Eleanor can’t recognize faces. She needs context and patterns in movement to recognize people in her life. Which makes her the worst witness to a murder. She walks right by the person who kills her grandmother. Later, she and her aunt are called by a lawyer to inventory the house she didn’t even know existed. Her inheritance. Once there, she realizes that something is not right.

Decades earlier the family inhabits the same home. The madness that grows there will change the life of Eleanor. As more and more people are harmed, the past and the present meet. Camilla Steen’s The Lost Village had the same slow burn and creepiness. The same inevitable crawl toward a horrible truth. A truly sickening story.

At times I enjoyed the narration. Some of the accents were well done. I didn’t like when the narrator was voicing Eleanor.

Wow! I was not expecting the twist at the end. My mind was going somewhere else entirely when at 70% I mostly figured out the main mystery. Told from 2 POVs from 2 timelines - Annushka is the voice of the past and Eleanor the present. The past was a sad story of loneliness, loss, passion, and regrets. How the choices of those in the past effects the future.

The main protagonist, Eleanor, has face blindness, and because of this condition, she comes face to face with her grandmother’s killer but is unable to identify the person. Then she finds out she just inherited the family’s ancestral mansion that she knows nothing about. This was the start of Eleanor trying to unravel the mystery surrounding her grandmother. And when the past catches up to the present, secrets are revealed but at what cost?!

Angela Dawe did an excellent job with the accents and the voices of each character. Her performance truly sets the right mood for the book, suspenseful and at times truly creepy.

Thank you Macmillan Audio via NetGalley for the advance audiobook.

Vivianne wasn’t always kind. She wasn’t even a good mother. But Eleanor didn’t want her to die. Especially in such a brutal way.

Now she finds out Vivianne has left her property that Eleanor knew nothing about. As Eleanor goes to this remote home, secrets emerge and strange things happen -while a blizzard rages on.

This was a very atmospheric book. I didn’t know who the killer was, loved the dual timelines, and felt tense while listening. The narration was fantastic. Definitely check this one out!

The Resting Place by Camilla Sten is a gothic locked-room mystery set in a remote mansion in Sweden. The story is told in dual timelines, in present-day and the 1960s. The present-day is told in Eleanor’s perspective, a woman around 30 whose grandmother was murdered some months earlier. Though she saw the culprit run past her, she could not identify them because she suffers from face-blindness, which added to the ominous, paranoid feeling of the novel. She has inherited the family’s mansion she never knew about, that hasn’t been occupied by the family for decades. The 1960s story is told in the perspective of Anushka, Eleanor's grandmother’s maid and cousin from Poland.

Eleanor's grandmother Vivianne raised her and was very ascerbic and cold as a caregiver. After Vivianne's grisly death, Eleanor learns she has inherited a mysterious, remote property and visits with her boyfriend, estranged aunt, and an estate lawyer in order to itemize everything on the property for potential sale. They visit in winter and strange inexplicable things start occurring and we start to learn about unspoken family secrets. I found the story fascinating and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I really enjoyed Angela Dawe’s audiobook narration. The voices she used for each character, especially for the cantankerous Vivianne.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook / audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I started this book, I was hoping for something that would keep me in the edge of my seat and with every moment, Sten delivered! The atmospheric drama of The Resting Place carefully wove together decades of lies and deceit, leading to the ultimate "woah" moment when it all came together.

The characters were all well developed, the pacing was perfect, and the suspense kept me from putting this book down. This is easily in my top 10 for the year!

THE RESTING PLACE by Camilla Sten

Told in alternating points of view I found myself wanting to live in one world more than the other.

In the present tense, Eleanor suffers from Prosopagnosia. Also known as face blindness. When I read a few quick facts about this disorder I became even more fascinated by what you could do with a character who suffers from this.

Not only do they have trouble recognizing people they know, they also cannot tell between unknown faces and also can mistake faces for objects.

The anxiety this brings is palpable and does not get lost in the translation.

So you take this character who is disabled and use of her extrasensory perceptions to try and figure out how much danger she’s really in. And by the time she realizes the malice she’s already the frog in hot water.

Very good!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Coming March 29, 2022
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio/ St Martins Press for this advanced copy!

After her grandmothers brutal murder, Eleanor inherits a mansion in the Swedish countryside, that she never knew existed. When Eleanor arrives at the house she can’t fight this feeling that someone is watching her. What she doesn’t realize is that the house is about to reveal all her family's dark secrets which have been buried for a long time.

