Extremely engaging story and I didn't want to put it down. The main character was relatable in a grim fashion, reminding us that we all have secrets we wish we could forget.

I loved the setting of the book. The island's isolation had a creepy effect, even though you felt the lush, tropical paradise. I enjoyed the dual timeline. This is always a trope that I find fun, and I thought this was well managed. I also liked that the narrator was dealing with her own stuff, giving her a slight unreliability. I loved the first 2/3 to 3/4 of the novel. The pacing of this part was great, and it felt intense and thrilling. However, the book's last quarter felt somewhat dragging. I could see the twist coming, so the "whodunit" did not come as a surprise. Once the bad actor was revealed, it felt like the pacing slowed, and there was still too much left in the book. I kept expecting an ending to come, but it was still far off.

I didn't want to compare the author's first book (which I loved) to this new splashy thriller. This is an entirely different read told in dual timelines and a revenge plot that kept me turning pages. I must admit the setting grabbed my attention because of time spent on an island (Oland) off the coast of Sweden in my twenties. The setting gave this story such an eerie, atmospheric and mysterious vibe.

I also enjoyed following the narrative of the true crime podcaster in current day as she slowly and methodically uncovered the truth about what happened during the thrilling party ten years ago. Wow! This book had so much of what I love. Intrigue, drama, and suspense. Excited for the next Camilla Sten book!

Thank you, NetGalley and the author's publisher for an early read.

Tessa has been a true crime aficionado for years and had built a successful podcast in Sweden focused on true crime. However, in an effort to keep her ratings up, she makes a decision that will have tragic consequences and wreck her career.

A chance for redemption comes with an invitation to the bachelorette party of one of her dearest friends, Anneliese. The party is being held on Isle Blind, the suspected site of the disappearance of the Nacka Four. Ten years ago, four women went to Blind Isle for their annual party but didn’t come home. The assumption was that they went out on a boat drunk and drowned. However, that explanation does not sit right with some people who knew them, who suspect they were murdered. Tessa is one of those who thinks a crime was committed. The case hits close to home for her because one of the dead/missing women, Matilda, used to be her babysitter, and others were from the same neighborhood.

The current owner of Isle Blind, and owner of the island resort where the bachelorette party is being held is Irene, the older sister of Matilda, and a friend of Tessa’s older sister Lena. Tessa is hoping that solving the mystery and getting an interview with Irene will restart her career.

Tessa will solve the mystery but will find herself involved in a much bigger story that will irrevocably change the lives of the bachelorette party members.

Four girls are killed when they take their annual trip to the remote Isle Blind. 10 years later the mystery is still unsolved and Tessa wants to be the one to solve it. When her best friend decides to hold her bachelorette party on the yoga retreat built on Isle Blind, Tessa can't let the opportunity go.

This was a typical "trust no one" book. I was suspicious of every character from the get go, even Tessa! I enjoyed the dual timeline as we got a good feel for the characters from the past as well as what was happening in the present. I didn't really connect with Tessa as a main character, even after finding out what had happened to her. She just felt a bit self serving and flat to me. However, the twists and turns that were served up in the book were great. They really built the tension that you expect from a good thriller!

Many thanks to Netgalley for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.


Certain parts of this book get a little graphic which I skipped over because I don’t like really graphic content but luckily it isn’t to bad. Tessa is a podcaster who has recently lost her job after interviewing a man and manipulating some of the interview to make it more interesting that resulted in a man’s suicide and being dropped by people she believed cared about her. Tessa’s childhood best friend Annaleisse is getting married soon and is having her bachelorette party at an island yoga retreat where years earlier another bachelorette party took place where everyone was murdered and the murderer never found. Tessa hopes to talk to Irene and relaunch her career. As Tessa and her friends begin to enjoy their trip Tessa has a strange feeling that history is repeating itself especially after one of the girls Caroline disappears and later Tessa finds her body. Tessa tries to get her friends to believe her and go call the police before they are murdered too. Irene ties up Annaleisse and gets her to confess to covering for Carl, Irene’s sisters fiancé after he killed her sister and her friends all those years ago. Tessa, Nicole, Micheala, and Leah survive the massacre. There is so much happening in this book but it was so interesting.

Wow! This was something else. Six women go to a deserted island for a bachelorette party where, ten-ish years ago, four women vanished and were never found. Pretty soon, our protagonist Tessa realizes that there's something amiss about this island...

This book kept me on my toes the entire time. Who would have thought a bachelorette party could be so bloody!

Thanks to NetGalley for the free review copy.

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up. Unfortunately this was just an average thriller for this mystery/suspense/thriller reader. I can definitely understand the comps to The Guest List. Has the same locked room/stranded on an island vibes with a wedding related party.

This was extemely hard to get invested in because I couldn’t keep the characters straight. The names are all too similar. Lena, Evelina, LInnea, Anna, Annaliese…etc. Had trouble with the similar names and then the past and present timelines. Couldn’t remember which version of Lena was in past vs present. Took me completely out of the story. The timelines in general were a bit confusing. Fairly slow paced, with not much happening until the final third. At that point, I was ready to be done.

Loved that Tessa was running from something…wanted more of her story. A book about what went wrong in her podcasting journey would have been more interesting.

I liked the short chapters and the strong sense of atmosphere on the remote island.

I loved The Lost Village from the author previously. This was just a miss for me.

