What do you think?
Rate this book
Soul Echo: Discovery
As part of an ongoing experiment to combat overpopulation, a group of newborns are given a special implant. This implant controls their sex drive and will only allow sexual reproduction with its partner implant. The children are adopted into homes around the UK, and at the right age are told about the experiment they're all part of. Join them on a journey of discovery. Are they still who they thought they were? Can they still fall in love if their partners have been pre-determined? One by one they come across a site called Soul Echo. As they get to know the others like them online, will they decide to make a pilgrimage to find their own Soul Echo?
218 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 22, 2018
6 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Stapleton
1 book17 followersLisa is a 35 year old Dental Receptionist-slash-Writer hoping to become a full time writer some day soon. Originally from the Midlands, she now lives in the South (where everyone considers her a Northerner) with her Husband and their cat Billy.
Soul Echo: Discovery is her debut novel, which began life back in 2007. After a few years of tinkering and re-editing as well as hiding it in a drawer to develop, it is finally ready.
Lisa is currently working on Divide, the sequel to Discovery as well as a few other projects.
Soul Echo: Discovery is her debut novel, which began life back in 2007. After a few years of tinkering and re-editing as well as hiding it in a drawer to develop, it is finally ready.
Lisa is currently working on Divide, the sequel to Discovery as well as a few other projects.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 1, 2018
Soul Echo: Discovery, is a novel for young adults exploring the idea of how human overpopulation might be controlled in the future.
The story begins 20 years ago when a group of scientists begin an experiment: tiny microchips are inserted into the hairlines of 10 babies who are adopted to parents who know about the experiment, but unable to tell their children.
The microchips control who each of the adults will eventually pair and reproduce with.
Fast forward, and we meet the 10 babies as 20-year-olds.
The novel is mostly about the 20-year-olds and their relationships with friends and family. Where the author succeeds is in capturing what it’s like to be a 20-year-old; the language, interactions and mentality feels authentic and the characters are relatable.
Not all is revealed in this novel and we are yet to know what the future looks, but enough intrigue is created to find out more in the next book.
The story begins 20 years ago when a group of scientists begin an experiment: tiny microchips are inserted into the hairlines of 10 babies who are adopted to parents who know about the experiment, but unable to tell their children.
The microchips control who each of the adults will eventually pair and reproduce with.
Fast forward, and we meet the 10 babies as 20-year-olds.
The novel is mostly about the 20-year-olds and their relationships with friends and family. Where the author succeeds is in capturing what it’s like to be a 20-year-old; the language, interactions and mentality feels authentic and the characters are relatable.
Not all is revealed in this novel and we are yet to know what the future looks, but enough intrigue is created to find out more in the next book.
December 30, 2018
I loved this book so much. Amazon wouldn't let me review it for some reason, so here we are.
I just wanted to sing my praises for Bonnie and Camilla. Even though I didn't really like Camilla that much, or well, I should say I couldn't relate to her.
However, I feel like Bonnie and Cam could DEF relate to each other. And I ship them now.
I just wanted to sing my praises for Bonnie and Camilla. Even though I didn't really like Camilla that much, or well, I should say I couldn't relate to her.
However, I feel like Bonnie and Cam could DEF relate to each other. And I ship them now.
May 13, 2019
Lisa gives you worldbuilding before you get to the stories of Aaron, Jen, Farrell, Graham, Imogen, Camilla, Bonnie, Ethan, Helen, and Dominic. So, again, I say: Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
We do not start in 2018 but rather all the way back to 1937, with Doctors Andrew Hunter & Richard Cole seeking to implement an experiment; (P.P.C.) Project Population Control. There is a timetable listing all the progress, trials, errors... I can definitely see a montage of the events if this was a movie. You get a glimpse into some of the characters' lives, even from their parents' points of view, while others, like Aaron & Jen, have a bit more focus. Also, I must not forget the doctors of present-day; Hunter and Cole, amongst other characters. This is where you go "HUH? Did I see that right?" and yes, you did. There is more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye, I am sure. The story unfolds like you think it would: characters are introduced, then they are presented with the dilemma/ plot/...and they deal with it. No, it's not that simple. It just seems that way.
These lives were going in one direction before the shocking revelation of their true identities came to light. Look, if you found out you were adopted, that would be a huge shock. Finding out you were born in a lab? You'd probably be livid. But to find out you are part of an experiment, with chips inside you, and you are supposed to only be mates with one distinct person??? OVERLOAD. Think of how you just took that news? Now apply this to the real world. Look at the stakes. Now you should read this book and see what these people go through. As if they weren't having issues of their own, to begin with. Each character is relatable to some degree. Flawed. Imperfect. Human, regardless. Maybe you won't like everyone. Maybe there is a couple of people you could see yourself hang with. At least one you could give zero cares about. The characters, the story, and the possibility this could take place in the real world feel so real. And this is only the beginning... not just of the story, I mean the story that will unfold in later books.
I won't spoil this thing at the end but I will say I did take pity on a character. Even though this person was bad it still was a hit on my conscience after what happens to them. That said, there is still so much to learn. Where do these people go from here? How deep does this go? Will there be others found who had or will have a chip implant?
