I love Scandinavian fiction, especially when it dips into thriller or horror vibes. This book was good, but I think the initial description and hype had my expectations so high that I was bound to be let down. It is a good book but to me some of the plot was underwhelming. I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised that I felt this way because Midsommar was similar to me, as far as, a good premise but the actions of the characters and the plot became a bit much, straying too far from believability.
If Scandinavian literature is your thing, do not hesitate to give it a try. I think it just wasn’t a perfect fit for me.
#TheLostVillageBook #NetGalley #StMartinsPress #MinotaurBooks

I was granted eARC access to The Lost Village via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Alright, so, fellow NetGalley reviewers, you know how NetGalley likes to send out emails hyping up particular books and you get tempted into requesting/claiming review copies you wouldn't have picked up just browsing? This is one of those books for me. Some author I'm already familiar with gave it a great quote and that was used in the email, I hit request (or maybe it was read now that day?) and then forgot about it. Then it started creeping up on my spreadsheet of publication dates and I was dreading picking this one up because I no longer remembered anything about it and regretted my impulse click from months ago.

So I waited for pub day and requested the audiobook through Libby, assuming I would DNF it somewhere around 30% and get to report that I gave it an honest try, suggest the right audience, drop that on NetGalley to clear this from my pending list and move on.

And then I started listening to it, and I couldn't stop.

What hooked me wasn't the thriller set-up. That was actually fairly mild and I couldn't place which genre this was meant to be at first. (Again, I remembered nothing about why I clicked request in the first place.) What grabbed me was the characters and the setting. I was raised well-steeped in the remnants of the Norwegian heritage my great-grandparents brought with them to the colony of Upper Canada. My childhood was full of baked goods, folk dances, fairytales, and Christmas carols from the Nordic countries. My Barbie dolls had Scandinavian names and wore bunads I sewed from grandma's fabric scraps. Some of my most treasured possessions were tourist merchandise sent over from my cousins in Norway and Sweden. The first thing that caught my eye (ear) was the character name Tone. I quickly realized I was about to take a gothic horror ride through a Swedish town, and I buckled up.

A film crew of 5 set out to document all they can about the village of Silvertjärn where mysterious tragedy struck in the late 1950s leaving only a baby born on the eve of disaster and those who chose to flee in time as survivors. What some of the film crew don't know is that two of the members have familial connections to the village, one of them even being the granddaughter of that baby. It's obvious from the start that the crew isn't alone in Silvertjärn, but no one wants to admit it. When things start to go horribly wrong tensions soar, accusatory fingers fly, and people start dying. Will anyone make it out alive? Will they ever learn what happened all those decades ago?

I'm going to admit that I don't know if this book truly deserves the 5 or if the nostalgic yearning for Scandinavian settings and stories has coloured my glasses on this one and it's actually a 4, but either way it's a very good book. I would absolutely classify it as gothic horror, and I think the comparison to The Blair Witch Project is fair. It's psychological, it deals with religious corruption and teases the paranormal, it makes family connections to a tragic past, and it explores a ghost town sort of setting. There's very little on-page violence.

Personally, I fell in love with the gothic horror subgenre through film first, with movies like The Village and The Blair Witch Project, and I've only ventured into gothic horror literature outside of (totally awesome) assigned reading for college English courses quite recently. So far I honestly haven't found a gothic horror book I didn't like, but don't let that diminish my giving this one 5 stars. This book blew me away! I absolutely loved it.

If you love thrillers or gothic horror, or if you love Scandinavian stories like me and don't mind being spooked along the way, you need to read The Lost Village!

Bringing an unpopular opinion here because I was extremely underwhelmed.

This book was compared to The Blair Witch Project and Midsommar, so I was intrigued and excited to see where this story would go. We have Alice, an aspiring documentary filmmaker who is infatuated with the story of the missing/vanished residents of "The Lost Village." Her grandmothers family disappeared from this village in the 1950's, and all that remained was a hanging woman and an infant found crying inside of a building. Alice gathers a team to help her film a documentary on Silvertjarn and The Lost Village, to perhaps uncover the truth behind the disappearance of the towns residents.

This had so much potential for me, however, it fell very flat. I was never excited to pick this one up and I think it's because it took too long to get even a little exciting. While this book claims to be about a group of filmmakers making a documentary, no filming happened. I never got any Blair Witch vibes. There were so many flashbacks to the village in the 1950's that give some insight in to what happened, however, I felt that it was all poorly executed. This book was just very strange and I never felt the eerie vibes that others have felt while reading it.

If I'm being honest, this one was like a horror movie that looks good on the trailer, but then when you see the actual movie, you're disappointed that you wasted your time.

Appreciate the e-arc of this one Netgalley, but it's a no from me.

