I'm sorry, this is a do not finish book for me.

I'm not far into it, but to me, it is The Blair Witch Project rewritten.

Maybe I'll go back later and attempt to finish it.

This book was interesting, unsettling, and honestly you really didn't know where this would go. Supernatural? Horror? Mind-games? Well, I won't spoil you.

I love finding new authors, foreign authors to read. I found the translation coherent and normally the translation can be a real miss. I don't speak Swedish but I think it did a great job of conveying what I hope the author was aiming for.

Think of the Blair Witch Project. Think of their small group, out there in the wilderness alone. Sorta of what this group is going through. Their little caravan of two vans and a volvo head off towards the ghost town where almost 1000 people vanished strangely. The protagonist, Alice, has a connection to this ghost town since her grandmother was originally from the town and moved away a few years before the missing took place.

On top of that, a girl was found tied to a post, naked, bloody, and dead.

The group is filming a kickstarter/crowd-funded documentary about the location and trying to uncover the mystery of what exactly happened.

Strange things start happening and I just couldn't put it down.

I'd be willing to read another story by this author. I urge everyone who is in for creepy reads to watch out for this one come March. I think you'll enjoy it and it'll keep you guessing.

I really enjoyed this novel, a mix of psychological horror, the gothic, and physical danger. However, it contains a serious problem in the description of Brigitta: intellectually disabled, developmentally disabled, and non-vocal people are not "children in an adult body." This is a pretty awful misconception, and I strongly urge the author and publisher to remove this ableist description of the character. Change this, and it would be a 5-star review.

I got this free eook from an Arc with a promise of an honest review. I thought this was a great book from beginning to the end, The story line was fantastic and the character built up was like we knew each other. Woule read more from this author.

Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.

Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice
They are not alone.

I really enjoyed about 90% of this book and really liked how it was broken down into "Then" and "Now". The author did a great job of dropping bits and pieces of the relationship history between Alice and Emmy and Alice and Tone and then bringing it all together as the book progressed. However, I felt the ending was forced and far-fetched - like the author didn't really know how to end the book. Definitely didn't feel like a horror story, but at least the mystery of the disappearance of the village is solved.

Loved the writing style, but didn't love the book overall. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

#TheLostVillageBook #NetGalley
“𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘺𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦.“

Special thanks to NetGalley and St.Martin press for providing me with ARC.

I kept hearing about is book from my friends but it's not available and when St.Martin give me the chance to read it, i didn't hesitate.

This novel take places in Sweden, i love this land so much and i hope to visit it one day.

I loved Alice Lindstedt characters so much, this novel is so good and written so well, i really enjoyed it and the end is so surprising to me.

First, I must mention that I chose this story for two reasons. The story takes place in Sweden. Perfect setting for a story such as this. How do I know? I’ve never visited the country but I have studied enough about it to know. The other reason is that I am obsessed with old abandoned towns, cemeteries, mills and homes. That is the history lover in me, one might say. Or that fact that I am always curious about how even ordinary people lived and the traces they leave behind. Having said that, everyone has a story to tell. No one is ordinary in my opinion.

This book had me hooked in the beginning stages of the story. The author set the stage with the creep vibe as soon as Alice and her crew were approaching the village. The center of the town alone…wow.
I love the period the author chose for the village people to have disappeared. Not only that but this story brilliantly highlights close knit communities, and how people are easily led.

I highly recommend reading this book and discovering-for yourself-the mysteries surrounding this hauntingly atmospheric read.

Stephanie Hopkins

This book was incredibly spooky. The author set up the scene from the moment the story began. Only some details were given over a period of time and then as soon as you thought you had the complete history weird things started happening. Without revealing too much, I will say that who the author leads you to believe is the problem really is not. She/He just adds to the mystery of the background story. This to me had a Blair Witch Project type feel. 4 Young people headed to a deserted town to investigate and document a ghost town and it's murder. This book will keep you reading until the end is reached.

More atmospheric than truly terrifying. I wasn’t invested in these characters enough to be truly scared or shocked with events. Reads like a screenplay adaptation that’d make a decently scary movie.

I just read The Lost Village by Camilla Sten and really highly recommend you pick it up - it makes a great read on a cold dark night! While growing up, Alice had always heard tales of her grandma’s small remote village that one day they found every resident had vanished, leaving behind one dead body of a local girl and a newborn found alive in the abandoned school. Alice assembled a crew and returns to make a documentary and investigate what happened. Surrounded by abandoned buildings, they camp out in the town square with no cell signal or contact with the outside world - soon a number of unexplained incidents begin to happen as they search for the truth. This book flies along and the suspense builds. This is my first book by Sten and I look forward to more. I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

Great read from Camilla Stem. Figured much of the story and confirmed that farther I got into it. A entire village of people disappear and no one knows what happened as it's a remote community. But some of what you probably can figure will happen in it does once it starts giving the pov of one of the disappeared characters. After that it's pretty easy to figure out. Religious following, pastor taking advantage of a vulnerable flock as well as mentally handicapped person. Shows how True evil can be in human form.
I received this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Slow burning horror story following a film crew to an isolated Swedish town where all the inhabitants suddenly vanished in 1959 except for one who was stoned to death. The creepy atmosphere of the abandoned town is palpable, and the tension builds from eerie sounds and sightings to more tangible threats. The main character, Alice, and her relationship to the rest of the crew was well developed, though I would have liked a bit more background on Tone given the pivotal nature of her role. Flashbacks and letters flesh out the backstory, and the two timelines converge in a dramatic and satisfying climax.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.

