The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten, is a locked-room thriller which takes place on a remote island which flips between two timelines. In the present, five women are at a bachelorette party. Ten years earlier, four women disappeared and believed murdered in the same location.

The main character, Tessa Nilsson, is a true crime podcaster who life is currently a mess. She’s been obsessed with the decade-old mystery of the missing women. Now she’s attending her best friend Anneliese’s bachelorette party at a remote yoga retreat and the person running the retreat might have the answers Tessa’s been chasing for years.

I really liked the pacing of the story, and the way it jumps between the past and present kept things moving. The mystery itself had plenty of suspense and action, but I’ll admit, I didn’t feel as connected to the women in the present storyline as I wanted to. Their personalities kind of blended together, so it was hard to really invest in them.

That said, the book still had plenty to keep me turning the pages. It’s got a solid mix of mystery, drama, and the remote island setting added to the atmosphere.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This book is perfect for someone who likes horror movies, it has the mysterious vibe of one, the writing is descriptive and beautiful, the plot is entertaining and and there were definitely twists I didn't see coming, the whole story is well developed and well paced.

I think there could be improvements, most of the side characters were just there, without much personalities, and without spoiling there was a bit of a cliche villain monologue near the end. Also I feel like the relationships could be expanded on more. I did like how there was a bit of commentary on how predatory the true crime community could be, though.

Overall, it's a good book and I would recommend to anyone looking for a book with a movie-vibe, it's a fun and exciting read!

Agatha Christie’s 1939 And There Were None set the template for the island mystery with its protagonists trapped on a remote isle and stalked by an unknown killer. The arrival of cell phone technology has forced writers to up their thriller game. As with the guests in Sean Doolittle’s Device Free Weekend, the five girlfriends who arrive at Baltic Vinyasa on Isle Blind off the Swedish coast for a four-day yoga-themed bachelorette party must give up their cell phones and other digital devices to the proprietor, Irene. “I wish I wasn’t so addicted to my devices,” confesses Lena. Her sister Tessa, the bride-to-be’s best friend, has another, more secret, motive for joining the party. A true-crime podcaster whose latest episode crashed and burned in the wake of a scandal, she hopes to redeem her career by solving the mystery of the Nacka Four. A decade earlier, four young women, who had traveled to the archipelago for their annual reunion, disappeared, presumed by police to have drowned when their boat was found floating. Tessa suspects they may have been murdered on Isle Blind and is determined to find evidence. But from the moment she steps on the island, her sense of dread grows. While elements of this twisty mystery require a suspension of disbelief (the luxurious hotel is built on a rocky island too barren to support crops yet has plenty of water for hot showers), Sten (The Resting Place) excels at building the creepy horror and chilling tension. Readers who like their thrillers bloody and gory will enjoy this dark Nordic take.

This was a page turner!
I enjoy the mystery and all the twists and turns, trying to figure out what was going on
It did feel a little slow at some parts but it wasn’t off putting, definitely a fun and twisty read!

My favorite movie of all-time is Scream, so when the very first sentence of The Bachelorette Party's description states: "Scream meets The Guest List in this wickedly compelling and compulsively page-turning thriller of friendship and murder," I knew I HAD to read it. And let me tell you, the description is spot on. From the exotic setting, to the simmering drama amongst childhood friends, to the slasher movie elements, Camilla Sten hit the ground running from the very first page! I absolutely tore through this book, surely one of my favorites of 2025 already!

Tessa is obsessed with true crime stories and before her life imploded had a popular podcast about them. She is/was about the next big story and has been stuck on the Nacka 4 for the past 10 years. This item is essential to the story otherwise most of the rest doesn't make sense.

A bachelorette party to reconnect with old middle/high school friends whom you've almost lost touch with at the barren island the Nacka 4 used to party at before they disappeared. Tessa is hoping this puts her back in the podcast world by having access to the island but this also makes her the information provider and her friends don't trust her based on her past implosion.

While there was a minor twist, the villians were pretty obivious from the beginning. The back and forth between present day and the past worked well for the story without giving too much away or backtracking but there's some past flashes that aren't explained or are but with a throw away line so it doesn't exactly make sense why it's included.

It was an easy quick read but nothing will linger beyond the conclusion.

A Swedish podcaster who has fallen from grace attends a bachelorette party on a mysterious island where she is secretly trying to solve a missing women case in an effort to restore her reputation.

3.5/5 ⭐️
A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC of The Bachelorette Party in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed the present-day storyline, which kept me engaged from the start. The setting was atmospheric and perfectly suited for a mystery, adding an extra layer of intrigue to the plot. However, I found it difficult to connect with the characters in the past narrative, which made those sections less compelling for me. While the dual timeline structure can be an interesting storytelling device, I personally found myself more invested in the present-day events.

That being said, The Bachelorette Party is an entertaining read with a strong sense of place, making it a great choice for mystery lovers. It will be released on June 10, 2025—just in time to take along on your summer vacation!

This story follows podcaster Tessa, who is at an all-time low. She is invited to her high school friends Bachelorette Party, which happens to take place on a remote island where it’s said that four women had disappeared ten years before. Tessa takes this as an opportunity to redeem herself and her failing podcast to get to the bottom of what happened to these four women. But of course! Things start to go wrong quick.

This was a medium-paced thriller that kept me hooked from chapter to chapter.

Slightly predictable in one sense, but in another I was completely shocked.

I did find the timelines to be a bit confusing as they contradicted each other, and there were a few other little plot holes, but other than that it was a good bingeable read.

3.75 stars

The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten didn’t quite meet my expectations, despite the solid pacing and gripping connection between the past and present mysteries. The ending felt overly dramatic, and the perpetrators’ identities were too obvious early on, which drained the suspense. I also struggled to connect with the characters, especially Tessa and her friends, whose personalities felt repetitive.

However, the twist surrounding Tessa’s past and the scandal that ruined her life was much more engaging than the Nacka Four mystery. Overall, I’m giving it three stars—while it’s a fast-paced thriller, it didn’t fully satisfy my expectations.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is thrilling, chilling, and incredibly binge-worthy. Set on a spooky, remote island haunted by past tragedies, it features a cast of characters whose intertwined lives unfold throughout the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it! If you’re a fan of mystery, true crime, crime podcasts, or whodunit stories, I highly recommend picking this up. I can’t wait to read more by Camilla Sten in the future!

This is the first book I have read by this author and I'm still not sure what I think about this one. This one gave me that eerie, "on edge" feeling for most of the book. I just didn't know what was going to happen from one minute to the next. This was a 3.5 star for me.

Four friends—the infamous Nacka Four—embark on their annual trip to a remote, deserted island off the coast of Sweden, owned by one of their fathers. Matilda, Anna, Linnea, and Evelina spend their days camping, partying, and enjoying each other’s company—until one fateful year when everything goes sideways. The group had always kept their destination a secret, but after that last trip, they never returned. Presumed drowned, their bodies were never found, leaving behind only unanswered questions.

Then the story flips to about ten years later and we are back on the island with a slightly different crew of people. The island is now home to a high class yoga resort and Lena is able to book a bachelorette party there before it opens. It will be just the bride, Anneliese, and her bridesmaids, Lena, Mikaela, the maid of honor, Lena’s sister Tessa, who has recently had her life turned upside down, Natalie and Caroline. Things start off in a strange way as they are all forced to do a technology cleanse, eat clean, and wake at the crack of dawn for sunrise yoga. (so this isn't your typical drunken bachelorette party!)

One of the guests, Tessa, is there to do some investigating. The island is currently owned by one of previous victim's sister and Tessa is convinced that something sinister happened on that island. She is there to prove it. She tries to befriend Irene, the manager/yoga instructor and the chef, Adam to see if they could be of any help to her. But when one guest goes missing and another starts behaving suspiciously—brandishing knives—Tessa realizes that uncovering the past may cost more than she's willing to pay.

Overall, this book delivered an eerie, unsettling atmosphere that kept me on edge, never quite sure what would happen next. While the premise was intriguing and the tension was well-executed, I found myself feeling a bit uncertain about how I truly felt about the story as a whole. The mix of past and present timelines added layers of mystery, but some aspects didn’t fully land for me. Still, if you enjoy a slow-burn thriller with a chilling setting and plenty of secrets, this one might be worth a read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for providing a digital review copy of this thriller in exchange for my honest thoughts.

A very unoriginal and predictable story. The story became very repetitive with all the friends against Tessa. There are tons of books out there with a similar make up, and unfortunately, this one did not differ from them, making it extremely predictable and boring. Found myself skimming parts to get to the end.

Overall I really enjoyed the book. I appreciated how two separate time lines were weaved together without feeling jarring or in your face. There was a good amount of suspense and questioning that made me want to pick up the book and see what happens next.

Calling all true crime podcast fans, this book is for you!! I loved how this book felt like solving a crime from the past, but it also ties into the mystery of the present with some great slasher vibes.

I didn't love the info and character dump right out of the gate. It was a lot to take in and pretty confusing without much character development. Another reason for my review is that I felt it to be a little predictable.

Overall it was a quick paced read and I would recommend giving it a go!

OK, I have to start by disclaiming something: I am really sick of the whole “true crime pod-caster uncovering the truth” trope in modern thrillers. I personally don’t listen to podcasts, I don’t like them, but this trope has been used in so many books lately and I’m just over it.

So that fact alone is going lower my rating for this one. But I recognize that that is a personal preference. If you like the podcast spin, or you don’t mind it, then you’ll probably really like this book.

All of that to say, I didn’t hate the book. I liked the other elements, and I think the pacing and buildup was very good. Overall, this was a solid thriller. I like how Sten adds in the supernatural elements to her books.

This one just had too many characters thrown at you right away. I could not keep them straight. We go from the past when the first group of friends stay at the island to the present when a new group of women are at the same place. The different timelines was also confusing being about totally different people. I didn’t like it as much as I wished.

This was a great thriller!! I felt like we had a lot of characters introduced pretty quickly, but I was able to follow them through the story and enjoyed this read!

Thank you so much, NetGalley! If you are into slashers, this is for you. While I wasn't crazy about the amount of characters introduced at once, and the slightly flat ending, I had fun reading this. It caught my attention right away. Look forward to trying more books by Camilla Sten.

The Bachelorette Party is a fun, drama-filled read with plenty of wild twists and messy characters. The buildup kept me entertained, but some of the plot points felt predictable, and a few characters were hard to connect with. It’s an enjoyable escape if you’re in the mood for something light and chaotic, but it didn’t fully deliver the depth or surprises I was hoping for.