Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: June 10, 2025
Swedish author Camilla Sten delivers a dual-timeline murder mystery (times two!) with her new novel, “The Bachelorette Party”. With a desolate, isolated island as the backdrop, two groups of women, over the span of a decade, attend a celebration on the Isle Blind, and not all of them make it out alive.
Sten has delivered powerhouse suspense novels such as “The Lost Village” and “The Resting Place”, and I have been honoured to read both of these stellar stories. Her newest, “Bachelorette” connects eight women and two timelines in an effortless, compulsively readable way. Dripping with mystery and tension, Sten’s newest novel is a tale of friendships, female bonding and, best of all, revenge.
Matilda is the main character from ten years ago, as she journeys to the island to reconnect with her estranged friends and Tessa is the current protagonist, traveling to the resort to celebrate the upcoming marriage of her best friend, Anneliese. Both women are loosely connected at the beginning, as Tessa hopes to use the story of Matilda and her friends as a topic for her podcast, however, they have a much deeper connection that is revealed in the final chapters. Sten provides tension and intrigue with her well-written plot, and crafts a novel with not one, but two, interconnected timelines.
All of the characters have similarities that make it difficult to tell them apart if you aren’t paying close attention. That being said, they are the only characters throughout the novel, so it makes guessing the ending challenging, as there are no random suspects thrown in, which speaks to Sten’s talent. However, due to this, when the outcome is revealed, it was not entirely unexpected but it still manages to hold some surprising elements while providing necessary closure.
“Bachelorette” has “The Guest List” elements, with some “White Lotus” thrown in. Since there has been a great influx of novels lately focusing on women getting murdered while on tropical vacations, I probably won’t be leaving the comfort of my couch anytime soon. Which is a good thing, because “Bachelorette”, and others like it, provide the perfect (and safe!) escape.

Very quick read that I didn’t want to put down. This is my second read by this author and I really enjoy her writing. Her writing is very easy to read.

Locked door with a little gore. Takes place mostly on a beach of an uninhabited island. So perfect for someone looking for a summer thriller.
There are two time lines that are 10 years apart. 4 women went on a trip in 2012 and never returned. Now years later a group of friends go to the island for a bachelorette party. Then a body is found and the past and present timelines start to blur.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc of this book!

I love a good wedding themed thriller so was excited to try this. It started out slow and a little confusing, due to the past/present timeline that included two different groups of young women who visit a small island off the coast of Sweden about eight years apart.

The first group of four vanishes and among the second group is Tessa, a podcaster who had a spectacularly bad breakup with her girlfriend/podcast producer and has to start over. She's mildly interested to attend a bachelorette weekend at the site of a famous true crime scene, but when spooky things start happening a second time around, things get horrifying.

The second half of the book picks up considerably and moves more into the horror lane. The ending got a little convoluted for me, but that last part of the book did bring the chills and thrills.

It was okay. The book could have benefitted by having less characters I wasn’t super engaged at the beginning. It picked up in the middle. Then when everything came to light it didn’t feel like the best answer to the mystery. I really liked the setting and Tessa’s backstory though.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was intrigued by premise of this book. Sadly, I was a little let down.

The story begins with a group of friends that meet at a remote island on a routine basis. All members of the group end up dead and become known as the Nacka Four. The mystery is had they all drowned in an accident or was there something more sinister that had occurred.

Ten years later, there is now a hotel on the remote island. And another group of friends are meeting there for a bachelorette party. But there is still an overshadowing mystery, as the island is owned by one of the sisters of the Nacka Four. And one of the current party, Tessa, is a true crime podcaster who has an interest in the real story. When a member of the party goes missing, and other strange things start to happen, it is clear that digging up the past might not be worth it.

The story itself was interesting, but the characters were not very likeable. I just did not connect with the story as a whole. That being said, I think that I would give this author another try. Might be for some but just not for me.
3 stars.

THE BACHELORETTE PARTY will keep you on the edge of your seat. I liked the remote setting and creepy vibes. The story is fast paced and filled with some shocking moments. I couldn't put it down.

Many thanks for my gifted copy. This review will be shared to my account @coffee.break.book.reviews

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

I think this is a thriller, but it was fairly straightforward and clear what was going on for me. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy reading it, though. There's something about a mystery where everyone is stuck in one place that I just love.

This book was enjoyable, but maybe a little off pace for me. It felt a little too slow burn- so much so that it drug in some places. I really enjoyed the setting, the characters, and the overall plot. I would definitely read more from this author.

This was not my favorite work by Camilla Sten. It was predictable, and I didn’t care for any of the characters. The pacing was good though and the atmosphere was tense and creepy.

This book is the perfect slow-burn summer beach read. From the atmosphere to the relationship between friends, I was engaged by the story from the very start. I do think it dragged a bit towards the middle, but overall found the ending to be pretty satisfying and would recommend to any mystery readers looking for a quick and fun read on the beach. I loved the dual timelines and how they interweaved though it was a little hard to keep track of who everyone was which is where I struggled a bit. Overall, a satisfying read that I would recommend! Not quite a 4 star for me but more than a 3. 3.5

This was my first book by Sten, and I confess I was drawn to it by the gorgeous cover! However, the story itself fell a bit flat for me. I had trouble keeping up with all of the characters and the ending is a bit over the top. I enjoyed the writing, though, and will look forward to more works by this author!

This book follows a group of childhood friends as they reunite at a bachelorette party of one of the original friends. The gathering seems to have a hidden agenda that includes a break from technology. Of course there's a death among the group that they must try to uncover the truth.

This was a fast paced thriller, but I grew a bit confused with the number of characters to keep up with. The ending wasn't what I was expecting either, so unfortunately this book falls right in the middle with a 3 star rating. It wasn't bad, but wasn't a favorite and I'll probably forget it in the next few weeks.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book.

Is it just me, or are have there been a lot of books set on remote islands and featuring bachelorette parties as of late? The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten is the latest thriller featuring that particular trope, and unfortunately, this one fell pretty flat for me. The main plot is four friends were murdered there, and ten years later, Tessa is heading to the same island for a bachelorette party, but also hopes to find out what happened to the women in order to create.a podcast and revitalize her career.

Sten's writing is always good; she's great at setting the scenes and pacing her books. However, this story was predictable and felt like a plot that had been done over and over. I nearly put it down a few times but I kept reading because I wanted to see if I guessed the ending correctly (spoiler - I did.)

It was fine. Not my favorite by her, but an okay read. Definitely a 3 star read for me.
Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Received an ARC via NetGalley.

A quick summer read. Not much else to say about it either way. Didn’t love it but didn’t it or find anything specifically wrong with it.

The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten is a locked-room thriller that unfortunately was a bit disappointing for me.

The book is told mostly from the point of view of Tessa, a podcaster who is at risk of losing her career after a bad decision caused serious consequences. Tessa has been invited to a bachelorette party on an island where four women were rumoured to have disappeared ten years ago. Tessa has been obsessed with this disappearance since she was a teenager, and sees an opportunity to investigate the mystery.

I was looking forward to reading this book, but it wasn't as enjoyable as I had anticipated.

First of all I found it hard to believe that four women went missing and were rumoured to have last been on an island owned by the father of one of those women, but the police ignored this information and just brushed it off and didn't bother to search it at all. This just struck me as unrealistic, and since it came at the beginning of the novel it unfortunately set my mood for the rest of the book.

I also didn't feel a connection to any of the characters, although I think I could have gotten interested in Matilda's story and that of her friends, if the whole book had been about them and their disappearance.

I also found myself confused at times about the timeline. I didn't document the exact issues, I just recall being confused about the dates, and Tessa's age, and a few other things that I had to really stop and go back to review. It just got confusing, and to be honest, I'm still not sure it all made sense.

In all I found the book relatively predictable, and a bit of a disappointment, but it wasn't the worst book I've read. I think many people will find it enjoyable, it just wasn't the book for me.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

his book was perfectly paced and had a great plot that kept me hooked literally on every single page. i really enjoyed the idea of a current friend group visiting the place of another friend group in the past and their suspicious deaths, and i like tessa would undoubtedly want to get to the bottom of it.

sadly though that is about all i can relate to with tessa and even her friends. they weren’t necessarily characters that wow me or that i can even say i liked at all. a lot of their “personality traits” seemed to be overdone/lowkey repetitive so it didnt make it very enjoyable to read about these characters, but i really did like the plot and how everything played out so its a win for me.

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Pub Date: 6/10
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The Bachelorette Party is going to be one of those books that just hit hard for that beach read list this summer.
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Set on a remote island, The Bachelorette Party is set in a dual timeline ten years apart. One setting is where one group of friends goes missing, the other is during, you guessed it, a bachelorette party where things take an unfortunate turn for the worst. This is a very easy book to follow. Sten also does a fantastic job at creating the perfect atmospheric read and really brings in those more eerie elements to the story. I thought this was more of a slow to steady paced with some parts that had those adrenaline rushing moments. I found the twists to be executed well and I really enjoyed the ending!
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I listened to this one while reading my eBook. Laura Jennings was perfect for this role. I think that she did a fantastic job. One thing I will state (which has nothing to do with the quality of the audiobook) is that I am very grateful to have had the audiobook to listen to the story along with the eBook because there is a large cast of characters that I found myself mixing up quite often. So a recommendation to do both!
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Definitely a book I think thriller lovers will love for the summer!! Be sure to check this one out! Huge thank you to NetGalley, Camilla Sten, MacMillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for the ALC and eARC in exchange for my honest review.
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Favorite place to vacation?
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2025 releases • early release copy • summer beach read • summer slasher • thriller • mystery • dual timeline • podcast • murders • missing persons • beach read • summer 2025 reads • four star read • book recommendations

this book was not for me. I liked the idea of the plot but something felt off about the overall vibe and there were way too many characters to keep track of, let alone connect to or enjoy. there really wasn’t a single likable character in this book, even tessa, who’s perspective we’re given for most of the book. the ending did not surprise me (it was rather predictable in my opinion). unfortunately, this was a miss for me.

I wanted to love this one as I’m a big fan of bachelorette parties that have gone wrong in thrillers, but I found it to be somewhat confusing with the dual timelines and all the characters. Perhaps if they had a bit more personality to tell them apart, I would have enjoyed it more? I’m not sure. But I needed something more and the book failed to deliver on that. I also found the twist too obvious. This doesn’t usually turn me off, but if it IS obvious then something else about the novel (like the characters) need to be spectacular. That’s not the case here. Nevertheless, this is a quick read, and I flew right through it. I may not have loved it but there’s nothing essentially wrong with the book, it just isn’t a favorite like I hoped it would be.

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐

At her most dogged, Tessa reminded me of a Scandinavian Nancy Drew, creeping through dark houses and along cold beachfronts. At her most annoying, I found her to embody everything wrong with the true crime phenomenon and the podcasting industry today - which is very much the point of the author but doesn’t make it any more enjoyable for us.
I really enjoyed the dual mysteries that the story flips between, and the thorough fleshing out of victims and perpetrators. Having multiple groups of girlfriends to keep track of between 2012 and the present day was a little tough though and I could have done with a smaller cast of characters.
I think this would be an easy summer beach mystery to lap up, just not one that’s particularly dense.