When I can see the place that I am reading about in my mind that is a sign of a good book. I could see this village clearly, I walked alongside the characters, I heard their voices.

Alice wants to make a documentary about the village her Grandmother grew up in. She has listened to the stories her Grandmother told about it all her life, about the people who lived there and their lives, about growing up in a village built especially for the families of miners who worked the nearby mine, about moving away and getting married, leaving her father, mother, and younger sister, Aina behind. And most importantly, about everyone in the village vanishing. All gone. Over 1000 souls simply gone, leaving behind only two persons, one a simple minded young woman who has been tied to a pole and stoned to death. The other, a baby, only a few days old.

After Alice's Grandmother passed away, Alice researched the village, looking for more information, trying to find out why and how the villagers disappeared. This documentary is going to be way to finally find out, or so she hopes. Then her team starts hearing and seeing things. People get hurt, accidents happen.

This book is highly atmospheric. I heartily recommend it.

I was able to read this as an ARC through Netgalley.

Alice assembles a small team to go back to her Grandma's hometown to try to solve the mystery of how a whole town disappears in the blink of an eye. She is hoping to do a documentary to share with the world of the mystery of Silvertjärn, the Lost Village. She has collected information over the years from her Grandmother who had already left town before the disappearances occurred and digested her letters.

The writing feels little more like a Young Adult novel, an adult mystery. With it saying it was going to be a documentary, I was hoping for more videoing, etc.

I want to thank #NetGalley and #MinotaurBooks for this gifted e-ARC in exchange for an honest review! I have included the NetGalley synopsis on the following slide!
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Trigger warnings: Brutal death, Religious extremism, sexual assault, and mental illness
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This book honestly shocked me in the best way possible, normally books don’t ever get me spooked, but this one was able to for sure. In my opinion, the writing was very well done; it was effortless to picture everything in my head as I read as the imaginary was very well done. This book often switches between present-day and past in this old mining town where everyone often goes missing. I enjoy that you saw that switch in both split perspectives and the form of letters; I felt it brought a more personal element.
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As far as to creep-out factor, this book definitely has it, which is rare for me to say. This book was highly fast passed over all, and to me, I could easily picture it as a horror movie; that would be something I watch for sure. Definitely look into trigger warnings beforehand if certain topics trigger you. I tried to think of most of them to include in this review. Overall I really enjoyed this book. I loved the story and how it developed; it definitely has a creepy vibe to it, and if anyone has watched Ghost Adventures, that’s the vibe I got in the beginning for sure. I don’t want to give too much away because the unknown adds to this book's suspense.
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If you are a fan of horror films, whole towns going missing under mysterious circumstances, or want a book to creep you out, this is the book for you. I absolutely loved the many different elements and so excited to get my hands on a physical copy when it is released!

Overall I enjoyed this book. It had good characters, plot and story but it was a little slow for me at times.

Described as "The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar," this thriller tells the story of a film crew making a documentary about a village where all of it's people mysteriously vanished into thin air in the 50's. Alice, the filmmaker is obsessed with the story of the missing town because her grandmother's family disappeared along with the rest of the town in this strange and unusual mystery. What she finds when she gets there is an abandoned town and a curiously ominous feeling that all is not right. The crew begins to feel watched.... and the creepiness entails. The book is good, but it feels like some aspect is missing. I give it a 3.5 star review.

Creepy and atmospheric. An unsolved mystery of epic proportions and a woman engrossed with her family’s ties to it.

Sten does a magnificent job of creating the perfect ambience for this eerie abandoned town where 900 people vanished without a trace, a woman was stoned to death, and a baby miraculously survived. The uncertainty and gloom emanated from this deserted town and took on a life of its own, almost becoming another character.

The story is intricately woven through a dual narrative, as well as auxiliary letters and sermons from before the disappearance. I wish the author had taken those tools a step further and given a clearer picture of the desperation in the town that led to its belief system completely collapsing. Because of this, I found the ending to be both somewhat predictable as well as lacking substantive reasoning. However, this did not take away from my enjoyment of walking the ominous streets of the lost village.

