TW/CW: Language, drinking, unwanted pregnancy, toxic friendships, blood, violence, blood, gory scenes, violence, death by suicide, cheating, death of baby

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
On a remote, craggy island nestled off the coast of Sweden, four friends—Tilly, Anna, Linnea and Evelina—meet every year. Best friends since childhood, the idea is to drink beer, dance by the water, and shake off the weight of life's expectations. The location of the island is a secret to everyone but them. One night of reckless fun and secret-sharing, and then they return to their normal lives.Ten years later. Ever since she was a teenager, Tessa Nilsson has been consumed by the story of four friends who disappeared on their annual trip to a remote island together. As her true crime fervor turned into a wildly popular podcast, Tessa urgently covered Sweden’s most gruesome cases, but could never find the answers behind what happened to these women who disappeared, leaving a few maddening clues but no concrete answers. Now Tessa’s podcast has crashed and burned, any chance she had at uncovering the truth vanishing with it.Anneliese is Tessa’s best friend, and before she walks down the aisle, she wants to have a bachelorette party. The Baltic Vinyasa, a sleek, sophisticated yoga retreat on a small island off the coast—one with such similar characteristics to the tragedy years ago that it raises the hair on Tessa’s neck. The idea is to drink gallons of cava, do sunrise yoga, and get in their last chance to bond with the bride. Tessa will not pass this up. It’s her last chance to find out what happened to the four women, once and for all.And it’s someone else’s last chance to get revenge.
Release Date: June 10th, 2025
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 304
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. The idea of this creepy island
2. Adam seemed like a chill guy

What I Didn't Like:
1. Book became so confusing so fast
2. The writing style felt silly and plain
3. Characters are so ridiculous

Final Thoughts:
You know what's confusing? Having two sets of 4 friends in two different timelines going to the same island. Then add more random characters into the mix. I tried to keep track but I felt like I was having to build a whole world/map to know who was who and when this time was. Why??? Remember books that didn't do this? It becomes confusing and frustrating as a reader.

I think at this point I am calling my relationship with this author dead. I read two other books from her and they've all been 1 and 2 stars. I did finish this book but what did I really get in doing that? Just annoyed with the ending. All these people getting away with murder and not just one person but 4 or more people.

The storyline in this book is so paper-thin it's see through.

IG | Blog

Thanks to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

For years, four friends have held annual weekend treats on a remote island--drinking, commiserating, enjoying one another's company. Until one year, when the women disappear.

Ten years later, another group of women is planning to spend the weekend on the island. This time, it's a bachelorette party for Anneliese and she's accompanied by a group of friends, including Tessa, whose true crime podcast is on hold after a tragedy. Tessa is eager to investigate the disappearance of the four women, especially when she learns the island is owned by the sister of one of the women who disappeared.

When one of their party disappears the first night, there is a quick explanation. And the fact the boat is cut loose is also dismissed. But the women begin to fear the worst.

This book was impossible to put down and even if I forgot major portions of the plot line soon after finishing it, it did not detract from my enjoyment. #TheBacheloretteParty #NetGalley

The Nacka Four—Linnea, Evelina, Matilda, and Anna— disappeared from an isolated Swedish island called Isle Blind without a trace. Their story captivated a generation of true crime aficionados, including Tessa Nilsson. She grew up to have her own podcast, delving into stories of murder and mysterious disappearances.

Tessa’s podcast soon becomes a hit. Then Tessa makes a big mistake, tragedy strikes, and it all goes off the rails. Given the opportunity to attend a bachelorette party at an exclusive resort that has been built on Isle Blind, Tessa jumps at the chance to redeem herself, and perhaps to recover some of her fame by trying to solve the mystery of the Nacka Four.

The author does a good job with the remote island setting. The mood at the brand new hotel in the middle of nowhere is slightly off just enough to make it foreboding and creepy. Clues are doled out in a way that keeps the tension going and propels the story along, and the dual timeline helps to keep the reader invested in learning more. One point of order: the terms “rifle” and “shotgun” are not interchangeable. Shotguns and rifles are different things. However, in the big picture that is a minor quibble. Overall, this story is a very entertaining and fast moving entry in the stranded-on-an-island-with-a-murderer genre.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4, for The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten. Thanks to Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the chance to read this thriller.

