What a unique story! More of an eerie horror than a thrilling one. I thought the plot was very clever and appropriately slow, building an even more stunning crescendo. I did struggle with the sheer amount of names in the book - we were introduced to 3-5 more characters every chapter, so I frequently got confused or couldn't tell people apart. Overall I enjoyed reading this, and even though I wish there was a different ending, I respect the author's choice because it's raw and fitting.

Old Soul is an intriguing mix of dark mystery and introspective exploration. While the plot kept me on my toes, I found the pacing a bit uneven at times, especially when the more metaphysical elements started to dominate. Barker’s writing is atmospheric and often quite haunting, but the story can feel a little convoluted for readers looking for straightforward thrills. The central character’s journey through time and space adds an unusual twist to the genre, though it might leave some readers scratching their heads.

For those who enjoy deep, layered stories that challenge the norm, Old Soul could be a solid pick, but it's definitely not for everyone. Rating: 3/5.

There is no horror deeper, more profound, or more universal than losing a loved one. It is an experience we will all share in common, in time, no matter how virtuous, strong, or smart we are. Death is relentless. And once it sets its sights on a victim, there is no force that can intervene.

Susan Barker’s Old Soul is a literary meditation on this concept dressed in the trappings of an old fashioned horror story. At the novel’s start, two strangers discover they have a chilling commonality. Both have lost someone they love to a death that left their bodies reversed. Freckles and scars that were once on the right side of their bodies suddenly appeared on the left. Eyes, teeth, and hands – everything had changed positions, and their autopsies revealed their organs were also on the opposite side. Compelled by this chance meeting, Jake, our ersatz protagonist, sets out to track down others who share this story. Meanwhile, the woman responsible for these horrific deaths comes ever closer to her next victim.

Old Soul alternates between the testimonies Jake collects and the actions of the villainous woman responsible for the horror. Barker’s premise is compelling and her characters equally so, but it's her mastery of prose that will draw readers into this story. Descriptions of the everyday (“her collarbone seemed excavated by shadow”) and the supernatural (“But something other than the woman’s deterioration disturbs her now, some presence she can sense lurking beneath the appearance of things”) ring with truth under Barker’s pen.

And yet, reading Old Soul is not without its challenges. The testimonies Jake tracks down are fascinating snapshots of fully realized lives. The characters he encounters are exquisitely fleshed out and grounded in deeply considered settings, but these chapters don’t always advance the plot. As a literary novel, this is not a prerequisite; however, after the third or fourth account, the story begins to lose momentum under its own weight. The same can be said for the chapters that follow the antagonist. Her perspective, which is told in present tense and details her actions over the course of a single day, begins with a delicious tension readers will love. Can the villain trap her next victim before it's too late? It's a wonderful set up and a delight to watch the cat-and-mouse game unfold. But by hour five in-narrative, readers may feel the story is treading water while it waits for the rest of the story to catch up.

Fortunately, it’s at these moments Barker injects Old Soul with its most compelling chapters. Jake’s account of his best friend’s death is rich with complicated relationships, poignant detail, and unsettling imagery. While the antagonist’s story is made more complex with the introduction of a character that quickly becomes the beating heart of the whole narrative. Barker’s love for her cast cannot be denied, and it's that genuine care with the crafting of their stories that will keep readers turning pages until Old Soul’s shocking conclusion.

I couldn’t put this down! Written with just enough ambiguity to pull me through the whole plot.

Being a photographer myself, I’m a little biased, but the idea that the photograph literally flips the subject’s intestines is such a cool idea. It plays with the historical fear of photography as a type of sorcery (because photographs were always reflected in-camera!)

Susan Barker's Old Soul begins in an Osaka airport, where a missed flight leads Jake and Mariko to discover they share a haunting connection - both have lost loved ones under inexplicably similar circumstances. Their paths crossed with a dark-haired woman who moves through time collecting photographs and leaving broken lives in her wake. Jake's search for answers takes him through neon-lit cities and across sun-bleached deserts, gathering testimonies from those who've encountered this ageless wanderer as she shifts between names and identities. In New Mexico, an ailing sculptor named Theo holds pieces of her story that reach back through centuries. Barker weaves these testimonies into a mesmerizing tapestry, each account adding layers to a mystery where immortality and predation twist together in the shadows of human grief. The novel unfolds with patient, elegant menace, delivering what I felt to be one of the year's most original and compelling horror stories.

a missed flight. two unfortunate passengers. shared dinner for solidarity. solidarity turns to relatability. relatability into determination. determination for truth. truth seeking turned to vengeance. a vengeance that was not only theirs to serve.

my compassions were suavely misguided and my sympathies painstakingly toyed with as Susan Barker delivered this riveting genre defying journey. i felt so engaged by how this story was told through different character testimonies, chronicling their shared experiences with the proclaimed antagonist. my advice is to read slower to really digest the writing style & character intricacies. this one’s beautifully thought provoking and one my mind will definitely be venturing to from time to time.

would love to see this adapted for tv! every chapter read like a black mirror episode and i returned to every reading session with rapt attention.

