Camilla Sten's The Bachelorette Party is a chilling thriller that intertwines a seemingly innocent celebration with a decade-old mystery, all set on a remote, ominous island. Every year, four childhood best friends—Tilly, Anna, Linnea, and Evelina—escape to a secret Swedish island, a sanctuary for wild fun and intimate confessions before returning to their regular lives.

Ten years later, true-crime podcaster Tessa Nilsson is consumed by their disappearance. Despite her wildly popular podcast covering Sweden's most gruesome cases, the fate of these four women remains an unsolved enigma. Now, with her podcast in ruins, Tessa sees one last opportunity to uncover the truth.

Her best friend, Anneliese, is planning her bachelorette party at Baltic Vinyasa, a sleek yoga retreat on a small island off the coast. The location sends shivers down Tessa's spine, as its characteristics eerily mirror the site of the original tragedy. While the other guests anticipate cava and sunrise yoga, Tessa is driven by a singular, desperate mission: to finally learn what happened to the four missing women. Unbeknownst to her, this bachelorette party is also "someone else's last chance to get revenge." The Bachelorette Party promises a tense and atmospheric read where past horrors resurface, and a celebration turns into a fight for survival.

After reading the description for The Bachelorette Party, I was very excited to read an early copy of it. And the cover is stunning! If you like locked room type mysteries, I recommend picking this up on June 10th. It is told in multiple timelines from the current events of the bachelorette party and then of the Nacka Four from years prior. There is a lot of build up in the story until the last 25% of the book. Then it’s a fast thrill ride to the end. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s - Minotaur Books for the ARC!!

Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Mmm I didn't love it, didn't hate it. Unfortunately this just fell a little flat for me. The suspense factor was lacking, I thought the concept pf the plot was good, which is why I was so disappointed in the execution.

Always remember, book ratings are subjective. What I may love, you may not and vice versa. Give it a try, you never know, you may find your next favorite book!

Holly Collins

I hate to say it but I was not a big fan of this one. The characters were not likeable for me. I couldn't connect with them. The ending was overly dramatic to the point that I wanted to quit reading. I love this author but this one was a miss for me.

Suspenseful and original. Tessa is obsessed with true crime. When she’s invited to her friends bachelorette party at a new resort built where four women went missing she feels this is a chance to solve the mystery. What happens is shocking and kept me turning the pages.

Four women go for an overnight stay on an island that they’ve been visiting for years. None of them return and the disappearance is ruled an accidental drowning. 10 years later a group of friends are invited to a brand new resort on the same island for a bachelorette party. Just so happens to be owned by one of the missing women’s sister. Things are not as they seem. Suspicious things start to happen and they have to solve the mystery before they disappear too.

To me, this was a mashup of a thriller and a horror.
It didn’t feel like you had to figure out WHO so much as WHY; because of the isolated setting, there is a lack of suspects to choose from.

Thank you, Camilla Sten, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Bachelorette Party follows a group of women as they celebrate their friend's upcoming wedding. Tessa is a bridesmaid who is trying to deal with her past and failed podcast. Although she is hesitant to attend the bachelorette party, she can't resist when she finds out that it is being hosted at a new yoga retreat on Blind Isle, which was once the suspected site of the disappearance of four friends who were enjoying their annual trip to the island. In the hopes of reviving her true crime podcast, Tessa plans to look for clues to find out what happened to the four friends. As one of the guests disappears, Tessa and her friends must determine what is going on and if it is linked to what happened 10 years before.


While I saw some reviews saying the ending was predictable, I didn't expect all of the twist and turns that happened. It was a quick read that I was able to enjoy in one sitting! Learning about the friendship dynamics and slowly learning more about what happened to Tessa in her past kept me eager to read more.

On Isle Blind, a secluded Swedish island, four childhood friends, Matilda, Anna, Linnea, and Evelina, disappear on one of their annual girls trips. A decade later, true-crime podcaster, Tessa, obsessed with the case, is invited to a bachelorette party with her lifelong friends on that same island. With her podcast failing, she seizes the opportunity, hoping to finally uncover the truth behind the disappearances, unaware that someone else is also seeking revenge.

This has all the right ingredients to be the exact type of book I would absolutely love.... True crime podcast, a group of friends with secrets, and an isolated occasion. However, it had such a slow start that I had a really hard time caring about what was going on, and I didn't like any of the characters. Also, there is a secret mistake about Tessa's podcast that is haunting her so damn near the whole book, and then when it is revealed, it feels so irrelevant to the story that I found myself confused about why it was hanging over the readers' head the whole time. The last 25% of this was pretty fun, which saved this from a lower rating, but overall I'm pretty disappointed because I loved The Lost Village by this author!

'The Bachelorette Party' is Camilla Sten's first book written directly in English. It has a lot of suspense and atmosphere. Tessa has alterior motive for attendinding her friend's bachelorette party. She wants to incestigate the disappearance of four girls from the same island as the party. However, members of the party have their own secrets to hide. There is a dual timeline. I enjoyed the prose and imagery of the book. 4 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the gifted e-book copy! Overall, this was a quick thriller read. There were some twists and turns I didn’t expect. But I did find myself confusing the characters many times - they all had very similar names?

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy.
I quite enjoyed this book. It is fast paced with shorter chapters. Good atmospheric settings that would be perfect for summer reading. Some pieces of the puzzle were sprinkled here and there but I didn’t put the story together at all. Some of it felt too simple, but at the same time I don’t think that is a problem. This book is the perfect summer reading thriller and I truly enjoyed the ending. It wrapped up but also felt realistic.
Additional appreciation for highlighting the problematic side of the true crime podcasting. We don’t see it talked about nearly enough.

