When returning to the place where her family suffered terrible tragedy, Alice got more than she bargained for. As the group searches the village for clues as to what happened to the villagers. Strange things began to happen with no clues as to who or what was causing the happenings. What the reader discovers in the end is a total shocker. If you would like to know the end of this novel, you must go read the book at once.

I do like a good "all inhabitants of this village mysteriously disappeared" novel! Though I ultimately found this one rather uneven, I could hardly put it down and will absolutely recommend to patrons looking for a scary read.

I really enjoyed the premise and setting of this story, but I had most of the plot figured out about 30% in. I still enjoyed how the story unfolded, so the somewhat predictable plot didn’t take anything away from the experience. If you like Midsommar, I think you’d enjoy this book.

This book, unfortunately, missed the mark for me. I was so excited for it because the “Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar” description sounded so good but paired with the ending/explanation, the whole premise makes absolutely zero sense to me. The characters were a little flat, which is kind of not a big deal for me because I’m not necessarily looking for major character development in horror/mystery/thriller books, but I did think the atmosphere was pretty decent. It’s more of a slow, suspenseful buildup rather than non-stop action, and I thought that was done really well, despite some of the cheesiness and obvious twists. The atmosphere was definitely the most enjoyable aspect of this story. The ending is obviously the selling point with most horror books so I can’t say much other than it’ll either work for you or it won’t and in my case it didn’t work, but it still might be worth a read if it sounds interesting to you. I’d mainly recommend it to people who are really looking for something atmospheric.

This has a great, creepy vibe to it. The story is so well told that it feels like a movie you can completely see in your head while you read. The characters were perfectly flawed and real and kept you guessing the whole way through the story.

But this one fell on the ending a bit for me. Predictable in a few parts wasn't bad at all - it was even more horrifying because you knew well before those in the story did. But I want believability and I just couldn't buy off on that ending. Well written well paced and a really good suspense - I will absolutely look for more book from this author!

4.5 Stars Thank you NetGalley and St Patrick’s Press/ Minatour Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my opinion.
This book was a thrill to read but scared me to death. It is comparable to the Blair Witch Project, but twice as scary with more substance and plot. The suspense begins at a young age when filmmaker Alice heard stories from her grandmother about the disappearance of her whole family in an old mining town. One family member was found stoned to death in the middle of town as if a witch hunt had occurred. A newborn baby was also found abandoned in a building.
When Alice delved into the mystery with friends, people began to disappear, as well as their equipment destroyed. Someone or thing tried to put a stop to their investigation. Get ready for a disturbing thriller that will keep you on edge at night.

I was instantly sold when the blurb compared this book to a cross between The Blair Witch Project and Midsommar. This is a story of a documentary filmmaker traveling to the secluded village where her grandmother grew up and the entire village disappeared with no explanation. The story is told in the past and ordered (before the village disappeared and current day with our documentary filmmaker and crew). I found the setting the be perfectly creepy-very atmospheric. I was hooked from the beginning. I will say while there were a lot of wonderfully eerie elements and parts, there were also sad and gut wrenching parts that were hard to read.
Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced e-reader copy of The Lost Village by Camilla Sten.

I was hooked by the hype, comparing this to the Blair Witch Project. I had the opportunity in advance to read 5-6 chapters and they definitely intrigued me. The story is told from two perspectives - then and now. A Swedish village had 900 residents that just one day disappeared. The only survivor of this village - a baby that was taken away and raised by a new family. Decades later, a family member of one of the families wants to create a documentary and returns to the site. She wants answers ... she gets answers and then some!

The story of Alice felt unfinished. It just sort of ended. Did she get the funding for her documentary? Burning questions left unanswered!

This review was also posted on Goodreads.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced e-reader copy of The Lost Village by Camilla Sten.

Alice, an up and coming documentary film maker, embarks on the journey of making a film about Silvertjarn, a once thriving mining village, which was abruptly deserted by its villagers in 1959. Alice has a strong connection to this “Lost Village,” as it was once home to her grandmother and her family before it was abandoned. Alice, along with a small crew including Emmy, her ex-best friend, are determined to unveil the truth of what happened all those years ago.

What a thrilling ride this story was! My interest was piqued right from the start by the concept of an entire village vanishing and from the moment I picked it up, I couldn’t stop reading. It had a strong beginning that made me want to continue reading to find out what happened that would make an entire village leave behind their homes, their jobs, their lives. The story is told in time jumps, jumping from Now to Then (back in 1959 right before the village was abandoned). The author also uses old letters to help tell the story and fill in details to tell the story or Silvertjarn. I enjoyed the time jumps and felt that the story was easy to follow. The chapters were short and very quickly paced, making me want to keep reading to find out what happened next!

This book felt like watching a scary movie. It was creepy, slightly gory, dark, and filled with religious fanaticism, and definitely something I would not read at night! There were times when I found my heart rate quicken as the characters explored the decrepit abandoned town. The author did an incredible job with her descriptions of both the characters and the village and while I did predict the main plot line, I didn’t predict the ending, which is always refreshing in a thriller.