Old Soul provided me with a mixed bag of feelings. This was my first experience with Barker's work and I really admire her literary voice. There is something to be said about slow, creeping horror that isn't just IN YOUR FACE that feels really delicious and special to me and I think Barker really captured that essence in this book. On the flip side, I never felt particularly invested in the characters and if a reader can't invest in the characters, it can be challenging to invest in the book. This novel fell middle of the road for me but I am excited to see what Barker does next.

Thank you Putnam Books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Available Jan. 28 2025

Old Soul is a beautiful literary horror tale that pulled me in quickly and nearly didn't let me go. The prose made my reading experience much like a fever dream; it was poetic and unsettling, and a little confusing. I struggled with the lack of quotation marks for the dialogue, and I thought it was more distracting than anything. I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending. But overall, this was a beautiful, character-driven story and I'm excited to read more from Barker.

This book was a solid 5 stars, heading for my all-time favorites shelf, until I got to the ending.

This is the kind of rich, layered literary fiction that I feel like I can't do justice in a review. I was completely enamored with it. Maybe saying less in this case is the way to go. While reading this book, I felt like I had travelled to so many different places and times. Susan Barker’s ability to describe and build various environments seemed effortless. And the language was lovely and endlessly readable. I tried not to speed through this, but it was tough. I didn’t want to put it down.

The character of the mysterious woman was complex and intriguing. She was very much a cruel monster, but Barker gradually gives us pieces of information meant to help us understand her better. The restraint with which these details are revealed is masterful. Just when I was starting to maybe feel something resembling sympathy for her, I would be harshly reminded of how vicious she could be. You will meet many different characters on this journey that her actions have affected, and typically a constant influx of new people in a novel can be overwhelming for me. But Barker managed it in a way that kept the story fresh and exciting, and no one overstayed their welcome or left too soon.

The horror in this novel, while scattered, was effective. I’ve never read a story quite like it before. There was creative and haunting imagery that will stay with me, and I loved the way that Barker worked art and immortality into the story. Many parts of it were also deeply tragic and upsetting. (Definitely not a novel to tackle if you are already in a dark place!)

No spoilers, but that final chapter felt like when you're watching the alternate endings on a special edition director's cut DVD, and there's one that makes you say: "Wow, that was really brave and made me feel all sorts of strong emotions, but honestly I'm glad they chose a different one for the theatrical release." I knocked an entire star off my rating for an otherwise very amazing, beautiful and disturbing book. (I understand why the author did it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.)

None of the dialogue has quotation marks, but I didn’t have any trouble following the conversations or identifying who was speaking, or what was dialogue vs. what was interior monologue. It was all very smooth. I know that the lack of quotations is a big pet peeve for some, so I wanted to be sure to mention it. (Keep in mind though, that this is an early review copy so it's possible that those sections could change before publication.)

Thank you to Netgalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

Biggest TW: Substance abuse, Depression, Mention of Incest, Animal harm/death, Suicide/Suicidal Ideation, Domestic abuse, Mention of Nazis, Mention of SA, Homophobia, Terminal Illness

I really wanted to love "Old Soul." The premise hooked me immediately: two strangers, a mysterious woman, and a trail that spans continents and centuries. It sounded like it would be gripping, but unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it. The pacing felt so slow that I struggled to stay engaged.

I've seen so many amazing reviews, so maybe I'm missing something, or maybe it just wasn’t the right time for me to read it. I might give it another shot down the line, but for now, it just didn’t work for me.

If you love a slow burn with intricate mysteries, this might be your thing, but I couldn’t stick with it long enough to find out.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This book is basically a series of short horror stories as people tell our cardboard-cutout protagonist Jake the bizarre events leading up to the deaths of loved ones and friends. They all start with meeting a strange woman who looks to be in her mid-thirties, who takes a picture of someone at dawn. The subject of the photo then gets very weird and paranoid before ultimately dying, and an autopsy will reveal their organs have all been mirrored. We also get chapters from the perspective of "the woman", who is doing this as part of a strange ritual to live forever.

As you would expect with basically a collection of short stories, some of them are better than others. The best ones are creepy and leave just enough said that you keep turning them over in your mind. Some of the latter ones aren't as strong as they get bogged down in explaining the mechanics of how things work. The stories cover different parts of the world and time periods and I really enjoyed the variety.

All the stories unfold like a trail of bread crumbs, each containing a hint about an earlier victim that Jake will then find, and at least two points the next step in the chain was such an enormous coincidence that it made me scoff. You seriously want me to believe "the woman" kept a photo of a previous victim in her belongings, her then-current victim stole it from her without her noticing, and then the victim's family held onto it for over a decade? It also bothered me that the subjects of some of the photos are physically disabled people who are discussed and treated in ableist ways by the person who survived to tell Jake the story, but there didn't seem to be any thematic depth there. Lastly, some of the characters pick up the idiot ball at the end of the book and it was annoying.

Overall, it's a different kind of cosmic horror story. Fans of the Magnus Archives should give it a shot.

Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC.

This strange book has an anthology feel to it, bringing together a series of stories about the victims of the Old Soul in question, referred to enigmatically throughout simply as "The Woman". This narrative choice wasn't terrible, but it did deprive of us of the, some might say, fairly essential novel element of a main character - like, don't get too attached to any of the stars of their own stories, because they won't really stick around in a meaningful way. We did return to The Woman with some frequency in the form of little glimpses into the current timeline in-between the much longer vignettes of her past crimes, but because they were covering essentially 24 hour period they were sometimes frustrating insubstantial.

Still this book was an enjoyable read and a different take on something like modern cosmic horror. I really loved the epilogue, which went full-tilt weird as hell, so what the hell, 3.5 stars rounded up to four.

My thanks to Penguin Publishing Group/G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for the ARC.

The plot is very creative and I was drawn to the book by the story so.i tried really hard to finish this book. Unfortunately halfway through this fell flat for me and I don't know if I'll finish this.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgelly for this ARC.

"Old Soul" by Susan Barker is a mind-bending, twisty, and wildly unconventional supernatural thriller that defies expectations at every turn.

What immediately stands out is Barker’s decision to forgo quotation marks. This stylistic choice creates an almost dreamlike quality to the prose, drawing readers deeper into the narrator's fragmented, unreliable perspective. It adds to the book’s unnerving atmosphere, making every interaction feel slightly off-kilter—perfect for a story steeped in haunting mystery and psychological tension.

If you’re looking for a novel that’s dark and utterly unique, "Old Soul" is an unforgettable journey into the strange and supernatural. It's a book that will keep you on edge and challenge your expectations.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

📷Devil by many names📸

Traversing borders and time, a women that goes by many names but the same face seems to leave behind only death and a Polaroid on her path.

This was such a fun and cinematic read. Can't wait for the Netflix show *hinting heavily for them to pick this up*. We get:

Non-linear timelines.
◇A cast of different characters
◇A story that travels back and forth in time and borders.
◇Supernatural occurrences.
◇A beautifully written story

It gives The Grudge / The Ring vibes with a splash of Dark series.

It's labeled as horror and literary fiction, but it lean more towars thriller, literary fiction with a soft undertone of horror/paranormal. I loved it! And loved the ending.

I would like to thank NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this e-book ARC.

"The best way to be immortal, the woman says, is not to die."

Vera, Eva, Marion, Katerina.  The woman’s name changes, but the path of madness and death she leaves in her wake remains the same.

In the weeks prior to their gruesome deaths, Mariko's brother Hiroji and Jake's best friend Lena both met a mysterious dark-haired woman who seemed to enthrall them and then precipitate a slide into madness.  A chance encounter after a missed flight leads Mariko to confide in Jake about the troubling details surrounding Hiroji's death.  When Jake makes the connection to Lena's suicide a decade earlier, he is set on a path around the globe to interview survivors whose loved ones have been unfortunate enough to encounter the woman over the decades.  

Old Soul is a compelling blend of mystery-thriller with overt horror elements.  Each separate "testimony" that Jake receives from those whose family or friends have died reads like its own story, and although the formula the woman follows remains the same for each victim, the places, time periods and people involved are individual enough to keep it interesting.  Each interview also reveals more clues as to the mysterious woman's strange predatory process and propels Jake's journey to discover who, or what, she is, and maybe, how to stop her, which is where the mystery becomes a suspense story in the final act of the book. 

The horror at the heart of Old Soul was unexpected and interesting.  I appreciated how it tied into historical beliefs and found the mythos behind the woman's prolonged existence fascinating.  Barker's writing is excellent, and I was almost as enthralled by the central figure as her victims, so this was definitely a page turner.  The ending was also unexpected, and the third act and epilogue had me immediately rereading some of the opening chapters to satisfyingly click all of the puzzle pieces into place.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Publishing Group for a digital advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.  <i>Old Soul</i> will be published on January 28, 2025.

darkly horrory and very interesting psychological-ish tale filled with darkness. would recommend. 4.5 stars, rounded up. tysm for the arc.

This was a very atmospheric and spooky book perfect for the Halloween season. I thought the premise was very interesting and well-done. Normally I really hate books that don't use quotation marks, but I think it works in this instance. It adds to that unsettling feeling that something is wrong but we're not really sure what it is yet. However, there was just something about this book that didn't connect with me. While I did really enjoy it, I think it might have just gone on for a little too long. By the time we got to the last one or two testimonies, I just thought it was totally unnecessary and just wanted to see how the current events were going to unfold. There was at least one testimony that didn't add much to the story or our understanding of the "women" and the evil presence. I also wish it focused more on the sculptor. I think that's the emotion and care that this story was missing. Overall, an entertaining read but not something that's really stuck with me after the fact.

I adored this book. It is immensely compelling and tense. Barker structures it so cleverly, the suspenseful "Badlands" narrative woven through wit beautifully written testimonies which are like excellent short stories in themselves. Overall, a triumph.

I felt like I was reading something reminiscent of The Picture of Dorian Gray, but this was wholly original. The prose was evocative and lyrical, sometimes reading as horror and other times reading as poetry. The flow was so engaging, I read it in one sitting.

The author effortlessly captured the age-old desire for immortality at any cost.