Read if you love:
- friend groups - and all their drama
- sisterly bonds - and the lengths sisters go to
- "locked room" mysteries set on remote islands
- screaming "OH MY GOD" to your audiobook

The Bachelorette Party was such a fun, quick read for me - I finished the audiobook within 24 hours (and if I didn't need to get up for work the next day, I would've completed it in one sitting!) Almost a decade ago, four girls - friends since childhood - go missing, and their disappearance is never solved. Present day - a new yoga retreat opens on an exclusive island, and a group of friends go to celebrate their bride to be. But revenge is in the air, and they're stuck on the island with someone ready to take it.

This is your standard, locked room mystery, and if you're a fan of the genre you're going to love this one. It was a solid four stars for me - there wasn't anything super ground breaking about it, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I felt like there could've been an alternate ending that would've put it over the top. I really liked the complexity of each character - they're all flawed and that is always really fun to read. I liked the way the story unfolded via time hops, local news updates, etc. - the hopping between helped give you enough red herrings and false narratives to keep you on your toes.

It took some time for me to get into this, but it progressively got more and more exciting. It got really crazy there at the end.

I didn’t really care for the MC she but she did feel very human. But I liked the symmetry between the groups of characters from them to now.

I felt like the author did a great job with the setting. It gave off a very beautiful but creepy feel.

I know some people found the time jumps to be jarring, but I actually enjoyed them. It was like little breadcrumbs to keep you engaged in the original mystery.

And just a personal preference here. The chapters were relatively short so it was a perfect read for my lunch breaks.

I found this to be a quick and easy-to-read thriller. At no point was I surprised, and I found the plot twist to be quite predictable.
I loved the setting of this thriller, an island in the middle of the ocean, but I felt it didn't live up to my expectations.
If you’re looking for an easy-to-read, fast-paced thriller, then I would recommend this to you.

As someone who doesn’t normally gravitate towards the thriller/mystery genre, this book solidified my preference for lighthearted and perfectly predictable romance novels. It’s hard to critique a book when you aren’t head over heels for the genre itself but I believe Sten delivered a story for lovers of thrilling stories that has readers questioning each characters’ motive from the very beginning. Jumping between 2012 and 2022, readers are introduced to a collection of characters, each vastly different but in someways exactly the same. While I struggled to read a story that gave me chills and the urge to turn on the light when reading late a night, I think this book succeeded within the genres is was categorized in; both thrilling and mysterious until the very last page. While I’ve not only taken away the fact that this genre is not for me, I’ve also come to the conclusion that when the time comes, a low-key bachelorette party will be the way to go for me. Happy Reading!

It was supposed to be a weekend to remember, but that came to an abrupt halt when one of the girls turned up dead. Secrets are revealed as those on the island aren’t who they say they are.

The Bachelorette Party
by Camilla Sten
Pub Date: Jun 10 2025

This book was very DARK, INTENSE AND CREEPY! Be sure to either read it during the day or have all the lights on at night...oh and don't forget to lock your doors!

Taking place in Sweden, It's a dual timeline locked room mystery - 2012 when a group of 4 friends goes on their annual girls trip to a remote island with no coverage. 2022 when a bachelorette party goes to the same island, which now has a mindfulness resort on it as the first guests.

Synopsis: 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.

Many thanks to #StMartinsPress #NetGalley for providing me an E-ARC of this 5 STAR book!

The Bachelorette Party is fast-paced, thrilling and suspenseful. Several old school friends on a remote island for one weekend of relaxing, exercising, bonding before one of them gets married. There is a lot of tension among these women from the start; it seems even when they were younger there were tensions and jealousies and secrets which are still there. Not all of them have kept in touch over the years and their great reunion isn’t going that smoothly.

The main character, Tessa, has just had her podcast career crash, her relationship end, and is obsessed with a 10-year old case where four women on a similar retreat went missing and were never heard from again. Tessa is the picture of an unreliable narrator; you’re never sure what some of her conclusions are based on, and you have to suspend a fair amount of disbelief to make some of the connections between then and now that she makes.

Soon the private island retreat with fun activities and delicious food turns sinister: their cell phones have been confiscated, the boat they need to get off the island has come loose from its mooring, and one of the women is missing. No one, including the owner of the retreat and the chef, seems completely transparent and reliable. The story gets edgier and edgier and you can sense there is some big reveal coming but you have no idea what it could be.

