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A review by tessa_talbert
Village of the Lost Girls: Perfect for fans of The Missing by Agustín Martínez
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.*