Four friends meet every year on a remote island to blow off steam. The location of the island is a secret to everybody but them. It’s just one night of reckless fun before they return to their normal lives.
Ten years later…
Ever since she was a teenager, Tessa was consumed with the case of what happened to the 4 friends who went on vacation every year to a remote island and disappeared never to be heard from again. Her once wildly popular podcast about it has crashed and burned and she’s worried she’ll never uncover the truth.
Tessa’s best friend is getting married and she wants to take a trip to a small island for a yoga retreat. The island similarities are eerily similar to the island. The missing women disappeared from. Tessa is not about to pass up this opportunity as it may be the last chance to figure out what happened to those women.

✨My thoughts: The pacing was good. The plot was written well and quite good.
What I didn’t like was the fact that it was blatantly obvious from the start to me and that took away from the book sometimes I can figure it out, but I’m still not sure or sometimes it’s obvious, but I still have fun reading it and this…I don’t know. I just didn’t connect with it. I also really really didn’t like how it ended. It took it from popcorn thriller to overdramatic soap opera status. That on top of the lack of suspense, I found myself more entertained by Tessa and what had happened to her.
I would still recommend this though! I’m also interested in checking out the Author’s other books as well.

This book had a nicely creepy atmosphere with the missing four women and then 10 years later, another group goes to an isolated island to a newly built hotel for a getaway before a wedding. I will say, if I got an invite like that, to an island where I suspected four women had been murdered, bodies never being found and one of the requirements is to give up your tech (including cell phones) for the trip, then I would be in the next taxi heading away from the ferry! Things never end up well when people don't have access to emergency services. But it made for good suspense and the feeling of wrongness. Tessa was an interesting character and was the main viewpoint for this book. Her past was intriguing, hinting at past mistakes that cost her a lot. The others were pretty interchangeable, including the past missing women (there are quick sections of the past slowly revealed to ramp up the tension for when things start going odd in the present) and I did guess the twist pretty quickly, quicker than Tessa anyways which led to me yelling at her to open her eyes! The ending had plenty of action though and the story ended pretty well.

So, a bit of frustration when reading and not quite as strong as some of her other books, but I mostly enjoyed it. Props to the great setting of the story though.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I ended up DNFing this book at 27%. I wanted to like this - the premise sounded interesting. There is an island off the coast of Norway? Sweden? that was the site of 4 girls who went missing 10 years ago. Our main character is a true crime podcaster who for some reason has fallen out of respect from her fan base. Also her girlfriend/producer has broken up with her. She is sad, kind of a mess, and hell bent on figuring out what happened at Isle Blind when she gets invited to a Bachelorette Party at the island.

I just couldn't get into this though. The writing style wasn't jiving with me. The two timelines that alternate are 2012 and 2022, so you have to pay extra close attention to the chapter headings to know what storyline you're in. The two timelines also felt very similar, so it was difficult to tell which one we were in from the characters and writing. I also found out 2022 MC quite irritating and I get that in a mystery/thriller things need to be revealed in time, but it felt tedious how much she would tease about her podcast failing, but we didn't know what happened at 25% of the way through. I also found her sister and the friends annoying and just didn't want to learn more about these characters, the island, or what happened.

Maybe this would work better for someone else. Maybe I'll try it again in the future. But for now I have too many other great books to read.

The premise of this book is right up my alley--a group of women on a remote island off of Sweden, a mysterious disappearance from years ago, and the ominous feeling that something bad is about to happen.

But, it just didn't quite meet my expectations. The story was a little hard to follow (probably because of jumping between time periods) and I wasn't invested enough in the characters to care about what happened.

So, I'd give the story 2.5 stars rounded up.

