I absolutely loved the premise behind this novel. Abandoned towns and documentary crews are usually right up my alley. I enjoyed the initial setup in the first few chapters with the focus on social media and kickstarter campaigns. However, once they actually got to the village, I was underwhelmed.

The story is told over two perspectives and I found the present day much more engaging than the past. Despite being set in the 1950s, the older timeline read like it was set much earlier. A lot of the older timeline involves reading letter which is not a narrative format that I enjoy. 

As for the story itself, my biggest sense of disappointment came from my expectations. I thought this would be a suspenseful and atmospheric read, but it really wasn't. Instead, this read like general fiction and I was never interested enough in the characters to care for them outside of the mystery aspect. The ending did pick up with some action, but by that point I was no longer invested in the story.

Overall, this slow burning thriller missed the mark for me, but hopefully other readers will have a different experience. 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

The Lost Village is a gripping, thrilling masterpiece! You will be glued to the pages reading as Alice and those from her past.

Letters and anguish emerge- leaving you wondering/questioning everything as the group tries to work on the documentary.

While reading this book- it left me feeling like I was watching my hubby playing one of his video games. FarCry5 in a sense.... Those who have played/watched this game-- am I right?

Going back in time and being in the town was heartbreaking! The Author does a superb job of making you feel like you are there in the town yourself!

I'm trying to be vague in this review. I don't want any spoilers given.
Let me just say--those of you that love a gripping, disturbing, thriller... trust me, you will devour THE LOST VILLAGE!
Be prepared for some WTF moments. Some you might say out loud! HA (oops #sorrynotsorry #lol)

Thank you to Minotaur books for this early reader copy in exchange for an honest review!!!

5 hauntingly beautiful stars from me.

*I look forward to reading more by this author!*

3.5 stars

The Lost Village follows Alice, a filmmaker obsessed with figuring out what happened in this Swedish mining town where everyone disappeared and the only person found was a woman tied to a post and stoned to death. Alice's grandmother used to live there with her family before she left for Stockholm. Alice found some letters that she hopes will help her understand what happened there.

This book was a quick and creepy read. Overall, I found it sad, bleak and sick, hating what happened and I still can't comprehend how some people can act this way and yet, sadly I'm sure something like it could have happened in real life. Even though I didn't particularly love the characters, I still cared when things started to go wrong.

<i>(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

Entire disappearing families? Sign. Me. Up!

This was a twisty, dark, crazy story and I was along for the ride. I don't want to give away anything so no spoilers here...but this was a fast, fun and wild ride!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Village definitely had some creepy vibes throughout the book - especially in the beginning - but for some reason, I wasn't invested. I won't lie, I questioned a lot of things that were happening in the beginning. It also took me a while to get into the groove of going from past to present too. Yet, things were still slightly predictable to me.

I think the only thing that was pretty interesting to me was the ending. It definitely kept to the theme of the whole book but unfortunately, I still wasn't invested in any of the characters to begin with. So, it was okay for me but a bit anti-climactic. Maybe it's because I've read more books with horror or creepiness that this just disappointed me in a way.

Or maybe it's just me being weird when it comes to this book. It had potential to be really good but ending up being okay.

Wow what a book! I don’t believe I have read a book so intense has this one was! It keeps you in suspense from the start and I couldn’t guess at the end what would happen. I would give this 10 stars if I could because it was that good. Anyone who loves mystery and suspense should read this.

This book really captured the essence of the horror indie-film maker vibe. Really creepy, lots of unexpected twists and turns, and definitely kept me hooked!

Really enjoyed this, I read it essentially in one night. Although, I did predict one of the main plot questions, that didn’t take away from my enjoyment. An easy, but engaging read.

Dark and a bit intense, The Lost Village is the perfect winter storm read. Definitely some shades of The Blair Witch Project! Well written, creepy and sometimes disturbing. I can't wait to read more by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this free ARC.
A great atmospheric horror novel set in the middle of nowhere Sweden. I could see how it was ending, but Camilla threw in a nice little twist. I'm excited to see if any of her other works will be translated into English.

