2.5 ⭐️ and honestly it pains me to give the book such a low rating. The first half of the book was kinda amazing (it even gave me some creepy dreams since i love reading before bed), but the second half was just.. a bit boring. The diary-like chapters did not work for me. The actual ending and epilogue was amazing again though. The writing was good but.. the lack of quotation marks? Honestly this was an absolute crime and made it barely readable sometimes.

With thanks to netgalley

Old Soul sound like a very good book and would be the type of book that I would pick up in the bookshop. It started off okay with a good spooky opening, but half way though the book it lost it, becoming more a thriller thana horror story, I plugged on to the end but by this time I just didn't care too much about any the of the characters.

This is such a strange book, it kept me engaged and I had been leaning towards 3 stars, but the ending and epilogue were so disappointing after the build up, that I dropped it back to 2 stars.
In selecting this book I had not noticed the 'horror' tag, so I am not in the target audience.
The story is told in two 'parts', one is by Jake, a young gay traveller, who by chance meets a Japanese woman at the Osaka airport. He discovers that her brother died in similar strange, and inexplicable circumstances as his best friend Leah. He then sets about tracking other people who have died in a similar way and documenting the person who seemed to bring about these deaths.
The other part of the story, is the present, with 'Therese' the evil entity reeling in another victim, seventeen year old Rosa who wants to be a social influencer.
The story isn't what I would call true 'horror' but circles an evil presence referred to as 'The Tyrant' and a woman who keeps reinventing herself as a new identity every time she makes an offering to 'The Tyrant'.
Others have loved this book, but for me it went on far too long, the characters were too shallow and the story too unbelievable.
Thank you Netgalley and Penguin UK for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

44% and DNF - was hard to follow, didn’t care about anything that happened. The start was interesting enough but it wasn’t enough to keep going until the end. Just wasn’t my thing. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Old Soul sucked me in from the very first pages and although the book is not scary-scary, I found it very eerie and wouldn’t read it too late at night. I really enjoyed the concept of the Luciferian pact combined with a curse like in The Ring. The research was absolutely INSANE and made the book so, so good, along with the writing style - it was super readable and unputdownable. The story began to drag a little bit towards the end, but I loved the epilogue as the story got so brilliantly wrapped up.

Currently I am taking part in my local library’s ‘Book Bingo’ challenge for 2025. One of the categories within the challenge, to read 12 books over 12 months, is to read a book from a genre I would never normally read. Susan Barker’s book ‘Old Soul’ definitely fits that description as ‘horror’ is not something that I would normally gravitate towards. I had, however, heard several recommendations for this book along with praise for Susan Barker’s previous novel ‘The Incarnations’; it had also been listed as ‘literary fiction’ and so I decided I would read her latest novel.
In short, this book is unlike anything I have ever read! The book opens through a chance meeting between Jake and Mariko at an airport. What initially felt like a romance gone wrong, turned into something completely different. Over the course of an evening the pair discover that they have a grisly connection. Namely Mariko’s twin brother and Jake’s friend died in the same brutal and mysterious way and both have been traumatised by the nature of their loved ones particular death. The novel’s narrative then splits to a ‘real time’ encounter between Rosa, a twenty something social media influencer and the mysterious woman who we realise is the individual connecting Jake and Mariko’s narratives. We then span across different time and places, different people and with different narratives but come to realise that despite these differences the thing connecting them is this particular woman. She has different names and different looks; however, she remains the constant and she means real harm.
It was a deeply unsettling book, intensified by the woman’s present ritual with Rosa being interspersed between stories of previous individuals whose lives she had changed and destroyed irrevocably. To be this close to the ‘old soul’ and having your knowledge grow of their misdeeds added a real tension to this story as we know Rosa’s fate is not going to be a happy one, we become complicit in the process. We as readers, along with Jake want to work out if there is a way to make it stop or at least find out how this woman came to be. Every time we meet a new character and begin a new story there is the same fatal inevitability and impending doom that fills the pages and we feel powerless to stop it.
Once we reach the end of the story, in what feels like a climactic horror movie moment, a lot of questions remain. It did not feel as cathartic as I had hoped but perhaps that is the point. This novel does not provide much comfort and at times is particularly grisly. It was, for me, a really unique reading experience and one that I will not forget for a long time.