I love a good atmospheric thriller- especially one that takes place on a remote island for a bachelorette weekend. In this dual timeline novel, we follow Tessa Nilsson, a disgraced true-crime podcaster, as she attends the pre-wedding celebration of her best friend on the same island where, a decade ago, 4 friends went missing, including Tessa's old babysitter Mathilde. But Tessa has ulterior motives for coming to the party- she thinks the women were murdered on the island. Determined to uncover the truth, and restore her reputation, Tessa delves into the island's dark past, only to find herself entangled in a web of secrets and danger.

I really enjoyed the dual timeline story did a fantastic job of weaving together past and present, giving just enough insight into each character to keep readers interested and on edge, questioning every motive and every alibi. Though not the focus of the story, I did like the hints of Tessa's relationships with sister Lena, the bride, and a potential love interest. The eerie, remotes vibes were on point.

With a few potential suspects, the whodunnit aspect was so much fun to unravel. I guessed a lot - and was wrong most of the time - but I did catch a few clues! Not overly complicated with short chapters and a locked room mystery that will reel you in, this Scream meets The Guest List fast paced thriller is a great read for the summer. It just might make you think twice before attending your next girls' trip...

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC and ARC!

*No spoilers*

I’m a sucker for friend group nonsense and mean girl antics, and this book delivered on that front. The main character was seriously unlikeable, which I didn’t necessarily mind, but towards the end my dislike for the character took me out of the story.

The story had decent pacing and it kept me so interested in the dynamics between all of the characters, but I guessed what was going on before the end of the story.

If you’re into a low-stakes thriller, with mild surprises, then this book is for you. It would make a fun vacation read.

I have been lucky enough to be sent a few novels this last year that are set in Sweden, a place I sadly know very little about, but have discovered the meaning of the German word *fernweh

*This term captures the essence of yearning for a place you've never been, a place that might exist only in your imagination or that you've only encountered through stories, movies, or other forms of media

Now, I don't want to end up on an isolated island with a murderer on the lose, but I digress.

Tessa hit it big with her podcast "The Witching Hour" until she made a huge mistake with one of the cases that she covered and is now reeling from the fact that she very well could have lost everything she worked so hard for. Being invited to go to a swanky yoga retreat for one of her oldest friends bachelorette party would seem absolutely ridiculous if it wasn't for the fact that the retreat is on the same island that is believed that the Naka Four went missing, a story of four women who disappeared and kickstarted Tessa's interest in true crime.

This is great storytelling. We have multiple timelines of Matilda, one of the missing women, leading up to her disappearance, and then Tessa's timeline leading us through the vegan deliciousness of the retreat as things start to get very, very scary.

As I said before, I have read about Sweden a few times and the way that this book is written about the land and the ocean and the changing colours of the sunlight, it really felt like you were immersed in another country entirely. I might have to start planning a trip, just no islands without cell service!!

Thank you to St Martin's Press for sending me a copy of The Bachelorette Part which is now available to buy or borrow from your local seller or library. If you would like to purchase through my affiliate link and support my blog, please click here.

Camilla Sten has become an auto-buy author for me as I adore the way she writes and how to formulates her characters in their environment. Her books give an almost claustrophobic feeling while trying to come to conclusions about the characters surrounding the protagonist of the story.

The Bachelorette Party starts with the murder of a group of friends and then flashes to 10 years later, where another group of women is attending a bachelorette party on the same island and the owner of the island and resort is the sister of a previous missing woman. Tessa is a true crime podcaster that lost her job after having an interview with the father of a murder and he in turn commits suicide leading to the downfall of her career. She is down on her luck and it hoping attending this bachelorette party and finding out information would lead her to a story and in turn her career and life back. Things begin to take a turn as Tessa begins to look closer into the previous case, will this turn into another case or will she find out about the missing women and bring back her life.

I enjoyed this one a lot, but there were a couple things that seemed abrupt and without reason. Although, that did make this different from other thrillers I have read recently. The ending seemed to wrap up quickly and the romance of it all seemed to be unnecessary. I did, however, give it three stars because I guessed from the very beginning many aspects of the story. I am looking for a thriller that surprises me significantly, but this was a fun and fast read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a tough one to enjoy. The protagonist was really difficult to like, but not in an enjoyable way. She was self-absorbed and flat. Honestly all of the characters were flat, which made it impossible to become immersed in this story.