I devoured this book! I loved Camilla Sten’s writing style. Alternating between the past and present, Sten does a great job at transporting you into this cold and creepy mansion! Short chapters filled with murder, secrets and revenge, this is a fast-paced thriller you won’t be able to down.

Loved the audiobook. Angela Dawe did a great job at bringing these characters to life. 

Thank you to @netgalley and @ StMartinsPress for gifting me a copy of this eARC and @MacmillanAudio, for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read & review this ARC.

The audio narrator was excellent for this book, but that's no surprise because Angela Dawe is probably one of my fav audio narrators.

This book was twisty and atmospheric, with a lot of characters. Honestly, I had a hard time keeping all of the characters straight, but it didn't take away from the overall story, because the story was written in such a way that you could still understand and follow the various storylines and time jumps.

A cool bonus was I learned a new word...prosopagnosia (face blindness).

If you enjoy V.C. Andrews type vibes with a healthy serving of mystery/thriller, than you will probably enjoy this book.

Camilla Sten is becoming an author who you can depend on for an intriguing read.

I enjoy that there is so much mystery and creepiness that you start to wonder if something paranormal is occurring.

I listened to this as an audiobook, and some of the character voices were kind of irritating, but they weren't main characters and you start to get used to them (after all, many of us have annoying voices in real life.)

The Resting Place is the latest thriller by Camilla Sten after her very popular book The Lost Village.

In The Resting Place, we are introduced to Eleanor who suffers from prosopagnosia or face blindness which leaves her unable to recognize or remember the faces of anyone, even those closest to her...or the person who murdered her grandmother Vivianne.
When Eleanor walks in after her grandmother has been stabbed she also walks in on the killer as they flee the scene. Eleanor struggles with the trauma and fear that comes with the murder of her grandmother.
Eventually, the book moves to the secluded estate left to her by her grandmother, Vivianne. The house in the Swedish countryside holds dark secrets about Vivianne, Eleanor’s mother, and the family history that Eleanor has been told.
Eleanor, Sebastian her boyfriend, her Aunt Veronika, and the lawyer sent to catalog the estate are pulled into the mystery that weaves between the past and the present that will reveal secrets long buried.
There are plenty of chills and puzzles and the writing keeps you moving through the story at a steady pace.
It was an enjoyable read, but it sadly lacked some of the atmosphere that was so pervasive in The Lost Village. I also found most of the characters to be largely unlikable so the tension was a little lessened as well.
Sebastian’s dialogue for the last part of the book consists primarily of “okay,” repeatedly which become old rather quickly and removed me from the story.
The antagonist seems to come from nowhere as a secondary character that we were largely unexposed to and fell a little flat for me.
Overall, the book is entertaining and I did enjoy it and would recommend it highly to fans of her first book and will be looking forward to the next book by this author.
Thanks to #NetGalley #Macmillan Audio and #Camilla Sten for the Advance copy of this book.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

This was definitely an interesting one. A little bit of a slow burn at times, but still managed to draw me in. The narrator was good as well.

This was a really good thriller! There were a lot of characters to keep track of between past and present but the narration was great. It had a great twist at the end and overall a good listen.

An atmospheric and creepy gothic novel that is beautifully narrated in audio format by Angela Dawe.

This book follows two timelines, one in the Nordic 1800s and one in present day. Eleanor, our present-day heroine, suffers from face blindness, and comes upon some writings implicating her ancestors in some terrible and very gothic crimes and abuses at the same time as she is working to solve a present-day mystery. Take one part Flowers in the Attic, mix with one part Nordic noir and half a cup of historical romance and you will have The Resting Place.

This is a slow burn for sure, but beautifully written, haunting, and full of atmosphere, weird familial relations, forbidden relationships, longed-for children, .identity crises, and abusive and sinister ancient adults. The narrator does a wonderful job of increasing the drama, mood and atmosphere, and I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook and the many characters and their convincing tones and accents.

Camilla Sten remains a unique, lovely and descriptive writer and I look forward to her next book! Her tone and atmosphere are a perfect match for Angela Dawe’s voice acting skills. I hope the author can keep using this narrator for future books.

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for this lovely and creepy listen.

The family mansion Eleanor inherits following the murder of her grandmother is super creepy. Her and her boyfriend head to the property to sort things out with the estate lawyer. Once they are there creepy things start happening. A snow storm blocks the roads so they are stuck in this haunted house.

The atmosphere in this one was so dark. Chilling, (snow) stormy and uneasy. I loved the alternating timeline/POVs and the aspect of Annushka’s diary from 1965 full of secrets. I felt claustrophobic in this one. The imagery is so strong. The facial blindness Eleanor suffers from fits at the beginning of the story but doesn’t carry through effectively. I did suspect everyone involved at least once.

