Review Detail

All the thrills of big name YA dystopian series, wrapped up in a single book.

Somewhere in the murky future, science has determined how to identify souls…and realized that the same souls are born again from one life to the next. Sivon awaits her eighteenth birthday, when her soul will be matched to past lives and any inheritance, last testaments, or past punishments will be made hers. Some souls come with praise, others infamy, and a rare few discover they have a soulmate - another soul who resonates with them and inevitably crosses their path from one life to the next. Both dreading the possible outcomes and desperate to receive direction in her life from her past identities, Sivon doesn’t know quite what to expect - but everything that happens that day is beyond unexpected.

All in all, it’s a dramatic YA romp, featuring a definitely-not-suspicious-government, celebrity crushes, a grumpy bodyguard, and childhood friends who’ve always got your back. There’s lots to explore in regards to the kirling, or soul identification, and how society promotes the message that one is not defined by past lives while also implicitly asserting the opposite by mandating the process for every child when they come of age. I’d rate this somewhere in the middle of a sliding scale between Scythe and The Selection - Sivon encounters existential questions at practically every turn, but as the story evolves, it clearly leans into a romance that affirms the world’s systems rather subvert, and political intrigue that’s full of action and jet-setting, rather than the earlier dread.

I found Sivon’s initial anxiety over her impending kirling to be very relatable. All of her friends have clear ambitions and goals, while Sivon’s one skill is playing strategic board games, and so she’s hung all of her hope on her past lives guiding her future. I’ve definitely felt similarly, that if there was a Roadmap to Life to follow, it’d be easier than making decisions. Although, this topic (among others) doesn’t really resurface as the plot progresses, which is a shame, because it could’ve grounded the later action in a weighty thematic through line.

Other things to love include twists on modern nations and landmarks, a love triangle, teens being impulsive and dramatic but also saving the world, and an emphasis on the importance of data security (alright, maybe not a snazzy topic, but very relevant).