Great, unnerving story. The author made you feel the anxiety of the characters. You were not sure which way the story was going to go. Definitely recommend for horror fans who like a slow burn.

Well, this was a doozy! I love a good mystery/thriller/horror book and this one certainly fit the bill.

Alice has been obsessed for years over the "lost" village of Silvertjarn, where her grandmother once lived, and where all the inhabitants mysteriously vanished without a trace. Finally Alice has a team and some backers so she heads off to the village to scout it out for the documentary film she plans to produce. One of her team has a connection to the village that is known only to Alice. The team arrives to find the village deserted, just as they were told, but then mysterious things begin to happen. Is the village really deserted? Is it haunted?

The story toggles back and forth between Then and Now, so we gradually get an explanation for what happened to the villagers and both storylines build to a climax at the same rate. Then tells us the story of Elsa, Alice's grandmother, and how her youngest daughter Aina falls under the spell of a cultish priest who also manages to gain power over almost every single person in the town. As the priest's control over the townspeople grows, their behavior becomes stranger and stranger until it culminates in unthinkable violence.

I truly enjoyed this book. The description of the deserted town was spooky enough to make me nervous for the characters. I loved the slow build and the anticipation was so well tuned that I almost wanted to skip over chapters to keep reading about Then so I could discover what really happened. Although there was some violence, the author did not dive headfirst into gore or sensationalism but kept it matter of fact. Somehow that made it even more startling. The ending took me by surprise, and that's not easy to do. I don't recommend you read it in the dark though.

I was lucky enough to win an electronic ARC of THE LOST VILLAGE by Camilla Sten through a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and I hope you have a safe and socially distanced holiday!

Wonderful book! I could not put it down. Filled with twists and turns at every corner, and I'm talking at EVERY corner! And some very special characters!

Thank you so much to the publisher and Net Galley for an ARC of The Lost Village. This is probably the most creeped out I ever got reading a book! So I will give this 5 stars! It was bine chilling and suspenseful. Well done Camilla Sten!

I loved this book! I am a sucker for any abandoned place/ghost town story and this one didn't disappoint, as evidenced by the fact that I devoured the whole book in one sitting, finishing the last page at 3:30 in the morning. The story centers primarily on Alice, who has been obsessed her entire life about the mysterious disappearance of an entire town of people where her grandmother grew up. Alice pulls together a small production crew to spend a few days there in the hopes of filming enough interesting footage to intrigue investors so she can create a documentary.

While the book is primarily narrated by Alice, there are many chapters told from her great-grandmother Elsa's POV, in the days and weeks leading up to the disappearance. This is a style I enjoy, and the author did a great job of weaving the storylines together to increase the suspense and provide tidbits of information that moved the story along.

This book was incredibly atmospheric, and I could clearly picture the abandoned town and the specific buildings that the team investigated. It also maintained a creepy vibe, at times downright scary, throughout the story. There were a couple times that I literally got goosebumps.

The characters were well drawn and believable, and I felt for them, both physically and emotionally, as events occurred. While this is primarily a scary story, there are great secondary plotlines related to the relationships between the characters, which only added to the overall story. The ending surprised me, but in retrospect made complete sense, leaving very few loose ends.

This book is great fun and I would strongly recommend to those who enjoy the horror/ghost town genres. I am going to find out if Sten has written other books so I can read them too! Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of this on @netgalley (woohoo for wishes being granted - thanks @minotaur_books!) and finished it today. The Lost Village by Camilla Sten has comparisons to The Blair Witch Project and Midsommer. I would agree and liken it to Conviction or another well done book detailing a documentary about a horrifying event.

I LOVED this book! I had high expectations going on, and felt that it fulfilled them - I had a sense of stress (you know when your chest gets tight while reading?!) in the best possible way. The story unfolds in pieces via what is happening to the documentary crew at the site and letters from the past leading up to the disappearance of the village. The story was horrifying, moving, and dealt with topics such as mental illness and depression in a way that felt so honest.

If you like stories that keep you guessing, past/present mysteries, strange beliefs, and just a good creepy story then I highly recommend.
This was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

Alice is a filmmaker with familial ties to the deserted village of Silvertjaarn, situated far from civilization. Her grandmother’s family disappeared alongside the entire town that left only one woman stoned to death at a stake and a newborn infant. Alice feels a pull to find out what really happened to cause the townsfolk to disappear so she decides to create a documentary, dragging a small film crew to set up camp in the town center.