I loved this book. I spent many nights up late reading it. Things were slightly predictable; however, the story was still very gripping and entrancing. I don't get scared easily by books, but this book sent a few chills down my spine. It is described as Blair' Witch' meets 'Midsommer' and I very much agree. Thanks to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten follows a crew of filmmakers making a documentary about the abandoned village of Silvertjarn. Alice pours over letters her great-aunt wrote to her grandmother while living there. She is determined to uncover the truth about the community’s sudden disappearance while on site. Then scary, unexplainable things happen during their stay. Maybe they aren’t alone after all...

I loved the premise of this book. A ghost town, resurrected letters, and all around creepiness? Sign me up. The dual timeline and letters created a great contrast between the town leading up to the sudden disappearance and present day. It built the tension well.

Two critiques - Some moments were predictable. When they keep worrying about old stairs being unstable, you know the stairs will collapse. The ending felt a bit predictable, yet abrupt. There were some loose ends left untied.

The portrayal of mental health made me feel sad and uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the authors intent to show the appalling mistreatment and stigma, but was not executed well.

This book reeled me right in until the very end. I will say I saw a lot of it coming a mile away, but it didn’t take away from the story. The actual story is sad, I mean I was angry and sad and sickened by some things. Although, things like this happen every day. Well, not the creepy lost village but the evilness of asshole people.

Page turning haunted tale that will keep you reading! Nothing better than a good "ghost' story with strong characters. Sten does a good job of building suspense, claustrophobia, tension, and interpersonal conflict all revolving around the addictive core theme of the mysterious ghost town, abandoned village theme with characters that have many secrets and history. No gore, just tension and mystery - a good one! Read it.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads and Amazon

A horror novel set in modern-day Sweden. In 1959 an entire village of 900 people vanished – leaving behind no bodies, no footprints, and no trace of where they'd gone. The only clues were one newborn baby, abandoned in the local schoolhouse, and one corpse, that of a woman who'd apparently been stoned to death in the village square.

In 2019, a group of five young filmmakers arrive at the still-abandoned Silvertjärn to investigate the mystery and film a documentary, led by Alice, whose grandmother lost her parents and sisters when the village disappeared. The others are Tone (Alice's best friend, with her own secret connection to Silvertjärn), Emmy (Alice's ex-best friend and there is quite the backstory there), Max (who provided most of the funding and is interested in being more than friends with Alice), and Robert (Emmy's partner and kinda just there to provide another body). In appropriate horror tradition, Silvertjärn mysteriously renders cellphones unuseable and the only way in or out is a long, nearly overgrown dirt path. In other words, once the five arrive, there's no way of getting help from the outside. Weird stuff immediately begins to happen: muffled voices, half-seen glimpses of silhouettes, rotted buildings collapsing around them. Is it paranoia from being so isolated? One of the five fucking with the others? Ghosts of the vanished? The cause of the disappearance, come to claim more victims? Or something very human and non-paranormal, but using the empty buildings to stalk them?

A second narrative, consisting of flashbacks from 1959 of Alice's grandmother's family in Silvertjärn in the months leading up to the disappearance, slowly reveals exactly what happened. There's a nicely creepy resolution to the mystery, and one that proved satisfyingly difficult to guess ahead of time.

First of all: the entire premise of this book is self-evidently silly. There is no way nearly a thousand people disappear from a Western country in the 1950s and said country doesn't flip its shit attempting to find those people, or that such an event could be half-forgotten and degrade into a generic interesting factoid and not be, like, the most famous event in history. I mean, people still can't shut up about the Roanoke Colony, and that was a) in the 1500s, b) only 100 people, and c) has a fairly obvious answer. But it doesn't really matter; plenty of horror has a silly premise and still manages to be perfectly effective! One you accept the whole 'lost village' thing, <i>The Lost Village</i> has some very creepy scares.

It is also <i>incredibly</i> femslashy. So much so, in fact, that I spent a significant portion of the book convinced that Alice and Tone were current partners and Alice and Emmy were ex's, and in neither case just in the friend sense. I mean, here's Alice describing the tension between her and Emmy:
<i>“Alice, we need to talk,” she says, then sits down cross-legged on the cobblestones. She does it smoothly, in a single movement. She never used to be so agile. She used to be stiff and a little lazy, slow in the mornings and energized by night; used to yawn like a cat, wide-mouthed and red-tongued.
How many times have we eaten breakfast together? One hundred? One thousand? Her with hair wet post-shower, like now, me with yesterday’s makeup still clinging to my eyelashes. But this time my face is bare, and hers is closed.</i>
SUPER PLATONIC, I ALWAYS THINK ABOUT MY FRIENDS' TONGUES. So, that's a bonus for some of us.

Overall, <i>The Lost Village</i> is a good source of page-turning chills and thrills, but also the kind of book where you'll probably forget what happened as soon as you finish it. It's a popcorn movie in horror novel form, but hey – sometimes that's exactly what we all want.

Note: there are two characters with mental illnesses (one with severe autism, one with a psychotic disorder), who suffer due to the prejudices of those around them. I thought it was handled better than you'd expect from a trashy genre novel, but one of them dies violently, and I respect anyone not wanting to read it for that reason.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3629209057

Engrossing and very well written story that gives the feel of paranormal without any actual ghosts. Great novel for someone that enjoys dark mysteries or horror. I would recommend this book and would like to read more from this author.

I was so excited to be able to read this ARC but unfortunately I did not find it interesting at all. I couldn't get through the entire book since it didn't hold my attention at all.