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in a spooky, atmopsheric read that will keep you turning the pages! But be warned, there are some parts that are difficult to read because of how one of the characters is treated by people in the village.

Overall, I would give this book 4 stars for the Sten’s ability to keep me engaged and guessing the whole way through.

This book will be available for purchase on March 23, 2021.

This review can also be found on my blog at: https://www.fullywell.net/blog/thelostvillagebookreview

This book is blurbed as “The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar” and I am happy to say that I actually agree with that. There are some major Blair Witch vibes in this thriller. Camilla Sten does a really great with creating suspense and eeriness - without giving too much away.

I do wish that more ended up being explained and there were quite a few questions that were left unanswered. Also, I wasn’t particularly fond of the ending and the events leading up to it. Generally, I was just left wanting more.

textbook page turner! i stayed up after 1 AM to keep reading because i couldn't stop, and i don't remember the last time i did that. the mystery, the characters, the premise, the structure. The Lost Village really had it all, particularly for horror fans. it plays with a lot of classic horror tropes, but not in a way that is tired or overdone. some of the twists i could see coming, but the writing was so well done and it was overall so engaging, that i didn't mind. plus, sometimes you can guess what's coming because the author has left enough clues along the way! i do believe that's the case with camilla sten. i am eagerly awaiting future translations from her now!

I tried several times to get into this and couldn’t finish. The characters felt flat and I didn’t care about them. The setting was fairly well done but wasn’t enough.

Definitely a book unlike any I've read before! I loved the way the book vibed with the title. I loved the movie-making aspect. I just think the premise of the woman living alone for what 60 years in a village was a bit far-fetched. That "twist" made me a bit unsure about the book as a whole.

I found this to be a compelling, atmospheric and ghostly read. It is so very well written that it keeps you enthralled throughout. I would love to see this made into a film, it has all the ingredients to make it a best seller. Thanks to the author, Minotaur Books and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

An entire village vanished, a film is being made, creepiness,...that description is awesome! The publisher's comparison to Blair Witch got me very excited and made me think it would be something Night Film, Supernatural Enhancements, or, dare-I-dream, House of Leaves.

Sadly, my hope for the supernatural outplayed reality. Athough the book started strong and had some amount of appropriate creepiness, it took an all too realistic turn.

This is a story of untreated mental illness in all its forms. It wasn't creepy, it was just sad.

Maybe I don't remember it correctly and the Blair Witch Project actually about the legacy a charismatic sociopath preying on the desparation of a dying town. But unlike the Blair Witch project, I'm not going to need to sleep with the lights on for a week after finishing the Lost Village.

I will, however, try to be better about taking my SSRIs.

As a non-native speaker I read this book rather fast and that had everything to do with the lack of difficult words or strange sentence constructions. The book reads very smoothly and the story of Alice in the present alternates with the story of her grandmother in 1959. The book is divided into days of the week and in those days there is a change between now and then. Today's story is very exciting, which starts well with the sinister sight of the abandoned village. This is described very well and that is why I was really immediately in the story. The story of Alice's grandmother is also very interesting, she no longer lived in the village but her parents and her younger sister still did. Grandma's stories include letters that she received from home, she received letters from both her mother and her younger sister. Alice is now in possession of all these letters.

Strange things happen in the present and you wonder how and who is behind this. The story has a number of, very good, twists and turns that you don't see coming. How the entire population of the village could disappear can be read in one of the then stories from the mouth of Elsa, the mother of Alice's grandmother. The book is very well put together and I really enjoyed this super exciting book.

Characters = 9 | Atmosphere = 9 | Writing Style = 9 | Plot = 9 | Intrigue = 9 | Logic = 9 | Enjoyment = 9 | Score 9.00 = 5*

While this book kept me engaged and reading until the end, it wasn't the strongest in terms of pace. I felt the back and forth time periods could have been spaced out better. That said, I did enjoy the mystery and was happy with the conclusion.

Insanity at it’s finest. Excellent read, with an expected twist. Told in two time frames with insanity, disparity, angst, mystery, drama and a cold calculation from the past and perhaps a small amount in the present. An interesting twisted story.

I know it is only the beginning of January, but it is a pretty safe bet that "The Lost Village" by Camilla Sten will be the best thriller I read in 2021! It really has everything: an eerie abandoned village in the middle of nowhere; characters who aren't who they seem to be; a cult-like church; blood and gore; and mysterious sounds and ghostly happenings. The author's masterful writing creates a chilling atmosphere and I was sucked into the world she created from the very first page. The plot is fast-paced and exciting; this is the kind of book that makes you want to take a day off from work so you can read it straight through!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading this awesome book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm not usually a fan of horror, but The Lost village is the right mix of chillingly atmospheric and mystery for me. The documentary aspect of it works really well as a way of inviting the reader to investigate along with Alice, and the plot meanders together over two timelines.

The setting of the village itself is perfectly creepy -- I've always been intrigued by abandoned villages, which is what drew me to this story and it did not disappoint.

It was a little slow to start and I didn't fully follow what was happening until about a quarter of the way through, but once it got going it was a great read.