Hi everyone! I am here today with my review of Village of the Lost Girls for its blog tour! I was lucky enough to have my review scheduled for the actual release date of the English translation in the US! So, happy (kind of) book birthday to Village of the Lost Girls!
Check out the rest of the tour schedule:
Village of the Lost Girls by Agustín Martínez, translated by Frank Wynne
Five years after their disappearance, the village of Monteperdido still mourns the loss of Ana and Lucia, two eleven-year-old friends who left school one afternoon and were never seen again. Now, Ana reappears unexpectedly inside a crashed car, wounded but alive. The case reopens and a race against time begins to discover who was behind the girls’ kidnapping. Most importantly, where is Lucia and is she still alive? Inspector Sara Campos and her boss Santiago Bain, from Madrid’s head office, are forced to work with the local police. Five years ago fatal mistakes were made in the investigation conducted after the girls first vanished, and this mustn’t happen again. But Monteperdido has rules of its own. (From Goodreads)
Thank you so much to Mobius for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and giving me the opportunity to participate in this blog tour!
In Village of the Lost Girls, two 11-year-old girls, Ana and Lucia, go missing in the small, mountain town of Monteperdido. Five years later, Ana reappears under mysterious circumstances. Inspectors Sara Campos and Santiago Baín arrive in Monteperdido determined to solve the case and find Lucia. Although Ana appears to be cooperating, her explanation of what happened to her and Lucia is infuriatingly unhelpful to the inspectors. Does she remember more than she is telling them? And which of the town’s citizens is the monster hidden in plain sight?
Martínez truly takes his time to transport the reader to the town of Monteperdido and introduce them to those living there. There are quite a few characters that the author cycles through. While this may seem overwhelming at first, it is one of the novel’s biggest strengths. The reader can immerse themself into Monteperdido and evaluate every character on their own. Additionally, the way that the text quickly switches from character to character helped the long chapters (which I am normally not a fan of) fly by enjoyably. I will recommend grabbing a notebook and writing down the names of the characters as they are introduced. Doing so was extremely beneficial to me and my reading experience.
Another aspect of the book that I liked was that the author did not pull any punches. I was shocked a couple of times by plot developments. Also, characters faced the consequences for their actions, including the inspectors. As someone who is tired of the infallible, hero law enforcement trope, I loved the flaws in the investigators. Sometimes cops make stupid and even unethical decisions, which have negative results. I enjoyed seeing that the inspectors were not magically off the hook because they are searching for Lucia. Actions have reactions whether they’re for “the greater good” or not.
I do not want to say much more for fear of spoilers, but I would recommend this book if you are a fan of this type of mystery. With the way the plot is designed, I think Village of the Lost Girls would make an excellent TV mini-series if anyone decided to make it. If you have watched the show Broadchurch with David Tennant and Olivia Coleman, this has a similar premise and atmosphere, so you will likely enjoy this book too. Just remember, everyone has their secrets in Monteperdido.
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