The was such a fun read! I really enjoyed the classic slasher movie vibes this book gave off. The dual timeline between past and present kept things interesting and I especially liked the sections that included parts of the movie script the characters had stared in. The book was fast paced and entertaining from start to finish. While the ending didn’t surprise me, I was still happy with how it wrapped up. This was my first book by the author and I plan to check out more!

Like a real like horror movie, this book will suck you right in. The main character, Ella, was the final girl in a horror movie 20 years ago. She and her fellow cast members are set for a reunion, but they’ve got secrets they’ve tried to keep from surfacing.
I don’t want to spoil this at all, but this book will remind you of your favorite horror movie. All the elements are there, a character to love, a character to hate, a secret to unravel and a twist at the end.

What a fun, cinematic read with multiple twists and turns. As a an avid horror movie fan I appreciate the difficulty and finesse that Miranda Smith brings to this horror movie within a horror story book, It's very difficult to write a horror story that is realistic and is actually paced well. I enjoyed reading this book and will recommend this to others who love this particular genre.

Thank you for the ARC, Net Galley!

As someone who loves slashers and feminine rage, this hit for me. When we want to talk about books reflecting on the MeToo era, even fictionally, this is the kind of thing I want to see.

This book revolves around the filming of a horror movie called Grad Night, and then a cast and director reunion twenty years later in the original filming location. We know early on that Final Girl Ella was involved in something during the filming that she and the other cast members have kept secret the entire time; we know in the present that Ella is not able to lie like the others around her and being back on location is causing her to unravel. As the reunion draws to a close, someone wants to make sure the cast knows their secret isn't a secret any longer, and is going to punish them for what they did...

This touches on the forgiving and simultaneously punishing nature of fandom, critiques set environments and abuses, calls out the obsession with violence against women in the horror genre, what you can get away with if you have the right name and the right connections, and the importance of knowing who you can trust.

This jumps backward and forward in time, and what they did is revealed slowly over the course of the book. You know someone is dead, but you aren't sure who or how. It makes for a lot of fun guessing and red herrings about who the eventual killer might be and what their motivation is for the present deaths. It kept me compelled because I love asking questions and having my questions answered.

The ending is tied up in a bow, to a certain extent, but I didn't mind because I also enjoyed the ultimate message that there doesn't have to be only one final girl, that it can be a collective identity about fighting to survive, and not an individual.

Wow. Love this one! I’m a sucker for a multi media/found footage type book, and this one is one of the better ones I’ve come across. Strong story, interesting characters and good pacing. The ending fell a bit flat, but still a good read.

Once the action picked up, I couldn't put this down and finished it in about a day. The story switches between current and past POV and ties in the plot with pages from the script. I love when books use multiple forms of media to tell a story. My biggest gripe with this story was the killer reveal. I felt it was a let down and not at all who we expected.

Overall, if you're looking for a fun thriller this is a great choice.

Smile for the Cameras by Miranda Smith is fantastic tribute to the 90’s slasher movie genre. I’m a huge fan of horror films, especially the slasher movies. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The addictive storyline kept me turning pages all the way until the very end. Thank you to Random House - Ballantine, the author and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

The exciting premise of this story is about Ella Winters, an actress who wants to regain her career. Twenty years ago she was it, a famous final girl from a popular cult-classic slasher film, Grad Night. Now the studio wants to do a reunion documentary. Ella and her costars vowed never to return, because a real life horror took place behind the scenes after the cameras stop rolling. But since her mother’s passing Ella actually needs the money. She reluctantly makes the decision to return for the reunion. When she and her cast mates reunite at the original set of the movie they discover a new killer, who knows their long held secret, and time is definitely running out. Can this famous final girl survive one last time.

Smile for the Cameras is a dark, slow-building, gripping story. It’s action-packed with insane slasher moments with a twist that ties it all together in one satisfying conclusion. This is the absolute perfect read for slasher summer. If you like the horror genre, then you should add this book to your reading.

This is a perfect start to Slasher Summer. Smile for the Cameras is a slasher within a slasher, as we are told the story of what happened 20 years ago during the filming of teen slasher “Dead Night” (and parts of the film’s script) along with the events “now”, 20 years later, when they all return to the cabin where it was shot for a reunion.
Miranda Smith is obviously a horror fan writing for other horror fans, who will delight in identifying references to their favorite films like Evil Dead and Scream.
Though packed with tropes from these and other slasher films, Smile for the Cameras is a quick-paced, fun read.

Okay, so put together 90s horror slasher movie nostalgia and locked room thriller and you got a wild twisted ride!
We follow Ella, who 20 years ago was known as the final girl in a popular horror slasher, Grad Night. But what happened behind the scenes at the wrap party has haunted her ever since. Now she is returning to film a reunion documentary with her old cast mates back to where it all happened. But soon their past begins to haunt them as they’re picked off the same as their fictional characters.
This was such a fun read as a slasher movie fan! Definitely recommend for slasher thriller fans with a nostalgic feel.

As someone who loves going back to rewatch 90's thrillers like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer, this made for a great thriller read!

We are going between two different timelines, "then" when the actors are filming the allusive "Grad Night" horror flick and "now" when they are meeting up for the first time in years to film a reunion tribute documentary to the series, along with actual screenplay scripts of the film itself. All the while, we are always reminded of the horrific thing that happened back when they were filming, someone went missing and was never seen again. Likely, presumed dead. Now, with everyone coming together for the reunion, they are having to watch themselves in their interviews to not reveal all of their darkest secret.

