I received this as an ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

There are many books that I do not really like, and most of the time when I do not like a book, I usually just say it did not work for me and keep moving. There are so many great books out there that need reviewing that I don’t waste much time reviewing books I do not enjoy. Having said that, there is something about The Lost Village that really makes me angry enough to vocalize my frustrations. I will be spoiling some of this book, which is also something I never do, but I will be putting a warning before this section.

I usually find the good in everything I read. In The Lost Village, I really was attracted to the story. Five people are going to a mining village where everyone disappeared sixty years earlier. The mystery of that set up with the horrors that are likely to come to the five new visitors is very appealing. I was very excited to read this. When I got into the story, the writing was clunky but okay. I do not know if it was the authors or the translator who made some of the prose kind of stiff and boring, but it was definitely noticeable that this is a translated work. I was not terribly disappointed in most of the story, but there are elements of it that I have very strong feelings about. It is upsetting that this novel turned out the way it ends. I am one to suspend belief sometimes to make a plot work, but the turns that The Lost Village make are not things that I can overlook.

*Spoilers below*

There are some really dumb things that happen, like the main villian in the end is someone who has been living in the village since it has been empty. For sixty years. The village had lost its mining jobs long before everyone disappeared, so the likelihood that anyone found enough food in that time to sustain herself seems a little far fetched.

It is also far-fetched that the five people who are supposed to be there to film a documentary does not film anything. They take pictures with cameras, not video recorders, that are rented for a short period of time. I do not know how cheap it is to rent equipment, but I do now it would probably be just as expensive to buy a few GoPro cameras and use their smartphones to record video footage. All of their phones end up with dead batteries, but I would think that if the entire project relied on electricity to film, there would be a small generator or something they could bring to charge up their phones.

But these are not my biggest complaints. My biggest complaint is the treatment of Tone, one of the characters who sprains her ankle badly enough to need to take pain killers. To do this, she does not take her antipsychotic meds for a few days. So of course when she wanders off and bad stuff happens to the rest of the group, she is instantly demonized for being the mentally unstable woman off her medication. Not only is this a dangerous stereotype for people who have mental health issues, it is just plain untrue. Tone’s mental health is not so bad that she is going to turn into a raging killer after missing her pills for two days. I don’t think any psychiatric medicine is out of your system that quickly. What we have is characters who perpetuate stereotypes more than awareness, and for this alone The Lost Village is a damaging book.

When a small film crew come to "The Lost Village" a deserted mining town where everyone went missing in 1959. All that was left in the town was a woman stoned to death tied to a pole and a crying newborn in the nurses office at the school. The crew have come for answers in hopes to film their own documentary, shortly after setting up camp though things start happening. People go missing, equipment gets destroyed. It soon becomes clear that perhaps they were never as alone as they once thought.

The spooky vibes in this book were so strong and great! With a small cast of characters you get to know each and everyone of them quickly and the dynamics between them. Of course you do get to know some of the characters better than others as the story is told from Alice's point of view. I also enjoyed the dual time line, so not only are you hearing from the current documentary crew, but also from one of the villagers who lived in the town in the days that led up to everyone disappearing. I think it was the 'then' time line I enjoyed the most.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a spooky vibe book. For those who enjoy a secluded setting, and small cast. It is a great read for the autumn months when things are getting colder and spooky season is all around us. Anyone who likes horror or thrillers (without a lot of revels or twists).

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

Creepy and very atmospheric. I knew something was going on, obviously, but couldn't guess WHAT, and the alternation timelines kept me guessing. I didn't see the end coming, and I had to suspend slight disbelief with the way everything was resolved.... that said, it was all in all a pretty good book, and I am grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to read it.

