Soulmatch

Gr 9 Up–Sivon will be kirled—learning her soul’s past lives and what they left for her—in a few days at the age of 18. Since the discovery of photographing and creating models of soul IDs, souls are matched throughout their lives and bodies. What a soul has done in a past life will impact the next, whether for good or ill, leaving an inheritance, viable career path, criminal sentence, or even a soulmate. Sivon knows from the aura her mother sees that she is different, and her anxiety is high when she arrives at the kirling institute. There she encounters circumstances that only fuel her worries, followed by an unprecedented kirling result. Thrown into a life she did not anticipate with a disgruntled bodyguard, she may be more connected to the souls around her than she could have imagined. In her debut novel, Danzenbaker’s concept hints at ethical issues, but they are not explored deeply, with the focus instead on the idea of soulmates and connection, resulting in a plot-driven romance.