What I enjoyed most was the setting and how it was used to increase tension. But that wasn't a big part of the story, unfortunately. It was also really difficult to understand why she couldn't guess what was going on as it felt obvious from early on, but maybe that's because she was too focused on herself. The plot of this one was also really slow, leaving nothing for me to really get into.

If you enjoy slower-moving popcorn thrillers, you may enjoy this one. My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

3.5* rounded up! I thought this book was a fun quick summer thriller. It follows a bachelorette party and there is a murderer on the loose! However, these murders are tied to ones that happened a decade prior and our FMC is particularly interested in the decade-old murder mystery as she is a true crime podcast writer who is trying to salvage her career.

I thought the interconnected personalities and characters written were fun to follow along with and delve into their drama.

I will say it was not a huge surprise/plot twist, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless!

Camilla Sten is a master at painting a picture of creepy atmospheric settings through the written word. You can visualize the isolated island setting for this novel and feel the chilling fear. The dual timelines are woven together to help create some of the suspense that keeps the reader engaged. The main protagonist Tessa was a bit overwhelming though. She drags the reader through a rollercoaster ride of thoughts and emotions, which is sometimes exhausting. The author does a good job of maintaining the pace and tension of the storyline, keeping readers in suspense to the end. This wasn’t my personal favorite Camilla Sten novel, but thriller readers can never go wrong with one of her books.

The premise of The Bachelorette Party really intrigued me, but it just never really achieved lift off for me. The characters were not very likable and I felt parts were quite easy to predict. I did think the mood was well illustrated, as was the setting.

A dark story about old friends, who in general weren’t terribly likable. They set off for a long weekend together on a remote island. You know that things are going to go awry when you're heading to a remote island. It was a gruesome, grizzly, dark, twisted read. I did find it a bit predictable, but did read through to the end. I like the authors writing style.

Throughout this whole book I just kept thinking about how it felt like I had read it before - which could be because I've just read so many different thrillers over the years, but nothing seemed new or surprising. The setting was different because the characters were on an island off of Sweden, but the super small podcast detail threw me a bit and I didn't feel like it really fit with the story - the group of women seemed so random too. I did think it was helpful to go back in time to before the original crime, but this was just okay for me.

This was a 2.5 ⭐️ for me

Camilla Sten’s The Bachelorette Party delivers exactly what you'd expect from a solid summer thriller: an isolated setting, a decades-old mystery, a podcasting protagonist with a personal stake in the case, and plenty of suspense to keep the pages turning. While it may not reinvent the genre, it’s a fast-paced and entertaining read with just enough twists to keep you guessing until the final chapters.

Set on a remote Swedish island, the story interweaves two timelines: the disappearance of four lifelong friends ten years ago during an annual getaway, and the present-day investigation spearheaded by true-crime podcaster Tessa Nilsson, whose career is hanging by a thread. When she attends her best friend’s bachelorette party at a yoga retreat eerily reminiscent of the site of the original vanishings, the lines between celebration and investigation begin to blur—and danger closes in.

The atmosphere is well done—moody, remote, and slightly eerie. Sten effectively taps into the isolation and tension that comes with being cut off from the world, and the island setting adds a claustrophobic edge. However, while the setting and premise are strong, the story itself doesn’t quite push the envelope. The characters are serviceable, but none particularly stand out, and much of the plot relies on familiar thriller tropes: secret pasts, red herrings, and buried trauma.

That said, the pacing is snappy, and the dual timelines are handled well, making it an easy book to fly through. If you’re looking for a straightforward mystery with a chilling backdrop and a few solid twists, The Bachelorette Party is a great beach or vacation read. Just don’t expect anything revolutionary.

This book was overall ok, nothing really wrong with it just highly predictable.
Really enjoyed the characters and the overall story but like I said just predictable.

Overall a nice read.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy

Claustrophobic and suspenseful, this thriller delivered big on atmosphere. The tension between friends felt authentic, though a few twists didn’t land as hard as expected. A messy, binge-worthy psychological read.