At the start the tone is set that something gruesome has happened and very possibly could happen again. When I heard there was a town where all the people seemingly vanished, I was like "Oh no, here we go again Roanoke!", but thankfully this isn't that story. What this is is a mystery that a modern day film crew is trying to solve in their new documentary. They return to the town for a week to get some preliminary footage to show to the financial backers in order to get more money to make the actual film. There are five of them, some with actual ties to the town and some that are just very good at their jobs and agreed to help on the film. Back in 1959, the people of the town seemingly vanish into thin air, leaving behind a baby and really no other clues as to what happened. Through letters, diaries and research, the film crew starts piecing together some of the events. This is about where I have to stop with the plot so as not to ruin the mystery, but suffice it to say, it's a good one. The back and forth from Now to Then is done well and easy enough to follow which is helpful as there are a lot of characters to keep track of. The atmosphere is successfully creepy in it's ghost town-like nature and the descriptions are such that you get a great idea of how things look, but still have room for imagination. The characters are fairly well fleshed out, you get some background but not a life story which is fine by me, you know enough to know how you feel about them. The only reason I didn't give more stars is because I still have questions that I want answered, but perhaps there is opportunity for a prequel??? I would actually love that!

Unfortunately, this book is a little too creepy for me. After reading the synopsis and then the beginning of this book, I had to call it quits because it was giving me the creeps and I had to turn all of the lights on in the house. I guess I should have read the synopsis in advance, instead of just requesting the book based on the title and the cover. I'm sure this "Blair Witch Project' style book would be someone's cup of tea, but unfortunately it is not mine. Good luck to anyone who reads it!

I loved this book so much! Eery and spooky and kept me guessing until the end. This was my first book by the author and I am definitely looking forward to more of her work!

2 stars. I had heard this wasn't good, but I still hoped I would love it. People were right, this one was not a good one for me. Full review to come. I mainly had issues with the treatment of mental health and the mixed messaging.

I remember being really intrigued by this one when I requested it, and then avoiding books that felt like they might be monster horror because I had a bad run with those. I'm glad I finally picked this up to round out my spooky reading season because it was creepy, bizarre, and not at all what I was expecting. This is a GREAT Halloween season read, or any time.

The comps for this were spot on -- it truly is Midsommar meets Blair Witch Project, but somehow less compelling than either of the two. It was incredibly readable, but really fell apart in the last act for me. There was a hint of a paranormal element that just wasn't fully explored in any way, and some plot points that I wish had been expanded upon were just glossed over. By the end, I just kind of felt like "that's it?"

The treatment of mental illness in this was also... not great. I did like that the author addressed how draining it can be to be the sole support of a friend in the midst of crisis, but that was canceled out by writing off an entire character as psychotic and violent because they [checks notes] take abilify.

The concept itself was really interesting and could have turned out so much cooler with some more thought-out writing. I will say that I got pretty creeped out at some parts and it was an incredibly atmospheric read. This would be a fun horror read if you're not looking for anything too well put together.

Review limited to Goodreads due to rating

1 Star

This is a book storyline that I should have gobbled up like there was no tomorrow. Sadly, the book fell beyond flat for me enough to where it dragged out in reading. I found myself having to force myself to finish the book.

I found the characters beyond irritating and the storyline just never rose up to where it should given the premise.

Reviewed for publisher via netgalley.

Thank you, Netgalley!

Trigger Warning: Rape

This is why cults are bad.

Okay, now that's out of the way, I have to say after learning what was happening to Birgitta, I didn't really care what happened with the rest of the town. Save for Elsa, the rest could have burned. I definitely hadn't expected to cry while reading this, but I did. The reality of her situation just hit me 1) because of how often it really happened - both the rape and people claiming she was possessed for her disability and 2) because my own son would like have been burned/stoned for possession as well.
Mattias was a complete bastard for what he did to her. I don't even care about his cult. They chose to follow him blindly. They'd have been better with the alcoholic priest, but that's another topic. What he did to her and how everyone in the town - who knew her and how helpless she was - chose to look the other way and then blame her for what happened. It makes me sick.