The Lost Village
By Camilla Sten

I really enjoy Scandinavian horror and thriller tropes and the opening of this book already grabbed me and immersed me into the thrilling and quite scary story line. I mean an abandoned village where entire families have disappeared, a documentary filmmaker obsessed with the disappearance, and a remote village mining town. All key ingredients to make this amazing story dual time line story incredible suspenseful that I really enjoyed.

This was fantastic and so well done.

I believe this is my horror/thriller novel of 2021. I was honestly surprised with how much I enjoyed it, considering I rarely read these types of books. However, my interest peaked with “The Lost Village,” and the documentary premise made it better. I also want to point out some triggers such as suicide attempt and abuse of a mentally ill person. I did give this a 3 out of 5 stars, because, again I am not the biggest fan of this genre. It felt like I was watching a low budget, indie movie, it was not really bad, but also not the greatest. I did not like the characters enough to form any type of attachment, and I found myself skimming towards the end. It was not something out of the ordinary. I did like the atmospheric setting, the background story, and the documentary aspect of it. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Village claims to follow a film crew making a documentary about a village where all 900 of its inhabitants mysteriously disappeared in the 1950s so I felt a little tricked considering I was looking forward to the doc aspect yet no one ever actually did any filming in the book.

In my opinion, it's the equivalent of a B horror movie - sometimes entertaining but mostly just corny.

I really enjoyed the mystery of this book and wondered at how all the twists and turns were going to pan out. It definitely was worth it! I enjoyed the eerie presence that lurked in the forgotten village and couldn't wait to turn the page to solve how the people disappeared.

The Lost Village is quite interesting. A film crew travels to an abandoned village to explore the mystery of why everyone in the town disappeared- except for 1 woman found dead in the town square.

Split timelines are a favorite of mine and I loved the spooky atmosphere of the book. There were some negatives - like the annoying present day people with their fighting but it wasn't enough to make me want to quit reading.

I had no idea what to expect going into this novel, but my hopes were high, and I was not disappointed.

The Lost Village is essentially a found footage horror movie in the making. The novel follows a film crew and their experience in a village. I have always loved found footage movies and the vibes they bring to the table; I was basically destined to love this book. If you are not into those vibes, you might not be into this novel.

The novel was very interesting. I read most of the book within two days; I went to bed thinking about it and woke up thinking about it. I really enjoyed the plot. There were a few twists and turns; at one point, I had no idea where the story was heading. I was engaged the entire time. I did not find The Lost Village scary; it was creepy, but not scary. Granted, I have never genuinely gotten scared while reading a book or watching a movie. If you are more sensitive and get scared easily, it will probably scare you.

The one issue I had was that the writing was a little confusing at times. With that being said, I did read the arc and not the official published version, so that might be the cause. The novel was originally written in Swedish, and the version I read was the English translation; this also might have been the reason for my confusion. Regardless, it was not something that occurred often enough for me to be bothered by it.

Overall, The Lost Village was great. There were no significant issues, and I loved the plot and characters. I definitely recommend this novel and hope to read more of Camilla Sten’s work soon.

I loved every second of this book. This format is my favourite when you have 2 narrators from different timelines to tell the story. And then it all merged together in the end. This was brilliant.

We follow Alice as she heads into a lost village in Sweden. The same village her grandmother was born in. A village where in 1950 all 900 of its residents went missing without a trace. We also hear Elsas story about what was happening in this village in the 1950.

This book is well done and fast paced. I do feel like some of the details may have been lost in translation. But the story is there and it is a good story. It’s creepy, dark and almost suffocating. I had to keep reading. I had to know what happened to the characters.

A full, thorough review will be posted on CelticsLibary.com by 5/31/2021

That was a suspenseful story from the start. Alice and a crew of people she knows have finally found a way to go and visit a village that's story has been lost to time. Decades ago, the whole population of the village disappeared.. except one little baby. What Alice and her team does not realize is that this is one adventure they maybe should have passed on. It has been Alice's dream to go there ever since she was a little girl. She grew up listening to her grandmother's stories about the people and lifestyle of that village. It is an old mining town, but things turn dark quickly when a stranger moves in. Soon, the people of that little village, too small to have a train visit more than twice a week and hardly any vehicles to speak of, start changing. Things begin to turn dark and twisted. The time jumps smoothly between the past and present, letting the reader see what really happened back before everyone disappeared, along with Alice and her crew in the present trying to unlock the mystery of what really happened. The story is eerily delightful. This is a great read for anyone who likes easy suspense but that may keep them up late at night going, "Just one more chapter..."
The story sucks you in and does not let go. You just have to know what happened and why. Alice and her team are not any different from the story line from the past. They are seeing figures, a crew member starts to lose their mind, mysterious things are happening and everything spirals out of control. There is no such thing as cellphone reception and are hours away from the next town by car. If anything sinister happens, they are on their own...and it is lurking just around the corner.

