I was so excited to receive this book in an advanced reader copy! Thank you to netgalley for proving me to read this book!

I absolutely devoured the story! It was so good and so captivating! I was on the edge of my seat!

The Bachelorette Party is a story that weaves two timelines together into a slightly predictable locked room thriller. In one timeline, four friends go on a camping trip on an island off the coast of Sweden that ends in tragedy. Ten years later, a woman books her friend's bachelorette party at a new wellness resort that is built on that same island.

While I do really enjoy a thriller with an isolated setting, this didn't quite hit for me until the last 40% and that last 40% wasn't anything particularly shocking or innovative in terms of plot. I had a difficult time rooting for our main character and struggled to connect with any other characters from either timeline. I think there were some issues in terms of the timeline adding up, but I very well could have missed something somewhere along the line. On a positive note, I did like the setting and I think the author did a good job providing the eerie atmosphere!

This fast-paced, locked room mystery set at a bachelorette party had me hooked from the first page! There were definitely some wild twists & the ending wasn't at all what I expected, but it's good if you want a fun & fast read.

Okay… so the premise of this one? SO intriguing. I was all in from the jump. But somewhere along the way, it just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It wasn’t bad by any means—it just didn’t fully land the way I hoped it would.

The first half dragged a bit, and I kept waiting for it to find its rhythm. Things did start to pick up in the second half, but by then I’d already figured out most of the twists, which took some of the fun out of it. That said, I was still invested enough to keep going, and I genuinely think it had a lot of potential!

Now… the ending?? I’m still side-eying that sudden new character who showed up out of absolutely nowhere. It felt super random and kind of pulled me out of the story at the worst possible time.

Overall: not a favorite, but I can totally see why others will love it. It just wasn’t fully for me—and that’s okay!

3 stars for The Bachelorette Party. The prologue got me so invested but the book ended being only okay for me. The dual timelines and many characters made it a bit challenging to follow and overall lacked shock value for me. It needed more to be an exciting thriller for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy. The Bachelorette Party hits shelves on June 10, 2025.

I really wanted to love this one, but it just didn’t have the pace I was hoping for. Initially, I was sucked in with the creepy vibes of being on a remote island and wanting to know what happened to the Nacka Four. I thought things would start getting exciting right away, but nothing really happens until closer to the end of the book. I enjoyed that there were two timelines, but then also found myself getting confused on which characters were in the past and which were in the present. Ultimately, the book went in a different direction than I thought it would, and left me with unanswered questions.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

An island getaway… with deadly consequences.
The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten offers a chilling premise—a remote island, long-buried secrets, and a mystery that ties the past and present together. The dual timeline adds intrigue, and the inclusion of journal entries and emails between chapters gives the story an extra layer of suspense.
While the plot starts off strong with an eerie atmosphere and unsettling tension, it does lose momentum about halfway through. The interactions between the group of friends become a bit repetitive, and the mystery unfolds in a fairly predictable manner, especially for seasoned thriller readers. However, despite the familiar tropes, the book maintains a steady pace and delivers a satisfying resolution that ties up loose ends.
For readers who enjoy atmospheric settings and slow-burn mysteries, The Bachelorette Party offers an entertaining escape. It may not break new ground in the thriller genre, but it's a solid choice for those looking for a quick, binge-worthy read.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dark and creepy locked room mystery set on an isolated island yoga retreat. Tessa and her friends are celebrating a bachelorette weekend on the same island were 4 friends went missing 10 years ago. As a true crime podcaster Tessa has always been interested in that particular case and plans on using this trip to figure out what really happened. I liked this story had a lot of good twists and I enjoyed the dual time line of the stories. Giving this 3/3.5 stars. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3ish stars!

I debated rating this story 2 stars, but felt a little bad about it because there were pieces of the book I did enjoy. The dual POV between 2012 and 2022, seeing two sides of the same story, and a conclusion that pulled it all together were in the positive column! The fact that the drama didnt really get going until about the 60% mark, and the REAL action didnt hit until about 90% made this a slow read for me. When the real action finally hit, it felt rushed and dramatic. The final resolution of the story felt like it was lacking substance for me personally.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Macmillan Audio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

𝙈𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:
I’m a sucker for locked-room thrillers and really enjoyed this one, especially a group of friends on a creepy deserted island. Never go on a vacation to a desert island – that would be my advice. The story follows two timelines – ten years ago – a group of four friends disappeared and flip to present day where another group heads to the same island. Why? Why are we going to this creepy island? I thought the pacing, atmospheric vibes and set up of this one was great, I found myself wanting to binge it. This one is perfect for anyone looking for a heart pounding mystery with a slight horror film vibe.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press: Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this intense and exciting thriller!
The book is creative with its two connected stories told over ten years apart. A group of four best friends go to a remote island off the coast of Sweden to camp every year. One year, the women do not return home, and it is assumed they drowned in a drunk boating accident.
Over ten years later, a group of women attend a private bachelorette weekend getaway at a small new luxury resort before it is open to the public. Tessa, a childhood friend of the bride and recently unemployed true crime podcast host, hopes to discover what happened to the four missing women and save her career. As she investigates the island, she discovers there is even more danger and horror than she ever expected.
I enjoyed this book. I had theories, but I wasn't quite sure about the reasoning behind the motives. The book was fast-paced, interesting, and had great tension building as the story went on. There would be glimpses of the women in the past but just enough to not take away from the story in the present time. Tessa was a complex and unique character. Even though she is trying to find a story for her career, she really does seem to care about the people she's researching and her fellow friends.
I love a great secluded destination book. It was fun to read. I think the ending was more gruesome and traumatic than I expected. I had just a few remaining questions in the end, but overall, it was a great thriller, and I'm excited to read more by this author!

This book is the perfect summer slasher! Four friends take their annual trip to a remote island and are never seen again. A podcaster gets an invite to said island for a bachelorette party and she feels if she solves the mystery of the missing four it will be her redemption from her tarnished reputation. The twist and turns of this story make it a great read.

Ohhhh boy. I just did not enjoy this one. I wanted too. But both storylines were too similar that I was getting them confused. It felt like a drama but then bam it was like a slasher movie. I just did not connect with any characters at all.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio as well as the author and the narrator for these ARCs in exchange for my honest opinion.
#NetGalley @NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress @St.Martin’sPress #MacmillanAudio #MacAudio25 @MacAudio25 #Mystery #Thriller #Fiction #BookReview #audiobook #LauraJennings

Title: The Bachelorette Party
Author: Camilla Sten
Formats: eBook and audiobook
Narrator: Laura Jennings
Publishers: St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: June 10, 2025
Themes: Friendships, relationships, LGBTQ+, marriage, murder mystery, remote island
Trigger Warnings: Disappearance, murder, some homophobia, remote island, isolation

I really enjoyed Camilla Sten’s previous books and I loved the synopsis of this one.
Tessa is a disgraced podcast host and a true crime junkie. She has long been obsessed by the mystery of the four friends who met for their annual weekend at a remote island off the coast of Sweden. When her friend Annaliese gets married on the very same island, Tessa sees the opportunity to revive her podcasting career by solving the mystery. This is her chance to get her life back on track. It’s also another's' chance to exact their bloody revenge. When history starts to repeat itself, Tessa tries her hardest to solve the mystery before it’s too late.

I really have enjoyed this author’s work in the past. I was excited to start this one. Unfortunately, it was a lot harder for me to get into than her other books have been. The characters were hard to like, which made it hard to care what happened to them. The plot was engaging, the pace was gripping, the writing was great. When I have trouble engaging with the characters, it’s hard for me to care enough to follow the mystery and, unfortunately, that’s the trouble I had here. Tessa was a weak character and her relationships with the other characters were never really firm. I felt like Tessa was as disengaged with them as I was. I found the ending unsatisfying as well.

The narrator of the audiobook, Laura Jennings, did a nice job. I may not have finished the digital copy if I hadn’t listened to it first. She was able to bring some life to these characters. Her voice was pleasant to listen to and her interpretation was great.

All in all, I will continue to read Ms. Sten’s work, but this particular book wasn’t my favorite.

Thank you to St Martins Press for the opportunity to review this ARC.

I wish you could include half ratings so I could give this book 3.5 stars instead of just 3. The story was really good & kept me pulled in- wanting to know what was going to happen. The locked room mystery vibes with multiple layers kept me reading. Despite that, I did catch on to who the “bad guy” was which (not going to lie) I don’t usually do. Overall, it was a good, quick read!

Dark, intense and creepy but so fun to read. I read this in a day, so addictive.

I do love a dual timeline, locked room mystery.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review!!
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Tessa is set to go on a bachelorette trip she really doesn’t want to go on. She is going through her own hard time. However the trip is on Isle Blind….which is the location 4 women (dubbed the Nacka Four) mysteriously disappeared from and Tessa thinks if she can figure out what happened it can save her career. However they get there and it would appear whatever happened to the Nacka Four on isle blind isn’t over.
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This book is good enough, I don’t know how else to describe it. It is a perfectly fine story, going between the Nacka four and the current trip. Honestly I was MUCH more interested in figuring out what happened in Tessa’s personal life, that plot line was jaw dropping. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, I still wasn’t sure who was who by the end. And I’m not sure if it was meant to be shocking, but the ending was so painfully obvious I hope it was on purpose. I wouldn’t skip this one, but it’s nothing groundbreaking.

This book is a total page turner. It sucks you in within a few pages and keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. The story is perfect for fans of dark thrillers, and adds its own unique twists. This book gets 5 stars for anticipation, and gave a lower rating only because the author doesn’t quite stick the landing at the end. She stumbles, but mostly manages to land gracefully. Worth reading if you’re into it who-done-its! Also, trigger warning that something upsetting and pregnancy-related happens.

Thank you netgalley and Minotaour Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review of this book.

Once I read Scream meets The Guest List I was immediately like … count me in. I felt like it was a quick, easy read that was told in 2 different times so keep that in mind.

Its an easy mystery that you could read on the beach that will keep you engaged but not necessarily gasping for air. But overall I loved the book.

This one gave me serious Scream meets The Guest List vibes—in the best way. Four childhood friends disappear without a trace on a remote Swedish island? I was hooked. And then a decade later, a true crime podcaster with her own crumbling reputation lands on a suspiciously similar island for a bachelorette trip? Yeah, there was no way I wasn’t going to finish this in one sitting.

Camilla Sten knows how to build tension. The dual timelines kept me flipping pages late into the night, and the slow drip of secrets gave me that creeping unease I love in a thriller. There’s something about old friendships, unsolved mysteries, and isolated settings that just works.

That said, a couple threads didn’t tie up quite as cleanly as I hoped, and I had to suspend disbelief in a few spots. But honestly? I didn’t mind. It was eerie, fun, and atmospheric—and I was invested.

If you love cold-case podcasts, messy friendships, and islands where things go very, very wrong, this one’s worth the read.