Things take a turn when their equipment begins to be destroyed, people go missing, and Alice can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching at all times.

Where was this book when I wanted to read something spooky? The Lost Village had chills going up my spine, gave me the creeps, and did a genuinely good job of creating mystery and savoring the slow burn. I appreciated that the story alternated between the past and present fleshing out exactly what’s going on so there was no confusion on my part as a reader.

The scenery and writing was very vivid, making this read easy to dive into. I found myself looking forward to picking it up and finding out what was gonna happen next. I wouldn’t say that the ending was predictable, it was more like a puzzle piece falling into place that you saw coming from yards away. Nevertheless, it suited the story and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Highly recommend if you enjoy suspense, cults, and ghost towns.

Thank you to the publisher St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for providing me with an advanced galley of this book.

A very quiet (at first!), creeping, Gothic horror tale of a documentary film crew visiting a remote Swedish town where hundreds of people disappeared without a trace. It’s a little bit of Nordic noir crossed with witches and cults and finished off with a dash of Shirley Jackson. The members of the film crew all have secrets and entanglements. Alice, the protagonist, is imperfect, and the crew she chooses all have their demons (literal? Or figurative? Who can say?) following them as well.

The story unfolds in a slow burning buildup of horror, in a quiet way at first which reaches a fever pitch. The horror sneaks up behind you and unleashes in a masterful way. Completely original in both tone and plot and filled with creeping dread, this book is constantly foreboding and you can practically see the derelict old town in front of you as you read. When you finally find out what happened to the town, it’s utterly creative and just as crazy and as you would expect.

As a Scandinavian myself, I loved the melancholy and historic tone, the oddball characters, and the mythology. I would love to see this made into a movie.

4+ stars. I really look forward to reading more Camilla Sten! Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this uniquely horrifying and creative Nordic sorcery tale.

The Lost Village is a wonderfully creepy read. The book's description compares it to The Blair Witch Project and Midsommar (which is exactly why I picked it up) but I also saw elements of The Lottery. A few elements are familiar, but if the film crew wasn't isolated, they'd just walk away as soon as they realize that something is wrong. The plot alternates between what is happening with Alice and her friends in the present and the events leading up to the disappearance in 1959. It's suspenseful and sad and kept me turning pages until the end.

4.5 Stars

First off, an enormous thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read such an amazing book. This books is spooky, and mysterious, and utterly enthralling. I could barely put it down. Every single page something new seemed to happen, building the mystery and the sense of dread. I really enjoyed the dual timelines/POV, I think it really added a lot to the story. My only complaint is the vilification of mental health problems made me uncomfortable at times. I do think the main character’s depressive history was written well, but the psychosis of another character seemed a bit damaging. But other than that I really, really enjoyed this book!

The premise of this book really intrigued me and I was so excited when I received the arc. However, while I did enjoy certain aspects, it did not meet my high expectations.

The mystery surrounding the village was well developed and unraveled nicely and I enjoyed the characters and storyline of the chapters set in the past. But, I had trouble connecting to the present characters which led to me not fully investing in that storyline. There was also a general lack of tension and atmosphere which led to a good, but not great read.

This book doesn’t come out until March next year but I just want to rave about it now for a minute!

This is a horror film in book form and omg it scared the shit out of me 🤣
One night I put the book down and walked around the house turning out the lights when I caught my reflection in the window. The book had left me so jumpy that I nearly leapt out of my skin, I bolted down the hallway and into the safety of my bedroom. I laughed about it with my partner but my heart was pounding!
For a book to evoke such strong feelings you know the author has created something amazing.

In 1959 two men arrive in the Swedish village of Silvertjärn to find it abandoned except for a woman who had been stoned to death in the town square and a baby crying in the school.
All 900 residents vanished without a trace and they’ve never been found.

Alice has a personal connection to the place, she’s grown up hearing the stories from her grandmother who had left the village earlier. Alice plans to make a documentary on the village and she needs to shoot a teaser trailer to entice someone to fund her project. Alice and her small team head into Silvertjärn to explore and hoping to discover some clues about what happened to the residents. With no phone reception and completely isolated in the village that has sat abandoned for 60 years, they soon discover they may not be alone.

Set in the “now” and “then” the descriptive imagery in this book was so good, I could clearly see the abandoned village in my mind and Camilla Sten absolutely nailed creating a spooky atmosphere.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exhange for an honest review.
I found "The Lost Village" by Camilla Sten to be a well written, original, nicely paced, addictive and creepy book.
I loved the author's writing style how she used both the "now" and the "then" timelines to tell the reader the whole story.
I look forward to this author's next book.