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I think this was a great popcorn thriller and definitely a great time for any horror movie lover. The film script was pretty predictable with the ultimate final girl trope being the ending. But with the different time jumps, it kept the pacing going, and kept me wanting to read more to figure out what exactly happened all those years ago. Also, as someone who can sometimes guess plot twists, I did not see this one coming! It was a great twist and I really liked how everything was wrapped up in the end.

*Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing a free copy in exchange for my honest review.*

Thank you Bantam for my gifted ARC!

I so wanted this one to hit. A final girl? A horror film cult classic? A reunion twenty years later? Hell yes, sign me up. But I just didn’t like it. It didn’t pull me in, and it felt cheesy at times. Major bummer, because this was one of my most anticipated reads.

I love a slasher so I was immediately drawn to this book. It definitely got more intense as the secrets emerged and danger increased.

If you love campy horror movies you will love this book! It's fast paced with a great cast of characters you will love or love to hate. I felt like I was right beside Ella trying to solve the mystery. Full of twists you won't see coming it kept me guessing right till the end. I will definitely read this author again.

I had an absolute blast with this book! It’s a deliciously tropey, sexed-up slasher tribute packed with final girl energy and ‘90s horror nostalgia. I loved the dual timelines, the film transcript touches, the double reveals—and that sweet, sweet justice 👏🏼🤌🏼. If you live for old-school scary movies this one’s a must-read. 🖤
For fans of trashy slasher movies this is like stepping into your favorite VHS tape—only bloodier and with way more psychological grit. Locked-room mystery and washed-up final girl, you’ve got a slasher story to die for. Literally.

Twenty years after surviving a cult-classic slasher film, faded scream queen Ella Winters is lured back to the set for a reunion doc—only for life to imitate art when her former castmates start dying just like their on-screen characters. Trapped in a remote cabin and haunted by a secret they all swore to bury, Ella must face her past and find out if the final girl can survive one more time.

Smile for the Cameras by Miranda Smith is a gripping, suspense-filled thriller that evokes the nostalgic tension of I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream, while delivering a fresh and contemporary take on the classic whodunit formula. With a strong sense of atmosphere and steadily rising stakes, Smith pulls readers into a world where the past refuses to stay buried—and someone is out for revenge.

The plot unfolds with precise pacing, keeping the reader guessing as secrets unravel and danger closes in. True to the genre, the question is never if the killer is someone familiar—it’s who and why. Smith masterfully keeps those answers just out of reach until the final, satisfying reveal.

With a cast of well-drawn characters and a tension that builds with each chapter, Smile for the Cameras is a thoroughly entertaining read that balances nostalgia with originality. Miranda Smith continues to prove herself as a compelling voice in suspense fiction, and this novel will leave readers eager to see what she delivers next.

Twenty years ago, Ella Winters became famous as the final girl in the horror movie "Grad Night", but the true terror happened off-screen, a secret she and her co-stars promised to keep quiet. Ella then left Hollywood to care for her mother, hoping to escape her guilt. Now, after her mother's death, Ella plans a comeback, joining a reunion documentary being filmed at the original set in rural Tennessee. However, when cast members start dying exactly like their characters in the movie, it becomes clear that their shared secret is no longer a secret.

While it took a little bit for me to get into this one, once it found its stride, I was HOOKED! The last 25% really packed in the classic horror fun, and there were some twists that I did not see coming AT ALL. This is a great read for anyone who is a fan of the slasher horror movies of the 80's. I do wish that I had a little bit more reason to care about the characters though. I didn't really feel anything for most of them, and they felt a bit YA (I actually thought that this was a YA book, but I can't find anything online that verifies this). Maybe my complaints are a bit nitpicky though, because at the end of the day, this was fun, gorey, and twisty!

Do you love 90s slashers?

Do you like cursed film novels such as Burn the Negative and Silver Nitrate?

Is Jamie Lee Curtis your ultimate Scream Queen?

If you answered yes to any of the questions, then you need to stop what you're doing and go read this book! It's a slashing, dashing good time with plenty of gore, horror nostalgia, and mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one starts with a promising premise: a reunion of the cast of a 90s slasher film that rocketed them all to stardom... but during the filming of which a dark secret event occurred leaving Final Girl Ella wanting anything but to return to the set.

However, despite the alternating timelines, sometimes unreliable narrator and a few good twists, I just never connected to the characters much and never understood why Grad Night had become the hit they claimed it to be--the screenplay excerpts didn't exactly shine.

Still, a quick, easy read if you're looking for the nostalgia of '90s horror films like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Thanks to Bantam Books and Netgalley for the Digital ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. Expected publication date June 24, 2025.

Smile for the cameras is a horror/thriller book by Miranda Smith. As a horror movie lover, I was intrigued by the plot, and once I started reading, I was not disappointed. I loved the references to all my favorite horror movies; it gave the book a very Scream like vibe. Smile for the Cameras did a very god job of weaving together the past, present, and the screenplay together. I will say I wish Grad Night was a real movie, because I feel like I would be a fan. The author, Miranda Smith does a good job of slowly building the tension and suspense; it kept me wanting to read more and It made it difficult to put the book down. The book kept me on the edge of my seat from the first chapter to the last page. The twists and turns kept it difficult to guess the ending. Thanks NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a gifted copy of this novel.

This is a perfect read for slasher summer! This gives all the vibes of an 80s slasher film with a modern day twist. I read this one pretty much all in one sitting because I really enjoyed the premise behind it. I really enjoyed how the FMC isn’t your typical celebrity, and is more down-to-earth; this made her more relatable to me as a reader. Some of the other characters did seem to be a bit stilted in comparison, however. I also loved the script interwoven with the modern-day scenes, as they converge in a very interesting way (no spoilers!). I also did not see the end coming at all, although I did find it to be believable. Definitely recommend giving this one a read, especially for summer!