I was a little disappointed with the end. I was really hoping for something scary.

Incredible Blair Witch vibes, dark, gory, and absolutely keeps the reader reeling until the end. Perfect spooky season read or for anyone for loves darker spooky books with ghost town vibes like To Break a Covenant.

I really wanted to like this book but it just didn't work for me. I love the premise and was patiently waiting for some creepy things to happen but unfortunately they never did. Starting from the beginning the plot just didn't seem to make sense to me. Also, the ending was ridiculous.

Thank you so much @Minotaur_Books & @NetGalley for giving me this physical ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 23 March 2021)

SYNOPSIS | In 1959 an entire village of people from a small rural mining town go missing. Alice's grandmother's family were among those missing people so she takes it upon herself to return to the town 60 years later to film a documentary uncovering the mystery of what really happened.

WHAT I LIKED:
- the isolated small town eerie vibes
- the fact we are trying to solve the mystery of what happened

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the character development. I never got a sense of who this group of characters really was & why they specifically had been brought along.
- the escalation of tension & the 'big reveal' didn't work for me
- I wanted more creepy haunted ghost vibes
- the portrayal of mental illness in both the past & current timelines was problematic to say the least

My rating scale:
5☆ - I loved this book and it brought out true emotion in me (laughter, anger, a good cry, etc)
4☆ - I loved this book.
3☆ - I liked this book.
2☆ - I didn't really care for this book.
1☆ - I did not like this book at all and probably did not finish it.

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t really sure what to expect heading into this but I was pleasantly surprised. This is the type of story that makes you question everything you know about what's happening in the story. You’re second guessing everything that’s happening within the story and you are very unsure whether it’s paranormal or not.

The Lost Village is set in Sweden which I really enjoyed. I haven't read a lot of books set in many other countries that are not set in the UK or the US. This is a very fast paced story and almost straight away you feel the sense of foreboding and claustrophobia of this little village.

Right from the start creepy things start to happen, the characters feel like they are being watched, they start hearing screaming, giggling and other weird things start happening.

This is a very fast paced story and I could not get enough of it. Throughout the story we realise some of the crew are hiding secrets from the other characters and when it comes out it doesn’t end very well.

The Lost Village discusses some important themes such as mental illness, recovery, how certain mental illnesses have a bad reputation and how scared people can get, saving yourself from someone who is dragging you down, suicidal thoughts and so much more. This story really packs a punch.

Camilla Sten does not hold back her punches. There is a lot of gore and a lot of violence within this story so please be careful going in.

Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt is trying to figure out what happened to the people of "The Lost Village", which includes her grandmother. She decided to get answers and gathers some friends and a crew to find the answers. When they get there, mysterious things begin to happen and things go missing. Can they get the answers they want before they all disappear?

This book was atmospheric to the core. The author did such a great job describing the setting. The abandoned town seemed deeply unsettling and menacing with so many creepy old buildings, broken and discarded things and just the absolute quiet of the place. It definitely wouldn't be the type of place I would choose to spend the night. The mysterious and unexplainable happenings definitely gave off haunted ghost vibes. The chapters were nice and short and it alternated between then and now. It gave the reader a glimpse into what could have happened in 1959 but no answers are revealed until the end of the book. All in all, a book I'd recommend to possible newcomers of horror.
Review to come on YouTube.

In Sweden there is a village by the name of Silversjarn that used to be a thriving mining village, but once the mine closed it became known for the fact that the entire town disappeared without a trace leaving nothing behind except a baby in the schoolhouse. It was clear by the remnants in the village that something awful took place, but it remains a mystery as to what exactly happened.

The story is a dual perspective following Alice and her team filming in the village in the present, and the past being represented by Alice's relatives that lived in the town before the disappearance took place. The pacing of the story is quite fast, and I found myself constantly captivated. The setting is creepy, the plot is super suspenseful.

Check out my YouTube video where I have done a dedicated review.