I enjoyed this book and found myself being sucked into the mystery of The Lost Village. The story is laid out over a duel narrative of chapters from Then and Now, as you follow a documentary crew that is trying to shed light on the abandoned village. It's mysterious and creepy vibes make it a great spooky read and will have you feeling a range of emotions throughout the book.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a free copy.
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I can honestly say that this one had the chance to be really good. The prologue drew me in with the account of two people finding the town. The atmosphere was set. The eeriness factor was up.

However... the execution was not so well done. For 2/3 of the book we go back and forth between present day and the past. The amount of characters to track and how dodgy the time jumps were made me struggle a bit. I kept going because the tension was building. Yet the end was a jumbled mess. It was all over the place and the time jumps became more frequent.
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While I wanted to enjoy this book more, it just didn’t work for me.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I thought this was enjoyable for the most part! It's pretty well paced, though I did want more at times (specifically, more creepy things). I did think it took a little bit to really get going. This underlying mystery of what happened to the people in this town was super interesting, and I did like getting flashbacks to the past to learn about what happened. However, I do think I preferred the present day timeline overall. I liked the creepy things that we did get since it had me questioning if there was a supernatural reason behind everything. I didn't entirely expect the true reasons for what happened. While I'm a little disappointed since I wanted something else, it was still somewhat interesting.

Alice was a good main character overall! I liked her drive to investigate this disappearance, and I found her relationships with the other characters to be interesting. We learn that Alice and Emmy have met before, and we get to see how their relationship evolves over the course of the book (which I liked).

There are some characters with mental disabilities who are not treated well at all, so this could be triggering. There are also content warnings for suicidal thoughts, psychosis, depression, and rape.

Overall, even though I would have preferred a different ending, I still had a good time with this book as a whole.

I received a copy of this for review from the publisher via NetGalley - thank you! All opinions are my own.

My video review can be seen on my channel (around minutes 4:02-6:33 of this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6garXLWD6M

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten is marketed as "The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar", but I'd argue it's much more Blair Witch 2 with a sprinkle of the The Wicker Man. And for this reader, that is not a bad thing.

Unfortunately, with the allusion to those movies, this book does read a little like a screenplay. I am not saying it's not good, because it is. But I also found it pretty easy to put down until the last quarter, where I consumed it with minimal break.
The main character, Alice Lindstedt, is a selfish, self-centered, fill-in-the-blank and I wanted to shake or slap her multiple times. However, the spite, jealousy, and religious fervor driven qualities of the other characters more than made up for Alice's deficits.

Overall a very good book, but does need a small CW for implied rape. I honestly didn't 100% see the ending coming. Another great book from a Swedish author but Sten hasn't quite captured the suspense expected in Swedish fiction like John Ajvide Lindqvist or Stieg Larsson.

Slight spoiler – This reader would have enjoyed a little more explanation of the “religion” in the village in place of some of the repetitive thoughts inside Alice’s dead, but I see how that would be difficult without either timeline’s main character being directly involved in the religion.

The lost village in this novel is definitely not a place I would ever want to visit, but the book The Lost Village is definitely worth your time. The author succeeds at turning what would be a found footage movie into a skillful, suspenseful tale. One device that builds the tension is the use of alternating timelines between now when the small film crew coming to an abandoned Swedish village to investigate why the entire population disappeared many decades ago, and the past when we slowly discover what happened in the village. The five characters are all clearly fleshed out and full of layers and conflict. You feel the anxiety building as they start realizing something is definitely off in this town. But is the danger coming from within their own ranks or from someone or someTHING outside? The denouement is quite satisfying and I highly recommend this one.

I stayed up into the wee hours towards the end of this book unwilling and unable to put it down, I just had to know what was happening in this village. The ambiance was perfect; I love old, overgrown abandoned houses and here we had a whole town of them. She describes every creaky step perfectly without overdoing it; letting your mind fill in the shadows and whispering breezes. I found myself wishing the documentary the characters were making wasn't fictional so that I could somehow watch it. There was definitely a need to suspend disbelief in how it all wrapped up, though. I figured out the "where" pretty quickly here but did not see the "why" or the "how" until it was upon me. I would recommend this to any reader, lover of horror, thrillers or otherwise. If Sten writes another book, I will read it!