The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten is a locked-room thriller that unfortunately was a bit disappointing for me.
The book is told mostly from the point of view of Tessa, a podcaster who is at risk of losing her career after a bad decision caused serious consequences. Tessa has been invited to a bachelorette party on an island where four women were rumoured to have disappeared ten years ago. Tessa has been obsessed with this disappearance since she was a teenager, and sees an opportunity to investigate the mystery.
I was looking forward to reading this book, but it wasn’t as enjoyable as I had anticipated.
First of all I found it hard to believe that four women went missing and were rumoured to have last been on an island owned by the father of one of those women, but the police ignored this information and just brushed it off and didn’t bother to search it at all. This just struck me as unrealistic, and since it came at the beginning of the novel it unfortunately set my mood for the rest of the book.
I also didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters, although I think I could have gotten interested in Matilda’s story and that of her friends, if the whole book had been about them and their disappearance.
I also found myself confused at times about the timeline. I didn’t document the exact issues, I just recall being confused about the dates, and Tessa’s age, and a few other things that I had to really stop and go back to review. It just got confusing, and to be honest, I’m still not sure it all made sense.
In all I found the book relatively predictable, and a bit of a disappointment, but it wasn’t the worst book I’ve read. I think many people will find it enjoyable, it just wasn’t the book for me.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The Bachelorette Party will be published on June 10 2025.
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