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casuallyreadingx's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Okay, if you're looking for a spooky read, this book definitely fits the bill. It's the kind of book that I would not be able to handle in movie form—I couldn't stop listening to it because I just had to know what was happening or I wouldn't be able to sleep haha.
The narrator did a good job too. The blurb compares this book to two movies, and I think if I'd been familiar with those movies I probably wouldn't have read this...but honestly did not know what those movies were about lol. So this rating is my own fault; this genre is just not one that I particularly enjoy and, though I'm entertained while reading, I'm left with a "meh" feeling and a desire to start a different book immediately.
I was disappointed in the characters in this one. I never felt like I got to know any of them, not really. Even the main character doesn't have any tangible development. So I didn't really care about the characters as much as I would've liked. They made stupid decisions which of course had consequences and I just shrugged and kept reading.
Also, the "answer" to the mystery...was too unbelievable for me. I was left with a lot of questions about plausibility that I feel like were just ignored for the sake of the plot.
But like I said, this genre just doesn't do it for me—if you enjoy a good plot-focused mystery with spooky/creepy/horror elements, you'll probably like this one!
The narrator did a good job too. The blurb compares this book to two movies, and I think if I'd been familiar with those movies I probably wouldn't have read this...but honestly did not know what those movies were about lol. So this rating is my own fault; this genre is just not one that I particularly enjoy and, though I'm entertained while reading, I'm left with a "meh" feeling and a desire to start a different book immediately.
I was disappointed in the characters in this one. I never felt like I got to know any of them, not really. Even the main character doesn't have any tangible development. So I didn't really care about the characters as much as I would've liked. They made stupid decisions which of course had consequences and I just shrugged and kept reading.
Also, the "answer" to the mystery...was too unbelievable for me. I was left with a lot of questions about plausibility that I feel like were just ignored for the sake of the plot.
But like I said, this genre just doesn't do it for me—if you enjoy a good plot-focused mystery with spooky/creepy/horror elements, you'll probably like this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault
pclairx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, and Mental illness
Minor: Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit
laura_watiklees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
SCARY
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gore
Minor: Rape and Alcoholism
beholderess's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, and Ableism
Moderate: Death
Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, and Self harm
archaicrobin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I have a real pet peeve about publishers marketing books incorrectly. This novel was described as a mix of Blair Witch and Midsommar and all I can say is how? There was nothing paranormal about this book at all, nothing creepy or eerie, it’s just another mediocre “crazy” cult book. I figured out the twist less than an hour into the audiobook, so the whole reading experience was me hoping I was wrong because the “twist” is dumb. I was so excited to read this one, and despite some disappointing reviews I decided to still give it a try, I shouldn’t have.
Alice is attached to this old village where her grandmother grew up. Alice heard all these stories and is enthralled with figuring out what happened to everyone in the village. Who stoned this lady to death? Where did everyone go? Why? To answer these questions Alice gathers a film crew made of friends and acquaintances with limited experience to travel to this town and film a documentary trying to figure out what happened.
Weird but mundane things start happening, none of the characters are like able or even seem like actual people. Alice is also absolutely the worst, no redeeming qualities at all in my opinion. As the gang bumbles along they start to realize they might not be alone. The story jumps back and forth between Now and Then. You see how this town starts to turn into a cult, kind of. It’s more like everyone wakes up one day and decides to just be psychos. The author tries to create a scenario where this whole cult thing makes sense, but it’s just too weak. “They all lost their jobs and this new hot guy says he’ll be their hot priest so now they’re a cult” isn’t really a good set up for me…
I did not enjoy this, I was disappointed and just kinda irritated honestly. Positives? The audiobook was great, very well done and the writing was also great. It was just everything else that sucked.
Alice is attached to this old village where her grandmother grew up. Alice heard all these stories and is enthralled with figuring out what happened to everyone in the village. Who stoned this lady to death? Where did everyone go? Why? To answer these questions Alice gathers a film crew made of friends and acquaintances with limited experience to travel to this town and film a documentary trying to figure out what happened.
