The Girls' Weekend

by M.I. Hattersley

Four friends. Three nights in a secluded cabin. Dark secrets that can't be undone. Who will make it home?

Chloe has a bad feeling about Alison's bachelorette party. She barely knows the other girls here, Keren and Jess, and it turns out the cabin they've rented in the woods upstate is much more isolated than she realised - there's hardly any phone signal. She knew she never should have left New York.

The wine is flowing and tensions are already high after a game of Truth or Dare when the girls find a wooden box filled with bridal garters and faded old photographs. It's creepy as hell, but it's probably just the weird caretaker playing a prank?

Then the next day one of the girls disappears. It's clear that someone is playing a very different kind of game with this bachelorette party.

Cut off from civilization, Chloe realises she's trapped - and she can't trust any of the others. And the secrets they're all hiding might just get them killed.

What happens on a girls' weekend, stays on a girls' weekend. Right... ?

Genres: Thriller, Psychological Thriller

Audible Audio

First published November 21, 2023

About the author

M. I. Hattersley was born in Yorkshire, UK. Over the last twenty years, he’s toured Europe in a rock 'n' roll band, trained as a professional actor, and founded a theatre and media company, none of which paid particularly well. To keep the lights on, he’s also held a long list of mind-numbing day jobs. He now writes psychological and domestic thrillers, which, fortunately, let him put all that experience with strange people and tense situations to good use.

Reviews

[Carmen Castro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, lots of suspense and mystery. Great plot twists. I was kept interested in continuing reading.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally something interesting!

In a reading slump after feeling like every thriller was the same as the last.. I picked this up thinking, “sure, let’s just watch some dumb rich b*t*he’s getting killed.

Nope. This was unpredictable, unique, thought provoking around the subject of mental breakdown, and twist after twist to the very end!

[Mae Clair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I blew through this book in a day! It's a quick read that keeps you flipping pages right up until the end.

The set-up checked all my boxes for a good mystery: secluded setting (in the woods), limited to no cell service, a creepy host who rents out his cabin, and a quartet of friends intending to party and celebrate the coming nuptials of a bride-to-be.

The central character Chloe is the most grounded of the group, a kind of outsider who knows the bride but not her other friends. Still, she goes on the planned weekend getaway only to find the other three alternately sniping at each other and making up. A lot of female drama unfolds among them, but it's all entertaining reading.

The creepy factor builds through an old legend associated with the area, the hermit-like host, a missing hiker, and some strange circumstances at the rented cabin and in the surrounding woods. The ending had provided some nice twists and the journey there was well worth the adventure. I will look for more by this author.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF - It started out rough, so much extra unnecessary information. I don't need the names of all the streets on the way to a secluded cabin. Too many descriptives. Mean girl over dramatic theme. Nearly bipolar moods throughout. Poor me, you're a bitch, I love you... Panic I'm going to die, then reminding myself I'm ok... Over and over and over again. Multiple mentions of "trauma" and "therapy" but to stay relevant to the current social media vibe. There are moments of suspense that were pretty good and the story did flow for a bit, but it just started getting way too repetitive of the poor me and panic moments. I tried, I really did.

[Ellen Aish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alison is getting married and decides to take 3 friends to a remote log cabin in the woods for 3 days. They all arrive safe but then things start turning spooky. This is certainly different to any hen party I've ever been to and the twist ending will astound you. Fantastic read.

[Judi Keane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hen party having a weekend away in a log cabin, in the woods. Owned by Jerry. 1 bride to be and 4 friends. A chance to unwind & take in nature. Or is it? Great story & characters, with a twist at the end.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Marietta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this thriller with all the twist and turns. The ending was not what I had excepted but it was very fitting. All the characters had so much deepth to them. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed a very good thriller.

[Sarah Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent 👏

[Lisa Annette Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitty revenge

It was a good story. Nice surprise ending. A little to monogamous e in the beginning with the party theme. But eventually got better.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one took me longer to read, because the 1st half of the book was very slow, and seemed to be repeating itself. The 2nd half of the book got better, and the very end was a good twist.

[cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amasing book

Exciting from start to finish, brilliant writing, will defo recommend this writer to family and friends and look forward to reading other books from him.

[Kit Noble · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wish I had stuck with my gut and DNF’d. literally so slow and nothing happens in the first half the book. The second half wasn’t much better and the ending was so dumb.

[Carla Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

page turner

Action from beginning to finish. Very good read. I like books that make me think of them while reading them. I know it’s good when my brain can’t put the book to rest.

[Marissa Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh - an interesting read but not my favorite thriller

[Manda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn’t for me. I didn’t like the writing. Ended up skipping sections then read the ending.

[Eric Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent read.

Pretty good book. Early on it seems to be heading for a rather cliche plot line but there are some good twists as it develops.

[Shelley Warticki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Girls go for a rustic bachelorette party in the woods and things go really awry. These characters are unpredictable and may be a little crazy.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

obvious and i'd have dnf'd if not for an audiobook on a walk

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook.

[Tara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not scary. Overuse of adjectives before every verb and noun. Pathetic girls scared of nothing scary. I couldn’t get beyond halfway through this.

[G · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear. Sooooooo boring. So utterly cookie cutter awful.

[Susan Rodriguez-Manning ☕️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent and fast paced thriller. Helped pulling me out a little reading slump. Asks you to suspend your disbelief a bit but overall a fun time.

[Davina Bowkett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad didn't really care about any of the characters and kept getting confused on who was who. Saw the 'twist' coming a mile off

[heather johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was good but honestly I wanted to reach in and strangle the “bachlorette” by mid book. Very crazy roller coaster book ride!

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

📚The Girls Weekend
✍️M.I. Hattersley
🎧Audiobook
1⭐️

Unfortunately not for me. Cliched characters in the overused setting of a remote cabin with a creepy owner. The ideas behind the plot were good, but the execution let the book down.