I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author Camilla Sten for providing me with an ARC of The Lost Village!

Scary, spooky season is upon us (not soon enough), and this is the perfect read to get you in the spooky spirit. I felt tinges of darkness and dread while reading this - how thrilling on a dark and stormy night. This was a great tale of a could be documentary filmmaker, and reminded me somewhat of The Taking of Deborah Logan. This was the type of adventure I'd love to take, only from the comfort of my safe couch in my safe home. So what better answer than to read The Lost Village?!

I look forward to reading more of this author's work, and again thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Lost Village.

I love anything scary so I was stoked when my request was approved.

The premise sounds familiar but no less thrilling; a young documentary filmmaker is hoping to get funding for a project based on what happened to the locals in a remote village. She has a unique connection to this bizarre story; her grandmother's entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy.

Naturally, once Alice and her motley crew arrive, strange things occur.

At the same time, the narrative winds back to the past, and readers are given insight into the events that led to the locals' disappearance through the eyes of Alice's great-grandmother.

Alice's great-grandmother's perspective is the most interesting and I wished there had been more from her point of view.

You know what to expect in movies and books like this; odd noises and sounds, the appearance of someone or something, things go missing, and bad things happen.

Alice is not a likable character. She is flaky, disorganized and not suited to be a documentary filmmaker. She has no plan or agenda and presumably set out on this adventure with little to no guidance other than the obsession she's nurtured for this lost village since she was a child.

It also does not help that she suffers from depression, and one of her crew members/friend is also not of sound mind.

This is a familiar trope used too often; an unreliable main female character with a mental illness which hampers her objectivity and rational mind.

To make things even more interesting, let's put two female characters of not quite sound mind to embark on a journey to an isolated village to find out what happened to the locals.

Nothing can possibly go wrong here.

I did enjoy the author's explanation behind the disappearance, but the ending is abrupt, and wrapped up too quickly.

The writing was good, especially in describing the village and the isolated setting. I think most readers will enjoy this, but the characters could be improved upon.

I will read the author's next book.

I loved the setting of this new title by Camilla Sten, "The Lost Village". What happened to the old mining village that it seemed to just have disappeared into thin air? Alice, the main protagonist of this story, takes us to this abandoned village and proceeds to get video footage and other information for the documentary she is producing about said village(-a Swedish word difficult for me to pronounce and type, but I digress). I had a few minor criticisms while reading the book for example, Alice did not seem competent enough to me to be the lead for the production of a documentary--we see why Alice did make some of the dumb choices she made but some are just mystifying. The writing flowed and you wanted to find out just what happened all those years ago and the portrayal of Pastor Matthias gave me the creeps. Much of the book had an overall dread and darkness to it. The ending was a little disappointing in some respects but overall I still would recommend it as it was an original and scared me.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

Well-written, scary tale of a would-be documentary filmmaker and her ragtag production team, investigating a small, remote town mysteriously deserted 60 years ago. Where did Silvertjorn's nearly 1,000 citizens go and why? A horrifying crime the townsfolk left behind them, an alternate narrative by a Silvertjorn woman describing the days leading up to its desertion, and mysterious attacks on the present-day film crew create suspense and dread. However, relationships among the filmmakers are also explored with unexpected depth as past behaviors, mental instability, and risky decisions come to the forefront under extreme stress. Highly recommended; could lead to discussions about mental illness and friendship. Be forewarned that one of Silvertjorn's 1959 denizens is a mentally disabled person who figures prominently in the town's demise.

Ever want to explore an abandoned mining town? Yeah, me too! That's why the premise of this book had me hooked right from the start. A small film crew ventures to an abandoned Swedish mining town to scout the location and unravel the mystery of how everyone in the town suddenly disappeared, except for one baby and a murdered woman. Intrigued?

The story switches between "Then" and "Now" with two different narrators, so you are getting the backstory of the town as the creep-tastic modern-day adventure ensues. I love books where the author allows the reader a decent chance to solve the mystery along with the hero. This is one of those. There are also plenty of typical horror tropes to have you yelling at the characters "Don't go in there! Don't go off alone!" and sometimes shake your head at their stupidity.

Only two complaints - I thought the angsty frenemy drama between Emmy & Alice, got annoying and cluttered up the plot and I was a bit confused about who Max is. Is he Alice's boyfriend? Are they dating? Friends? What? How did she find this guy? Maybe a few more lines of dialogue would've helped me care about him a little more.

Overall, "The Lost Village" is a fun Nordic thriller best read with the covers pulled up tight and the door double-locked.

