I love a remote-island setting, and that "Locked room" mystery vibe.
This one had allllll those feels, and I definitely felt the tension of this drunken, isolated, and chaotic scene...
The characters fell a bit flat to me, and I wish I was a bit more connected to them. But overall, a good tense, thrilling thriller!

A bachelorette party on a remote island where years ago a murder happened? And now, on the remote island is a fancy resort with an emphasis on self care? Okay… sounds like a great reason! The book had great characters and the twists I did not expect, yet loved!

A terrific whodunit set during a bachelorette weekend where tensions storm high and past grievances come to light. So good!

The Bachelorette Part by Camilla Sten is a fantastic example of a thriller and had me racing through the pages without even realizing it because I was so invested in the story.

There was so much to this story that kept me invested. From the unsolved disappearance of four women that the book opens with, and which the main character, Tessa, is determined to find answers to when she finds herself on the island she suspects they might have travelled to prior to their supposed accident. On top of this mystery, and Tessa’s strong belief that it was actually a murder which she strives to prove, there is also the threat of what could be waiting on the island for the new set of women who Tessa has joined for another bachelorette party so many years later. The anxiety of this situation is rife throughout the book and impossible not to feel as a reader, which makes for a book that is hard to turn away from because it’s difficult not to be invested in the story itself as well as the characters.

Tessa is a podcaster who has hit a bit of a blockade in her career, which is another part of the story that kept me intrigued as it is only hinted at initially and slowly is unravelled throughout the book. This aspect of the story, with Tessa’s extreme guilt over something that happened through her work, really adds to her character and makes her both relatable and sympathetic as the reader comes to understand how she came to be in such a state of shame and seemingly has lost a part of herself that she spends the book trying to find as she comes to terms with her pain. She is a deeply flawed character which only makes her more real and really added to the book as she tries to become a better person while battling her need to solve true crime and the extent she is willing to go to in order to get those answers.

Overall, I really ended up enjoying this thriller and absolutely blasted through it. Camilla Sten wrote a very engaging thriller and I absolutely want to pick up more of the authors work now. I highly recommend this read.

ARC review • pub date 06.10.25

A bachelorette party in 2022 on the same island as four friends went missing from a party in 2012. One of the members of the bachelorette party is a failing podcaster and is secretly hoping to uncover something from the past to help her channel.

This was a good popcorn thriller but it was pretty easy to figure out. There are two timelines, with two sets of friends in each which took me awhile to remember who did what, and kept me from really connecting to any of the characters.

3.5⭐️

thanks to Minotaur Books for my gifted copy

I keep reading Camilla Sten's books even though they never quite hit the mark for me. After picking up The Lost Village (which I'd hoped would channel the unsettling vibes of YellowBrickRoad), I've found myself in a pattern of reading her work with diminishing returns. This one lands somewhere in the middle - a locked-room mystery on a remote Swedish island where, a decade ago, four friends vanished without a trace. Now there is a new group arriving for a bachelorette party, including a mysteriously disgraced true crime podcaster hoping to solve the original disappearance. All the ingredients for something interesting and fun and tense are there, but like Sten's other books, the execution just doesn't deliver--in fact, I find it falls pretty flat. The characters never quite come alive, the plot twists veer into absurd soap opera territory, and by the time we get to the dramatic reveal, I found myself more puzzled at the predictability than shocked at the surprise. Yet somehow, I know I'll probably pick up whatever she writes next, banking on the promise of something I'm probably projecting onto these books but which I will never find in their pages.

I enjoyed this book as I love a murder thriller but this felt like it dragged on and on. I guessed the twist at the end but still enjoyed the story.

Thanks NetGalley for the arc copy!

This locked-room style thriller fell a bit flat for me. I loved the premise of a remote island where a group of friends disappeared—and what happens to a similar group staying there a decade later. However, in both cases I couldn’t really grasp why these “friends” were willing to take these trips. There were major issues and disconnects within each group and I didn’t find it believable that these women would want to participate in these weekend getaways. What I did like: there were some interesting twists and the story is fast-paced. However, I felt as if a number of threads were not wrapped up and questions were left unanswered. So, my verdict is—an interesting book but not entirely satisfying. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for a copy of this book it was really good and I would rate it 3/5 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.


