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tessa_talbert's review
3.0
⭐⭐⭐
Two went missing.
One returned.
The search continues
Village of the Lost Girls is a slow-burn, atmospheric small town thriller set in the Spanish village of Monteperdido located in the Pyrenees mountains. The village is shocked at the sudden disappearance of Ana and Lucia, two little girls who vanished seemingly without a trace. Monteperdido mourns their lost children, but five years later Ana suddenly reappears, wounded and worse for wear, but very much alive. Now, questions and secrets threaten to suffocate the people who keep them as they desperately try to find out what happened Lucia and the person that took the girls from them on that fateful day.
This book was translated from its original Spanish (and English readers should give that grace because some of the translation might feel a bit off to us. Just remember translations aren’t always absolute.) but it didn’t take away from the overall haunting, constricting feel of the atmosphere. We follow Sara and her partner, Santiago, as they are tasked to solve this elusive mystery. The town is very close-knit, very protective of each other, and entirely suspicious of these strangers who have infiltrated their home and threaten to unravel secrets long guarded. This tension makes things difficult for Sara and Santiago as they try to uncover the truth.
When I say slow-burn here, I definitely mean it. A 500 page cop procedural is a task for anyone, even fans of the genre. This one dragged in places, raced forth in others, it had all the elements of a good procedural, especially all the conflict with various towns-people. Red-herrings were executed rather well for the most part. You definitely got the feeling that you knew who the culprit was only to be jerked in another direction. Frustrating stuff, but that’s what we love about it.
But they glossed over of the state of Ana’s mental health. She couldn’t remember much, of course, but I really felt she should have been more…taken care of, in that respect. It seemed odd to me that she wouldn’t have gone through counseling at the very least. And there were times it seemed like I really was dragging myself into the next scene. I love a good, tight mystery, but this could be a little hard to follow in terms of the details.
Overall, I think it had plenty of potential and if you don’t mind the “slow descent” type of read, then you’ll likely enjoy this one!
tw for the topic of pedophilia, kidnapping
*My thanks, as always, to Netgalley and the Publisher for gifting me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*
Two went missing.
One returned.
The search continues
Village of the Lost Girls is a slow-burn, atmospheric small town thriller set in the Spanish village of Monteperdido located in the Pyrenees mountains. The village is shocked at the sudden disappearance of Ana and Lucia, two little girls who vanished seemingly without a trace. Monteperdido mourns their lost children, but five years later Ana suddenly reappears, wounded and worse for wear, but very much alive. Now, questions and secrets threaten to suffocate the people who keep them as they desperately try to find out what happened Lucia and the person that took the girls from them on that fateful day.
This book was translated from its original Spanish (and English readers should give that grace because some of the translation might feel a bit off to us. Just remember translations aren’t always absolute.) but it didn’t take away from the overall haunting, constricting feel of the atmosphere. We follow Sara and her partner, Santiago, as they are tasked to solve this elusive mystery. The town is very close-knit, very protective of each other, and entirely suspicious of these strangers who have infiltrated their home and threaten to unravel secrets long guarded. This tension makes things difficult for Sara and Santiago as they try to uncover the truth.
When I say slow-burn here, I definitely mean it. A 500 page cop procedural is a task for anyone, even fans of the genre. This one dragged in places, raced forth in others, it had all the elements of a good procedural, especially all the conflict with various towns-people. Red-herrings were executed rather well for the most part. You definitely got the feeling that you knew who the culprit was only to be jerked in another direction. Frustrating stuff, but that’s what we love about it.
But they glossed over of the state of Ana’s mental health. She couldn’t remember much, of course, but I really felt she should have been more…taken care of, in that respect. It seemed odd to me that she wouldn’t have gone through counseling at the very least. And there were times it seemed like I really was dragging myself into the next scene. I love a good, tight mystery, but this could be a little hard to follow in terms of the details.
Overall, I think it had plenty of potential and if you don’t mind the “slow descent” type of read, then you’ll likely enjoy this one!
tw for the topic of pedophilia, kidnapping
*My thanks, as always, to Netgalley and the Publisher for gifting me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*
thebooktrail88's review
3.0
Visit the locations in the novel
Village of the Lost Girls, Agustin Martinez. Set in the fictional village of Monteperdido in the Pyrenees, this is a police procedural with a difference. The disappearance of two young girls is not going to be an easy topic to read about but it makes for a compelling tale. Even more so, when one of them returns after many years ‘missing’.
Monteperdido is the remote and rural setting. Not your usual setting for a crime novel and police procedural but this made it all the more compelling. It gives a sense of loss to the novel, a sense of the impossibility of finding the other girl in such a vast landscape. But it also shows the miracle return of the other girl. She seems to have appeared from nowhere.
Inspector Sara Campos comes to Monteperdido and together with her boss Santiago, starts to investigate the disappearance and the search . Local people are in two minds about whether this is a good thing – opening up a can of worms. This case seems odd to them. One girl still missing and the other an enigma. Lucia’s father is a lone and emotional figure trying to grab on to any chance there is of getting his daughter back.
He is not the only troubled figure however as there is added tension with Sara. As leader of the investigation, she has to remain impartial, but she finds out that the case is rather close to home. She begins to fall apart and it’s an interesting story line. Will she manage to keep going or will the valley swallow her up too?
I think this might have been more of a straight forward crime novel but the location takes it to another level. The sense of space, remoteness, claustrophobia and the vast void which makes up the setting create a fascinating background which soon becomes a character in itself.
The novel was good but it could have done with sharper, shorter chapters. Translation was excellent though and it read well overall. It was definitely the location which made this stand out for me.
em_h_ma's review
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
1.0
I found this book at @smithandsonparis for half its original price and was convinced both by the cover and the summary. The story is about Ana and Lucia, two girls who disappeared at eleven years old while coming home from school. Five years after their kidnapping, Ana is found in an accident car, next to a dead man. Having rescued one of the girls, the police try to understand what happened during those five years and who abducted Ana while trying to find Lucia, who might still be alive. But Ana Has difficulties remembering things and seems to hide elements of her story, and even lies, to the police. I’ll start with the positives about this book. The beginning of the story was promising and intriguing. The description of the scenery and the landscape really made the story feel more realistic and the writing wasn’t bad at all. BUT I had a very hard time to keep reading as the story progressively felt lingering and didn’t seem to end. There were too many characters (to the point where I didn’t even know who was who) and too many side stories. The victims, Ana and Lucia, were totally antipathic and very childish for 16 years old, which can be understandable given their history but it was just too much complaining, jealousy and lying for me. There was no character to which I could relate and the overall story just felt disgusting, dark and truly unnecessary. The end was very disappointing to me and happened way too fast compared to the rest of the story. There is no real resolution or justice to the story and I just didn’t understand the aim of this book. Finally, the summary seemed way more exciting and intriguing than the actual story. For all these reasons, I wouldn’t recommend reading this book but, if you do, please share the trigger warnings first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Kidnapping, Violence, Murder, Gun violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
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