Can see how many readers who like friendship drama in a locked room setting would enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

On a remote island nestled off the coast of Sweden, four friends―Tilly, Anna, Linnea and Evelina―meet every year. 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. 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.

This book was coined Scream Meets The Guest List. While it did not really live up to that for me, I can see the similarities. I liked the book, the premise was fun but it ended up being just a tad too much. I don’t want to ruin it but it crossed over into the absurd there and I think that’s where the lower reviews come from. Overall, 3.5 ⭐️ from me. I thought it was fun. Thank you to netgalley and Minotaur books for an ARC.

This was an engaging read with unexpected twists and turns.

Thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy. My opinions are my own.

Told in dual timelines—2022 and 2012—this book is a web of secrets, lies, and revenge that kept me turning the pages. The setting, a remote island off the coast of Sweden, added the perfect eerie atmosphere to the unfolding mystery.

I really enjoyed following Tessa, a true crime podcaster, as she slowly uncovers the truth about what really happened during that wild bachelorette weekend a decade ago. Mystery, drama, and suspense all wrapped into one twisty and entertaining read!

I really loved the authors book The Lost Village but unfortunately this one didn’t have the same feel. It was just another run of the mill locked room thriller where you know someone involved is offing everyone but you don’t know who/why til the end and it fell flat. I wouldn’t recommend it, just another recycled plot.

The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten

Camilla Sten is a new to me author and I enjoyed this book. I liked her writing style and ability to create atmosphere – particularly suspense.
I was hooked from the start – 4 women, alone on a remote island, celebrating their friendship on their annual camping trip to Isle Blind. Within the first few pages, they are all murdered. Their families believe they were lost at sea and their bodies never found.
Ten years later, another group of young women are celebrating the upcoming wedding of one of their friends. One of them, a podcaster has another motive – wanting to save her career and having a long interest in the mystery of the "the Nacha 4”, she hopes to learn what happened to them. The sister of one of the missing women, Irene, has bought the island and built a spa hotel. This is the first time anyone has stayed at the hotel. Sten creates atmosphere with her descriptions of the hotel – being the only visitors, seemingly empty, crashing waves, storm….increasing the suspense.
What exactly happened 10 years ago? What is happening now on the island? Is the murderer back?
While I enjoyed the book and will read more by Sten, there was some suspension of disbelief with the reveal.

Thanks to Camilla Sten, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this e-book.

This book was everything I look for in a thriller, and it was SO GOOD. The writing was fantastic and the plot had me hooked the whole time. And what a solid ending - endings are always the trickiest parts for me, they can ruin my enjoyment of an otherwise perfect book, but this really worked for me. The bisexual rep was just a bonus on top of everything else.

ETA: found out that this is the first book the author has written in English/her second language, and I'm even more floored and impressed at how well-written it was.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me access to this eARC.

Thrillers surrounding group holidays or bachelorette parties will always be one of my favotite type of stories. The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten is no different. I had a blast reading this book.

I am someone who enjoyed Multiple timelines in books, and this book executed it well. It was good to see the old group of women have their experiences and build up to their mysterious end while also having our main character go and investigate at a bachelorette party 10 years later. I think this was an effective way to go about the novel, because it adds tension and shows the humanity of the old group of women our main character is interested in. It never felt confusing or oppressive to have the different timelines.

I also liked how Tessa, the main character, was not necessarily perfect but still someone you rooted for. She had flaws, but I did care about her and what happened to her.

While the buildup and tension was good, I do think it took a little too long for some of the bad/thriller parts to take place with Tessa and her group. I was waiting for a while for something wrong to happen. I wish it had been quicker, in that regard. One of the twists, I kind of figured out earlier on, so I was not really shocked near the end. However, it was still engaging and other reveals occurred that made up for it!

Overall, 3.75 stars for me!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Reminded me in some ways of the Yellowjacket show. I really enjoyed the group of girlfriends on a bachelorette with all the layers of friendship . Mystery and terror follow.

I previously read her Lost Village book and loved it as well. This new novel doesn't have the supernatural aspect, but it was a solid terror filled mystery.

What a whirlwind. I enjoyed this authors writing style. Finished this in two days! It was suspenseful and kept me on my toes.

This wasn't my favorite thriller, but I did like it! I think it took too long to get to the action and I guessed who was behind it all less than a quarter of the way through. Plus everyone outside of Tessa and Natalie were pretty much awful? But I did enjoy the plot and as an older sister, it was pretty emotional in some parts. It felt like reading a campy horror movie and I enjoyed the writing style!

This fictional novel is a fast-paced thriller that takes place in a remote island where five women are meeting to celebrate a bachelorette party. The main character Tessa, who used to host her own true crime podcast, is hesitant on attending the party, but is also very curious to find out more about the murder that took place on the same island 10 years prior. This is a dual-timeline novel that interchanges between the current plot in 2022 and what happened in 2012. Overall, I felt that the book was an easy read and it did capture my attention such that I was able to finish the book in two days. The character development was not too complicated so about half way through the book, I had my hunch about who the antagonist was going to be; however, it did not deter me from finishing the book. If a reader is looking for a quick beach read, then this would certainly do the trick. There were a few details in the book that I found to be a bit gory so I had to quickly gloss over those descriptions.

I'm not sure if this is a translation issue, or a me issue . I have not made it through any of Sten's novels to date. Always seems repetitive, without any momentum. and that is what happened with The Bachelorette party. a lot of carrot , not enough stick.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.