I received an advance copy of The Bachelorette Party from St. Martin’s Press Minotaur Books via NetGalley. It is addictive and will keep you turning pages. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

This reminded me a bit of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer X Girls Trip. It’s a nice, quick read albeit nothing groundbreaking occurs. But she had me with the Swedish-ness and the yoga retreat vibes. It’s a classic unsolved mystery, true crime, podcaster situation. Overall would be a good beach read!

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press|Minotaur Books for providing with ARC via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review *

Wow.

What an adventure! I am trying to think out the best way to express what I just read. The story is still on my mind. I love mystery and thriller novels, especially those that keep you guessing. The Bachelorette Party kept me guessing throughout the novel, and just when I thought I had it figured out, I was proven wrong. The Bachelorette Party was one of those stories where I had to force myself to put the book down, knowing that I would never go to sleep if I didn’t. It was the book that you thought about when you weren't reading it or talking about it with your friends. Every page made me wonder what would happen next with the group. I was curious to see if Tessa would learn what happened to Nacka four all those years ago.

I was drawn to the book because of the cover, the mysterious illustration is what grabbed my attention. After reading the summary, I knew it was the type of thrillers I would like. I didn’t expect it to be as dark as it was. That was one parts of the book, which made it impossible to put the book down. A part of me was hesitant to finish the book because I was worried about how the book might end. Camila Sten done a fantastic job crafting a suspenseful story that will keep your heart pounding half the time. I was on the edge of my seat from the first page to the last. The author also created such compelling characters that it was nearly impossible to dislike them, even though you knew you should.


I liked that the story was told from present time, and past. The emotions portrayed in this book were so vivid that I could see everything that was happening. I loved the setting of the story. This was my first time reading a novel by Camilla Sten, but it won't be my last! I would recommend this book to any thriller fans.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press | Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by Camilla Sten, with the audio wonderfully narrated by Laura Jennings. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Ten years ago, four friends meet every year on a secret remote island off the coast of Sweden. One year, they disappeared. Tessa has been consumed by the story of the missing four and even though she had a true crime podcast, could never figure out what happened to them. Tessa's best friend, Anneliese, is getting married and they decide to have a bachelorette party on the island. Tessa is determined to find out what happened to the women.

I love a locked room mystery and this book had two! Told through dual timelines and multiple POV, this is a suspenseful read with plenty of twists and turns. The remote island setting and lack of cellphones ramped up the tension until the very end. None of the characters are extremely likable and they were almost interchangeable, but that didn't take away from the entertaining ride. I did feel bad for Tessa and was rooting for her to solve the mystery of the missing women. The audio narration was great and added to the enjoyment!

Unfortunately I just couldn’t finish this book at about the 40% mark. The premise seemed really interesting, but it was challenging to get into. The time line jumping and characters were hard to keep track of and I just couldn’t connect to the story. This was my first book by this author and I’ll def give her another try.

Thank you to netgalley for this ARC.

This was 90s slasher film meets classic whodunit mystery novel. I loved the eerie atmosphere Sten created by having this take place on an isolated island full of secrets. I felt an uneasy vibe from the get go, which really added to the reading experience!

I found it a little confusing to keep all of the characters straight from both timelines and thought the book slowed down in the middle. However, it did pick up again towards the end and then I couldn’t put it down! Overall, I really enjoyed this and would recommend.

Sadly this one just didn’t hook me. I found myself confused with the timelines and the many characters that I was having a hard time keeping up with. This was my first book by the author but I requested because the plot sounded like a story I would enjoy and I loved the book’s cover. Overall it was fine and picked up towards the end but I just didn’t love this one. It took me over a month since I started it to finish so I just was not invested in the characters enough to want to pick it up again.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This will be published tomorrow, June 10th!

The Bachelorette Party is a gripping thriller that combines elements of mystery and suspense in a chilling narrative. The story was overwhelming with all the characters and I had trouble keeping track of who was who. The storyline and timelines also shifted and it was hard to follow. I also felt like is was slowI have loved all of Sten's books but this one wasn't my favorite. The book did have a lot of unexpected twists, secrets and tension.
The novel follows Anneliese, a family therapist, and her friends as they arrive at Baltic Vinyasa, a new mini-resort on the island. Among the guests is Tessa Nilsson, a true-crime podcaster whose career was derailed by a previous investigation. As the group settles in, unresolved mysteries of the island begin to surface, which leads to a lot of suspenful events.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's press for the advanced copy.

My thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St.Martin's Publishing for the ARC of "The Bachelorette Party" in exchange for an honest review.

You would think that by now, murder mystery characters would know enough to stay off of small remote islands as sites for wedding, parties, reunions, readings of a wealthy relative's last will and testament .......or a bachelorette party. Destination get-togethers are almost always doomed to become Final destination get-togethers.

Some ten years ago in Sweden, four women used one of those uh-oh islands off the coast for their annual just-us=girls celebration. And were never seen or heard from again, making them the obsession of true crime podcaster Tessa Nillson. But now, ten years later, a tragic incident upended and ruined her career (and livelihood) as a podcaster.

Tessa sees a chance at redemption when she's invited (along with her sister and three other friends) to her bestie Annaliese's bachelorette yoga retreat party. Anyone care to take a wild crazy guess as to where this destination delight will take place?

What??!! You mean to say the women are going to that very same uh-oh island where those poor four girls went bye-bye-bye forever?

Uh-oh.

As if we didn't know, Tessa's attempts to uncover the mysteries of the island and the missing girls go awry when a series of not-all-that-unexpected twists reveal themselves. Also arriving around the same time - a brutal, protracted horror movie finale which puts everyone in the most horrendous jeopardy imaginable.

Even with all these familiar tropes employed, I still found this book effectively paced and an engrossing page turner. But if you're no fan of lengthy ultra-violent slasher-movie type finales with no end of tragic collateral damage, I wouldn't recommend it.

On the other hand, if you gravitate to those remote island thrillers with an escalating casualty rate, here's your final destination vacation waiting for you to book passage........just by reading the book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.
I was very drawn into the location and plot of this book, but I didn’t care for the execution. From the very beginning, it was quite obvious who the bad guys were going to be. And I mean very very obvious, and that unfortunately took away a lot of the likeness I have for this book. I hate being able to predict and know the ending. I also felt like there were too many characters, like a lot to keep track of. The setting was great, very dark and atmospheric.
I felt like it was a slow start, and then when it got to the good stuff, it sped up way too fast and everything happened very quickly, which is why I didn’t care for the execution.
Tessa’s backstory was great, and I didn’t see that coming for her. When it was revealed, my eyes went wide.
It was a good concept, I just wish it was executed a little bit better. It didn’t really fit my style of reading.

This was pretty good. It was well written, and it was quite entertaining. The book takes place on an old, isolated island off the coast of Sweden. On this island, four friends meet every year. They meet to catch up and just escape their lives for a bit. However, things go very very wrong. Ten years later a true crime junkie can't shake the story. When her friend is getting married, she is stoked that the bachelorette party will take place on this island. From there the story picks up and a whole lot of things get going!
This was well written. I mostly enjoyed the ending though found it a bit out there. I had the chance to read the book and listen to the audio of this story. I definitely recommend either option. The narration was fantastic in the audio version, but the story reads well as a book, too. I liked this.

This book had good pacing in the beginning and I was intrigued by the mystery. I found the characters hard to connect with and lacking depth. It became hard to keep track of all the characters especially with the dual timeline. I enjoyed the book overall, but it fell flat for me.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Who killed Tilly, Anna, Linnea, and Evelina?

There's always something atmospheric about a deserted island, and Isle Blind is no exception.

But 10 years later, a new hotel has been built on the island and a group of women is invited to have their bridal party at the soft opening. One requirement - leave all electronic devices at the door. One of the women, Tessa, happens to be there for an ulterior reason: she's obsessed with the murders, presumed accidental drownings, of the Nacka Four as the women were known. She's fallen into disgrace as a podcaster for her aggressive pursuit of a former story, and she thinks this could be the case that will put her in the ratings again.

When Tessa steps foot on the island, her spidey sense is tingling. I love how Sten made comparisons between the women from the past and the current group (although I kept getting the name Matilda, from the first group, and Mikaela from the second group, confused)

Sten manages to ramp up the book during the last third of the book; I know, because I was holding my breath the whole time. I was also surprised to find I had tears glistening at the corners of my eyes reading the final chapter.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's for providing me with an advance reader's copy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Camilla Sten knows how to set a scene, and here she’s in her element. What starts as a celebratory getaway in the woods quickly devolves into something much more unsettling. The remote forest setting is perfectly claustrophobic, and as tensions rise among the group, Sten masterfully taps into that creeping sense of unease where you’re never quite sure what’s real..... or who to trust.

The characters feel complex and layered, especially as long-simmering resentments and secrets come to light. I appreciated how the story explores the emotional dynamics of friendship, loyalty, and the messiness of past wounds, without ever losing sight of its central mystery.

The pacing is intentionally slow at times, and while that worked to build tension, there were moments when I wished the plot pushed forward just a bit more quickly. Still, the payoff is satisfying and thoughtful, and the final act pulled me in completely.

This is a great pick for readers who enjoy character-driven thrillers!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!