This book is different from my usual genre. I am glad I switched it up
I found this book to be Erie, and engaging. I would definitely read more books by this author
Thanks so much for the chance to read it

The Lost Village is an unputdownable horror novel set in an abandoned Swedish village- a bit of a low build initially, but it quickly escalated while switching timelines from past to present.

Eerie and atmospheric and better-left read in daylight. I found myself bundling up tightly under the covers while simultaneously checking I wasn’t too close to dangling a foot off the bed. Just in case.

I loved exploring and learning about the village. I was on the edge of my seat every time I felt the tension build, and I was screaming (silently to myself) when I knew that the situation was escalating!
This book is a great read if you’re looking for something to keep you up all night on the edge of your seat.

Synopsis: Alice is a documentary filmmaker obsessed with the happenings of Silverjarn finally realizes her dream when she gets the funding to go ahead with creating her documentary. Alice's grandmother was from Silvertjarn and had moved away shortly before the rest of the townspeople disappeared, including her mother, father, and sister. Alice and a small group - Emmy, Robert, Max, and Tone - journey to Silvertjarn for a five-day stay to get preliminary photographs and videos for the documentary.
Immediately upon arrival, everyone feels an eerie sense of foreboding. Strange things begin to happen. The film crew feels as if someone is watching them. They hear whispers and giggles emanating from the buildings. On their first day exploring, Tone severely injures her ankle but refuses to leave for the hospital. Things progressively get worse from there.
The story moves back and forth between 1959 and the present to learn more about the town’s history, how the village’s people lost their hopes with the closing of the mine, and how the arrival of a new pastor gave them the false hope they desperately needed.

My Evaluation of the Book: Silvertjarn is a thoroughly creepy setting. The descriptive writing makes you feel like you are exploring alongside the film crew. The combination of past and present timelines made the story more compelling and added to the suspense. I could not put this book down, like Alice I became obsessed with knowing what happened to the residents of Silvertjarn. How could that many people just disappear?
I was shocked when Tone suddenly disappeared despite having an injured ankle. This had me wondering if Tone lost her mind and was behind the events happening to the remaining crew members or if something else entirely was going on. I could not wait to see where this story led, however, I knew the mine would come into play eventually since that was the only place was never examined. I'm glad I stumbled upon The Lost Village on NetGalley.

So I have to admit I did not like this one as much as I was hoping for. I've read too many similarly plotted books this year to not be letdown by the common threads. 1. A manipulative preacher who uses religion against this town of suffering people and 2. The fact that the entire town is/has been locked in the mine. Granted details are different but those two concepts were too predictable for me and while I loved the journey through the book the end just ruined it for me. I'm saddened by this because more than once this book appeared to be more than it appeared-perhaps even supernatural at times. However this is never fully explained especially once Aina (a survivor from the 50's) shows herself as the killer and stalker. We do have some unexplained phenomena like hearing children singing, on the fritz walkie talkie nonsense and Tone going into a funk, but not much more than that. Everything Aina said can't really be scrutinized since she's clearly off her rocker and has been alone for 50+ years. It's also kind of a bummer that the preacher took everyone down into the mine to sacrifice them all. It's clear he most likely had plans for himself to escape with Aina but instead his plans were set astray when the mine caved in killing them all. I mean that's kind of dull, I wish more had happened. Like Aina realizing the preacher was a fake and killing him herself or something. A cave in is too easy and boring for all the groundwork he laid. The townspeople down on their luck after the mine closes are essentially the perfect specimens for a cultist takeover and the preacher just walks right in and pulls a Charles Manson on them. It was an OK read overall. I mean one can't deny the power of religion and how in the right hands and with the right voice it can be used for soooooo much evil. I wish the end of the book continued on more with the supernatural or unexplained aspects instead. At the very least still allowing the MC's to film their documentary even if just in honor of their lost friends, but instead they leave with nothing.

2.8
I want to thank netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to early read this book. This was a book I was very excited to get to however, for me personally it did not do much for me. I throught the premise was great and the scene was eerie in a great way. The story however seemed to drag on for me without building much suspense and I did not care for most the characters for most of the book. I needed know know more about them. The parts telling the past were very predictable and slow. That was my main issue with the book. The plot moved very slow and predictable. I did find that by page 184 the story picked up some but most the action was not til the last thirty pages and for me that was way to late. It did have an interesting story towards the end but, just was not my cup of tea I guess. I am thinking others may like it better.