I wasn't wanting to pick this book up past 25%. Wrong book, wrong time for me.

I’ve read a few books with a similar plot and I was hoping that this would be one of the top written. However, I think it felt short in the delivery.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC.
Alternating timelines help to set the scene for this book about a bachelorette party on an island where four friends had disappeared years earlier. Tessa is a true crime podcaster, and she sees her invitation to her best friend’s bachelorette party as an opportunity to investigate the disappearance.
This well plotted mystery does start out slow but picks up towards the end. The twists keep coming as the book progresses. It wasn’t my favorite Camilla Sten book but it is worth reading.

The Bachelorette Party just didn’t do it for me. Tessa’s freak outs were =|= the story. With some restructuring, this book could be great!

True crime loving Tessa travels with a group of friends to a remote island for a bachelorette party. She has an ulterior motive though-10 years ago another group of women went to the same island and never returned. Tessa’s hoping that she’ll uncover some secrets while she’s there that will help her plummeting podcast. Unfortunately, she gets more than she bargained for when her friends start turning up dead.

The premise for this was so intriguing and I was stoked to read it! Unfortunately, it was a bit slow and I just couldn’t get into it at first. I made myself keep reading and while it did get better, I just feel like this missed the mark for me.

There were too many characters and the rotating timeline was a bit much to follow I think. I did enjoy the action part of this story and the original story of the first four friends.

Overall, I think people will love this twisty thriller, but it wasn’t for me at this time.

I really enjoyed this book by Camilla. Sten this locked door thriller of friends getting together for a bachelorette party was definitely an intense ride of crazy chaos and I was on the edge of my seat until the very end. At first, it was tough to keep track of who everybody was, but I clearly stuck with it and enjoyed the thrill of the chase to get to the end and know who Was the culprit. I really enjoyed the tumultuous tension among the group. I will be reading more from this author thank you from NetGalley for this arc in Stt Martin’s press.

After reading The Lost Village and The Resting Place, this author became an auto-read for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the creepy, eerie atmosphere she created in her past two books, so I was excited to dive into The Bachelorette Party.

Unfortunately, the book fell a bit short of my expectations. While it isn’t intrinsically bad, it just didn’t have the darkness or the sinister atmosphere I was hoping for. The story wasn’t terrible, either. In fact, I thought the past/present narrative was interesting, the pacing was great, the island setting was intriguing, and I absolutely love a locked room mystery. However, I also found the characters to be stereotypical, a few of the plot lines somewhat convoluted, and the ending was predictable.

To summarize, it is a decent book but lacked the depth and atmosphere I loved from her previous works. I craved more darkness, and less cocktails and yoga.

Thank you @netgalley and St. Martin’s Press / Minotaur Books for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Many thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for access to an EARC of The Bachelorette Party in exchange for an honest review.

Locked room mysteries are always a go to for me, so I was excited to get into this one. I was a little worried at first that it wasn’t going to be a hit for me - but it quickly drew me in and held my attention through the finale. I loved Camilla Sten’s writing style and I look forward to exploring more of this author’s work.

Four friends on a private beach island. Lots of sun and sand. What could possibly go wrong? On Isle Blind, apparently a lot. And you won’t want to miss a second of it!

I really wanted to like this book. I love the idea of a book like scream but tbh it reminded me of i know what you did last summer but with a podcast. I enjoyed the plot but the characters just didnt pull me in i wanted more development on them. I did like this book as a whole though.

This one was a page turner. Camilla Sten knocks in out of the park with her mysterious plots and this tale of friendship and betrayal is no different. This one is good but it is not my favorite of hers. I loved the dual timelines and the first few chapters were amazing…I felt like the ending wrapped up a little hastily. It was still really good and our library will be purchasing it!

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the EARC.

For fans of the Guest List, you will love the bachelorette party. The twists and turns were so good. I really loved it, I couldn’t put it down.

I will note the timeline can be hard to follow at times but it’s such an interesting edge of your seat book that it’s worth it.