I really enjoyed the aesthetic and vibe of this novel -- eerie, yet elegant; poised, yet unpredictable in its twists and turns. I felt engaged through the whole story and would recommend this novel to anyone who loves a good suspenseful thriller.

This sounded exactly like the sort of book I would enjoy. Unfortunately it was only the last fifty pages out of 300 that I found gripping and full of suspense. The first 250 pages just did not draw me in as I felt no atmosphere or tension. I can't say I even felt empathy for any of the characters. Of the two settings, past and present, I preferred the characters and storyline of the past.

I received this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

The summary itself piqued my interest when it mentioned this book was a "Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar" novel set in a village where all inhabitants disappeared without a trace in 1959. I was also intrigued because my grandmother and her parents lived in Sweden and I thought it would be a great read that was also a little "close to home", even as scary as the story becomes!

The title character, Alice graduated with a film-making degree and would love nothing more than to tell the story that her Grandmother and her family experienced living in this village, Silvertjärn. She recruits four others as she starts the project to make a documentary about Silvertjärn and what really happened there sixty years ago. Why was a local resident stoned to death and why was there a baby discovered in a hospital room all alone as all villagers left their homes with coffee mugs on the table or doors and windows open as though they were completely interrupted by something. Alice intends to pull those pieces together with the knowledge she has from her grandmother and her family and the letters that Aina, her grandmother's sister, used to write to her grandmother. She has the financial backing, a crew to help photograph and film, and a professional film-maker whom Alice was not too keen to enlist due to a previous past but knows she will be a great asset to the success of the film. This is all Alice has dreamed of since film school.

Once they descend on Silvertjärn with their camping supplies and filming equipment, mysterious things start to happen as they unravel the mysteries held within the community. The village is still eerie with all the village homes dilapidated, things left behind, and traces of lives lost. Then they start to hear things within the village, odd noises on their walkie-talkies, a blur of someone outside of their vans... but that can't be, right?

The book was an enthralling and blood-chillingly good tale of a long lost village and the secrets it kept. Definitely, a must to read for any fans of mysteries and thrillers!

An aspiring documentary filmmaker’s passion project: to solve the disappearance of an entire village. As the crew investigates the abandoned and overgrown town, strange things start happening and it appears that they may not be alone. Creepy atmosphere and the intertwining of two storylines - past and present - drive this story. Well written and complex characters bring depth. Thoroughly enjoyable.

An evocative and dark thriller telling the story of a group trying to unearth some old and dark secrets surrounding a mysterious disappearance, and learning that some things are better left alone...

The story is set in the deep remote backwoods of Sweden, having heard stories about the small mining town, Alice returns to the small and secluded village of Silvertjarn, where everyone in it mysteriously disappeared in 1959. The villagers are a part of her lineage on her grandmother's side of the family.

This book has eeriness and creepiness, oozing out of it, Sten provides vivid descriptions that gave me goosebumps !! Alice travels to an isolated village with a small film crew. They investigate the buildings that have been abandoned for over 60 years, but strange things begin happening and they realize that they might not be alone in the town.

Narrated in dual timelines of the 1950s before the disappearance and the present time film crew, the story unfolds rather rapidly and gets more creepy as it goes. I couldn't put it down! There are a couple of twists at the end that gives a bit of surprise to the ending.

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.

Summary:
Well written, with a unique plot. Enjoyed this book because it was different then the typical haunting or horror story.

The Lost Village is an engrossing thriller that hooked me immediately! It follows a young filmmaker and her small crew as they attempt to uncover the mysteries of a village in which all of the citizens disappeared overnight except an infant. I liked the characters and thought the story was well-paced. It does switch back and forth between “then” and “now”, but it is not confusing and enhances the story. Overall I loved the book and will look for more from this author!

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten is described as The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar and I completely agree with this description. There’s a pervasive sense of wrongness throughout the entire book that had me on edge; an overwhelming feeling of impending doom that made me a bit anxious and feeling like I wanted to warn the character of Alice and her great-grandmother, Elsa, to warn them that they needed to get the hell out of dodge or in this case, Silvertjarn.

TLV is told in alternating timelines of Now and Then, Now being narrated by Alice, an insecure documentary filmmaker who has a whole host of issues and Then, narrated by Elsa, Alice’s great-grandmother. Alice has been obsessed with the village of Silvertjarn, the village where her great-grandmother, great-grandfather, and aunt along with the entire village of 887 residents disappeared in to thin air. Never. To. Be. Heard. From. Again. The only living thing found in the village was a newborn baby, left in the abandoned school.

