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.

Thank you NETGALLEY for an advance e-copy of THE LOST VILLAGE, by Camilla Sten, translated by Alexander Fleming. This first novel for Stein is available in mid March.

Alice's dream is becoming reality. She has arrived at Silvertjern, Sweden, a deserted mining town, considered a 'ghost town". This is where her grandmother's entire family and the town's residents all disappeared mysteriously in 1959.
As a young filmmaker, Alice is accompanied by her small team of friends to make a documentary of the town using letters from her grandmother.
Indeed, upon arriving in Silvertjern, Alice and her friends find the small, dilapidated village including a church and small homes, empty with few clues. That is, until a sudden explosion of one of their vehicles destroys most of their equipment and food, strange sounds are heard and strange occurrences begin.
What began as an exciting project to uncover what happened to the residents of Silvertjern soon becomes a struggle for survival.
This is a highly gripping tale packed with mystery that tests the relationships of the friends who are plunged into a harrowing experience.
Four stars.

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten is a slightly scary thriller, and I loved it! Alice is filming a documentary about an old mining town called "The Lost Village." Her grandmother's family vanished along with the rest of the town's residents in 1959, and Alice wants to solve the mystery. She and her small group travel to this secluded town to flim, but strange things start happening. Is someone else there with them? This story was slightly spooky, atmospheric, and I couldn't stop reading it! Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars if I'm being specific.

I LOVED everything about this book until about the 75% mark. Stories that start slow and end great are way better than books that start great and end terribly. Better a surprise than a letdown in my opinion. I actually guessed the ending around that same mark but thought there was no way they would make the story end so unbelievably. Well, I was proven WRONG because they did. I was literally lol-ing through the last 25% of the story which is not how thriller/horror/suspense novels are supposed to make you react. I don't mind suspending my disbelief a little for horror novels, but this was absolutely ridiculous. Lovely writing and storytelling, great characters, amazing suspense, but ruined by the ending. Could have easily been a 4.5-5 star for me.

Also, I completely get the comparisons to Blair Witch Project, but not AT ALL to Midsommar. The only similarity is that it's set in Sweden... that's seriously it.

The vanishing of an old mining town in Sweden is the focus of Alice Lindstedt's documentary, and she seeks to research and explore the area for answers to why only two people remained. With her small film crew, they begin to experience the terror of the small village while Alice tries to uncover the mystery.

The setting and story of this spooky novel are right up my alley, but it missed the mark a bit. I felt it lacked the tension and scares that I longed for when I first began the story. I just wanted a bit more.

It was good, not great. I don't think it's a standout in the genre and it won't be a book I am pressing into the hands of readers.

I was drawn to reading this because it's set in Sweden, and I have Swedish lineage. I'm not sure I'd have stuck with it if it had a different setting, though the premise was certainly intriguing, and I wanted to know what happened to all the villagers. As the book progressed, I wondered how the author would create a plausible explanation for the events or if it would end up having a more supernatural frame. I was ultimately satisfied by the ending, though it didn't feel entirely plausible.

If you like horror or creepy mystery novels, you'll probably enjoy this.

This book is a mystery with a setting similar to the movie/video game Silent Hill. But without the monsters seen there. I read it in about 3 nights, as it was hard to put down.

The story focuses on a 50’s mining town whose entire population disappears into thin air. 60 years into the present, a granddaughter of a resident scraps together a documentary crew to film and photograph the village in order to raise fundings for a proper documentary. She only has five days to obtain enough material to convince donors to support her dream production, but as the days go on, incidents occur to interfere with her plans.

As I read more, I realized there could be three reasons for the strange disappearances:

1. A cultish mass suicide
2. Aliens
3. The Pied Piper came and whisked everyone away

But still, I was wrong.

As the crew explore the village, they are faced with a disintegrating time capsule. They piece together clues from old letters, investigative reports, and new information they discover in the sock drawers of certain key houses.

The Village is eerie. All the houses are built according to the same layouts. The team wants to visit the hut of an autistic resident, the Church, and the School where a baby was found. The sole survivor.