Thank you Net Galley and Minotaur books for the opportunity to read this book. I was intrigued by the description of the story, and loved the cover and setting. However, I was disappointed that it did not live up to my expectations. I felt that the number of characters and how they were introduced led me to be confused, and therefore could not connect to them or engage in the story. I love a dual timeline and this is a dark, twisty thriller that was interesting but just was not as enjoyable as I hoped it would be.

This not really surprise me as I am not typically a locked door mystery reader. The vibes of this, and the setting had me so hooked in on the story. I really loved all of the characters in the novel and felt like I was immersed in the story at times. I really enjoyed the dual timeline and felt like the author really kept it easy to follow. At times, they did seem to be some disjointed moments, however as I progressed in reading it all kind of came together to me. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending of the story however I don’t think it took away from my enjoyment of this book. I would definitely be interested in reading another book this author in the future.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: June 10, 2025
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

This was a good one. I just recently read this one because it gave me summertime vibes and the weather was just right. You have a setting that screams eerie (a remote island)! This had me sitting in place reading in one sitting and the way the pace kept you turning but the twists around the corners kept you gripping…I loved this one. I don’t care how many I have read, I’m a sucker for a good book that involve mysterious murder and friendships encircling and the who-done-it hunt, always!

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books

Camilla Sten's is back with her newest gripping thriller, "The Bachelorette Party." This chilling story set on a remote Swedish island combines the eerie isolation of "The Guest List" with the suspenseful, slasher-style tension of "Scream."

The story follows Tessa Nilsson, a true crime podcaster with a fading career. When she joins her best friend’s yoga-themed, bachelorette weekend on an island where four women mysteriously disappeared ten years earlier, she sees a chance to revive her work. But what starts as a relaxing getaway quickly turns into a nightmare. As old secrets come to light, the group finds themselves in real danger.

Sten is especially skilled at creating atmosphere in her stories. The island setting feels both beautiful and threatening, and the sense of dread builds steadily. The pacing is fast, and the characters - especially Tessa - feel realistic and emotionally complex. While there are some plot twists that may feel a bit far-fetched to readers, the story moves quickly, making it easy to go along for the ride.

What makes this novel stand out from other similar stories is that rather than simply focusing on the "whodunnit," the narrative instead explores the "whydunnit." This is a dark, often emotional look at friendship, trauma, and the fascination with unsolved mysteries. Though not always believable, it’s undeniably entertaining and fans of fast-paced, twisty thrillers will likely finish this in a single sitting.

🏝🇸🇪👰‍♀ The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten
Genre: Thriller
Length: 304 pages
Timelines: Dual
Pub Date: June 10, 2025
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to St. Martin's Press / Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book. The opinions stated here are solely my own.

Summary:
2012 - Four friends (Linnea, Evelina, Matilda, and Anna) go on their annual trip to Isle Blind, a remote Swedish island. None of them make it back and they all disappear.

Present Day - Tessa, her sister Lena, her BFF Annaliese, Mikaela, Natalie, and Caroline are going to Baltic Vinyasa, a yoga retreat center for Annaliese's bachelorette weekend, which happens to also be on the same remote island. Tessa, a true crime podcaster, has been fascinated with the disappearance of the 'Nacka Four' for years and would love nothing more than to investigate while she is there. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a relaxing and fun weekend becomes something much more sinister as one of them suddenly 'leaves' and Tessa begins to uncover some very dark truths that hit too close to home...

Opinion:
This was a great locked-room (locked island?) thriller! I loved how the two timelines ended up intertwining and though I suspected one of the actual villains early on, it did not interfere with my enjoyment of the book. Tessa's character was a definite underdog and I loved how diligent she was in finding out the truth, even when her own personal issues and the other friends kept getting in the way. This was definitely a book that reminds you that you never really know what people will do to keep the life they lead in tact. Without giving anything away, I wouldn't call the ending particularly 'happy', but it was satisfying how everything wrapped up and justice was (kind of) served. Great read!

Ooh this one gripped me right from the start and was exciting until the very end! I didn’t remember it was a thriller so when I was looking through my shelf for something bubbly and light, I somehow thought this one would be it. I found out almost immediately that I was wrong, but it was too late, I was interested. I have found recently that I love a dual timeline, dual/multiple pov story and this one delivers in both categories with ease of going back and forth. It was intense, exciting, suspenseful, and every time you have it figured out, you don’t, not really.

After watching felt like a slow start this book took off like a rocket and kept me glued to my seat until I finished it. I loved how the past and present voices alternated by chapter and the tying in of past and present relationships. I was completely surprised at the reveal of the killers both past and present. This must read should be in everyone’s TBR pile.

🥂✨ARC Review✨🥂

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for giving me the chance to read Camilla Sten’s latest thriller before its release day!

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
•locked room
•dual timelines
•true crime
•twisty

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this thriller. It was a quick and fast-paced read that I didn’t want to put down. Each time I thought I’d figured something out, I was wrong. Was it a deep and profound read? No. Did it entertain me? Absolutely. These are the kind of thrillers I eat up in the summer.

The plot:
On a remote island four friends meet every year to celebrate their youth and their friendship. In 2012 none of them make it off the island and a decade later, their disappearance is still a mystery. Irene, sister of one of the missing, has opened a wellness, holistic retreat on the same island her sister went missing on, and a new group of friends are coming to the island to celebrate a Bachelorette weekend.

Read if you like closed door mysteries and fast-paced, entertaining thrillers!