Creeped out yet? While this is not a traditional horror story, it definitely gives horror story vibes. I am generally not a lover of the back and forth between timelines but I found I couldn’t wait to get back to the other timeline. Each had an appeal and an urgency that made me want to know more, drawing me in with each horrific occurrence and the suspense of wondering what would happen next. Love this!

The story is fast-paced and the characters are mostly flawed and with their own emotional baggage, a few with personal vendetta’s against members of the small documentary group. This leaves the reader guessing who or what could be behind the current terror that’s happening in the Now. Is it a supernatural entity? Is it a disgruntled ‘friend’ trying to sabotage the documentary? Or something else entirely? I would be remiss if I didn’t review the authors’ descriptive prose! Seriously, some of the best descriptive writing. There were times it was both gorgeous and so beautifully expressive, I could all but smell the clean mountain air and other times, like a poorly timed kiss, that I could imagine the taste and nastiness of unbrushed teeth and morning breath!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Lost Village and I will be reading more from this author as soon as it’s available! I want to thank St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and Shelf Awareness for the #gifted DRC.

This book is incredibly atmospheric and pulls you in from the first chapter. I would definitely read more by this author in the future.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I devoured this story. The setting was eerie, and the plot was interesting - both attributes I love in my reading. The characters were interesting and individually and as a group they contained their own mysteries. I will definitely re-read as I’m sure there are breadcrumbs that I missed with the first pass.

Alice is a documentary film maker with not much of a following. She has ties to a lost village through her grandmother and decides to put together 4 other people to go to the village and see if they can find what happened to the inhabitants 50 years ago. Alice is ill prepared for what happens while they are there.

This book grabbed me from the first and I had to keep reading to see how it would end. It is told in first person from Alice's perspective and also from her great grandmother's words 50 years ago. I hated to stop reading before learning the fate of this village.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 3
Pace: 3
Plot development: 4
Characters: 3
Enjoyability: 3
Ease of Reading: 4

Overall rating: 3 out of 5

Deliciously creepy Scandinavian horror which freaked the heck out of me. I need more like a hungry vampire.

I remember reaching for this book just because the description gave me the vibes of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which I was religiously devoted to. I loved it just as much. Need I say more? End of review.

Alright, I'll say more. So it is of course a different story, with The Lost Village being packed with horror elements. It tells the story of a documentary maker Alice Lindstedt who wants to make a film on The Lost Village, an old mining town which witnessed an abnormal number of disappearing residents. Nothing is right about this god forsaken place! It screams DO NOT ENTER! But Alice will do it anyway.

I was completely swept into this horror story and couldn't put it down. It's clear to me why I'm giving it 5 stars - solid characters, slow-burn paranormal story bursting with nuance, excellent writing and even better scene making.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book brings back a the ghost story feels. It's not my typical read but I enjoyed reading it and slowly putting all the pieces together.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

Hugely Atmospheric, Thoroughly Disturbing.....
A dark and chilling suspense, hugely atmospheric and thoroughly disturbing. A film maker, a small crew, a remote village, a search for the truth - what can go wrong? The premise is engaging, the reality more so as the reader becomes drawn in from the first page and stays until the last. Compelling reading.

My eyes are bloodshot from staying up until three am with this tale. From page one, the author created an atmosphere of eerie mystery that grew more ominous with each chapter. I was unable to put this book down until I had reached the stunning conclusion. What a triumph for the author!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc!

I enjoyed this book but sadly not as much as I had hoped. I have started enjoying haunted/horror books since the Summer and was excited to get this ARC.

The beginning didn't make a lot of sense when I started it so I put it down and came back to it but I felt confused throughout the entire book and I didn't have a connection with any character.

I did enjoy the premise of the book and I think a lot of people will enjoy it but it wasn't for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

Every generation grows up with ancestral tales of years long past. These tales draw us in like a force of gravity and allow us the opportunity to relate to our own histories. I grew up listening to my grandmother spinning yarns about being a young girl in the 1920s in a tiny village on the Ohio River. Years later, when my brother and I went in search of our storied past, we were thrilled to walk among the remnants of long-forgotten structures swallowed by time and nature. Author Camilla Sten brilliantly taps into this universal longing to reconnect with our pasts in the thriller, “The Lost Village.”

For Alice Lindstedt’s entire life, her grandmother regaled her with tales of her childhood home of Silvertjarn, an isolated mining town in the wilds of Sweden. Sixty years earlier, in 1959, the entire population of the town, over 900 people, inexplicably vanished without a trace. With her film crew assembled, Alice sets out to film a documentary about the mystery of Silvertjarn and uncover the truth about the lost village. When one tragedy after another claims the lives of her crew, Alice discovers the deadly truth about the evil that once grew within the village, and she pays the steepest price to learn that some evil never truly dies.