This will be posted to Instagram in the future.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This had great atmosphere, but the plot and the characters were lacking.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, (listen to it) but it was not for me. Best of luck to the author. Because the book was not for me, I will not be leaving reviews on social media.

While this one was definitely slow paced, it was certainly compelling! After learning about prosopagnosia in Rock Paper Scissors last year, I was just so intrigued by the premise of this one and imaging how you could be face to face with a murderer and you wouldn’t even recognize them!

I really enjoyed Sten’s writing style and loved the dual timelines and the past diary entries! I don’t read Horror as often as I should but I really liked the creepy and eerie vibes of this one! Spooky and atmospheric thrillers can be hit or miss for me but I found this one worked and felt unsettled in a good way the entire time!

This was my first by Sten but I’m deifnetly interested to read more!

I simply could not get past 25% of this book. I'm not sure if it was the narrator of the story but it just didn't work for me. I tried the physical book and that was even worse.

I'm sure this book will find the right audience.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Just a personal note: I had read Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney before starting this audiobook and I may have been a bit thrown off at the similarities between the two books. Both had main characters with prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, and the debilitating weather making the characters stuck. The latter had been a theme in the last three thrillers I read so it was getting old for me.

The first thing I thought about this book is how convenient that Eleanor has face blindness. For me it's too obvious of a point in a thriller and doesnt work in spooking me. Having to explain the face blindness is also distracting to me. That said, this was well written, but the characters really fell flat. I was disinterested and that just added to the confusion between characters and the switching timelines. There are two characters with 'V' names that I kept mixing up. One thing I didn't understand is the constant identifying of what language each character was speaking (Swedish or English) after their dialogue. I do know this is a translation, but it was distracting and pointless to me. Overall, I felt bored and disappointed with this one. The storyline was too formulaic and too slow to really grasp me and the characters unlikable and one-dimensional.

I have not read Sten's debut, but have heard good things and will give that a try.
This audiobook was provided to me by NetGalley.
All opinions are honest and my own.

The resting place gave me a rollercoaster of emotions. I find the story unique but has touches of the iconic Haunting of Hillhouse. I could not stop listening. Every time I had to do something else I was sad to leave it. The narrator in this book is one of my favorites so it made listening easy and comfortable. I am so grateful to have the chance to read this book and review it.

ARC Review - Expected Release 03/29/2022

Note
This is the second book i’ve read recently related to prosopagnosia, the other on being Rock Paper Scissors

It’s definitely an interesting plot device that works well for books, not sure how they would translate if the books were ever adapted to the screen; but importantly this is a real condition that affects millions for real people to varying degrees. The books as expected tend to lean towards people who are affected strongly but it affect others to lesser degrees, I don’t think the authors are exploiting this condition but rather bringing more public awareness for a lesser known condition


Brief Description
After witnessing the murder of her grandmother and despite the murder being in the room Eleanor can not identify the killer. Skip forward several months and she is still dealing with the trauma of finding her dying grandmother, and dealing with closing the estate they discover a “secret” mansion estate that needs to be accounted for as part of the dispersement to the family, which consistent of just Eleanor and her estranged Aunt Veronika; So they go out there and meet with a lawyer on the property to document the contents and uncover the reasons it was kept secret and they may not be alone!


Actual Review
I can’t help but picture all the characters as the actors from The Gilmore Girls, while not necessarily fitting their descriptions it’s my head canon based on their attitudes.

I really enjoyed this book! It kept me engaged and guessing throughout, and while some of my predictions turned out correct they were executed in a satisfying way and there were other secrets that looking back were alluded to but i didn’t; catch at first. Just what a mystery thriller should be

There were areas where the pacing was a little off kilter but not enough to take me out of the story. I do feel like there was some miss opportunity for character development, we don’t see a lot of growth of change from the characters and the side characters are definitely kind of brushed off to the side by the end despite their ordeal.

I liked the inclusion of the diary to add an additional voice and history to the story. It was a nice touch instead of just having the aunt talk about the past or something. It also added an additional unreliable narrator which is one of my favorite things

The atmosphere was appropriately claustrophobic execution of a lock room scenario, despite being on a literal manor estate the snow keeping them in kept is realistic and not that i think of it is another parallel to RSP.

I’d be interested in reading more from this author.

Audiobook Notes
This was Narrated by Angela Dawe, and she did a good job of embodying these characters and giving them feeling.

Big thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a chance to get in on this book early. I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.