A good ole fashion ghost story along the lines of The Blair Witch Project., but i felt it dwelled too long in the present without a lot of action.

📝 Review time! 📝 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Just finished The Lost Village by Camilla Sten and talk about a creepy story. This is perfect for a rainy gloomy night. It's very well written and a fairly fast paced read. It's a ghost story that will give you all the creepy vibes you feel in movies. It does flip back and forth between the past and present but I enjoy those books. I definitely recommend this if you like paranormal, horror, ghosty type books. It hits the shelves I believe in March of 2021 in the USA. It was originally released as the book Staden (The Town) in April 2019 in Swedish edition, so mark your calendars because you definitely want to add this to your TBR/Wish list. I know I have a new favorite author. I will try to give a synopsis without telling too much. Thank you to @netgalley and @wednesdaysten along with the publisher @minotaur_books for allowing me to review this book.
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Alice, Tone, Max, Emma, and Robert all set out to research and film a village called Silvertjärn where many years ago people just disappeared. Vanished. Gone, just like that. Alice wants to film a documentary about it after reading letters that her Grandmother and Great Aunt Aina (who lived in Silvertjärn) exchanged back and forth before everyone vanished. The first night there things are already happening and it progresses as each day passes. Sounds, sightings, mysterious things happening with equipment begin to freak them out. Three days in and one of them turns up missing and with everyone feeling they aren't alone, they don't know what to think. Alice finds some letter and pictures that finally begins to click everything into place, but will they all make it out?

This was a great read! Creepy and deliciously atmospheric, and that cover is just perfect. I love books set in Scandinavia and this one did not disappoint.

Alice Lindstedt is connected to Sweden's "Lost Village" through her grandmother and is obsessed with finding out why almost 900 people disappeared in 1959 with the exception of a baby found in the school's nurse's office and a woman stoned in the village square.

Alice gathers a small film crew and is intent on discovering the truth about what happened here. She hasn't been too successful in her career and is hoping this can be her big break. But when they arrive in Silvertjarn, things quickly go downhill: their equipment is destroyed, someone goes missing, and Alice swears they're not alone: ghostly voices and visions plague the group.

It soon becomes clear that there is more at stake than finding out the truth for a film: their very lives could rest on it.

I started the first third or so thinking that maybe this would be a better movie than a book. It moved a little slowly, though I did like the premise and thought Sten painted a wonderfully realistic setting. The book moves between Alice's present and the past--featuring her great grandmother, Elsa. I thought the "past chapters" were far more enticing. The present read a bit clunky to me--I think it was their dialogue and the stilted way the group seemed to react to everything--and Alice felt a little lackluster to me. She was frustrated that things weren't going her way--including fellow crew member Emmy trying to take things over, but she never really seemed to know what she was doing.

But there was always this great sense of dread that there were monsters lurking in the corners (don't read this before bed!) and things really picked up after this mark.

I do have to say, though, that overall, I liked Elsa's narrative best and wished even more of the book took place in 1959. One thing I was missing was an even deeper glimpse of where creepy Mattias came from and how he was so able to put a spell over the town as he did.

Thank you to Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for a review. I will now be on the lookout for more Camilla Sten books.

A real gripping page turner! Suspenseful, edge of your seat!! Think Blair Witch. While I enjoyed the book I'm giving it 3 stars because I felt it lacked some information about the pastor (why did everyone follow him??What was it about him?? Where did Tone go when she was missing??) & Tone that could've given the store more of a thriller ending.
Overall, a great story & has made me think twice about visiting an old mining town!

This was a creepy read, especially while vacationing in the woods. I honestly struggled with the two storylines and I understand how they intertwine, but it was a little too far fetched and predictable. I enjoyed the creepiness, but I think it had almost too much going on with all the characters and it was hard to focus. I will maybe give it another try but overall 3.5.

I thought this was an excellent and fast paced read- fantastic for a chill weekend reading. I was genuinely pretty surprised by the ending, and really loved the mood throughout. This will be a great read during the time it’s going to be released! A wonderful cozy novel.

The Lost Village has a fantastic plot premise. Our central character, Alice, leads a documentary crew to investigate the strange, seemingly abandoned village, Silvertjarn, and unlock the secrets to its dark history of human sacrifice. Once the crew arrives at the desolate site, things quickly go awry, and thoughts of the documentary give way to a desire for survival against an unseen force.

