Five friends. One hen party to die for.

Four friends reunite for the 3rd anniversary of their friend Aoife dying on her own hen party. Looking for closure they return to the villa and try to get to the bottom of what really happened. Not everyone is happy to revisit the past and some secrets are best left alone.

I really liked this book and enjoyed how all the different recollections of the circumstances of Aoife’s death all come together. The dynamics between the “friends” also made this a great book and one that kept me engaged throughout. Thanks to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#TheVilla
#JessRyder

I really enjoyed this book! I loved how it went into the past and the present and showed the point of view from each character! This book definitely has you hooked and keeping guessing at who did it! Highly recommend!

This was a great premise for a story. The cover of this book is gorgeous.

The story was good and I can’t say it was written badly, I’m not sure what it was about this book but it didn’t really grip me and I had the feeling that I was just pleased to get to the end of it. I can’t put my finger on why but I wasn’t engrossed.

The story was full of secrets and some twists. You learn that really every single person lied about something. You get multiple POV’s and you also get past and present, which I’m always a fan of.

There was a lot of high drama but unfortunately the tension didn’t grip me. Not sure I’m a big fan of reading about a group of bitchy girls.

I know others have enjoyed it so I would still recommend you give this a try if it sounds up your street.

Thank you to @netgalley for my chance to read and review this book.

A psychological mystery involving a group of hens returning to the villa where one of their number died several years earlier. With multiple viewpoints and two timelines, the story explores tensions between friendship groups and features a controlling groom to-to-be, an errant bride-to-be and repressed memories. Due to the slow build up and a cast of largely unlikeable characters, I found it a bit of a tedious read but can see that it has a certain holiday read appeal.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was such a whirlwind and a perfect book to pack and take to the beach with you for those of you going abroad this summer

Thirty years ago, a group of girls celebrated their friends hen do. However the hen did not return home and now it’s time for the girls to have a reunion and find out exactly what happened to their friend. Especially Dani, who has no recollection of the incident!

I thought I had this one all figured out. From the moment we are introduced to a certain character I was all “oh that’s him”. No. Just no. I couldn’t have got it more wrong if I’d tried. This book kept me guessing throughout. I found the whole dynamic of the girls very strange and it sounded like my worst nightmare. All the cattiness from the girls, who were so unlikeable

The twist made the book, it was unexpected and I felt overall very fitting for the book

The book is a great read and one to read while sipping a cocktail (just probably not on your hen do)

I enjoyed this story and was intrigued to see where it was going! However, I feel that the idea of everybody agreeing to go on holiday together again when they weren't even friends in the first place seems far-fetched to me!

Really enjoyed this thriller- a great take on a hen party story. The pacing throughout was great and intriguing enough to read in one go. Although I did guess some of the ending there were also many many many more twists I didn’t expect! Great holiday read.

Absolutely loved this book! From page one I was hooked and couldn’t wait to pick the book back up. Can’t wait to read more by this author..

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I pick up this in the bookshop for my bookshelf and I really enjoyed this book and what a book this was

I went into this book knowing very little about the premise. I knew it was a mystery of some kind, and was prepared for the twists and turns.

To begin with, I found the multi-pov to be quite challenging to follow. I generally struggle with these narratives, so this is in no fault of the authors! My mind doesn't work that quickly. I also found the time jumps to be a LOT to begin with, as I was trying to familiarise myself with the individual characters and their relationships with one another. However, by the 20% mark, I began to feel a bit more of an understanding of the bigger picture, as I had figured out who was who!

This book held the reveal close to its chest, and didn't really reveal anything until about 75% of the way through, the little plot twists building the tension as the story progressed. I knew something wasn't quite right, but it was interesting to see the backstory and figure out exactly went wrong on the night Aoife was killed.

A good read for any mystery lovers.

A great read
Especially to take on your holidays
Great characters and a great plot
You will not want to put it down
Thanks NetGalley

I really enjoyed this read especially the style of writing. The dual timeline worked really well with the flashbacks slowly revealing what happened at that fateful hen three years ago while at the same time the present day is playing out and the tension between the remaining hen's is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

This is the perfect summer thriller full of twists, secrets, tension & multiple POV's which leaves you suspicious of everyone all set to a brilliant backdrop. .

Firstly I'd like to thank the author, Jess Ryder, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this thrilling book!

In reflection, I really enjoyed this story! I loved piecing together what happened and the plot twists that came along the way. I love when a book 'misleads' me in one way when it's actually another story and the author does this so perfectly through different points of view.

One thing I found jarring at the beginning was the differently written perspectives, going from third person to first person took some adjusting. I couldn't understand why it was done, it wasn't a deal breaker for me though.

