Our Horror Book for the Month theme was a book by a female author and we found so many books that fall under this category. Though The Lost Village by Camilla Sten fits with this prompt too, since we got a review copy through NetGalley, Ariel and I decided to chat about it like our usual buddy reads. Take a look at the synopsis below and then read on for our discussion about this haunted ghost town story.
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.
Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:
They are not alone.
They’re looking for the truth…
But what if it finds them first?
Content Notes: Ableism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence.
The Lost Village
Whole book Discussion
The Lost Village had a promising premise of a haunted ghost town. I was keen on reading it because I always connect such works to House of Leaves which is an amazing horror story (one I am too scared to finish). However, what I expected to be a ghost story ended up being a religious doomsday unraveling that just did not add up. What drew you to this book, Ariel, and how did you feel about it when we finished?
When we saw this on Netgalley, it looked like it would be a fun horror thriller. We both enjoy the genre, and are constantly looking for a fresh take in the thriller context. I was fully hoping and expecting a ghost story as well, but all the religious themes really turned me away from enjoying this book fully. By the end, I was pretty confused, and I thought that the two storylines felt unbalanced.
I did not find any of the characters likeable at all. While this is not a deal breaker in a book, it is hard to enjoy a book where everyone has secrets and past lives which affects the whole project but no one is speaking up. I found most of the plot predictable and the people ill equipped to take on such an exploration of a town that had been left untouched, and would most likely be in ruins, after sixty years. There was a lack of research around how such an exploration of old buildings would have to be done. I personally have a little more context for it because my partner’s family owned a home restoration business and talk often about demolitions and charting damaged structures. They were more panicked than they needed to be and all the secrets between them and unresolved issues caused more mayhem than the town itself.
Not having likeable characters can be an asset in a book, but I think that these characters lacked the depth to make the unlikeable characters believable. I think people may enjoy this book if they know what to expect, but in this case my expectations and my reading experience did not add up.
We chatted about the representation of mental health in this book. The Lost Village has two timelines and while it does make sense to have a narrow unhealthy view and stigma around mental health in the past, the actions of the crew in the present were not very well informed either.
Mental illnesses have a history of being demonized and dehumanized in everyday language and hyperbolized tropes can be found in horrors as well. I think the author was aware of this and was trying to be mindful of this, but overall the characters’ lack of depth didn’t make up for that awareness very well.
We have read a few books now (and DNFed others lol) which had a religious angle to them. Station Eleven, one of our first buddy reads last year, is the one I remember being the most concretely in building an image of a post apocalyptic religious trope for me. I was not expecting that in The Lost Village at all.
While we mostly enjoyed Station Eleven, I think it had a well-rounded out religious-cult theme. However, I think that was the first one we read together, and I feel like it’s a pretty big challenge to make a religious-cult trope original.
Yes, there is only so much you can do with it. I think there was a little bit of a new angle here with the significance of the mine in the town but overall, I didn’t quite grasp the point. That just might be because of my personal religious beliefs or lack of?
Yeah I wonder ultimately if it was just us feeling completely surprised by the trope that threw us off! I think that some people who really are drawn to cults may appreciate this slightly different take.
Agreed.
Concluding thoughts on The Lost Village
There is certainly an audience for The Lost Village and we have seen lots of good reviews on Instagram.
We hope that if you pick up this book you know exactly what to expect and find some pleasant surprises along the way!
The Lost Village is out today! We would recommend finding it at your local library and supporting them!
Many thanks to the publisher for providing us a complimentary copy of the book with a request for an honest review.
Thank you for reading! For more book discussions, check out the books with * in the Book Review Index.
Cover Image: Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash
I haven’t written a review although I’m hoping to, but I think the assumptions of the characters about Tone, are the point. If, as the reader, you abide by their thought process without question? Then when you finish the book, you need to have a long talk with yourself and biases. If you aren’t screaming at the characters… what and how and why are you/could you possibly assume this about Tone? Then you have some serious biases to deconstruct. Maybe being bipolar gives me a different lens to read through, but that is how it came across. Had the assumptions been the truth? Then this is a whole other conversation, obviously.
Hi Susan! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You bring up a good point about how maybe we were supposed to feel the way we did. We wholeheartedly agree with you. Please do share your review with us when you post it as we would love to read further perspective on this. – Kriti & Ariel
Great discussion, Kriti. So insightful!