The narrative jumps between the present day and the past, leading up to the catastrophic events that resulted in Silvertjarn becoming a ghost town. The links between then and now quickly become evident, and result in a pretty shocking and devastating conclusion in both timelines.

I enjoyed this book, but felt the excitement dipped a little in the middle. The last few chapters especially had a few moments that genuinely made me gasp. And while some of the characters were well-developed, some felt disposable. It was never really made clear what made the supposedly enigmatic pastor so entrancing to the people of Silvertjarn. To be honest, I felt like the story of the past could have been developed a little more, at the expense of the slower present-day sections.

Overall, the majority of the novel was very enjoyable, and I did race through the book. While the content was often incredibly dark, the book was a relatively easy read. I'd categorize The Lost Village as a horror-thriller, rather than a full-on horror novel, as I don't think there was enough of a sense of unease or dread created to describe it as uncanny.

I would absolutely read more of Sten's work; I understand she's pretty prolific in her native Sweden. I recommend this book to lovers of folk horror, mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels.

When I first saw this title offered, I thought of Roanoke. The tagline for it was for Midsommer and Blair Witch Project. I have also been trying to read books written by authors from around the world. All that convinced me that I needed to read this book. The book goes between two time settings, 1959 and present day, (titled as “then” and “now”). It takes places in a ghost town called Silvertjärn, Sweden. In 1959, this small mining town had one child found alive, one woman found murdered and the rest of the villagers, gone. Disappeared. Vanished. Over 900 people never heard from or seen again. The child is found, placed in a new home and name. All that is left are ruins of a decaying village and rumors. Present day, Alice Lindstedt is a young filmmaker. She grew up hearing about Silvertjärn from her grandmother. The grandmother grew up in the village, moving to Stockholm after she married. She had been getting letters from her mother and sister until the discovery of the missing. Alice is making a documentary about the disappearances. She hopes to solve the mystery. She has the idea to start a Kickstarter to get the funding. To do that she convinces four others to join her on a preliminary look at the village to get photos and make a short film. She and one of the others have a secret, though. The other person wanting to make this project with her is the daughter of the surviving child. Alice had tracked her down. From the first day there things went wrong. At first they tried to come up with excuses or just ignore it. Was it the girls doing those things? Was someone there trying to sabotage the documentary? Or is the place just evil? I loved reading this book! It was tremendously atmospheric. Camilla Sten created a realistic feel to the creepy tale. All of the characters were well written. Flawed and relatable you could easily imagine knowing them. The descriptions of the houses, church and school placed you in the village. The weather touched it with a gray moodiness that added to the chill. In case you are wondering if the dual time and narrators work out, the answer is a resounding yes! This author pulled the tension tight cohesively. Many times I get annoyed while reading books set in two different times with different narrators. Not so with this story. My heart would be racing in the now only to be calmed switching to then just to have my heart racing again. I was being well played and I loved it. If you are looking for a book that will bring shivers, put this one on your to be read list. I received an advanced review copy of this book from Minotaur, an imprint of St Martin Publishing Group, through NetGalley. My review is honest and voluntary. I read and reviewed this book during the local library summer reading program and I really hope the library chooses to get this one when it comes up. It is a book I plan to read again, in the fall or perhaps on a dark cold winter night. I honestly can’t wait until I can buy a copy. It’s been awhile since I fell in love with a book this hard.

In 1959, 900 residents of the old mining town Silvertjarn mysteriously vanish, leaving behind a woman who had been stoned in the town square and a day old infant.
Alice, whose grandmother's family was among the residents who vanished, has always been obsessed with the town and the mystery. Now aspiring to be a documentary filmmaker, Alice things she can get her big break with a film that explores the mystery. When her crew arrives at the town, strange and horrible things start to happen.

If you are looking for something a little creepy & spooky, this might be for you. I thought it was OK. Spoiler Alert - The villagers were really a bunch of mindless sheep. I don't know that someone can survive alone eating old food for 60 years. A bit unrealistic. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Such a delicious, blood freezing, unputdownable combination: intense, gory, depressingly dark Scandinavian horror elements dances with a story reminds us of Blair Witch Project and Stand ( without apocalypse but insane leader and his batshit worshippers theme)

It is fast paced. It is outstandingly exciting, terrifying paranormal, horror novel that you don’t want to stop reading and you cannot put down even though you forget the iron plugged in and you can smell the smoke coming from your kitchen at the same time.