Repressed memories are the key to this story about friends reuniting 3 years on at the house where the then bride to be was murdered. They are brought back by one of her besties who is desperate to know what actually happened on that fateful night whilst others are still trying to forget. The story twists and turns as much as the roads up to the villa and just when you think you have an idea of who it was, you are led down another alley - both literally and figuratively !! The mind is certainly a complex thing and I am not sure that I could have returned to such a place even to get to the truth. Good solid story and a very enjoyable read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review.

Three years ago, Aoife and her hens - lifelong friend Tiff, school friend Beth, uni friend Dani, and work friend Celine, set off to Marbella for her hen do. A weekend of guaranteed sun and debauchery. No one expected it to end in murder. On their last night in the villa, Aoife was murdered.

Three years on, and Dani wants answers. After too much alcohol, she had blacked out during the time of Aoife’s demise, and is desperate to fill in those blanks. She needs to relive that weekend to try and jog her memory. Dani manages to persuade the other hens to revisit Marbella with her on the third anniversary of Aoife’s death, albeit under false pretences. The other women aren’t happy that Dani has lured them back to the villa, the place where the worst night of their lives occurred. There’s massive tension between the group, a group that aren’t really even friends now that their missing link in Aoife has gone. It’s a fraught few days with Dani trying to retrace their steps, and the other women desperate to forget it and just get back home. We learn just what went on during that fateful weekend, and how much danger the women are putting themselves in by daring to venture back there.

A tense, eerie atmosphere was present all the way through this book. You could cut the tension between the women with a knife, it was that palpable, both during the hen party and now. There were very clear divides between the women, with loyalties constantly being tested. Aoife was a very difficult character and I would imagine she would be very hard to be friends with! The remote setting only added to the sense of unease that the author created throughout the book, with it finally coming to a head in the last few pages. Very much edge of your seat reading! Some red herrings thrown in but I did manage to guess part of the ending, as I kind of saw it coming with what a certain character was experiencing.

A great destination thriller to sink your teeth into, maybe not if you’re currently on holiday in a villa though, it might creep you out 😅

I liked the format of this book. The story developed well with the original hen party weekend revealed in flashbacks alongside the progression of the revisit to the villa. It was clear and not at all confusing like some books dealing with dual timelines can be.
The characters were well portrayed and there were plenty of details to set the scene but not so many to bore the reader.
Overall a good read with plenty of pace and twists.

I found it really hard to settle into this story, it felt quite long winded at the start but eventually it started to get interesting. The story is told form two different time frames and the jump between the two took some getting used too.

Aoife died at her own Jen party, a horrific event that changed the lives of her friends. Unable to find a way to move forward from what happened to Aoife, Dani comes up with an idea to try and remember everything that happened that night. She tricks the rest of the hen party to go back to the villa where it all happened much to the dismay of Tiff.

The flashbacks between then and now help to build the context for the story and allows the ending to unravel in a really clever way.

Triggers: violence,sexual abuse, substance use

Three years after of the death of bride-to-be Aoife at her hen party, Dani brings the unwitting bridesmaids back to the same villa to try to make sense of what happened and put an end to the nightmarish flashbacks she’s experiencing. But will the truth come out, and will this reenactment push the killer too far?
I loved everything about this book. The characters could have jumped off the page and the author captured the oppressive atmosphere, both of the heat of the country and the situation perfectly. The story unfolds neatly but not too neatly and new characters/potential suspects are introduced smoothly rather than just thrown in as subplots. I don’t want to spoil the ending so won’t delve into the plot any more than that. Highly recommended read.

Three years ago, bride-to-be Aoife died at her own hen party.

Now the hens have returned to the villa where that terrible weekend unfolded.

They long for closure. But the moment they step back inside, old wounds open and tensions begin to rise.

Everyone has a different version of what happened that night.

Someone is keeping secrets.

How far will they go to keep them hidden?


What. A. Book. This is the perfect summer thriller read. I am a sucker for a good ol' whodunit, and this one did not disappoint!

The Villa was twisty and fast paced. I loved the dual timelines (then and now), and how it was told from multiple POV's. I thought it'd be difficult to keep track of what was going on but I was truly mistaken.

The characters were shady and should have been unlikeable but actually they were so relatable... we've all had a friend who drinks too much and throws themselves at men, right?

I have to admit, I saw aspects of the ending coming but it was so much worse than I had thought! It still managed to shock me.

I ended up rating this one 4 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Three years ago Aoife died at her own hen party. Now, Dani and the other hens are back at the same villa for closure and Dani is determined to remember everything about that night.

This was a fabulous summer read. I was hooked from the beginning. The story was told from multiple POV and dual timelines (as Dani remembered) that helped to weave an enjoyable story. I loved how different all the characters were, the bitchiness between them as well as the tension that sometimes ensued and how Dani didn’t let it get to her. None of them are particularly likeable and I thought Aoife’s behaviour was horrendous. There were a lot of secrets revealed throughout the book and a lot of deception that made for an absolutely delicious read.
I am so glad that I was surrounded by hens I liked (and trusted).
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book which has now been released.