As a total horror/thriller fan I jumped on the chance to read this story. It gave me all the creepy vibes and feels that I wanted and kept me engaged into the over all story. I an totally see this becoming a movie someday which would be an interesting watch. The only thing that really irked me is I was not a fan of the main character. Unlikable and annoying for the most part. Although that did not stop me from really enjoying the ride.

If you are into Ghost Stories, creepy outdoors and mystery then this is the book for you!

4/5 Stars

I like the premise but the novel didn't work or me. It didn't feel well-written but that could be the translation. My biggest problem was I couldn't get into any of the characters. For me, they were not developed well enough for the reader to feel engaged with one way or the other. Sorry it was just not for me.

Not particularly an interest of mine but good just the same scary and creepy not my particular genre of interest but ok

4.5 stars. Dark, creepy, and an abandoned ghost town. A perfect premise to suck me right on in. I dove into The Lost Village at night after the rest of my family had gone to sleep. That might have been a poor decision. Well...bad for my nerves, great for the book. I read this almost entirely in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. It was highly intriguing and I was also afraid that if I did put it down without resolution it would result in some plot-inspired nightmares.

Told in a dual narrative style, the creep factor is set up right away with the establishment of the situation that led to the discovery of the abandoned mining town in the Swedish wilds. The timeline then moves back and forth between a documentary film crew in the present and the town in the months and days leading up to the disappearance of the townspeople. I loved this approach and found it fun to get little tidbits back and forth, but I did feel like I could have used more of the past and a more detailed exploration of the town and its dynamics in the final days. The bones of the story were there, but I just wanted a harder examination. The events in the present day were fantastic and the story in these parts was full of tension, jump scare moments, and that wonderful creep factor.

I loved the setting and found it incredibly atmospheric. The town came across wonderfully dark and the use of the nighttime and inclement as the primary setting for a lot of the present day action was a very effective tool for ratcheting up the tension. The effects of time and the explanation of the disintegration of the buildings felt realistic and tangible. The descriptions of the old buildings presented a great juxtaposition of sweet little town and haunted house feel. Giving the village a Stepford feel was also a lovely touch.

I enjoyed the characters, but did feel that a few of them could have used a little more development. The protagonist and her history were examined fairly well, but I would have loved to have a little more about her relationships with the other crew members. I also would have enjoyed a deeper investigation into the backgrounds of the other crew members and some of the original townspeople.

The pacing was perfect. I was propelled through the plot and completely hooked by the narrative. I couldn't read fast enough and putting it down was NOT an option. I needed to know what was going to happen and I needed to know what happened to Silvertjarn! I loved the narrative and really enjoyed my overall experience. There were a couple of instances where the logic didn't quite work, but for the most part the pieces of the story fell into place very well. The ending was pretty solid and wrapped up both story lines pretty nicely.

A good, quick, and creepy read with an incredibly fun setting.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

The Lost Village is a mix of horror and suspense that will keep you flipping the pages. The description of this book mentioned that it was a mix of The Blair Witch Project & Midsommer. I love stuff like The Blair Witch Project (haven't seen Midsommer), so I figured I'd give it a read. I thought the description should have thrown in "sort of Chernobyl-ish" too because the abandoned buildings gave it that extra creepy feeling. That creepy feeling is what will keep you reading. The book jumps back and forth between the present and 1959 when the town just disappeared. Croatoan anyone?? I really liked seeing how the whole story came together. The ending is really unexpected, but I would have been satisfied had there been no "real" conclusion too, it was that good. It is pretty violent in places, so if you can't handle that, you'll want to skip this. But if you love creepy horror stories, you'll enjoy The Lost Village with its plot driven story, well-written characters, creepy setting, and twisty conclusion.

What a fun ride! The Lost Village definitely has a Blair Witch Project type of feel. Alice heads to an old mining town in Sweden to make a documentary. In 1959, her grandmother's family and the whole town disappeared. This novel has all the creepy page-turning vibes. You must suspend disbelief to enjoy this novel because things get more than a little bit crazy in the end.

I wanted to like this but just didn’t connect. I think it could have been the time period. Appreciate the early copy!

I received this from NetGalley. I was really interested in figuring out what happened to a whole village that disappeared, but once it started getting into the religious and how the pastor was changing things, I pretty much realized what happened. I did like the characters and the way the writer showed their emotions and brought the village alive. I would recommend this to anyone that likes horror.

Definitely loved the eerie vibe of this book and the constant wondering about the unknown. I far preferred the flashbacks rather than present day. The uber flawed characters of present day made them very unlikable and not at all relatable. But I do love me a religious cult!.