This was a fun nod to the slasher genre but it’s not doing anything that hasn’t been done before.

A group of young actors filmed a cult classic horror film 20 years ago and are now doing a reunion at the original filming location. While there they are haunted literally and figuratively by the one secret they’ve all been keeping for 2 decades.

This has a fun couple of twists and turns and you won’t ever know who to fully trust. If you want a fast paced thriller and love classic horror slasher films this would be a good one for you.

Thanks to NetGalley & Ballantine for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

In Smile for the Cameras by Miranda Smith, former Hollywood star Ella Winters returns to the spotlight after years in hiding, joining her old castmates to film a reunion documentary for the cult-classic slasher Grad Night. Haunted by a terrible secret from the original film's production, Ella hopes to redeem her career—but the trip to a remote Tennessee cabin quickly turns deadly. As the actors are killed off one by one in the same gruesome ways their characters died on screen, it becomes clear someone knows the truth they swore to keep buried. Now, Ella must fight to survive a real-life horror as terrifying as the movie that made her famous.
I had a really good time with this one! It made me nostalgic for all of the classic slasher movies we know and love, but it was unique enough that it didn’t feel like it was copying those films. I also enjoyed the dual timeline aspect of the book, which gave us a closer look into the filming of the Grad Night movie and gave us some background on what went down twenty years prior.
While I enjoyed this one a lot, it felt like something was missing and didn’t give me that five-star feeling. The last 30% of the book was very tense and had me on the edge of my seat, but the twist and the ending was not as shocking and I expected, so I was a little underwhelmed.
Does that mean this book wasn’t good? Of course not! I just read so many thrillers that a lot of them start to feel similar, so I would like to see something more unique. I still absolutely recommend this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Reviews seem pretty down the middle on this one, but I enjoyed it! It may be that I grew up in the era of Friday the 13th's, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Hellraiser but the more ridiculous the plot, the more we went to the drive in/cinema. With the exception of Jaime Lee Curtis, I cannot name any of the actors or what they did after these but the movies are iconic and were a rite of passage. I thought Miranda captured the 80's/90's slasher films to a tee!!

Expected publication June 24, 2025

Rating: 🔪🔪🔪.5

Great concept – 20 years later, the cast of a hit horror film gets back together for a reunion documentary – What's not to love? Unfortunately for me, there were a handful of things I didn't love.

While the beginning and the ending were strong and engaging, I struggled a bit with what happened in between.

Ella's confusions were strange? Hard to elaborate on this without giving any spoilers. I just felt this was unnecessary and took away from the story for me.

I wish the author had spent more time developing the Grad Night film excerpts, they felt heavily neglected. This could've definitely added that extra layer of suspense I would've appreciated.

A big chunk of the story was about sex and sex scenes in the film, I felt this to be disconnected from the storyline.

Great concept, just some issues with the execution.

A debut slasher film being made Staring 4 young actors and a cocky rising director sets the playing field for what is to change the lives of their promising future. An incident buried for years hoping to be forgotten. Flash forward to 20 years later we follow the “Final Girl” in the film and how life has changed for over since that films wrap up. She is ready to get back into the spotlight and the way to do it is having to accept a Reunion of the cast for “Grad Night” the movie that set her career in motion. Everyone being back together brings the past to the for front. Can she get through one weekend to get her career back on track or will it all come back to haunt her.

This book was well paced with the build up of introducing all the key players and setting the tone for the rest of the book. Even though Ella is seen as a weaker character you truly feel every emotion that she struggles with and how everything has affected her. This book had me gripped from beginning to end so much I finished it in only two days. I pays homage to many of the age old horror/slasher movies that surely inspired this novel. We also get a glimpse into the world of entertainment and the sacrifices and man mad horrors that we lay aside for the sake of pursuing their dreams. The twits and turns at the end of the back had my jaw on the floor with surprise. Great writing all around and will be recommending this book!

Unfortunately this was a miss for me. Sounded great but was fairly generic and didn’t really do anything new

I love horror movies, and I love horror novels. This gave me the best of both worlds.

Set on a reunion shoot for a horror movie that was made 20 years prior, where the cast is dying off one by one.

If I had one thing about this I didn't like, it was that I felt like it was wrapped up a little to cleanly too quickly.
I would have liked to have seen more of the killer throughout the piece, so that I could understand a little more why they were doing what they were doing.

A solid horror piece that I very much enjoyed!

I really enjoyed Smile for the Cameras. I would say it is more successful in the mystery elements vs the thriller. I didn't feel like the real thriller elements started until I was through about 60% of the book. I think because that portion of things was a little more rushed there just wasn't time to develop any true suspense or fear in the way of a more traditional thriller. The mystery itself was really successful - I was surprised by the outcome. I really liked how the story was kind of told from 3 timelines/POVs - Now, Then and through parts of the movie script. The script additions were such a fun element especially when you could see how those specific scenes played out in the Then narrative.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange my honest opinion.

Great concept... a horror movie had some unsettling things happen onset, and someone disappears. Years later, the lead actress is finally convinced to do another movie in the cult phenomena that launched her career. Except when she returns, the horrors start happening again. Who knows what they did years ago to cause the person's disappearance? So much potential!!! But the way in which things happened in the present unraveled in a slightly disappointing way. I enjoyed various parts, especially the connections from the first time period and the current one, and the main character has a lot of charm. But I also struggled with "what happened in between" and why the murderer waited so long to get revenge. Still, I enjoyed it and will look for more from the author in the future.

Smile for the Cameras is a twisty thriller with a fun dose of 70s, 80s, and 90s horror nostalgia. Miranda Smith blends eerie throwback vibes from some of the cult classics creating a fast-paced story that keeps you engaged. While some twists are more predictable than others, the atmosphere and themes make it a compelling read. A solid pick for fans of dark secrets and retro horror energy.

