Soulprint

Starred review from November 24, 2014
Miranda (Vengeance) introduces a heroine with a strong voice and a thirst for freedom, thrust among a vividly delineated supporting cast with competing agendas. In a future where reincarnation can be scientifically tracked, 17-year-old half-Hispanic Alina Chase has spent her life isolated, allegedly for her own protection. She carries within her the soul of a charismatic and destructive whistleblower turned blackmailer, June Calahan. Broken out of confinement by a daring trio barely older than she is, Alina finds she still cannot escape June’s shadow—her rescuers want her to access the soul database that June used for her crimes. The beauty of Miranda’s latest novel is in watching Alina, unused to human relationships, fall in love, earn trust, and form fast friendships in a high-adrenaline atmosphere, as she and her companions fight to stay ahead of the authorities while following the trail left by June. Miranda also serves up plenty of tense thrills, ranging from Alina’s underwater escape from the island where she was held to her cutting a tracker out of a friend’s flesh. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary Agency.