Sten weaves a cautious tale in this mystery- beliefs built in desperation can be taken to extremes and have dire consequences.

Thank you to Camilla Sten, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alice has been obsessed with the lost town of Silvertjärn since her grandmother told her the story of her family's mysterious disappearance. After years of planning, Alice has finally assembled a film crew to visit the ghost town and film preliminary shots in the hopes of getting the project funded. Alice's story is told along side Elsa's story, Alice's great grandmother who vanished with the rest of the townspeople in 1959.

The Lost Village is just as creepy as you'd imagine it to be. There are things lurking in the shadows, voices in the air and over the two-way radios, and a general atmosphere like you're about to go over a cliff. If you're looking for something to keep you up at night, this will not disappoint. Camilla Sten has crafted a beautifully written novel that any horror fan will love, and it is seamlessly translated by Alexandra Fleming. My only complaint is that I didn't feel like I got to know the characters, outside of Alice and Emmy. There's also a bit near the end with Max that felt out of place without development leading up to it. I also could have done with more of a resolution at the end.

This book had me hooked from the beginning, and I didn't want to put it down.. When I had to put it down and go to work, I kept thinking about where I left off and what was going to happen next.. It had this super creepy atmosphere in this abandoned village.. The author did such an amazing job with the descriptions that I felt like I was there with Alice and her crew..

Alice has gathered a film crew to shoot some footage of a Sweedish ghost town.. She is hoping that with what they can gather they can get some investers for a full blown documentary.. Now Alice has ties through this town through her grandmother, who had moved away from the town before the dissapearances.. Both her and her grandma have been investigating on their own to see if they could find any answers..

This book is told in dual timelines. We get to see Alice and the crew as they are taking photos and exploring the town today, and the other timeline is from the weeks and days leading up to the whole town vanishing without a trace.. Everyone except the body of a young woman found in the townsquare, and a baby just a few days old found in the school..

I thoroughly enjoyed how this story was told. The differing timelines really keeps up the tension and creepy factor. We see Alice and her crew exploring this creepy little town, while at the same time hearing the story from one of the women in the town and how things were playing out back then.. When strange things start to happen in present day, we have no idea whats going on. Are one of the crew members playing tricks. or is there something else going on?

Thankfully they are only on location for 5 days.. What could possible happen in that amount of time?.. Well as it turns out, a whole hell of alot...

I will definitely be checking out more of this authors books and look forward to what she comes out with next.

Loved the concept of the book, and it had some exciting moments. But, overall, the style and pacing a bit slow and plodding for my taste.

THIS BOOK!!

One of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time.

The Lost Village satisfied so many things I love about a good thriller: an eerie setting, gut-wrenching back story in the past and present and the constant spine chilling question of whether what you’re experiencing is supernatural, human or your own insanity.

We see a small group of filmmakers, strung together by the project lead Alice, who are aiming to make a documentary about an isolated Swedish town that was completely abandoned in the 50’s: A woman was found stoned to death in the square, a newborn was found screaming in the school and all the homes were left empty, as if all of the 900 inhabitants simply walked away.

If that synopsis doesn’t hook you enough, you’ll love the thick haze of mystery and the amazing scene setting. The author expertly explored the evil that can be found in human nature and the need to belong, the depths of depression and the misunderstood nature of psychosis. While this sounds heavy, this book hooks you and reads like you’re watching a horror movie play out in front of you. Don’t stay up too late reading or you may hear whispers of your own!!