Great plot and had me hooked from the first Chapter.

I did however struggle with the POV twists and turns. I really had to concentrate.

There are many weird ideas in this novel which had my brain in overdrive .

Definitely a book to put on your list if you enjoy literary horror.

Thanks to the UK publisher for the proof.

Susan Barker's Old Soul is a captivating blend of Gothic horror and mystery, weaving historical intrigue with modern settings. Each chapter is a standalone tale that contributes to a larger, eerie narrative.

While I yearned for a more resonant conclusion, Old Soul is an immersive read that will appeal to fans of literary horror. It's hauntingly good, even if it teeters on predictability. A satisfying, if not perfect, journey into the supernatural.

Read this as an arc from Netgalley and unfortunately I had to dnf it, which is a shame because I loved hearing about Japan. But I couldn't take the constant jumping around from Jake's travels to conversations with ppl he met, then later on 2 characters were added and I realised I had no clue who they were or what they were there for. By that time I'd lost interest.

Unfortunately I think I should have dnfed this one.

Old Soul tells the story of Jake, a man who is desperately seeking answers for what happened to his childhood best friend after her suspicious death. He discovers similarities between his friend’s case and other deceased people from all over the world, all of whom have had strange encounters with a mysterious and seemingly ageless woman. But it’s also not really about that at all.

This book took me a long time to get through, despite being less than 300 pages long, and at times felt like a bit of a slog. We go back and forth between Jake’s travels, accounts from the people he’s meeting, and even the strange, ageless woman herself. I felt most compelled by the sections with the woman in the Badlands, and the journal entries from the Sculptor, but overall found the narrative difficult to follow. I understand that “the woman” had many different aliases, but trying to keep them all straight while also trying to keep track of a lot of a LOT of other characters and accounts was quite confusing. I found myself flipping back to previous sections to remind myself of who different characters were, or if a name had been mentioned before.

Aside from that, I felt the amount of information and different characters also kept me from connecting to any of them. Apart from the woman and the Sculptor, I didn’t feel particularly attached to anyone. I wanted less repetitive stories of how the woman was “killing” and more about her motivations, her life story, and her time with the Sculptor. I think the emotional payoff would have been much more satisfying if we saw more of the brief glimpses of humanity from the woman. By the end I was left wondering what her motivations were for surviving as long as she had, and why she never tried to find a successor or break free from the Tyrant.

And speaking of the Tyrant… there was nowhere near enough explanation as to what he was, why he existed, how often he chose his victims, and how he targeted them in the first place. At times I felt as though his inclusion and the way the characters talked about him was just a little goofy.

Overall, this was unfortunately not at all what I was expecting and left a lot to be desired.

Jake is searching for the strange forced which invaded his childhood friend’s body and ultimately we go on to experience various similar stories which occur throughout the globe. I kept reading until 75% when a character called Larry suddenly appears together with Theodora Waite and I realised I had no idea who they were, where they had come from and that unfortunately I really no longer cared! Sorry, I did try but I’m afraid it all became rather tedious. Intriguing yes but too repetitive and frustrating.

This was a different read and not the genre I'd normally go for.
It was a little creepy, maybe unsettling, but not horror.
I enjoyed it and I enjoyed reading something different.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first horror book I have read which is surprisingly as a horror movie fan. After reading this one I feel I should add more from this genre.
I found the way it moved through the years built the story well gathering atmosphere and pace as it went, with many chapters telling stories of different victims.
I would recommend this book to any horror fans.