It was one of my fastest reading. Everything about this book intrigued me: one haunted, abandoned, deserted town named Silvertjarn. Its 877 residents had disappeared into thin air. Nothing has left behind. No corpse, no trace, no next of kin! They have just vanished by leaving so many conspiracy theories behind.

As soon as five members of documentary crew arrived the village, they realize something is wrong with this place. Somebody is watching them. They hear eerie voices including people’s screams, giggles from walkie talkies. The houses left like its occupants can come back at any second.

Alice Lindstedt is the producer and this documentary project is her obsession because it will help her learn more about her ancestors’ pasts.

She was raised by listening her grandmother’s stories about the lost village like dark Grimm fairy tales. The residents including her grandmothers’ parents and sister are still missing and she is adamant to find the truth.

At this abandoned place, only a person has been found at the school building: A little baby. Her parents has been unknown and her name has been changed after adoption but Alice already knows the baby’s identity. She already convinced miracle baby’s daughter Tone to be part of the crew.

And she also hired her old friend, once upon a time her best friend Emmy for her excellent filmmaker skills but she still has second thoughts because of her trust issues. They were estranged because of a tragic event they both have no intention to discuss about. Emmy’s boyfriend Robert and Alice’s friend Max were also other team members to support project.

With limited budget and in only five days, they plan to achieve the impossible and finalize their shots and leave the place as they scheduled but Tone accidentally hurts her leg and she disappears when Emmy leaves her alone to drive somewhere with better reception to talk to her mom call the police if she won’t hear from her.

Where did Tone go? Did somebody kidnap her or was she involved with something more sinister connected with the vanishing of the village?

Wow! Wow! Wow! We’re moving back and forth between 1959 and present to learn more about town’s history, how the village’s people lost their hopes by losing their jobs at the mine and a new pastor’s arrival gave them the false hope they needed and turned them some kind of eerie lunatics.

Ending twist was surprising, pace is heart throbbingly fast and riveting. I’m giving my well deserved 4 stars as a die hard fan of Scandinavian literature!

Get ready to surprise, jump from your seats and enjoy each of your screams! This book was absolutely my favorite cup of chilled Chardonnay!

Soooo much thanks to NetGalley and St. Patrick’s Press / Minatour Books for sharing this incredible Arc with me in exchange my honest opinions.

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author Camilla Sten for providing me with an ARC of The Lost Village!

Scary, spooky season is upon us (not soon enough), and this is the perfect read to get you in the spooky spirit. I felt tinges of darkness and dread while reading this - how thrilling on a dark and stormy night. This was a great tale of a could be documentary filmmaker, and reminded me somewhat of The Taking of Deborah Logan. This was the type of adventure I'd love to take, only from the comfort of my safe couch in my safe home. So what better answer than to read The Lost Village?!

I look forward to reading more of this author's work, and again thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Lost Village.

I love anything scary so I was stoked when my request was approved.

The premise sounds familiar but no less thrilling; a young documentary filmmaker is hoping to get funding for a project based on what happened to the locals in a remote village. She has a unique connection to this bizarre story; her grandmother's entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy.

Naturally, once Alice and her motley crew arrive, strange things occur.

At the same time, the narrative winds back to the past, and readers are given insight into the events that led to the locals' disappearance through the eyes of Alice's great-grandmother.

Alice's great-grandmother's perspective is the most interesting and I wished there had been more from her point of view.

You know what to expect in movies and books like this; odd noises and sounds, the appearance of someone or something, things go missing, and bad things happen.

Alice is not a likable character. She is flaky, disorganized and not suited to be a documentary filmmaker. She has no plan or agenda and presumably set out on this adventure with little to no guidance other than the obsession she's nurtured for this lost village since she was a child.

It also does not help that she suffers from depression, and one of her crew members/friend is also not of sound mind.

This is a familiar trope used too often; an unreliable main female character with a mental illness which hampers her objectivity and rational mind.

To make things even more interesting, let's put two female characters of not quite sound mind to embark on a journey to an isolated village to find out what happened to the locals.

Nothing can possibly go wrong here.

I did enjoy the author's explanation behind the disappearance, but the ending is abrupt, and wrapped up too quickly.

The writing was good, especially in describing the village and the isolated setting. I think most readers will enjoy this, but the characters could be improved upon.

I will read the author's next book.