Alice is determined to solve the mystery of the old mining town where almost all of its residents disappeared without a trace in 1959. This mystery is especially important to Alice as her grandmother’s family were among those missing. Alice heads to the town to create a documentary with her old college friend Emmy, her boyfriend Robert, her friend Max and her friend Tone. Tone has a vested interest in the town as well. There were 2 residents that did not disappear a woman whose body was found after she was stoned to death and a baby found in the school. The baby is Tone’s mother.
The story is told from Then and Now through Alice now and her great grandmother then. The group investigates different parts of the town to see if they can find anything but then strange things begin to happen and the members of their small group start getting hurt and going missing. As Alice and her friends get closer to the truth, someone or something wants those secrets to stay buried. The town has been deserted for over 50 years, but something is out there. Are there ghosts, something paranormal or is it possible that the town isn’t actually deserted and they are not alone?
I expected more from a book about a documentary being filmed and there were some things left unanswered! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was an interesting book. I liked the idea of this group of filmmakers trying to find out what happened to this town 60 years ago. There were times when I was certainly creeped out, but there were also times when I was not sure what was going on. For me, the first half of the book was better than the second half of the book. I don't feel as if this book was as thrilling as I hoped it would be. There were too many questions for me to really get an understanding of what the author wanted to come across. Overall, the book wasn't terrible, I just didn't love it. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital arc of this book.

***I received an advanced eBook copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Lost Village tells the story of a town in Sweden whose residents vanished suddenly. It opens with two officer showing up to investigate a murder, then the story continues to weave the stories of the past and present. Alice gathers a team of skilled producers to create a documentary proposal of her grandmother's home town (the lost village). As Alice continues her investigations, readers get more insight into the characters of the past and present.

I enjoyed this book a great deal! I was not sure what to expect going into this book, but WOW did it keep my attention from start to finish. I couldn't put it down. I literally read it in one day (one setting). I definitely give this five out of five stars.

If The Lost Village is ever made into a movie, may I suggest Alexander Skarsgård as the young pastor who arrives in Silvertjarn.

Alice has been obsessed with the lost citizens of Silvertjarn her entire life. It's her grandmother's hometown....and it's history has been shrouded in mystery for the last 60 plus years. The entire village - almost 900 people, vanished. Hoping to find out the truth, Alice starts to work on a documentary project in the abandoned town, however, Alice and her crew are not as alone as they think.

I truly enjoyed the book - yes, the plot is somewhat derivative - abandoned town, weird events, strange noises - but something about it really drew me in. It was a little like reading The Blair Witch Project as a book. The split timelines - the before and the now - help create this....darkness and heavy weight to the story - one that never really leaves you. The subplot of Alice and Emmy's friendship gone wrong was interesting but really not necessary.

Thanks to netGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I couldn’t put this down! The pace was fast which made me enjoy it that much more. It was bone chilling, and so suspenseful that I felt like I was watching a movie.

In The Lost Village a documentary film crew led by Alice Lindstedt visits a ghost town in rural Scandinavia. The entire population of the village disappeared in 1959, and among the missing residents are the family of Alice's grandmother. The other members of the crew have their own reasons for being there. As they scout the town for their film, mysterious things start to happen. They hear strange noises over their walkies, equipment is destroyed, and people begin to go missing. Chapters from the perspective of Alice's great-grandmother in 1959 are interspersed with Alice's present day narration.

I found this book hard to put down and read it within 24 hours. It's appropriately creepy, but the narrative relies upon the relationships between the crew members rather than exclusively focusing on scares. The chapters from Alice's great-grandmother's perspective and her grandmother's letters help the narrative along but don't distract from the focus on Alice and her crew. It is a bit of a slow build, but that helps with the suspense throughout the book.

As a mild spoiler, I do find it appropriate to mention a few content warnings with the books. There is the abuse and murder of a disabled woman, references to sexual abuse, and references to religious/spiritual abuse. I did not find the narrative fixated on these points and it treated the abuse as repugnant, but it is present within the book and readers sensitive to these topics should be aware of the content.

If you are an author or publisher seeking a review/blurb from me, please note I only provide those on the books I thoroughly enjoy and read cover-to-cover. If I don't give you one (as is the case here), it doesn't mean there was a problem with the book, it simply means the book wasn't for me or it may not resonate with my fan-base. I will, however, give you five-stars because I know EXACTLY how much work went into getting this particular title here and I'm not about to drag down your overall score just because it didn't hit for me. I wish you nothing but the best.
jd

As I have mentioned in my reviews before I love the idea of Urbexing (although probably a little too timid and law-conscious to do it myself!) Therefore, the setting and idea behind The Lost Village really appealed to me. A mysterious village in the middle of nowhere which has been untouched for 60 years after its inhabitants disappeared without a trace is so intriguing and made for an interesting backdrop for this book.

