more.

The ending was left in a way that I felt complete, but that also could potentially leave space for a series if the author had the interest. I really enjoyed this read! It kept my attention and had enough suspense to maintain excitement throughout. I did not want to put it down. Praise for Rebecca Danzenbaker and her debut novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC of this book.

Thank you Rebecca Danzenbaker, Simon and Schuester and NetGalley for the ARC!

4.5 stars!!

This was a really unique book, and I found myself sucked into the story right away! We follow Sivon as she goes through kirling which is when a person learns of their past lives. Like others, she is scared she is going to be a bad soul and will be punished for the actions of her past lives. Sivon gets an unexpected surprise during her kirling and she is now thrust into the spotlight. While most are in awe of her, many want to harm her. She is given a bodyguard and with the help of her friends she uncovers who she can trust and centuries old secrets.

I couldn't put this book down! Such a unique concept and a break from the normal books I tend to read. Sivon is amazing and I love her best friends! Reading Sivon work through her thoughts to figure out what is happening around her was interesting to see. I have already recommended this book to friends!

Ok, I have to admit: I’m not a big YA person. As soon I got into my late twenties I had a really tough time connecting with the characters.

I didn’t have that problem with Soulmatch.

This book was so reminiscent of the dystopian books I loved in high school with such a great plot. I could not put this down and ended up finishing it at 2 in the morning.

When children turn 18, they are required to report to the government where they will receive information on their past lives. Will they be famous? Will they have a soulmate? Or are they destined to right the wrongs of their past? Sivon is hoping for some answers, but her results aren’t exactly what she expected.

Rating: 4⭐️ Was this book perfect? No, but it was so much fun to read. I really enjoyed the twists and turns put in the context of a dystopian romance novel. I am definitely interested in checking out what else this author writes!

Soulmatch comes out TOMORROW! Make sure to check it out!

Thank you to @netgalley, @simonandschuster, and Rebecca Danzenbaker for a copy of this book.

Soul Match combines familiar elements from dystopian stories like Divergent and Matched. It imagines a future with strict systems and fateful pairings. A key idea in the story is "kirling," which means reliving past lives to see one's worth. This adds an interesting twist. However, the story unfolds slowly. Much of the early plot focuses on explaining the world rather than on character development or action. While the soul-identification system is intriguing, the pacing might frustrate readers who want quicker emotional or narrative payoffs.

I love YA dystopian so I was hoping to really love this one and I did. It’s set in the distant future but the incredible worldbuilding lets you really feel like you’re living there. When I was a teen Hunger Games and Divergent were massively popular and while I was reading Soulmatch I felt myself being brought back to when I first read those. I could even tell that Rebecca was influenced at least a little by both, especially with how the institute works and the way Sivon carries herself. The only thing that stopped me from giving a full 5 stars is that the ending felt just a tad rushed to me compared to the pacing of the rest of the book, though that may just be my own nitpicking. I cannot wait to order this for my teens at work because I just know they’re going to love it.

Sivon lives in a future world where every single person, at 18, undergoes a special procedure that establishes which soul’s reincarnation they are, so they receive inheritance and career invitations based on that soul’s known strengths… or go to prison to atone for their past lives’ crimes.

Many reviews talk about this book as part of the YADF revival that is apparently happening at the moment (I wasn’t attentive enough to notice there had been a downtrend in YADF that required a revival, but ok) — and any book that starts with the premise “in this futuristic world, at 16/17/18 everyone undergoes this life-changing procedure imposed by the state” is, of course, bound to be counted as YADF. But I want to warn interested readers that this is at least as much a romance and political-ish mystery/thriller as it is a dystopia, if not more so.

If you don’t mind that the plot includes some very recognizable tropes (e.g., enemies-to-lovers), so you can easily guess where many character arcs are headed as soon as Sivon meets them, this book is quite well-written and gripping.

I am wondering about all the Belarusian references in the book, though — an interesting choice for a change. (The author prefers the spelling “Belarussian,” so keep that in mind if it’s something you’re sensitive to.)

Publication date: July 29, 2025.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with the eARC through NetGalley. The opinion above is my own.

Very interesting concept but the author seemed to have a difficult time explaining her world. The word building was convoluted and confusing when it didn’t need to be.

I don’t like it when authors write a toxic male character who is disrespectful but it’s okay because he’s misunderstood.

The main character acted like a 14 year old but then she called herself celibate and teens don’t use that word. The story telling was also clunky. The flashback to the twin’s bother’s breakup could have been placed better to explain soulmates.

Great cover, great idea but the execution was bad.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

Soulmatch by Rebecca Danzenbaker is a first person-POV YA romantic dystopia set in a post-WWIII America that now scans all citizens for their past lives.

One of the nice details of the book itself is that every chapter opens with a definition of an in-world term and the title of the chapter is that term, which makes a built-in dictionary that reveals parts and pieces of the worldbuilding.. This helps a lot because there are a lot of in-world terms and if I forgot what exactly one of them was, I could easily go back and find the definition by searching the table of contents. The rest of the worldbuilding comes through in the prose and is mostly revealed slowly over time.

The right to privacy in this world has been eroded as any member of the public can see the list of past lives of anyone else. It is not unheard of for people to seek retribution for wrongs in a previous life and sentences and fines do carry over into the next one. If someone died after serving twenty years of a forty year sentence, then the next life has to serve those remaining twenty years when they are eighteen and have learned who their previous lives were. This includes fines and penalties for suicide as it has been deemed a criminal act that the next life must pay for, no excuses. Given that at least one prominent figure in their world, Flavinsky, commits suicide almost immediately after learning who they were and has done so for twelve lives, this can rack up a lot of time in prison and hefty fines that someone would never have expected to have forced upon them.

