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A review by beetitnerds
The Lost Village by Camilla Sten
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A good mystery with some pacing issues. I'd recommend this to someone just getting into the cult/folk horror genre, but maybe not to people who are already fans. For what it's worth, this is way more Limetown and Midnight Mass than Blair Witch or Midsommar.
I liked all the characters in this book, I liked the jump between perspectives, and the answer to the mystery is good (if predictable to genre-familiar readers). The Epilogue was one of my favorites I've read in a long time. I loved the thoughtfulness with which the author wrote about mentally ill and disabled characters, and I loved the strong and distinct female cast.
My biggest criticism in this story is the pacing. It's a rather short book, and there was a lot of exposition to get through. I enjoyed the exposition, and I enjoyed getting to know the characters, but it meant that the setting- which is almost its own character- didn't get to shine as much as it could have. We didn't get to spend much time building up the suspense and creepiness of the location, which is a shame, because I think this story could have used the documentary framing device to its advantage to give us an excuse to actually see the ironworks, for example. It's also a shame that we didn't seethe mine until the very very end, because scary mines in an abandoned mining town sounds like a no brainer, and frankly, if I found out 900 people suddenly disappeared, I'd have absolutely assumed they went into the mines. The fact this never comes up in-universe as a conspiracy theory is distractingly unrealistic. Anyway, the plot takes place over about 4 days, so I understand why things starts popping off so quickly, but we're introduced to locations and then immediately have those locations turn into threats. It would've been nice to have some time for suspense to build.
I liked all the characters in this book, I liked the jump between perspectives, and the answer to the mystery is good (if predictable to genre-familiar readers). The Epilogue was one of my favorites I've read in a long time. I loved the thoughtfulness with which the author wrote about mentally ill and disabled characters, and I loved the strong and distinct female cast.
My biggest criticism in this story is the pacing. It's a rather short book, and there was a lot of exposition to get through. I enjoyed the exposition, and I enjoyed getting to know the characters, but it meant that the setting- which is almost its own character- didn't get to shine as much as it could have. We didn't get to spend much time building up the suspense and creepiness of the location, which is a shame, because I think this story could have used the documentary framing device to its advantage to give us an excuse to actually see the ironworks, for example. It's also a shame that we didn't see
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual assault