This book has been classed as a horror and whilst I cannot disagree with that I found it’s more of an atmospheric horror than a slasher or gory horror. Saying that it is a great book and I enjoyed the way it was written with going through the decades/centuries of “the woman” and her victims from testimonies of those who witnessed her integrating with their loved ones. The MMC Jake is the one gathering the testimonies after a chance meeting with a woman whose twin brother died in a similar way to Jake’s best friend and he sets out on a journey to find out the truth behind the woman who links the deaths of not only his best friend but many others.

Overall I did enjoy the book and would definitely recommend it. It is creepy and a good read.

Not all monstrous immortals in literature conform to the trope of the sharp-toothed, bloodsucking vampire. The female protagonist of Susan Barker’s Old Soul is a case in point. Born (or resurrected) in the 18th century, the “old soul” of the title lives on at the bidding of a demonic entity called the Tyrant, for whom she procures sacrificial victims in return for a new lease of life. She goes by many names – Vera, Eva, Marion, Katherina – but perhaps the title which suits her best is “the woman”, at once anonymous and universal, suggesting her shadowy, elusive character. Around this figure, Barker builds a novel which combines elements of supernatural/Gothic/cosmic horror and crime/mystery fiction with a “literary” edge.

The novel starts enigmatically, with a brief introductory chapter featuring a dialogue between two lovers, whose significance will only become evident later in the book. The main body of the novel is made up of two narrative strands. The segments titled “Testimonies” follow Jake as he investigates the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of his close friend Lena, and particularly the figure of a beguiling thirty-something photographer who insinuated herself into Lena’s life before Lena’s sudden descent into madness. Jake has a serendipitous (is it?) encounter at Osaka airport with a woman called Mariko, whose twin brother also died in similar circumstances. Jake pursues the pointers provided by Mariko and meets other acquaintances of the enigmatic woman’s victims. Their chilling stories are presented in the “Testimonies” chapters.

These segments alternate with the chapters entitled “Badlands”, in which the focus is on the immortal as she leads her latest victim to her sacrifice while desperately battling the decomposition process eating her from within. The two storylines eventually combine in the fast-paced finale.

Barker has an impeccable control over narrative pace. This work is far from being a “thrills-only” novel. We get insights into the tragic characters, particularly the protagonist herself who, while inspiring revulsion, still manages to elicit some sympathy from the reader – always a challenging feat to bring off. Yet, this never slows down the momentum of the narrative, which doesn’t up.

Some readers have favourably compared Old Soul to Barker’s earlier novel The Incarnations – which I need to look up and read. Its structure and basic premise reminded me of two other books I read and enjoyed – Sarah Perry’s Melmoth (based, in turn, on Maturin’s Gothic classic) and Marc Joan’s Hangdog Souls (also highly recommended, by the way). But it also hearkens back to the Gothic classics of yore with their merger of literary and genre elements. Under its slick, contemporary voice, this novel, much like its protagonist, hides an “old soul” and is so much the better for it.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2025/02/old-soul-by-susan-barker.html

Old Soul is a globe-trotting story that treads the line between folklore and sci-fi. It tells the story of the Tyrant, a dark primordial force that consumes individuals it inhabits. The Tyrant is enabled by a mysterious European woman who befriends the Tyrant’s victims before capturing their life force to feed her own. When a chance meeting in Osaka connects two loved-ones of the Tyrant’s victims, events are set in motion to try and stop this devastating phenomenon.

I found this story fascinating. I like how the chapters told the stories of the different victims to create a collection of short stories. It built up the picture of the Tyrant and captured the vulnerability of each of the characters, with even the enigmatic woman not escaping it in her role as the Tyrant’s facilitator. Without spoilers, the ending was great. If you’ve read it, you’ll know. I think it could be decisive but the feeling I was left with after finishing it seemed to fit well with the tone of the book. Really recommended!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for this eCopy to review

Reading Old Soul by Susan Barker was a haunting experience. The novel follows Jake, a primary school teacher, who is trying to understand the mysterious death of his best friend, Lena, whose organs were inexplicably reversed. His quest leads him to Osaka airport, where he meets Mariko, who shares a similar story about her twin brother. Together, they uncover a disturbing connection between their loved ones' deaths and a mysterious, dark-haired woman who seems to be at the centre of it all.