Author Camilla Sten does a wonderful job of constructing a thriller that unfolds along two distinct timelines; Alice’s struggle to endure four days within the decrepit remains of the mysterious village, and her great-grandmother, Elsa’s, year-long account of her home town’s slow descent into madness. Both Alice and Elsa serve as the 1st person point-of-view narrator of their respective timelines. The choice of 1st person POV, provides an intimate glimpse into the desires, motivations, and abject terror of both women. Furthermore, crisp and natural-sounding dialogue adds a pivotal sense of realism and depth to the interactions among the different characters.

Unfortunately, I found the characterization of the protagonists and supporting cast to be the weakest element of the story. While brilliant glimpses into the depths of both protagonists are hinted at, well-textured, multi-dimensional characters are never fully fleshed out. Despite the use of the 1st person POV to provide intimacy with the characters, there is a noticeable lacking of the introspection needed to provide the deep dive necessary to emotionally invest in each character. Passing mentions of a failed suicide attempt provide the perfect setup for the needed introspection, however the emotional payoff is never delivered. In the end, we’re left with the frameworks for amazingly dynamic characters that never reach their full potential.

While the translation from Swedish into English often results in stilted prose, a riveting plot and truly unnerving descriptions more than make up for any troublesome language barriers. Eerie and dreadfully atmospheric descriptions of the remains of the village provide a barrage of evocative imagery. The long-neglected school, church and homes of the 1950s characters set the scenes perfectly with terrific depth and visceral imagery. An inescapable sense of dread permeates every location in a way that sinks into the readers bones and keeps them firmly on edge. Coupled with the perfectly crafted descriptions, a thematic repetition of darkness and isolation taps into universal fears that illicit powerful emotional responses from the reader.

While the atmospheric tones work brilliantly on an intellectual level, I feel there was a missed opportunity to focus more on the “gut-level horror” aspects of the story. “…There was someone standing in front of the van, looking at me.“ There is a creepiness to the setup that heavily suggests the eventual arrival of an otherworldly threat that could have persistently chipped away at the psychological well-being of the characters, and by extension the readers. While there are hints of this otherworldly threat, they are often rejected outright as caused by a missing team member, and the full weight of their ethereal or supernatural potential is never fully explored or utilized in a psychologically impactful manner. The early-on suggestions of such a menace are left largely unrealized.

“The Lost Village” is a modern-day quest for clarity set against a 1950’s de-evolution of humanity. The two timelines merge in a climax that is unexpected yet inevitable, and perfectly caps a cautionary tale of recklessly delving too deeply into the unknown. While I would have liked to see more finely honed characterization, the premise is remarkable, and the plot is unique and wonderfully crafted. “The Lost Village” is a successful and haunting exploration into the sinister potential within all of us, and one that will stay with you long after it’s finished.

This was a good book, it touched a bit on horror theme, but in the end it was a satisfying mystery. Alice is an amateur documentary film maker, though she has never actually made one. She has become obsessed with a village her grandmother lived in in the late 50’s. The village, Silvertjarn, had been the subject of an earlier investigation, searchers found the body of a woman tied to a lamppost, badly decayed and the village was empty of any villagers. Alice wants to make the documentary to hopefully find out what happened to make the villagers abandon the village and why the body of the woman was tied to the lamppost. Told largely in a Now and Then style, most of the beginning of the story covers Alice and her crew getting to the village and setting up a camp to explore. The sections that cover ‘Then’ focus on the grandmother to Alice as she relates events that happened that caused the villagers to leave and why. The reasons why are disturbing and are worth the read alone. I would recommend this book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Who's already missing Halloween? Don't worry you guys, The Lost Village satisfied my occasional and blaring urge to read ANYTHING horror, and I was definitely not disappointed.

The Lost Village is an atmospheric story with a switching timeline, which of course, we slowly come to learn the two are very much connected. I usually don't enjoy the flipping of perspectives while reading, but this one didn't bother me too much. The THEN plot really did have a big impact to the story, but of course, I still found the NOW plot a lot more intriguing.

If I were to compare this book to any movie it would definitely be The Blair Witch Project, a group of friends lost in the woods who are exploring a new area with an ancient past. Slowly we become more aware of some *supernatural* occurrences and before you know it, we're diving headfirst into an action-packed and intense climax. I was generally very satisfied where The Lost Village took us throughout the novel, and I think all of its potential elements were used to its best abilities.

While it lost me a little bit throughout the middle when our characters are reading old letters, I was thoroughly thrilled and spooked by The Lost Village. I definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoyed You Are Invited by Sarah Denzil.