As a fan of horror movies and psychological thrillers, this was a fun read. It gave me Scream vibes mixed with my beloved Christopher Pike young adult books from back in the day.

The story unfolds with scripted movie scenes, along with dual timelines of the past and present. There is a colorful cast of characters and decent pacing that kept my interest. The twists were good, but I felt that the ending was not completely satisfying. It somehow fell flat by not giving a final one-two punch. That being said, I was entertained and found the book hard to put down.

This was both a love letter to 90s horror thrillers and an insanely fun read!

Former scream queen Ella Winters returns for a reunion documentary of her cult-classic slasher Grad Night, only to find herself reliving the horror, this time for real, when cast members start dying just like in the film. With a deadly secret resurfacing, Ella must survive one last nightmare.

You don't want to know much more than this, just go in blind and enjoy the ride if you love horror movie tropes!

My second opportunity to read an ARC from Miranda Smith and I was so pumped!! Smile for the Camera needs added to everyone’s thriller tbr RIGHT NOW! The build up, the twist, the back stabbing, need I say more?! I loved this thriller and it kept me on my toes. You get to read about a cast of a horror movie working on their first film together, becoming friends, and then after wrapping up, having a fun little party to celebrate. Buuuuuut… their last night does not go as planned. You’ll definitely want to snag this book as soon as it hits shelves to find out what happened 👀

I’ve already expressed my love of the classic teenage slasher film. So a thriller about a classic horror movie, during which a real-life, covered-up tragedy took place that left the stars of the beloved film traumatized, with the stars now back for a 20-year reunion, and being chased by a real-life killer? Count. Me In.

That’s pretty much the story in this book, which alternates between the filming of the movie “Grad Night” 20 years ago, and the filming of a reunion special, in the present day. During the initial filming, at the isolated cabin location, it’s often alluded to that “something” bad happened, but until the reveal, we’re not told precisely what. In the present day, at the same isolated cabin, the reunited cast and small crew find themselves experiencing some strange happenings as they begin the weekend filming schedule.

I was completely sucked in the entire time I was reading this book, because it was so good. The suspense was ratcheted up to 11, right from the start. Like I said, there’s lots of illusions to “something terrible” that happened and the core rolls involvement in it, but we’re only given small hints until the author lets us see what the answer is. I didn’t see it coming.

Unlike in a slasher movie, this solution wasn’t obvious at all! At least not to me, lol.

I can’t recommend this one enough to people looking for a great scare to get them through a summer night, or take with them on vacation. It’s just what I was looking for!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: This is a gem of a book. If you love Slasher horror, you do not want to miss this. Yes in some ways it's predictable, in other ways I found the "twist," shocking and I didn't see it coming. I've been watching the TV show "Slasher," if you like that show, specifically the vibes in season 2, you don't want to miss this. I loved that Smile for the Cameras used several different ways to tell the story, it had script of the movie, perspectives from the past, and perspectives from the present. This book is graphic and has scary scenes in it, it is both a thriller and a horror. I really enjoyed this book, there are characters to route for, others you're desperately waiting to see their kill scene. Fitting well in the Slasher genre, there is a haunting, stalking, masked killer lurking in the shadows. I really loved the scripted parts where we saw the movie scenes and the filming of them. At the same time we got the characters reactions to those scenes and the filming process as well as the documentary and deaths in the present. In summary, this book is "slasher fun," its exciting, written very well, entertaining, creative, all the things. I highly recommend. Now go read it.

I found this book to be a little confusing.. The story itself was a good one but all the back and forth between now and then, made it a little difficult to keep track of. The characters were well developed and believable and there was a nice plot twist at the end. It was one of those stories where the bad guy should be perfectly obvious but you talk yourself out of it. There were lots of suspects.

Are you looking for 90s/2000s slasher movie vibes for a nostalgic summer read? Smile for the Cameras can do that for you! The story is told through dual timelines - the filming of the slasher movie 20 years ago and the cast reunion 20 years later. This book has so many of the horror movie tropes I’ve come to love in both timelines! I listened to the audiobook which has a full cast of narrators. The cast did an amazing job of keeping me immersed in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this ARC of Smile for the Cameras by Miranda Smith.
I’m giving this book a 3.75 stars rounded up to four.

The beginning of this story I found pretty slow. It took awhile for me to actually get into it and care about the characters. But the last 20% had me on the edge of my seat and was super fast paced.
I think if you like slasher filmed/80s-90s scary movies, you will really enjoy this book. I loved the concept.
I didn’t love how the culprit played everything out and their straight forward explanations. It felt too “tied up perfectly” to me.
But overall, I enjoyed my time reading this novel.

I give this book 4 stars only because it felt like it dragged on quite a bit.

I must say I was not expecting some of the events that occurred throughout the story. The pace picked up quite a bit toward the last 30% of the book, which was great! I wish most of the story were like that from beginning to end. It was full of mystery, suspense, action, and a good amount of twists.

I would read it again! I also recommend to anyone who loves a slow burn with action and lots of suspense at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Smile for the Cameras was fun with its '90s slasher vibe, creepy setting, and a deadly cast reunion. This is a slower paced story that was more thriller/mystery than a keep you up all night horror. I would say this is perfect for someone looking for a quick summertime slasher. Especially those who loved movies like "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

Read this if you like:
-90's Slasher Films
-Cast Reunions
-Old Secrets
-Secluded Cabin
-Who Did It?

As for my opinion, I feel like the plot was a bit messy, there was just too much being laid out with no real depth. Don't get me wrong, I was entertained, there just wasn't much of a thrill there for me. No big "WHOA" moment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC!