I got 40 percent into this book and it just was not for me at this point in time. I plan to come back to it eventually, I just didn't feel connected to it. I loved the writing style.

As soon as I saw the promos for this book for Scream lovers I had to get my hands on it. I will say it got a little weird when I realized the main characters are besties, Annaliese and Tessa. My name is Anna Lisa and my bff of like 38 years is Tessa. We are diehard fans of scream since we were able to sneak watching it in 6th grade. I have since learned never to go on a yoga retreat on a private island with my friend.

Truly though, I had a blast reading this as it did have the scream vibe of trying to figure out who caused and/or is replicating a murder from years gone by and why. I always have my theories but I was definitely led astray a few times. Well done thriller with very realistic relationships between adult female friends who go way back. The characters aren’t perfect, they have their own issues and some minor issues with one another but the will to overcome an murderer can quickly cause shifting gears.

Synopsis: each year for friends Mead on a remote island off the coast of Sweden as they have been doing since childhood. They are the only ones who know its location. Ten years later Tessa has been engrossed in the story of the four friends who disappeared. She is now invited to a Bachelorette party for her best friend which is set to be on that very island where those four friends disappeared.
My thoughts: I enjoyed this book very much. I liked the dual POV bringing us between 2022 and 2012. There was much suspense and it was well paced. Like many suspense novels I thought I knew what was happening but was I in for a twist. This held my attention and I wanted to find out what happened to the girls.
Read this if you like locked door mysteries with some thrills!
Thank you NetGelley and St. Martin's Press for this Arc in exchange for my honest review !

This is a truly suspenseful thriller that will keep you guessing. A group of four friends reunite on an island and then disappear. Ten years later a "canceled" podcaster decides to investigate the case when she is invited to a bachelorette party at a new resort built on that island by the sister of one of the missing women. The story jumps between two timelines but is easy to follow. The plot is well done and the eeriness builds as the plot unfolds. I would suggest reading this in a corner where no one can sneak up on you! Camilla Sten has become one of my favorite thriller writers, and I highly recommend this book.

The Bachelorette Party 💍🎉 | ARC review

Book overview:

On a remote 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. As her true crime fervor turned into a wildly popular podcast, Tessa covered Sweden’s most gruesome cases, but could never find the answers behind what happened to these women who disappeared. Now Tessa’s podcast has crashed and burned, any chance she had at uncovering the truth vanishing with it.

Anneliese is Tessa’s best friend, and before she walks down the aisle, she wants to have a bachelorette party. The destination: Baltic Vinyasa, a sleek, sophisticated yoga retreat on a small island off the coast—one with such similar characteristics to the tragedy years ago that it raises the hair on Tessa’s neck. The idea is to drink gallons of cava, do sunrise yoga, and get in their last chance to bond with the bride. Tessa will not pass this up. It’s her last chance to find out what happened to the four women, once and for all.

And it’s someone else’s last chance to get revenge.

My 💭

I highly enjoyed this one! The author did a great job doing a dual POV with the 2022 timeline and the 2012 timeline-it really highlighted the parallels between the two. I also really enjoyed that Tessa had her own secrets throughout, and once they were revealed you could understand her motivations more. I had my suspicions throughout as to what really happened to the Nacka Four and I was pleasantly surprised to not know entirely. I love when a twist catches me off guard!

If you liked She Started It by Sian Gilbert—this one is for you!

Solid four stars from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @netgalley for the chance to read and review ahead of time!

The Bachelorette Party publishes June 10, 2025✨

The story starts 10 years ago on the night where four women went missing and were never seen or heard from again. It drops us right into the middle of the action.

This opening had me hooked and I needed to know what happened on that fateful night.

We then jump forward 10 years where another group of girls is about to spend the weekend for a bachelorette party on that same little isle.

The main character Tessa, is who we experience the story from. She has come to this weekend ready to go digging into what really happened to the Nacka 4 (the original 4 girls). But Tessa also has a dark past, one that is hinted at through the book.

The book is paced well, and the tension is palpable when the action starts to occur. Though a bit predictable, there were still twists and turns that were enjoyable.

A great book for a beach read or a rainy weekend where you just want to lose a couple hours in a mystery. I’m definitely planning on reading some more of this Camilla Sten’s work.

*Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.*

Camilla Sten, author of the chilling thriller The Lost Village, returns with The Bachelorette Party, an atmospheric mystery that intertwines true crime obsession, female friendships, and a decades-old disappearance.

Set on a secluded Swedish island, the narrative shifts between the story of four friends who vanished ten years ago and the present-day bachelorette party of Tessa and Anneliese. As the past and present collide, tension rises, revealing the island’s buried secrets.

Tessa, a former true crime podcaster seeking redemption, leads the charge as she explores the Baltic Vinyasa retreat, where darkness lurks beneath its serene facade. Sten skillfully balances psychological depth with suspenseful twists, showcasing raw friendships tangled in secrets and resentment.

Fans of The Guest List and Scream will enjoy the blend of intrigue and thrills, culminating in a shocking finale. With its haunting atmosphere and unreliable narrators, The Bachelorette Party is an addictive read that keeps you guessing until the last chilling page. A must-read for fans of locked-room mysteries and psychological horror.

This was a fun read, a little different than other similar stories because of the location on an outlying island of Sweden. Tessa is going with a group of friends to a bachelorette party on the same tiny island where four friends went missing a decade ago. Although because those four kept their location a secret, most people believe they drowned when out sailing and didn’t connect their disappearance to the island. But Tessa’s been obsessed with that story and can’t believe she has the chance to go there and look for her own clues as to what happened.

You can guess where this is going, Tessa is certain there’s something dangerous afoot because of the past, no one believes her, and then all heck breaks loose. But the how and the why is entertaining, although there were several passages that I ended up skimming because it was just Tessa’s inner monologue repeating the same worries over and over. And while there was a slow build, once the action started it all came at once and the pacing felt off. And I wasn’t sure why with less than ten female names, two (Anna and Anneliese) were almost the same. The author couldn’t think of a different name? That just seemed strange.

I liked the conclusion, but I wish there had been more resolution to the story Tessa did that imploded her podcast. I wanted to hear more about that crime! Who knows, maybe the author will pull inspiration from that for a future story – I’d be first in line!

I truly enjoyed this book, it had about everything you want in a book. It had the suspense, the mystery, the drama, the romance, and a little flashback. I feel like this book was a good book if you are looking for a quick read, and can’t decide what to read because it gives a little bit of everything. If you are looking for a quick book that will keep you interested give this book a try, because you won’t regret it and the ending will shock you!

This was a new one for me and I enjoyed trying to figure out what all was happening. Loved having the setting in Sweden.

This book was such a slow burn the whole way thru for me. Normally this kind of book is right up my alley but this story didn’t hold my attention for more than a chapter at a time and I had to force myself to pick it up and read it. The premise was all there but the story telling itself fell flat and missed the mark completely. I knew immediately who was up to no good in the present tense of the story and figured out the bad person was in the past tense of the story before the end as well. I will gave one star for the ending because I did like how it tied it up….otherwise it would have gotten 2 stars.

I really enjoyed this one! It had that keep you on the edge of your seat vibe, kind of like a classic slasher horror movie, but with a fresh twist. The story was a lot more graphic than I expected, which definitely ramped up the intensity and kept me hooked. Some of the plot twists completely caught me off guard, while others I had a feeling about, but the way they played out was still super satisfying.

After reading this, the thought of being stranded in such a beautiful yet secluded place seems way less appealing! If you're into suspense and horror with a good mix of unexpected turns, this book is definitely worth checking out.

This was an engrossing, entertaining book until the end. The ending was just too much - too much gore, too much happening at once and too predictable.

A decade ago, The Nacka Four, which a group of four childhood friends were called after they all went missing while on a remote island for a get-together. No bodies were ever recovered so they were presumed to have drowned in a drunken boating accident.

Fast forward ten years and another group of girls gather on the same remote island for a bachelorette’s party. Soon, bad things are happening and there’s no escape. How could this possibly be happening again?

There are a lot of names to keep track of, which is a bit confusing, but overall this is a fast-paced whodunnit. I think 3 stars is a fair review for this book. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

Loved this thriller! I was on the edge of my seat the who time trying to figure out what was going on. The book will have you glued until the end!

I'll start with saying I really love reading thrillers, so even when I find a thriller average, I still like it... you know what I mean? I had my eye on the 'bad guy' pretty early on in this one, so there were no major surprises. This one leaned a little horror movie for me at the end, and with a name and title like The Bachelorette Party, I think I wanted it to be more fun? 2.5 rounded up to a 3.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and of course Camila Sten for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review. The Bachelorette Party will be available on June 10, 2025! #ARC

This book hooked me from the start and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! The story centers around four childhood friends who gather annually on a secluded Swedish island for a night of fun—until they mysteriously vanished without a trace. A decade later, true-crime podcaster Tessa, who has long been obsessed with uncovering the truth behind their disappearance, gets the chance to investigate when her best friend’s bachelorette party leads her to a yoga retreat on an eerily similar island. As Tessa delves into the cold case, she uncovers unsettling truths and realizes that someone on the island may have their own sinister agenda and a thirst for revenge.

I went into this book without any expectations, and it absolutely exceeded them! The alternating timelines added a rich layer to the story, and the gripping opening chapters immediately drew me in. The twists were relentless, keeping me guessing until the very last page. If you love suspenseful thrillers full of unexpected turns, this book is a must-read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinions!

I think this sub-genre is a newish trend: a group on a reclusive island where one by one, the guests/bridesmaids/friends begin disappearing or showing up murdered, leaving the main character to fight to the end against an unknown enemy/one of the others/the elements/all of the above. I've definitely read several versions of the story in the past couple of years, to varying effect. So how did The Batchelorette Party fare? Only fair. While weaving in flashbacks to a previous group has not been done to death, I have seen it before so this was not new, And even though the flashbacks did leave a couple of mysteries to figure out, the cast itself in this story was not one I grew to care about so the mysteries set in both the past and present were not exciting (or mysterious) enough for me. Also, red herrings were easily spotted, and the end of the story was a stretch. All in all, an okay read for an escape, but not enough strength to the who and why to truly capture my interest.

The Bachelorette Party is advertised as “scream meets the guest list” and I thoroughly agree with that description. A group of women head to a remote island for a yoga retreat bachelorette party, but little do they know they’re headed to the scene of a dark tragedy that remains unsolved ten years later.

They must fight for their lives to escape this island and uncover the truth of what really happened there. With a true crime podcaster as the main character, we’re given quite the interesting perspective into the events of the Bachelorette party.

For a fast paced and whiplash filled read, I would highly recommend.

They say nothing under the sun is original—not even a thought. And early on, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had read this story before. They are not identical, but very similar. A group of women, a bachelorette weekend, a secluded island… very She Started It.

Because of that, I knew who to rule out early. I knew who to pay attention to. I knew what to watch for in both the dialogue and the narrator’s descriptions.

It was clear that each character was meant to make you second-guess them at some point. Natalie, the quiet newcomer who doesn’t say much. Mikaela is the self-absorbed one who won’t shut up about herself, her husband, or her kids. Caroline, disappears early—almost too early, making her an easy suspect. And of course, there’s Tessa, with her muddy past and a desperate need to revitalize her career. Could she have created this entire situation for the sake of a comeback? It all felt very cliché.

The story jumps between two main timelines—2012, with The Nacka Four, and 2022, with the bachelorette party. I found the timeline shifts easy to follow, but other elements felt unnecessary. There’s a blog entry from Matilda that I initially thought would play a bigger role—maybe during an investigation or in Tessa’s research—but it doesn’t. It’s just there for the reader, and honestly, it didn’t add much. Then there’s a set of call records—one number ending in 1220, which we know belongs to a key player, but the number ending in 9813? Never revealed.

There are a lot of callbacks in 2022 that reference the women from 2012, giving the impression that the present-day characters know more about what happened than they’re letting on—especially Anneliese. But by chapter 38, I had it figured out. At that point, I just had to power through the last fifteen chapters to see how it all played out.

Finishing this book, I felt a little underwhelmed. The final reveal was a lot—over-the-top, even for someone like me who loves a good murder mystery. I get what the author was going for, but something about it felt disjointed. It tried to be twisty and shocking, but it didn’t quite stick the landing. Overall, I enjoyed the book, the story, and the writing.

I really need to stop requesting stories that are super scary. This one was a lot to read and I just didn't love the ending (soap opera vibes for sure) so it definitely impacted my overall rating.