Alice is determined to find out what happened and so assembles a rag-tag team of freelance movie makers to shoot a promo for their documentary with a 5 day recce. I would have liked a little more emphasis on the film making side of the story although I understand it is used as an excuse by our characters to do some sleuthing, but it felt very underplayed. When the main photographer is out of action none of the others seem to know how to hold a camera and there is surprise expressed at one point that the cameras can shoot film which seems very odd as the idea was to make a video trailer!

The plot has the slow suspenseful build of an almost paranormal horror but I didn’t feel that it went far enough with the horror elements. I would have liked a few more unexplained moments before the large plot points that dominated the latter half of the book. I really enjoyed the split between ‘Then’ and ‘Now’ as we slowly saw the past storyline unfold to show us what had happened to the village in the moments leading up to the community’s disappearance. I did feel like a lot of it just played out exactly how we had been led to imagine it happened by the characters in the ‘Now’ timeline though (the reveal about the new pastor’s previous life for example, was played a little too early.)

What really let this book down for me unfortunately was the ending which throws up way more questions than it answered and also showcased some very large plot holes! I won’t say any spoilers but I’m not sure how something can be a 60-year-old mystery when there’s a very large part of the village which isn’t explored due to very flimsy reasoning! The epilogue tried to explain some of the practicalities of the main reveal but this felt a little contrived and there are some real logistics at play which are not explained. Although the ‘Then’ timeline gets wrapped up nicely I would have liked another epilogue to cover what happened to Alice and her film afterwards especially as we have invested so much time in getting to know her and her demons throughout. Speaking of demons, there is also a very poor depiction of mental health in this book and a character goes through a completely unrealistic transformation at one point which I think was unnecessary and was in poor taste.

Overall, I really wanted to love The Lost Village and I think the concept is brilliant, however it was let down by some poor plotting and underplayed horror elements which could have gone a lot further to make a more sinister read. Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Documentary film maker Alice Lindstedt and some friends go to investigate the the mystery of a lost village where all the inhabitants just disappeared without trace in 1959 leaving only a baby who is alive and a woman who has been stoned to death. Alice has always been fascinated by this after hearing stories from her grandmother who had left the village some years previously and then was distraught to lose her whole family and never heard anything more of them.
So what follows is a creepy and atmospheric read and it really felt that the darkness surrounding the village was seeping into every pore in your body whilst reading. Alice and her friends begin to experience some extremely weird events and it becomes obvious someone or something doesn’t want them filming or being there.
I enjoyed the book very much it’s a slow burn of read full of suspense, well written and it kept me glued to my kindle and I shall be on the lookout for more books in the future from Camilla Sten.
My thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press, Minotaur Books for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

First off, I absolutely adore the concept of this novel, and that’s what initially drew me in.. As I was reading this, I went back and forth about whether or not the explantation to all this was supernatural or not, but I had one overall theory that I hoped wasn’t true because it was just too obvious.

That was my issue with this book. It wasn’t a bad read, just that the “twist” and explanation behind everything was very easy to guess. I HOPED that my guess was wrong because it was just too....obvious. However, I got to the end just to find out I was pretty much right, more or less. Basically, I was expecting more twists and turns to this. Once you’re halfway through the book it’s pretty obvious which direction the book is going, and the ending doesn’t really have any surprises.

This wasn’t a bad book by any means, just average. I was expecting more twists and turns, more creativity, a less predictable ending. This could’ve been so much more imaginative. But the big reveal at the end felt rather....generic? The whole thing built up to an ending which was extremely predictable and not anything that hasn’t already been done a million times.

3/5 stars, because it wasn’t bad book. Just average. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a review.