The story weaves between Jake's investigation and the eerie life of the woman, who never ages and goes by many names. Barker's writing is atmospheric and unsettling, creating a sense of unease that lingers throughout the book. The concept of immortality and the macabre quest for it is both fascinating and chilling.

It’s a compelling read with a unique premise, eerie atmosphere and dark and mysterious vibe.

I received this book as an ARC via Netgalley. It is set across different countries but predominantly Japan and the US. It follows the many lives of a woman who has made a deal with the tyrant which allows her to live eternally but all her interactions cause the people she meets to be inverted / flipped side to side. Jake notices similarities in two stories associated with her and goes off to investigate
In effect this is the same story told over and over and over again with different but similarly plasticised characters for whom I failed to feel anything.
Supposedly literary - for this read turgid but potentially good for inducing sleep. This Horror story (according to it's identified genre) really failed to produce anything approaching terror or suspense.

I was genuinely just bored by the book and would not seek out anything by the same author. I think it could have been told in half the number of pages, potentially increasing the momentum of the narrative and creating that horror it lacked

There's something fresh about this book. It's dark, sometimes disturbing, but it feels like a breath of fresh air in the genre. The stories wind their way across time and space as the Old Soul slithers her way, first enchanting and then destroying those she selects. I found the story set in Wales genuinely unnerving. My mind kept returning to it.
My only gripe was that I thought the book was maybe just one story too long. I was starting to lose interest at the end & that's a shame for such a great read

3.5 Stars

Every once in a while, I like to try out books that are different than all I’ve read so far. Old Soul was one of those. This was marked as General Fiction, but the premise itself promised something darker: A mix of Mystery with Thriller, General Fiction and a touch of Horror. It also sounded interesting and just the right amount of Mysterious to make me excited.

This book started with a chance meeting between two strangers, who seem to have nothing in common, when they both miss the same flight at the airport. They soon realise that they have something in common thought: They both lost people they loved in the exact same gruesome and unbelievable circumstances, but in very different years and places. Jake, our main character, is determined to get answers when this pattern is discovered and follows all strings that lead to other murders that happened in the exact same circumstances all over the world, albeit years and even decades apart, and all connected to the same women who is, somehow, always close when these deaths happen. The author takes us on a journey through space and time, while we slowly try to put the pieces together.

It took me one or two chapters to get used to the writing, since the dialogue lacks punctuation, but after that I ended up thinking that this fit the overall storytelling of this book that is filled with short stories that allow us to be immersed in what is going on, exactly in the same way that our main character is.

While Old Soul definitely started on the right note, it reached a point where the short stories became a bit repetitive and because of that, I got the feeling that this book goes on way longer than it should. I loved that Jake's investigations felt like a series of short stories, but in the end, there were too many of them and the eerie, mysterious woman became not so mysterious after all. While the stories in themselves are interesting, after getting the story with Lena, I was a bit bored until we get to the story with Theo. The lack of interest on what was happening in these stories after a certain point made me loose my pacing, even if I was really curious about how everything would be wrapped up and how it would end.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, even if it would have benefited from some cuts to improve the pacing. It’s haunting, intriguing and I couldn’t read it at night because of how creepy (in the best way) it was in some parts (specially in the beginning, as it becomes a bit repetitive after a while, but still enough for me not to risk it since I have a very vivid imagination). The epilogue somehow made me think of a dark high fantasy novel, in a very good way and I’m really happy to have read something so different and out of my comfort zone. Would definitely recommend it if you like horror in a mystery and appreciate a short story format.

Thank you so much to Penguin General UK and NetGallery for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.