The Lost Village: A Novel by Camilla Sten
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Web ID: 14352569Not Good
I was really drawn to the premise of this book and especially liked the documentary angle. The underlying mystery was somewhat interesting, however it was really hard to become absorbed in the story since I really did not care for the main character. I also felt that there were some pacing issues and elements of the story that just made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley. I would give this book a hard pass.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
How could an entire town disappear overnight?
That's why Alice Lindstedt - a documentary filmmaker - is at Silvertjärn, to find out how the old mining town's entire population disappeared in 1958. Including her grandmother's entire family. But more than just the mysterious disappearances, Alice and her small team want answers for the stoned woman found in the town square, and the only survivor; a healthy baby found in the abandoned school over 50 years ago. There's another person in Alice's team who has an even closer connection to Silvertjärn, a connection that causes strife between everyone's sanity and the "ghosts" that had laid dormant in the half-century since the mass disappearance... Wow. That is all that comes to mind when I think about how to describe The Lost Village, just wow. While I love horror movies and scary stories, the few horror novels that I've read have not left me satisfied, but Silvertjärn did not disappoint! Firstly, all of the characters - those who made it to the end and those who didn't - were well-rounded and all had their own motivations for going on the documentary excursion. One person went to carry on what a family member had started, one came along as an apology, and another to find answers to their life, but all of them went for love, whether it be familiar, platonic, or romantic. Now, don't get me wrong, the care and attention that went into creating this novel is palpable on its pages, but it is a horror novel through and through. Sorry fellow romance addicts, there's not much to find here. But the prose will captivate you with how beautiful this small idyllic town is and once was with the flashbacks of the point of view from Alice's great-grandmother, and her own. Hearing how the town once thrived before the mine shut down, and everything that came after, made the story feel whole. The reader could understand what truly happened there, and not just the observations and educated guesses of the film crew. And that ending, oh! I had guesses of what may come, all of which I was happily wrong with, but that ending really was the biggest surprise, and the epilogue rounded it off perfectly! There was one more person whose voice needed to be heard. It let us into the mindset of the most forgotten, and most loved, character in the whole book. That was the best way to wrap up the whole book. All in all, 11 out of 10 stars! I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes thrillers suspense, horror, or even really dramatic family dramas. There is a little bit for everyone. All you have to do is pick up the book to be transported to Silvertjärn, and I promise you will love the trip.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great read for a horror enthusiast but…
Ill keep things short… The plot is cliche but sometimes thats not a bad thing! The presentation of the overall plot is solid and I enjoyed my time with the book. Only real gripe was at the beginning with the foreword from the author about mental health. Its very ignorant to try to boil down the topic as “tool to oppress women”; the author clearly didn’t do any research to the history of mental illnesses and while yes, it was used to scapegoat some heinous acts against women. That isn’t the whole story. Men and women both suffered greatly from society’s lack of understanding on the subject. Look at shellshock victims of WWI for instance. I wish she actually presented mental illness as more than just a “tool the patriarchy”. It doesn’t do justice to the victims who were persecuted because of their mental and developmental disabilities.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Don't say I didn't warn you
When the main character in a story is a mysteriously abandoned town, the promise of a good scare is guaranteed! Camilla Sten builds this excellent scare of a story in two parts, the town as it was just before all of the residents disappear and the town now, as a young woman comes in with a film crew to find the story of how an entire town could just disappear. She is descended from one of the missing families, has heard the story her entire life and is determined to solve the mystery. In a good book, she could solve the mystery and live happily ever after. But in a GREAT book, the town and it's spirit are determined to hold on to the mystery......this is definitely a GREAT book. You can almost hear the creepy music as you know that something is about to happen and you are going to be sorry you are reading after dark. Loved the book........