However, the Mine, the main source of industry in the 50’s, is too dangerous to venture into. And not only that, but it’s mineral properties and magnetism interfere with cellphone reception. Luckily the crew have brought walkie-talkies. Nothing should interfere with that, right?

Haunting and utterly mesmerizing. Sten’s prose rolled over me like a weighted blanket of dread. Even when I wasn’t reading, my mind was in the tragic ghost village of Silvertyarn. This book gave me a serious case of the shivers and I absolutely adored it.

*Thank you Netgalley for the free E-ARC!

Your family disappeared in a mystery and a murder that still lives on in your mind. What could have happened to the village of hundreds that just.. disappeared without a trace? And what happened to that woman dead, tied to the pole, and what ever happened to the baby found alone? You live your life, you go to school, and now you have the opportunity to go to the village. To explore. To try and find out what REALLY happened to them. But strange things start happened once you get there, and not everyone is on the same page or even knows who everyone is. Everyone loves a ghost story.. right?

I LOVED this book. I could not read it fast enough. It gave you the eerie feeling reading it, even when it seemed like nothing was happening. The vivid descriptions of the scenes being able to fill you with dread.. I love those types of stories. I also love the the different viewpoints, from back then and in the present. Even though the characters might not get the whole picture, I love seeing the big picture and putting all of the pieces together.

The only thing I could possibly say, as light and without spoilers as I could, is the fact that I really DO love a good ghost story. There were parts in the book that made me scared to walk around my house at night. It actually scared me and made me feel uncomfortable in my world. I just wish the book actually had that energy. If you know you know!

3.5 Stars.
I loved the atmosphere of this one. The tone for "spooky, abandoned town is not what it appears" is definitely set, and set well. The book is fast-paced, I read most of it in one day. I was quickly drawn into the story, and it held my attention all the way through.

However, the characters fell flat, as did the ending. Those two things took away from what could have been a five star book. I do still recommend it to anyone looking for something dark and eerie.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Back in the 1950s, Silvertjarn was a small, Swedish mining village with around 900 townspeople. Suddenly, one day, they all disappeared - all except one woman who was found tied to a pole in the town square and stoned to death, and a small baby found crying in the nearby schoolhouse. Fledgling filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the story since hearing about it from her grandmother, who had moved out of the village a few years prior but lost her sister and parents in the disappearance. Alice is determined to make a documentary about the lost village of Silvertjarn, and assembles a small crew to travel to the remote village to investigate and gather some photos and video clips. Very quickly, Alice and her crew realize that something still isn't right about Silvertjarn, and whatever evil that lurked there in 1959 may still be present...

This was a creepy and atmospheric read that had me sleeping with the covers over my head. There were times when I wanted to slap Alice and other characters for making dumb decisions, but these choices added to the suspense of the novel and kept me engaged as I waited to see how their decisions would impact their predicament. I saw a part of the twist coming which detracted a tiny bit from my enjoyment, but overall this book was a good read if you like to be spooked.

Was super excited when I read this was a Blair witch/midsommar mashup, bit once I got into it, the book was not what I expected. The overall book has a fantastic feeling of dread throughout, but all of the suspense is kinda built up to a disappointing ending.

This is a very fast paced intense read that I felt was absolutely perfect.
I love a good spine tingling, dark, tension filled story and The Lost Village delivers just that.

The story rotates from the past and present with two different points of view. For the first time in a long while, I actually didn’t figure out the big twist and I was very surprised when it finally came out. I was totally engrossed in this story and actually stayed up way past my usual bedtime just to finish it.

I wouldn’t put this book totally in the horror genre, I didn’t think it was scary at all. This story is part mystery/historical fiction/thriller/with a small twist of horror. I hate and usually stay away from books with a lot of gore in it but, there is a bit of gore in the beginning of this book but nothing too alarming I hadn’t seen before.

This is my first Scandinavian noir story and since I loved it so much, I will definitely be looking up similar books.
Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and Camilla Sten for the advanced reader copy!!!