Weird but mundane things start happening, none of the characters are like able or even seem like actual people. Alice is also absolutely the worst, no redeeming qualities at all in my opinion. As the gang bumbles along they start to realize they might not be alone. The story jumps back and forth between Now and Then. You see how this town starts to turn into a cult, kind of. It’s more like everyone wakes up one day and decides to just be psychos. The author tries to create a scenario where this whole cult thing makes sense, but it’s just too weak. “They all lost their jobs and this new hot guy says he’ll be their hot priest so now they’re a cult” isn’t really a good set up for me…
I did not enjoy this, I was disappointed and just kinda irritated honestly. Positives? The audiobook was great, very well done and the writing was also great. It was just everything else that sucked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence
casslibraria's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
madarauchiha's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
It's a passable horror story. It's not so much supernatural horror as it is religious and human horror. It's definitely tense, with some scary parts. There's more gore-horror than scary-horror, if that makes sense. I felt like it could have used more paranoia inducing stalking / hunting scenes. Otherwise it was pretty satisfactory. The ending was solid and answered every question posed. Despite the content warnings, this isn't too tortureporn-y. The writing and translation was clear and enjoying too.
Content warnings.
minor alcohol use, alcoholism, asphyxiation, blood, bone fractures, cancer, child abuse, confinement, death, emetophobia, infertility, jonestown massacre, mass suicide, miscarriage, murder, pedophilia, pregnancy, rape, self harm, sexual violence, smoking tobacco, suicide ideation, whorephobic language [used twice]
medium ableism towards person with autism, child abuse, childbirth, cults, emetophobia, medical content, mental illness, pregnancy, psychosis, sexual assault, suicide, suicide attempt
major ableism, arson? / explosions, cults, death, gore, murder, religion catholicism
It's a passable horror story. It's not so much supernatural horror as it is religious and human horror. It's definitely tense, with some scary parts. There's more gore-horror than scary-horror, if that makes sense. I felt like it could have used more paranoia inducing stalking / hunting scenes. Otherwise it was pretty satisfactory. The ending was solid and answered every question posed. Despite the content warnings, this isn't too tortureporn-y. The writing and translation was clear and enjoying too.
Content warnings.
minor alcohol use, alcoholism, asphyxiation, blood, bone fractures, cancer, child abuse, confinement, death, emetophobia, infertility, jonestown massacre, mass suicide, miscarriage, murder, pedophilia, pregnancy, rape, self harm, sexual violence, smoking tobacco, suicide ideation, whorephobic language [used twice]
medium ableism towards person with autism, child abuse, childbirth, cults, emetophobia, medical content, mental illness, pregnancy, psychosis, sexual assault, suicide, suicide attempt
major ableism, arson? / explosions, cults, death, gore, murder, religion catholicism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Abandonment, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Vomit, Infertility, Suicide, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts
pamshenanigans's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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- “The Lost Village is a book about a lot of things—isolation, fear, the terrifying power of groupthink, and how desperation can drive us to do things we never thought we’d stoop to”
- “And maybe more than anything, it is a book about how society views women suffering from mental illness.”
- “There are three female characters in the book suffering from mental illness, and they are all perceived and treated differently. One of them has recovered, one is in recovery, and one was never given the chance. They are neither victims nor villains. They are just people, with differing needs and levels of functioning.”
Trigger/Content Warnings: cultism, depression, suicide, autism, psychotic disorder, death by stoning, sexual assault
- “The Lost Village is a book about a lot of things—isolation, fear, the terrifying power of groupthink, and how desperation can drive us to do things we never thought we’d stoop to”
- “And maybe more than anything, it is a book about how society views women suffering from mental illness.”
- “There are three female characters in the book suffering from mental illness, and they are all perceived and treated differently. One of them has recovered, one is in recovery, and one was never given the chance. They are neither victims nor villains. They are just people, with differing needs and levels of functioning.”
Trigger/Content Warnings: cultism, depression, suicide, autism, psychotic disorder, death by stoning, sexual assault
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Death
creepycrawlybookworm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a great audio read, that had me hooked quickly. There were some more predictable plot points, but others that I didn't expect too! I became more invested in the characters as the story progressed, even though not all were loveable, that isn't an issue for me particularly, as I'd rather read about flawed, interesting characters, than sugar-coated ones.
There was also a good mix of creepiness and suspense amongst the characters themselves, as well as in the town, and it worked well alongside the group dynamic and documentary parts of the story.
There was also a good mix of creepiness and suspense amongst the characters themselves, as well as in the town, and it worked well alongside the group dynamic and documentary parts of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Torture
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Blood, and Ableism
Minor: Cursing