I see so much potential for where this story can go. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
I would like for you to get to know these characters. See whom you can relate to more.
Who would be your Soul Echo?
Also, I want to try a real Ploughman's lunch one day.
We do not start in 2018 but rather all the way back to 1937, with Doctors Andrew Hunter & Richard Cole seeking to implement an experiment; (P.P.C.) Project Population Control. There is a timetable listing all the progress, trials, errors... I can definitely see a montage of the events if this was a movie. You get a glimpse into some of the characters' lives, even from their parents' points of view, while others, like Aaron & Jen, have a bit more focus. Also, I must not forget the doctors of present-day; Hunter and Cole, amongst other characters. This is where you go "HUH? Did I see that right?" and yes, you did. There is more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye, I am sure. The story unfolds like you think it would: characters are introduced, then they are presented with the dilemma/ plot/...and they deal with it. No, it's not that simple. It just seems that way.
These lives were going in one direction before the shocking revelation of their true identities came to light. Look, if you found out you were adopted, that would be a huge shock. Finding out you were born in a lab? You'd probably be livid. But to find out you are part of an experiment, with chips inside you, and you are supposed to only be mates with one distinct person??? OVERLOAD. Think of how you just took that news? Now apply this to the real world. Look at the stakes. Now you should read this book and see what these people go through. As if they weren't having issues of their own, to begin with. Each character is relatable to some degree. Flawed. Imperfect. Human, regardless. Maybe you won't like everyone. Maybe there is a couple of people you could see yourself hang with. At least one you could give zero cares about. The characters, the story, and the possibility this could take place in the real world feel so real. And this is only the beginning... not just of the story, I mean the story that will unfold in later books.
I won't spoil this thing at the end but I will say I did take pity on a character. Even though this person was bad it still was a hit on my conscience after what happens to them. That said, there is still so much to learn. Where do these people go from here? How deep does this go? Will there be others found who had or will have a chip implant?
I see so much potential for where this story can go. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
I would like for you to get to know these characters. See whom you can relate to more.
Who would be your Soul Echo?
Also, I want to try a real Ploughman's lunch one day.
December 3, 2019
What drew me to read Soul Echo Discovery was the idea that due to the fear of overpopulation, scientists devise a project to restrict people to having one predetermined sexual partner for life and how people would react to that. A concept that didn’t get as much focus as I thought it would in this first installment of the Soul Echo series. Most of the story focuses on the ten subjects of the experiment at age 20, realizing that they are test subjects and trying to connect with each other. The whole idea of them being only attracted to one person is mostly reserved to the last 30 pages or so, and there’s a big plot twist, and then the story just stops with no resolution to any storylines, reserving the continuation for the next installment.
I couldn’t connect to the characters; while they had their own traits and journeys in finding out their role in the experiment, they felt two dimensional and not very memorable, and the fact that there are over a dozen PoV total made things feel more muddled and choppy. Outside of Aaron and Jennifer, they didn’t have anything that stood out as they weren’t allowed enough page time. The plot and pacing was off, as the story went back and forth in time a few times, and the transitions were sometimes not there. There were some sections I felt could have been excluded. The prose overall read choppy and I struggled to immerse in the story. It needed more edits and due to the structure, it could have worked better as a movie script. Overall, it felt like the first part of a story and incomplete on its own.
I couldn’t connect to the characters; while they had their own traits and journeys in finding out their role in the experiment, they felt two dimensional and not very memorable, and the fact that there are over a dozen PoV total made things feel more muddled and choppy. Outside of Aaron and Jennifer, they didn’t have anything that stood out as they weren’t allowed enough page time. The plot and pacing was off, as the story went back and forth in time a few times, and the transitions were sometimes not there. There were some sections I felt could have been excluded. The prose overall read choppy and I struggled to immerse in the story. It needed more edits and due to the structure, it could have worked better as a movie script. Overall, it felt like the first part of a story and incomplete on its own.
September 29, 2022
I started off not really knowing how I felt about this book, but the cliffhanger ending definitely helped me eralize I wanted to learn more. While this brand of sci-fi isn't really my usual fare - I prefer stuff that is more fantastical to something grounded in reality - I did still really enjoy the concept. I think that the writer would have benefitted from a second round of copyediting, just to neaten up the pages a little bit, but as somebody who has self-published before I understand that sometimes the finished product comes out looking different from what you expect.
April 5, 2020
An interesting introduction to an intriguing idea.
Beautiful front cover. Very interesting story idea with relatable characters and a lot of potential drama (The good kind).
Won't give it five stars because I'm reserving that for the sequel, which I KNOW is going to be even better.
Waiting for the next book as patiently as possible.
Beautiful front cover. Very interesting story idea with relatable characters and a lot of potential drama (The good kind).
Won't give it five stars because I'm reserving that for the sequel, which I KNOW is going to be even better.
Waiting for the next book as patiently as possible.
March 21, 2022
I have to admit, at first I thought that it was a bit of a slow start, but that's because I was so curious and wanted to get to know everyone immediately. When they finally all came together, you couldn't help turning page by page needing to know more about how they interact and even more details about the expiriment. I must know more, I need to have home, so hoping for a part 2!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews