Definitely a quick read that had me racing to the end to figure out what happened to the 4. Gotta say awesome domestic thriller and did a great job going from past and present and giving you little kernels of the past to keep you intrigued on to what could connect everything. I also loved how it shows what the passive of time can do to friendships that felt real and kinda what happens in some cases. Definitely an ending I didn’t see coming and loved getting to guess what happened to the original missing girls. If you like a nail bitter type atmosphere this book is for you! Thanks NetGalley and Minotaur books for giving me a chance to read this early!

The writing style wasn't for me and the storyline wasn't anything new for a thriller. There was too much info dumping and telling rather than showing right from the beginning and the dialogue between the characters felt off somehow.

The changing time lines and POVs were hard to follow - the personality of the characters didn't feel very distinct or unique so it was hard to keep them straight in my mind.

It also felt like the story had a lot going on with the shifting time lines but hardly anything actually happened for the majority of the story.

The narrator did a good job voicing the story and creating atmosphere.

It was hard to decipher which girl was which since the narrator doesn’t have much range in voice switches. The story itself was barely engaging enough but it all seemed to be predictable. Even the twists . Also each character was so paper thin.

This book totally drew me in right from the start -so addictive, I couldn’t put it down! Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC.
#TheBacheloretteParty #NetGalley

ARC Review- pub date 6-10-25

Finished this book and all I could think was, WHAT did I just read?! In a good way.

First, I typically don't enjoy the secluded island themed thrillers, so I was a little nervous going into this one. However, it was pleasantly surprising to find that it didn't give me those vibes at all.
I was captivated from the prologue and when a book gets your full attention that quickly, it's usually a good sign!

The violence is on another level though! Totally shocked at some of the graphic descriptions in a book with such a pretty cover! The big twist didn't completely shock me in the end. I had some suspicions, but I didn't have all the details correct, so there was still a "gasp" moment when some of the character's secrets were unburied.

Overall, for me, this was a great read! I enjoyed the characters, their secrets, and in this specific book- the setting was perfect! Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press|Minotaur Books & Camilla
Sten for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

3 stars

This is one bachelorette party you'll be happy you were invited to witess in fiction and not to attend IRL.

The cover is giving beautiful location and a dose of mystery, and while the setting part is accurate, the mystery is not as prominent as it should be for the genre. That makes this suspense novel more about the journey than the outcome, which takes a lot of the fun out of it.

While I was somewhat interested in the relationships between characters, I also struggled to focus on the audiobook. The characters are in bizarre situations in some cases (the true crime podcast and related outcomes were a bit over the top, for example), and I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters' behaviors or choices, which made it difficult to root for them, too.

While there are some intriguing possibilities presented here, this one fell a little flat for me. I'll still be back for more from this author but with the hope that I'll get some added surprises next time.

I love when a book surprises you and this one did just that. This is a great thriller that was a little slow to get started but once the action starts happening you are totally engrossed in the story and how it unfolds. Just when you think you have the plot figured out then another twist happens. Definitely worth the read! Loved it!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC! I enjoyed the audiobook along with the ARC of this book!

I want to start out by saying I was so drawn to to this book because of the beautiful artwork on the cover ( I am a huge artwork girly when it comes to covers and sprayed edges). So immediately drawn to that and then the description of the murder mystery plot, I was hooked!! I do think they executed the mystery portion of the book perfectly and the connection between the Nacka 4 and the present. However, there was just so many characters and so many time switches that it was overwhelming and hard to concentrate. I loved the idea and the mystery of the book which is why I am confidently able to give this book a 3-star. I think Camilla Sten is a great writer and it was a great concept but it just kind of got lost at times and that is why I cannot give it a 5 star. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ability to read and review this book. These thoughts and opinions are of my own.

I read this book in tandem—switching between the ebook and audiobook—and it made for a gripping experience. The story is fast-paced and tense from the very beginning, and the audiobook narrator really ramps up that tension with her expressive, tightly wound delivery. Her performance had me leaning in, especially during the more intense scenes.

The plot itself is compelling, with several twists I truly didn’t see coming. While a few scenes were more graphic than I expected, they felt purposeful rather than gratuitous, adding to the raw, high-stakes atmosphere. The pacing never let up, and I found myself constantly wanting to know what happened next. It absolutely held my attention from start to finish.

If you're in the mood for a suspenseful, high-energy read with a few shockers thrown in, this one’s worth checking out!

Thanks to Netgalley ,Macmillan Audio for this ALC. This is my honest review.

I give the Bachelorette Party closer to a 2.5 stars. Reading the blurb about the book, I was excited to read this story. Childhood best friends, remote island in Sweden, and alcohol. Sounds like trouble. A true crime podcast and a similar gathering 10 years later, I was all in. Unfortunately it started out extremely slow. The slow burn fizzled but I stuck with it. I did enjoy the different time lines. The story started to pick up about 60% in that I was eager to finish it and wrapped up nicely. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

*2.5 stars*

The premise promised a gripping and mysterious thriller set against the eerie backdrop of a remote island off the coast of Sweden. I was expecting “Beautiful Ugly” vibes, but unfortunately this one was a miss for me. I don’t feel like the intended atmosphere came through and the changing POV timelines and characters seemed a bit muddled for me. The ending seemed to drag on for a lifetime and came across comically unrealistic.

Specifically regarding the audiobook version - I don’t feel as though the intense scenes were portrayed well through the narrator. It came across as monotone and I struggled to stay focused.

While I was not a fan of this title, I have heard positive feedback on this author and would definitely consider trying another book from her catalog.

This was a quick fun popcorn read. I think the ending was a bit too long, but overall thought the story was easy to follow and is an entertaining beach read!

Thank You NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and St Martin’s Press for an ARC of this novel.

"The Bachelorette Party" is an atmospheric locked-room thriller. Ten years ago, Tilly and her three friends disappeared while on their annual trip to a remote island. They had always kept the location a secret, and they were never found. Ten years later, Tessa, a disgraced true crime podcaster, travels to a small island for her best friend's bachelorette party. They stay at a resort owned by the sister of one of the victims. Tessa hopes to use the trip to investigate the missing women's disappearance and save her podcast.

This book was okay. The story is told from the POVs of Tessa in the present and Tilly in the past. I really liked the dual timelines and trying to guess how they were connected. I also liked the remote island setting and the mixed media format. The book started off a bit slow, but it got more interesting after they arrived on the island. There were so many characters, though, that it was kind of confusing and hard to connect with anyone. I started to get a little bored with the present day narrative and was more interested in what happened to Tilly and her friends in the past.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Laura Jennings. She did a great job bringing the story and characters to life. I think this book could have benefitted from having a second narrator for Tilly's perspective. There were just so many characters that it was hard to keep track of who was who. I think another voice could have helped with that.

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for the gifted ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

To celebrate their friend's marriage, six women embark on a trip to a not-yet-open luxury health retreat for a relaxing, mindful look weekend. Their phones are taken at the door to encourage a fully unplugged experience and although the women may not have seen each other in quite some time, the trip is going nicely. What these women do not know is that one of them has come with the motive of investigating a decade-old murder that may put all of them at risk.

The Bachelorette Party is a story you have probably read before. A bunch of women agree to go on a private retreat where something spooky happened once and, lo and behold, the spook is back with a vengeance. The thing that made me give this book such a low rating, though, is that the author takes this tried and true formula and proceeds to do nothing interesting with it.

First of all, the book starts out very slow. I can take a slow burn, but waiting until nearly 60% for something interesting to happen goes way past the "slow burn" threshold - that's just bad pacing. There is a smaller sub-mystery that strings the reader along for that time, but the payout is just too weak to really be engaging enough to warrant that kind of page space.

There's a lot of danger floating above the characters in this book which would be effective if I felt any sort of attachment to them. Every character is so flat, though, that it was really hard for me to care about the fate of any of them. Any woman that wasn't Tessa (our leading lady) or Irene the yoga teacher faded into the background for me in a muddy swirl. Even Annalise, who was the bride being celebrated, felt like an afterthought at her own party. The other women, whose names I'm even having a hard time remembering, had very few defining characteristics at all and completely merged into each other. Natalie and Liane and Caroline and Mikayla could all have been the same person. I wouldn't know any better (except that one was super annoying about her kids).

Frankly, I wasn't a huge fan of this author's first work, The Lost Village and I probably should not have agreed to review this one. At least in TLV though there was a maybe-paranormal-maybe-not mystery standing behind the characters to make the plot interesting. Although I found the writing amateurish, I did find the core of the story interesting. This book, though, read like a stripped down version of every other locked-room mystery I've ever read. I know I personally called the killer from a mile off which, while not a cardinal sin, definitely left a damper at the end of the book when there was no twist to twist - just a lukewarm confirmation of what was pretty obviously hinted at the whole time.

As far as audiobook-specific feedback, I felt this title was just 'fine'. The narrator had no specific vocal changes from character to character, which made them hard to distinguish from each other. The characters were already fairly flat, so I think some type of change might have been useful here. The delivery felt mostly flat without a lot of dramatic reading, and the tone at times felt inappropriately light or unbothered for the weight of the moment. I wouldn't say that this was a bad audiobook - just that it was mostly forgettable in terms of performance.

A bachelorette party in a not yet open hotel on an isolated island, an island where 4 friends might have been before they disappeared 10 years earlier, just screams trouble and trouble definitely abounds. With a limited cast of characters and an essentially locked room it isn’t too hard to figure who is involved when a dead body is found, but the why and the intertwining of what happened 10 years earlier makes for a bone chilling read with a slasher movie type vibe.

A remote island. Four friends go missing.
Ten years later, that same island. Four friends reunite for a bachelorette party.
Will ghosts start to appear and ruin this “last fling before the ring”, or will these four girls make it our alive?

Traveling between 2012 and 2022, this story centers around the disappearance of four women from an island in the Baltic. We know from the beginning that something very sinister happened to the women, but as no trace of them were ever found, people presume they drowned in a drunken boating accident. In the latter timeline, a podcaster is on the island, which now boasts a luxury hotel. She intends to uncover the truth about the women, no matter what the cost.
The narrator’s voice sounds like a lispy little girl detracts from the story

3.5 stars

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the advanced copies of this book, out in June.

This book gave serious White Lotus vibes and I was here for it!

Following a group of gal pals who visit an exclusive and not yet open to the public yoga retreat on a private island where four girls disappeared 10 years earlier, The Bachelorette Party is a bingeable popcorn thriller perfect for summer.

While a little predictable, it kept me hooked and on the edge of my toes right until the very end.

🎧: The narrator did a great job, and kept me captivated throughout the entire story. She really moved the action along in the appropriate places.