Cover Crush: Soulmatch by Rebecca Danzenbaker

This cover has been living rent-free in our brains. It’s soft and eerie all at once; the crown, the marble face, the flowers creeping in. It looks like it has secrets.

The setup grabbed us, too. It’s two hundred years after World War III, and the world’s idea of “peace” is a soul-identification system (kirling) that decides who’s worthy. At eighteen, you get to relive every past life you’ve ever had and your results shape your future. Good soul? Here’s your inheritance, your career, maybe even your soulmate. Bad soul? You’re out. Yikes.

Sivon knows she’s not normal but her kirling changes everything. Suddenly she’s the headline, the target, and stuck with a bodyguard she really shouldn’t want. One wrong move means losing everyone she cares about, forever. No pressure.

We love a story that asks what we’d do if the world decided who we are before we do. We love that Sivon might be the smartest person in the room but still can’t outplay her own heart. And yes, we’re here for the off-limits tension too.

Definitely added Soulmatch to our stack – it’s out on the 29th!

Soulmatch

by Rebecca Danzenbaker
Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
on July 29, 2025
Bookshop
Goodreads

Two-hundred years after World War III, the world is at peace, all thanks to the soul-identification system. Every 18-year-old must report to the government to learn about their past lives, a terrifying process known as kirling. Good souls leave the institute with their inheritance, a career path, and if they’re lucky, a soulmate. Bad souls leave in handcuffs.
It's a nerve-wracking ordeal for Sivon, who, given her uncanny ability to win every chess match, already suspects her soul isn’t normal. Turns out, she was right to worry. Sivon’s results stun not only her, but the entire world, making her the object of public scrutiny and anonymous threats.
Saddled with an infuriating and off-limits bodyguard, Sivon is thrust into a high-stakes game where souls are pawns and rules don’t exist. As deaths mount, Sivon must decipher friend from foe while protecting her heart against impossible odds. One wrong move could destroy the future lives of everyone Sivon loves, and she can’t let that happen, even if they’ll never love her back.