“The Lost Village”—Camilla Sten [4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️] This was quite the creepy thriller and I seriously couldn’t put it down! Alice is making a documentary about the small town known as “The Lost Village” where all of its residents simply vanished, which included her grandmother’s entire family in this mysterious tragedy. Alice has recruited a small group of people to go into this village to work on this project, where they are trying to uncover the truth of what really happened here. There’s also so many unanswered questions on the reason behind a woman who was stoned to death in the center of town, along with a newborn that was abandoned. As the crew is camped out, weird things start happening; equipment is destroyed, people go missing, and their all on edge since their in the middle of nowhere with no help close by. As they try and seek answers, they all start to realize that they may not be alone here and that someone doesn’t want them to discover the truth. This story goes back and forth between the past when the mysterious incidents occurred to the present, and it was very well done, keeping you intrigued and guessing the whole time. This book is anticipated to be released in March 2021, but make sure you add this to your TBR now so that you don’t forget! I highly recommend checking this out 👍🏼 *Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review*📚

This book was AMAZING! The pacing was so well done and I felt compelled to read until the late hours of the night. I had to know what happened! Though a bit graphic for high school students, I may use sections of this book to talk about suspense and atmosphere in my Creative Writing elective course.

This was so crazy good!! Super creepy - think Blair Witch with a touch of religious fanaticism. Cool imagery, fast-paced, and flawed characters that you can’t help but hope make it out of the Lost Village.

This book flipped between then and now in a clear manner, which I really appreciated. There was a bit of mystery, with multiple characters disappearing or being injured, the reader is left wondering who did it.

Thank you NetGalley Publisher & Author for this gifted e-book

Summary
Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.

But there will be no turning back.

Review
This was a pretty great book from.start to finish
This was a perfect mystery book of you ask me.
From the charts to the story all the way to the ending.
I really enjoyed it.

Rating
4/5

A real page turner with some very interesting characters. The end however was rushed and unsatisfying.

So. Damn. Good.
Alice, a documentary filmmaker, arrives at Silvertjarn, a Swedish town known for the mysterious disappearance of everyone who lived there, sixty years ago. Alice has begged, borrowed, and scraped together enough funds for a team to visit Silvertjarn for six days. Barely enough time to get some initial footage for what she hopes will be enough to find backers for her project. Alice knows quite a bit about this town since her grandmother grew up here, and never got over losing her mother, father, and younger sister when everyone vanished.
Told from two perspectives, 'Then' by her great grandmother Elsa, and 'Now' by Alice. I am not sure which timeline was more mesmerizing. Finding out what happened to the people, or the strange things that happen to Alice and her team in this abandoned and remote place. In the 'Then', a new and rather odd pastor arrives in Silvertjarn, and the town will never be the same. In the 'Now', is someone watching every move the team makes, or is one of them not who he/she appears to be?
I loved how this was so personal to Alice. Her grandmother didn't have any answers, but she certainly provided Alice with background information and a lot of questions. What could have happened to all the inhabitants except for one infant who was left behind?
As compelling as this mystery is, what is happening to Alice and her team was also creepy enough to have me looking over my shoulder at every little noise. I never had a moment when another shock or revelation wasn't delivered. Secrets, lies, and a madman all have been in Silvertjarn but is the greatest threat found in the 'Then', or in the 'Now'. A page-turner, and when everything was revealed, I was glad to close the book on Silvertjarn for a little while, until it crept back into my thoughts and dreams.

his book was scary AF. Do not read this alone at night. Imagine the Blair Witch Project meets The Children of the Corn and they had a baby. That baby would be this book. I couldn’t stop reading it despite it giving me anxiety and making me think I heard something downstairs.
The story is about some college kids going into the woods to film a low budget documentary on a village where all the inhabitants mysteriously vanished in 1959, with the exception of a live, crying baby left in the school house and a dead woman tied to a pole in the town center. From day 1 you know these college kids are done for but you can’t stop reading because you need to know what happened to these people and what is still haunting this place. This story stays with you even after you close the book and it reads like a movie...you feel and hear everything the main characters do as they are living this nightmare they get caught up in.
Seriously, don’t read this before bed. You’ve been warned!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Publish date is in 3/21. If you like seriously creepy/spooky books put this one on your list!

The Lost Village is a book I both did and didn't like. It would probably make a good movie as there were plenty of jump scares--strange figures seen in the night, strange sounds, people falling through floors. Isolated place with no phone signal. The final, virginal girl, or in this case, two.

Nine hundred people in an old mining village go missing. The great-granddaughter of one of the missing enlists a former friend who is a film-maker, the money man who is financing the expedition, the film-maker's boyfriend, and another relative of a survivor into coming with her to scout out the abandoned village for a documentary. The protagonist suffers from depression, was never successful like the other film school graduates, and thinks this documentary will be the key to her success.

All right so far. But, Alice, the protagonist, doesn't seem to know a lot for being a film school graduate.. Her goals for the five days were rather slipshod and she didn't know her rented camera took videos in addition to still photos. I began to realize why she was the least successful student in her film classes. I'm not a film student and I can tell if a camera takes videos or not. Alice mostly accidently discovers stuff instead of having a plan.

Of the five people in the group, two are on medication for mental problems and they both happen to be women. Why, in the books I read, is it always the women who are suffering? The two men seem happy as clams, although I don't know how happy clams really are.

