A review by bookedbymadeline
Old Soul by Susan Barker

dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Thank you NetGalley and Fig Tree for the eARC!

An unsettling literary horror novel! I really liked the premise and felt pulled in right away. The novel is split into “testaments” from a lot of different characters and a present day timeline following “The Woman” which made this feel more like a collection of short stories rather than a cohesive novel. Especially because our narrator isn’t always present and I felt as if we didn’t get to know any of the characters seeing as we only spend 1 chapter with them, leaving me feeling detached from everyone.

There were some testaments that were fantastic and others that fell flat for me, I often preferred the ones with the most horror/creepy elements. 

By the second half, it started to drag and my interest was wavering, especially with the last couple of “testaments”🙃 I also was disappointed slightly in the ending; the epilogue felt unnecessary and feel it would’ve been stronger to end with the final chapter instead. There also wasn’t any dialogue punctuation so it could be confusing at times but eventually I became used to it.

Overall it had a lot of potential and started off well but eventually felt like it went on too long and lost a lot of the horror aspects. I’d recommend this for literary fiction readers as opposed to horror fans seeing as the horror elements get lost in later chapters 🤷🏻‍♀️


TW/CW: death of parent, death, animal death, infidelity, incest? (Implied), cancer, body horror, ableism, alcoholism, depression, suicide attempt (brief mention), domestic abuse, suicide, child murder, drug use, sexual content 

Rep: gay narrator/MC, biracial minor character, Japanese side characters, Chinese minor character, indigenous side character, bi side character 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings