Wow, wow, wow! This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2021 and it definitely didn't disappoint! I absolutely loved this book - it's just that easy to say! All I can think is that if this is the author's debut, then I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next! If you read the above summary, the premise for me was just irresistible. The comparison on the back of the book to The Blair Witch Project was spot on when it came to the atmosphere that was present throughout this book. I just knew that I needed to pick up this book, and see what in the heck was going on. Let me just say that I was not disappointed in the answers that I got! But what made this book absolutely brilliant for me was the creeping dread that the author built up in this book from the very beginning pages. This book was a slow burn in the best of ways. I am HERE for all of the creepy, slow burns like this so please give me all of your recommendations. Simply put: I need more books like this in my life! One of the things that I really enjoyed about this book was the premise. The idea of an entirely abandoned village was just delightfully creepy to think about. I also really enjoyed the fact that this book was told in two parts. One was in current day with Alice and her crew and the second part was told in the past from the viewpoint of a woman named Elsa. I really liked the way that these two storylines tied together. The feeling of dread that just kept building especially towards the end had me reading as fast as I could. And the ending was perfection in my opinion. It's a month later and I'm still thinking about this book. What a way to start off my year of reading in 2021!

Bottom Line: A standout way to start off my reading year - I would be very surprised not to see this book on my best reads list at the end of 2021!

CW: Murder, abuse, religious elements (hard to explain without spoilers so message me if you need to know more)

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher. Honest thoughts are my own.

This was a decidedly creep book. a mystery a tale of a lost town told both in the past and the present. A crew comes to film a documentary about the lost town, with two of the five members with family connections to the town. Not for the faint of heart as the tension keeps building and building. Will any of them leave alive or will they be victim as well 4.5 very well written

"The Lost Village", by Camilla Sten, translated from Swedish by Alexandra Fleming, is a dual-timeline, atmospheric mystery, set in the fictional Swedish town of Silvertjärn. In the late 1950s, the whole population of Silvertjärn disappears overnight. Despite multiple investigations and some more or less crazy speculations, no clues or leads have ever been discovered. Following Elsa, one of the people living in Silvertjärn at the time, the story follows the town over a few months, leading up to the mysterious disappearance. In the present day, in what is now the ghost town of Silvertjärn, a group of young filmmakers, led by Alice Lindstedt, are trying to make a documentary about the 1950s disappearance, all while hoping to find new clues that could solve the decades old mystery. Alice's interest in Silvertjärn, however, is not only a professional one, as her own grandmother's family was among the disappeared and Alice has grown up all her life hearing stories of Silvertjärn and hoping to one day find out what happened to the family she has heard so much about.

Overall, I thought this was a solid mystery. Despite it being a slow burn, the short chapters ending in cliffhangers made the story fly by. The past timeline read like a small town horror, and the present timeline read like a compelling mystery/thriller full of questionable characters. I enjoyed reading both timelines, and I thought they complemented each other well, giving away information bit by bit until the final climax. A small part of the novel is also written in epistolary (letter) form, which is something I normally enjoy, and I thought worked well in this story. I would definitely recommend this one to fans of atmospheric mysteries and would definitely read more of Sten’s novels once they get translated into English. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Watch out for this one coming out in March 2021.

Growing up, I was obsessed with the magazine Weird NJ, which told of local mysterious legends. I was especially fascinated by the tales of abandoned towns, where food was left half eaten on tables and it looked like everyone just vanished in the middle of their lives with no explanation. That's the premise that led me to pick up The Lost Village, which follows a documentary crew's exploration of an abandoned village isolated in the woods of Sweden.
Alice, the filmmaker, is drawn there because it's where her grandmother grew up, and her family's perspective is presented in alternating chapters linking the past and present. Soon after their arrival, the film crew starts to get very bad vibes, but Alice has been waiting her whole life to find out what happened to everyone in the town, and how a baby got left alone and became the only survivor of whatever took place.
While I loved the premise, the first half of the book was boring, the characters felt underdeveloped, and I didn't find the mystery compelling. Not to mention that a developmentally disabled character was basically portrayed as a monster.

I received a digital advance copy of The Lost Village by Camilla Sten via NetGalley. The Lost Village is translated to English by Alexandra Fleming and is scheduled for release on March 23, 2021.

The Lost Village is highly reminiscent of The Blair Witch, following Alice and her ragtag crew as they venture into a ghost village to gather footage to use to fund Alice’s dream of creating a documentary on the mystery. Once they reach the abandoned village, strange things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People are injured and go missing. They realize they may not be alone.

The story is told through three points of view. We have Alice in the present day, interspersed with letters her great-aunt wrote from the village before everyone disappeared, and narration from Alice’s great-grandmother at the same time. This combination of view points allows us to explore the story with Alice, while we also get the whole story in a way Alice does not.

The characters in the current day story are developed primarily through their backstories. Each of them has past relationships to either the village, other members of the crew, or both. Secrets and misunderstandings from their past push into the mysteries they are faced with in present day, and have a large impact on how they deal with the challenges the village presents.

The characters in the past are less developed, largely because we don’t spend as much time with them, and are only seeing the pieces of the past that explain what happened to the village. As a result, some of the characters border on caricatures, with their behaviors and choices pushed into the small mold offered by these glimpses back in time.

I was thoroughly immersed in the plot of this story for the bulk of the book. Events are spread throughout in a way that pulls the reader through the story, each event adding questions regarding what is happening right now and what happened in the past. The ending, however, did not work for me. Sten’s gives us an explanation for what is happening to Alice and her crew that lacks all speculative elements. Yet, for me, it felt completely unrealistic. I just couldn’t buy in to this resolution of events.

Overall, The Lost Village is a haunty thriller that delivered on its promise almost all the way through. I would love to hear how the ending felt for other readers!

This gripping page-turner was a fun read! I enjoyed the unusual setting and found it deeply creepy and unsettling.

I was given a copy of #TheLostVillage from #NetGalley for my honest review. This book will be released 3/23/2021.

This is a very crafted story about a documentary filmmaker putting a small crew together to go to The Lost Village to make a film of what happened where her grandmother’s family disappeared in 1959. To find answers to what happened during that time. Only two people were left behind, a woman stoned to death in the center of town and an abandoned new baby.

The story is told through a dual narrative of then and now which makes it a chilling dark read.
It took me awhile to get into the book at first but once I did it was well worth it!

I give this 4 stars!

The Lost Village is one of the more enticing thrillers I’ve read in a while. Camilla Sten takes the reader to a Swedish ghost town, where documentary filmmakers embark on a journey to find out why the inhabitants of this village mysteriously disappeared. The characters aren’t particularly likable; in fact, they are rather flawed. Their backstories and relationships are interesting enough to keep the story flowing. The Lost Village is delightfully dark and twisty and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a read that will keep them up at night.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is Sten's debut book and WOW you would never know it. This had me piqued from the very beginning. A film team goes to investigate the abandoned town of Silvertjarn, but they had no idea what they were in store for. It had me captivated from the start and I loved it because this story could totally be real. I definitely look forward to reading more Sten in the future.

A spooky dual time-line thriller of a read. A film crew comes to a deserted mining town to learn the history of why everyone vanished. While there, things out of their control start to happen. It is during this time that the story enfold of an evil pastor ridding an area of evil. A great late at night read.

Every so often a creepy-sounding book will catch my eye and I’ve just got to read it. I’m a total wuss and I don’t do scary movies or video games, but the lack of actual visuals in a book means it's way less scary. I like Scandinavian crime/mystery books so I figured I’d go in for a little Scandi-horror and try it out. It was pretty creepy and the characters were interesting for sure! 

Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the so-called Lost Village ever since her grandmother told her of it. Her grandmother grew up there and still had her parents and younger sister there when the residents suddenly disappeared. They simply vanished, aside from a woman who was stoned to death in the town square and a squalling baby discovered by the police. The baby’s origins were just as much a mystery as the whereabouts of the town’s residents. 

Alice and her group of filmmakers set off to the village, many miles from the nearest town or even gas station. They arrive and begin to explore, though it feels as if they aren’t alone in the ghost town - they hear noises, the walkie-talkies malfunction, and they think they’ve seen someone. Shortly after arriving, Tone (Alice’s friend and photographer) severely injures her ankle and is laid up on pain meds. This is the first in a series of bad decisions and occurrences, all of which help to give this story the sense of creeping dread it possesses. 

One of the big things that should be mentioned is that this story has dual timelines. Obviously there’s the current day timeline following Alice and her crew, but there’s also a flashback timeline that follows Alice’s grandmother’s family in the town and shows the events leading up to the disappearance. This gives the reader a fantastic insider perspective as to what life was like in this small mining town prior to it’s infamy. The mine is shutting down, tensions are high, and a new church pastor has come to town… You can see where the comparisons to Midsommar might begin to come into play. 

The Lost Village was not entirely unpredictable and some aspects I guessed quite early on. With that being said, it was fun (and still creepy!) to see how everything would unfold in both past and present. The ending of the book was quite tense, but I wasn’t really all that surprised or worried for the characters - not bad, but not mind blowing. I was disappointed that there wasn’t actually that much documentary making going on since Tone got hurt so early on and then they mostly just lurked around the buildings taking pictures. This also wasn’t terrifying, just quite unsettling for most of the book. Overall, I liked it and will more than likely pick up future books from this author if the synopsis sounds good.

Think Blair Witch Project + bizarre religious cult + spooky abandoned village... A film crew, with personal motivations, aims to tell the story of how the inhabitants of a village disappeared in the 1950’s. Told in dual timeline format, this thriller was suspenseful and dark, with deep underlying religious tones. I enjoyed the story...it gave me Simone St. James vibes.

A highly satisfying horror mystery. There's a lot to admire here: well-placed scares, a compelling central conceit, good use of multiple timelines, tension that never lets up.

Some of the interpersonal dramas don't entirely convince. But it doesn't distract from the enjoyment of the whole. This one is great for mystery enthusiasts looking to dip their toe into horror.

This book had me turning the pages so fast. I loved how it switched from present to past to give us a sense of what happened back then and what the connections there were to the present. Although there were some instances that seemed a little unrealistic, I still really enjoyed the book and will definitely remember it! I would totally recommend this novel if you enjoy spooky thrillers, cult stories and just all around WTF books!

That was, without a doubt, delightfully creepy! I could see myself in that abandoned village, in the dilapidated, moldy homes that were being reclaimed by nature, wondering what had happened to all of its inhabitants. The past/present narratives increased the suspense and made it impossible to put this book down. If you like dark mysteries with a hint of the supernatural, this is one to read.

This was a very atmospheric book. I had heard about it at a publisher's event, and it intrigued me. The premise of a deserted village really piqued my interest. It had a creepy, pervasive feeling of dread, which I enjoyed. I would recommend this to my patrons who like a good scare and a unsettling read.

This book is the definition of atmospheric. I absolutely loved the descriptions of the group exploring this abandoned village. I could picture it perfectly, and I wish I was there! The creepy vibe of the silent streets came across really well, but I wouldn’t call it scary or horror.

The mystery of what happened to the residents of Silvertjarn had me hooked. I liked that the story jumped from Alice’s view in the present to Elsa’s view in the past (as well as some letters from Aina to Alice’s grandma), so that the book progressed towards the answer from both directions. Certain aspects of the plot were pretty obvious from early on, but I don’t think it took away from my enjoyment of the novel.

I enjoyed the relationships between the characters. There’s some conflict between Emmy and Alice from their past, and it unveils itself slowly as the story progresses. Max and Robert weren’t really developed too well, but it help the story from getting too confusing.

There were a few more things I wanted to know after the ending–I wish the epilogue was about a different character than it was. The whole mystery was tied up well, though. That’s all I can say without spoilers!

LOVED this book. Such a great, creepy read. I loved reading this mystery and could not put it down. The characters were so real and I had to sleep with the lights on!

Pitching something as Midsommar meets Blair Witch Project is an incredibly high bar to set, one that surely sets readers and authors alike on pins and needles. The expectations that come along with that kind of description are equal parts daunting and irresistibly enticing. Fortunately for us readers, Camilla Sten and translator Alexandra Fleming know how to travel such perilous roads with ease and finesse. The Lost Village proves to be both true to such a lofty comparison and stand on its own merits as a worthy entry in cult-thriller fiction.

The Lost Village tells of Alice Lindstedt, a documentary filmmaker who sets out with a handpicked crew to begin work on her dream project of discovering what happened in her grandmother’s village in 1959. The story she knows is that they all disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a woman stoned to death in the town square and a baby crying up in the schoolroom. But why? Why was Brigitta stoned to death, why was the baby left behind, and where did an entire town of people disappear to? Alice is determined to answer these questions and learn as much as she can about her grandmother’s childhood home and family, but it may not be as abandoned as she first thought…

Alice and her team arrive with the intent of staying only five days in the town, but almost as soon as the sun goes down strange things begin to happen. Tensions rise and relationships are tested. Five days is no time at all, but when long-buried secrets come bubbling to the surface, they begin to worry if they’ll make it out alive to tell the tale of Silvertarjn after all.

Camilla Sten’s ability to wind the past and the present together into one large claustrophobic and propulsive tale makes this a veritably unputdownable novel of fanaticism across generations. In the past, an entire town driven into hysterics by an enigmatic new personality, in the present Alice’s obsession with getting her film made and discovering her truths.

The most heartbreaking element is the core story of Brigitta, a woman thought to be a witch and consequently stoned in the church square. The truth of her is much more complex than any religious sect would be able to explain or understand, and Camilla Sten’s ability to keep her a sympathetic figure amid so much in-novel vitriol speaks to how much she cares about portraying complex, meaningful characters. The last quarter of The Lost Village keeps readers on an emotional tightrope; the more light is shed on the mysterious town’s secrets, the darker it becomes and the more we feel as though we cannot look away. There are people within this novel that feel deeply as though they should be honored and given a voice to tell their side of things, and Sten provides it for them and for us.

Sten’s storytelling ability is so deft you almost don’t feel yourself being pulled in. She manages to paint these characters in strokes just broad and detailed enough for us to connect on a nearly subconscious level. At one point in the last third or so of the book I felt my heart twist and break in the space of a sentence in a way I haven’t felt in quite some time. A prolific author in her home country, I feel Sten’s future American translations will be ones to keep an eye out for.

I would like to thank the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars/ 5 stars

"The lost village" had a lot of potential, and while I did enjoy it and it kept me engaged from start to finish, I still feel like it could've done more. The creepy scenes were very scarcely added and they lasted for a very short amount of time, which gave me the impression the author didn't want to fully commit to the horror aspect.

I, however, loved the atmosphere and the pace of the book. It switches back and forth between the past and the present, with the action happening in a few days. It was very eery and it kept me wondering what the characters would do next.

The characters weren't that well fleshed out, in my opinion. I didn't really connect with the MC, but I did like the cast as a whole. The one complain I have about one of the character's sudden change in behaviour without a build-up to it. It felt a bit forced.

Also, I have to point out the characters felt as if they were teenagers, not people in their late 20s. The choices they made, especially Alice's, were quite stupid. Had this been a bad horror movie, the MC would've been the first to go. She constantly put herself in danger and the others had to pay for it.

The book also lacked credibility because you cannot look me in the eye and tell me a 70-something old, starved lady could choke a young girl without the others hearing anything.

The ending didn't satisfy my curiosity, to be honest. It could've been a lot more shocking, considering the build up to it, but it landed flat. It had a supernatural feel to it, without actually involving supernatural stuff, which is a plus, I suppose. However, I loved how the "then" part of the story ended. It was really well done and the way the village slowly succumbed to a corrupted religion was interesting to read about.

All in all, I did enjoy this book, but it does have some flaws, which made me lower the rating.

CW: mention of suicide attempt, psychosis, abuse, depression, implied rape, gore.

thank you to netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!