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A review by obsidian_blue
The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten
2.0
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
You would think a locked room mystery (an island cut off from everything except by boat or ferry) would be my jam, but this was boring and at times defied any type of logic. I think jumping around the timelines didn't help either. All in all, just a snooze.
"The Bachelorette Party" takes place off the coast of Sweden. During timeline one, we have four friends--Tilly, Anna, Linnea and Evelina--who meet every year for a get together. However, something happens and the four women are never seen again. Ten years later, we follow another group of women, going to the same location for a bachelorette party at a new hotel that has been built. We mostly follow Tessa, who is an ex-true crime podcaster who is hoping to use this trip to dive into what happened to these women to be able to redeem herself after an incident has left her persona non grata. The other women with Tessa, is her sister, Lena; the bride to be, Anneliese; Mikaela, maid of honor; Natalie, the new girl; and Caroline. There's also the owner of the hotel, Irene and the hotel chef, Adam.
I will say, that Tessa and her ever increasing fear just didn't work tension wise for me. It just felt like it was coming out of nowhere. I think until we get to the certain point in the story it just felt aimless to me. I also think us not knowing what happened to her in the past until most of the book was almost done, hindered the story. Maybe if the story had started with that first, that would have made sense to why she was so focused on the original four missing women. I think I just got lost once we started shifting to Matilda and then getting newspaper articles, text messages, emails, etc. to read through. It just keeps you pulled from the story entirely IMHO.
The book shifts over to some Agatha Christie lite at one point, and I wish that Sten had pushed in on that more.
The setting of the island had the potential to be creepy and mysterious, but it didn't fit the mood of the book.
The reveals and the whys were some head scratchers to me too by the way. It just didn't make a lot of sense to me and I think that took away from the book.
You would think a locked room mystery (an island cut off from everything except by boat or ferry) would be my jam, but this was boring and at times defied any type of logic. I think jumping around the timelines didn't help either. All in all, just a snooze.
"The Bachelorette Party" takes place off the coast of Sweden. During timeline one, we have four friends--Tilly, Anna, Linnea and Evelina--who meet every year for a get together. However, something happens and the four women are never seen again. Ten years later, we follow another group of women, going to the same location for a bachelorette party at a new hotel that has been built. We mostly follow Tessa, who is an ex-true crime podcaster who is hoping to use this trip to dive into what happened to these women to be able to redeem herself after an incident has left her persona non grata. The other women with Tessa, is her sister, Lena; the bride to be, Anneliese; Mikaela, maid of honor; Natalie, the new girl; and Caroline. There's also the owner of the hotel, Irene and the hotel chef, Adam.
I will say, that Tessa and her ever increasing fear just didn't work tension wise for me. It just felt like it was coming out of nowhere. I think until we get to the certain point in the story it just felt aimless to me. I also think us not knowing what happened to her in the past until most of the book was almost done, hindered the story. Maybe if the story had started with that first, that would have made sense to why she was so focused on the original four missing women. I think I just got lost once we started shifting to Matilda and then getting newspaper articles, text messages, emails, etc. to read through. It just keeps you pulled from the story entirely IMHO.
The book shifts over to some Agatha Christie lite at one point, and I wish that Sten had pushed in on that more.
The setting of the island had the potential to be creepy and mysterious, but it didn't fit the mood of the book.
The reveals and the whys were some head scratchers to me too by the way. It just didn't make a lot of sense to me and I think that took away from the book.