So, the protagonist spent a bundle on rented vehicles and camera equipment but doesn't seem particularly prepared. Her former friend takes over and we're supposed to resent this as does Alice. But, geez, Alice didn't get her act together before the trip.

I like strong women in my books and Alice wasn't it. There were other strong women, especially Elsa who is in the background story, but the protagonist just let things happen to her. I also figured out who the culprit was and where the villagers disappeared to long before the characters did.

There were characters who I felt sorry for like Brigritta who had autism, characters to dislike like the over-the-top minister, but, except for Elsa in the backstory, the characters were mainly blah.

It would still make a good movie because people fall through floors on a regular basis. But, in a movie the rusty fire escape will have to break and somebody will have to swing on it, hanging on for dear life. I wonder if they need a script writer? I'm on a roll here.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's for the digital advance reader copy.

She wants to make a documentary on the story of a lost village. All of the children, men and women had simply disappeared. Homes were left with dinners on the tables. Set up as if waiting for the owners to walk in any second. She knew it was an extremely tight budget and they didn't have a lot of time. It was possible if all went according to plan. They just had to get their, set up, keep to the schedule. It would work out. Until...it didn't!
Exciting, titillating, terrifying. A great story!!!

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. As soon as I saw the cover, and read the premise, I knew I would want to read this, but unfortunately it didn't work out the way I thought it would. I usually love slow burning books that are intense and keep you guessing, but this one didn't work for me sadly.

I'll try to keep this review spoiler-free. The book follows two narrative lines: One in the past, one in the present. Both take place in Silvertjärn, an idyllic Swedish village that became the one and only ghost town in the country and which is now the subject of a documentary that titles the book “The Lost Village.” Alice, the filmmaker, and her troupe travel to the village to shoot in the hope that their kickstarter campaign will be successful enough to make the documentary exactly as they have planned it. However, no member of the troupe seems to have much experience. The creepy story surrounding the village is that very suddenly, all nine hundred inhabitants disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and it looks like it happened shortly after the mine—the main source of labor for the residents—was shut down. What inspired the documentary? Alice’s grandmother left behind some letters from her sister, who lived in the village, but these are pretty much the only sources of information available to Alice and her group. In these letters, Aina, the writer, talks about another girl, Brigitta. Brigitta is described as scary, as a misfit, but beyond that, she was murdered.

The narrative set in the past follows Elsa, a young woman who at first appears to be carefree, at least to me, but the reality quickly sets in for the reader. I liked her character very much. Her perspective is told in the third person, which allows the reader to take a step back (quite a difficult thing to do with Alice’s first person narrative and a nice change, to be honest). This different perspective enables the reader to absorb the reality of the village as it was.

The main strength of the book lies in the ability of the writer to maintain the suspense and the mystery surrounding the village. I caught myself holding my breath multiple times. The creepy tone, the paranormal feeling, and the isolated setting contribute to an engaging plot. I like how the author describes the village, making it clear that it is hard not to be fascinated by its history and the circumstances that brought it to its demise. Moreover, the fact that it all takes place in the village helps keep track of the two separate narratives. I never felt lost or confused.

I liked how the characters were introduced and developed, especially Alice. There is a lot of about her I was eager to learn and I almost wanted to skip ahead tp find out if she had ulterior motives or secrets for wanting to do this. Believe me, this is not a village where I would like to find myself. However, I wanted the author to take the time to develop the other characters with more depth. I am not saying that they were flat, but compared to the POV characters, they left me a little unsatisfied. But I understand that in a first person narrative this is almost inevitable.

Lastly, the writing is really nice in my opinion. It is direct, makes use of the right amount of words to describe settings and characters, but does not lack that lyricism every one enjoys once in a while when it is not overused. I recommend this book to everyone who is looking for a suspenseful mystery and enjoys that Silent Hill-type of stories. I often thought about the movie “The Hills Have Eyes” when reading this, but not because of its content, rather, because of the atmosphere and the tone. A chilling book!

I really enjoyed this thriller! We begin with the mysterious disappearance of villagers in a mining community. Years go by and a crew of filmmakers go to the village to make a documentary. Of course, weird things begin to occur. Can the crew find out what happened to the missing residents? Spooky and Gothic in feeling, this is such a satisfying read.

I would like to thank Camilla Sten, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I really wanted to love this book especially with it being compared to Midsommar but unfortunately I am a part of the minority. This book was a DNF for me. I normally love slow burn, atmospheric novels, but there was just something lacking for me. This may be a perfect read for others, but it just wasn’t for me

I received in advance for you just copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow – this book was a bit of a slow burn but the drama heats up and that last half is a crazy crash until it finally goes off the rails. These people are scary, and not in the horror movie sense of the word. This will definitely have you sleeping with one eye open.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC.

Mysteriously the inhabitants in a Mining Village disappear. Years later a crew of film makers goes to the village to make a documentary and weird things start to happen. Can the crew find out what happened to the inhabitants? Good mystery!.