I loved the setting of this new title by Camilla Sten, "The Lost Village". What happened to the old mining village that it seemed to just have disappeared into thin air? Alice, the main protagonist of this story, takes us to this abandoned village and proceeds to get video footage and other information for the documentary she is producing about said village(-a Swedish word difficult for me to pronounce and type, but I digress). I had a few minor criticisms while reading the book for example, Alice did not seem competent enough to me to be the lead for the production of a documentary--we see why Alice did make some of the dumb choices she made but some are just mystifying. The writing flowed and you wanted to find out just what happened all those years ago and the portrayal of Pastor Matthias gave me the creeps. Much of the book had an overall dread and darkness to it. The ending was a little disappointing in some respects but overall I still would recommend it as it was an original and scared me.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

Well-written, scary tale of a would-be documentary filmmaker and her ragtag production team, investigating a small, remote town mysteriously deserted 60 years ago. Where did Silvertjorn's nearly 1,000 citizens go and why? A horrifying crime the townsfolk left behind them, an alternate narrative by a Silvertjorn woman describing the days leading up to its desertion, and mysterious attacks on the present-day film crew create suspense and dread. However, relationships among the filmmakers are also explored with unexpected depth as past behaviors, mental instability, and risky decisions come to the forefront under extreme stress. Highly recommended; could lead to discussions about mental illness and friendship. Be forewarned that one of Silvertjorn's 1959 denizens is a mentally disabled person who figures prominently in the town's demise.

Ever want to explore an abandoned mining town? Yeah, me too! That's why the premise of this book had me hooked right from the start. A small film crew ventures to an abandoned Swedish mining town to scout the location and unravel the mystery of how everyone in the town suddenly disappeared, except for one baby and a murdered woman. Intrigued?

The story switches between "Then" and "Now" with two different narrators, so you are getting the backstory of the town as the creep-tastic modern-day adventure ensues. I love books where the author allows the reader a decent chance to solve the mystery along with the hero. This is one of those. There are also plenty of typical horror tropes to have you yelling at the characters "Don't go in there! Don't go off alone!" and sometimes shake your head at their stupidity.

Only two complaints - I thought the angsty frenemy drama between Emmy & Alice, got annoying and cluttered up the plot and I was a bit confused about who Max is. Is he Alice's boyfriend? Are they dating? Friends? What? How did she find this guy? Maybe a few more lines of dialogue would've helped me care about him a little more.

Overall, "The Lost Village" is a fun Nordic thriller best read with the covers pulled up tight and the door double-locked.

“The Lost Village”—Camilla Sten [4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️] This was quite the creepy thriller and I seriously couldn’t put it down! Alice is making a documentary about the small town known as “The Lost Village” where all of its residents simply vanished, which included her grandmother’s entire family in this mysterious tragedy. Alice has recruited a small group of people to go into this village to work on this project, where they are trying to uncover the truth of what really happened here. There’s also so many unanswered questions on the reason behind a woman who was stoned to death in the center of town, along with a newborn that was abandoned. As the crew is camped out, weird things start happening; equipment is destroyed, people go missing, and their all on edge since their in the middle of nowhere with no help close by. As they try and seek answers, they all start to realize that they may not be alone here and that someone doesn’t want them to discover the truth. This story goes back and forth between the past when the mysterious incidents occurred to the present, and it was very well done, keeping you intrigued and guessing the whole time. This book is anticipated to be released in March 2021, but make sure you add this to your TBR now so that you don’t forget! I highly recommend checking this out 👍🏼 *Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review*📚

This book was AMAZING! The pacing was so well done and I felt compelled to read until the late hours of the night. I had to know what happened! Though a bit graphic for high school students, I may use sections of this book to talk about suspense and atmosphere in my Creative Writing elective course.

This was so crazy good!! Super creepy - think Blair Witch with a touch of religious fanaticism. Cool imagery, fast-paced, and flawed characters that you can’t help but hope make it out of the Lost Village.

This book flipped between then and now in a clear manner, which I really appreciated. There was a bit of mystery, with multiple characters disappearing or being injured, the reader is left wondering who did it.

Thank you NetGalley Publisher & Author for this gifted e-book

Summary
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.

But there will be no turning back.

Review
This was a pretty great book from.start to finish
This was a perfect mystery book of you ask me.
From the charts to the story all the way to the ending.
I really enjoyed it.

Rating
4/5