One of Shivon’s love interests is Donovan, her bodyguard and the older brother of one of the teens waiting for her soul to be read in Shivon's group. Their romance gets off to a fairly rocky start as Shivon misunderstands why he's even there in the first place and he doesn't have a whole lot of patience for her. The two fall quickly into attraction with each other but are met with roadblocks before they can really begin exploring it. The other love interest is Janus, who is Shivon's teen crush and has powerful political connections. Janus claims that he fell for Shivon soon after meeting her, but she's struggling to actually choose him when her heart is still hung up on Donovan.

I would recommend this to fans of YA dystopia who like explorations of soul mates and readers of YA who want more messy love triangles in their fiction

I absolutely loved this book! The premise is amazing! Every soul waits in limbo until they are 18 where they are judged for their former life actions. If they committed crimes in their previous life they are taken away. Some souls are lucky and meet there soulmate but that is rare that they could both be here at the same time. I really don't want to give anything away but there were many surprises and a few heartaches.

Soulmatch was such a good read. I gave it a 4.5 stars. In this dystopian world where the mistakes and success that your past lives makes have an effect on your soul. This book had a mystery thriller vibe as well as a overarching theme of a slowburn, found family, and lovers to enemies. Donavan being the bodyguard who has to protect Carafour after the death of his sister, was a great introduction because we learn about who Donavan is prior to him being introduced to Carafour. Janus was also a nice touch, I always had an inkling that he was corrupt but the twist at the end of the book was not what I was expecting. Janus being Carafour crush for ages and ending up being her equal but eviler was so good because how can your crush end up being your worst enemy. I will say that the last 100 pages were very plot heavy and it took my brain a little bit of rereading to fully capture the who history of everyone's lives and how it was all interconnected but overall it was such a good book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's for the eARC.

Soulmatch was an action packed YA dystopian novel that kept me coming back for more. The book worked for me, but I do think that this will be a story that not everyone enjoys.

I won’t lie when I first heard this title I thought this book was going to be centered around soulmates and although it isn’t the center of the story I love that it isn’t! Wow! This book is action packed and has me on edge wondering what was going to happen next and who Sivon should trust! I love how this book explored the concept of reincarnation and soul connections (not only romantic soulmate connections).

I also enjoyed how the chapters were organized to look almost like a secret file and include a definition of a word/term used in the story that differs than what we typically use it for and/or help give context without overwhelming the reader with information. I also enjoyed the format of having many chapters but them being shorter. This helped me focus on the details within the story a lot better instead of accidentally glancing over which can happen when reading larger chapters.

I’m pretty sure my jaw just lived on the floor while reading this! There were so many plot twists and hidden identities!
This being a futuristic dystopian is what drew me in but the idea of reincarnation sold it for me. It was presented in such a fun way that I’ve never even thought of it!

I absolutely loved Sivon! She was my dream fmc! Smart, witty, methodical and determined! Her relationship with Corah and Vivi fulfilled the found family trope for me. And Donovan?! My bodyguard in shining armour😍

Like I said the plot twists were insane. Did I see half of that coming? No. Did I pace while reading this? Yes, quite a few times. Did I scream at my tablet? Absolutely.
I literally did not realize how many layers there were going to be. I loved every minute of this read! PLEASE KEEP WRITING MORE! This is an amazing debut novel and I’m already on the lookout for updates on Predestined! (I just checked the website and 2026 needs to hurry! But also where do I sign up to ARC read that one also?!)

Thank you to the publishers via NetGalley for an e-ARC of this story!!
DNF @ 26%

I think I knew going into this that it was a YA story, but this is leaning -very- YA in a way that feels fan-fiction-esque (ex, lots of tying hair back in messy buns and overthinking things of no consequence). At over 100 pages, I felt this story really hasn't gone anywhere, and I still haven't gotten any ideas of the driving force behind where it is trying to go; we're just -watching stuff happen- but there is little purpose to a lot of it. Were I to finish it, I'm sure I would believe it has no reason being almost 500 pages long. I think it was also a disservice to comp this to Scythe - as someone that loves the Scythe trilogy, the only similarity is the "dystopia disguised as utopia" background, but other than that the worldbuilding of this makes little sense and has been sci-fied for no reason (why are we "nanorizing" our teeth instead of just brushing them tf) making it feel very silly. Overall, this story seems very slow-paced with minimal payoff and just not for me.

Sivon - A girl who feels directionless and hoping that her Kirling (soulmatch) will give her that direction. Vivi & Corah - Sivon's best friends who have basically ALWAYS known their direction.

Sivon goes into her Kirling expecting to come out with an inheritance, a direction on what job she should have, maybe even a soul mate, but things aren't that easy. What she gets is not AT ALL what she expects or even hopes for. What she gets is an unraveling spiral of mystery, spy games, adventure. She simultaneously gets everything and nothing that she wants. Sivon, with the ever present support of her best friends, slowly uncovers a scheme that has built over two centuries and slowly gets to pull it all apart to discover not just what will benefit humanity, but also create the future she always and never imagined.

This book was so dynamic and an amazing futuristic view without being TOO sci-fi. The concept of our souls being reborn after we dying and gravitating toward the relationships and people from our past lives is so refreshing and intoxicating! I couldn't get enough!