This was out of my comfort zone book. I usually do not ready spooky mystery books. Reading this book I was on the edge of my seat. And I just needed to know how it would end.
Maybe is know my cup of tea, but it was sooo good.
4 stars.

"The Lost Village" was creepier than I expected. In August 1959, the residents of the Swedish village of Silvertjarn mysteriously disappeared. When the police arrived, they found a dead woman who had been tied to a pole and stoned to death and they found a newborn baby, but no one else. The homes still contained belongings, so it did not appear to be a mass exodus. However, no explanation could be found for how hundreds of people had disappeared without a trace. Fast forward to the present, where Alice Lindstedt, whose grandmother grew up in Silvertjarn but moved away with her husband as young adults, wants to create a documentary about the town and the disappearance. Alice and four others (Tone, Emmy, Robert, and Max) are heading to Silvertjarn to explore the village and take photos and videos to promote the Kickstarter campaign to fund the actual documentary. Alice has gathered as much information as she can find on the town, the investigation into the disappearance of the villagers, and individuals such as Birgitta Lidman (the dead woman) and her baby, but the available information is limited, consisting largely of letters her grandmother had received from her younger sister (Aina) and information her grandmother had been able to undercover following the disappearance of her family and friends.

The book mostly takes place in the present, with the exploration of the village by Alice and her team and the mysterious events that occur -- strange noises, people thinking they saw someone, items disappearing, physical harm, etc. However, the story repeatedly goes back to the events of 1959, explaining how the village changed after the closure of the mine and the appearance of a young, charismatic preacher to replace the old alcoholic pastor. Between the exploration of the village in the present and the flashbacks to the past, the story builds to the revelation of what really happened in Silvertjarn in 1959. Both Alice and Tone have kept critical information from the other three members of the group, and these omissions will end up quite dangerous. The author does a great job of evoking a sense of creepiness and mystery with how she describes the village, the buildings, and the overall environment. Some of the plot twists are not too surprising, but others are quite unexpected. The author does a good job of keeping the reader guessing. If you enjoy creepy stories, this might be a book for you.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley.

To begin, just a "thank you" to St. Martin's Publishing Group, as well as Netgalley.com for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I question my 3-star rating of this novel. I could go up to 4-stars. I'll settle for 3.5-stars for this one.

Reading the one-sentence blurbs on this novel, it seemed to be a novel I could get into. A tragic disappearance of the townsfolk, with the exception of a woman found tied to a post in the town square, and an infant found alive is all that the town of Silvertjarn, a small mining town in Sweden, have left around the 1950's. Questions abound as to what happened to this ghostly town? Why is there the remains of a woman beaten in the town square? And what of this infant? Who is she and why was she found alive?

I have not read a Camilla Sten novel. And, to be honest, the beginning of this novel had me wondering if I should continue. But - I've learned to give a novel a fighting chance (50-page limit), and ultimately, this one did not disappoint. Fast-forward to Alice, an up-and-coming documentarian, and the four members of her staff who have come to film and try to "get to the bottom" of all of these mysteries in the town of Silvertjarn. Albeit a slow start, the novel does get interesting as it intertwines Alice and her quest to find the truth of the mysteries of Silvertjarn with the past of Elsa, a relative of Alice, and her desire to help Brigitte - who is looked down upon by members of the small village.

The book hits its climax midway through the novel, as there seems to be someone else in the empty town. My interest in how this novel ended peaked with the themes of family, mental-illness, and how people are easily fooled by hucksters stating they are "performing God's work" here on Earth.

The Lost Village is a novel that I am happy I did not give up on. Interesting read and was an enjoyable read by the end.

Not typically a mystery reader, I completely enjoyed this story! Mystery, religion, mental illness, family ties, and an abandoned village combined by the author to weave a tale I couldn’t put down!

Suspenseful and creepy novel about a small Swedish village that disappeared 60 years ago, and a small film crew making a documentary. I admit that there were sections that I didn't read after dark (but I'm a bit of a 'fraidy cat).