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Page-turner
Something truly terrible happened to the villagers of Silvertjarn in 1959. Over nine hundred citizens vanished without a trace leaving behind only two, a girl brutally murdered in the town square and a newborn baby left to fend for itself in the school's nurses office. Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt's relatives were among the missing and she is determined to solve the mystery of what happened there. Having her grandmother's letters to her sister and mother who both vanished all those decades ago to guide her, Alice pulls together a team to go to the abandoned town to research content for their film. But once they arrive they soon realize that someone...something...or maybe the village itself doesn't want them there. Accidents start to plague the crew. Equipment is destroyed. People start to disappear. As fear and suspicion creeps over the group they soon begin to question if they are truly alone in Silvertjarn or if the dangers that plagued the village never really left. I have to be honest, I am not a fan of horror books, movies, whatever. The fact that this is plugged for fans of "Blair Witch" should have been my first indication to run but I kept on. "The Lost Village" was really such a page-turner...until the end. The is it/isn't it paranormal vibes just didn't quite hit the mark for me but the mystery aspect of it had me gripped. I love podcasts and documentaries so I could see this having a real market to get optioned into a series or movie at some point. Thriller/horror/mystery fans should give this one a try.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Frightening until the very end!!!
I thought this was a well-constructed story of creepy horror! Every detail worked to present a fascinatingly frightening book. Hope she keeps writing. Loved this book and its chilling details!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Good, but lots of unrealized potential
Camilla Sten’s The Lost Village is an atmospheric horror that, while good, it didn’t quite push past that threshold to next level horror that I was hoping for (and that I was led to believe would happen based on the synopsis). Gothic, eerie and haunting, it had a lot of elements to it that readers will enjoy, but with an ending riddled with plot holes, it fell short of its potential. I think one of the things that frustrated me most was that the synopsis led me to believe it was about something other than what it’s about. I was expecting to get more time with the film crew and have a few more “Blair Witch” moments (as it was pitched). We don’t really get that. What we get is a slow burn account from Alice, who is guiding the film project, and from Elsa, who is one of the village residents from back in 1959. There’s just so many places this could’ve gone and it didn’t. Elsa’s entire plot line could’ve been a story in itself and I was dying for more character development from the people in that time and for more action and incidents from that 1959 timeline. There was a vampire horror story in that narrative that is dying to be written. Alice’s plot line was equally set up to be incredible and it didn’t go anywhere near where I had assumed it would based on the synopsis. We don’t get much action or time with the film crew even filming. Any supernatural events are mere paragraphs long and underdeveloped. As with Elsa’s timeline, Alice’s would’ve been fine as its own had we gotten more time with it. There were quite a few plot holes as well that I won’t talk much about because I don’t want to give anything away. It took away from the build and left a rather flat, unsatisfying ending. With all that said—I know it seems like I’m nagging on the book—I didn’t mind it. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t boring. It fell into that “meh” read zone for me. I did the audio and the narrator was fabulous—my ranking for the audio portion aside from the story itself would be much higher. There were other things I liked—the gothic elements, the paranormal teases, the premise of an abandoned town plagued by tragedy. But there’s a difference between potential and execution and I felt that this one was ripe for terrifying and unforgettable and it just fell short.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Creepy Gothic Mystery
Alice has been obsessed with a small abandoned Swedish mining town her whole life, “The Lost Village.” One day in 1959, all the inhabitants disappeared except her grandmother who was out-of-town and a small, abandoned baby. Despite multiple investigations over the year, no one has determined where the residents went and why. Alice is leading her crew to film a documentary, get initial shots and marketing materials for their documentary, and solve the mystery. It becomes quickly apparent that they are not the only ones in this village. Three words to describe this book: Gothic. Atmospheric. Creepy. Cover: Super creepy. The cover matched the vibe of the book. Character Development: Alice is a developed character, and the story provides background around her mental health and how that has impacted her past friendships and relationships. I did feel like the context of the relationships of her crew members are missing. I wanted more on why these folks agreed to go to an abandoned village, on a shoestring budget to help their friend Alice. World-Building: Fantastic. I love creepy, spooky, terrifying books and this book gave me goosebumps. The author does an excellent job describing the town and I felt like I could see this world. If you like gothic vibes, you will like this book. Plot & Pacing: This book is billed as a cross between Blair Witch and Midsomer. I would say that the book does not live up to this comparison. I found the plot and the explanation for the disappearances to be a bit too simplistic and I wanted more complexity. I wanted the plot to match the atmosphere of the world. The pacing was uneven throughout the book, especially in the first half. The second half clips along at a steady pace. Verdict: I loved the creepy vibe of this book, but I was a bit disappointed by the plot and lack of character development. I would recommend this book if you are new or want to sample a gothic mystery/horror genre. This book is also great for folks who want something creepy without tons of gore. ARC was provided to me by St. Martin’s Press, in exchange for an honest review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com