Smile For The Cameras
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“We’re testing each other. Who will be the first to break? To shatter into pieces? Who will be the last to survive?”
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Something about slasher movies make for the perfect summer vibe. If you’re a fan of Cabin Fever, I Know What You Did Last Summer, or Scream you may love this book and I would honestly pick it up just based off the cover! Imagine your favorite slasher cast goes back to the filming site 20 years later for a reunion. We know everyone seems a bit hesitant about coming together again, but we don’t really know why and it was a fun, creepy, keep you guessing the whole time journey! It’s single POV and I think sometimes with thrillers that can be a bit boring, but it worked here! I think it played out well because along with present chapters we get past chapters during the time they were filming the original movie and we also get chapters that are laid out in a script form which was fun! I was guessing along the way of who it was going to be and did not guess correctly which I always enjoy and it also had a twist that surprised me, definitely recommend!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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Thank you @mirandasmithwriter @randomhouse and @netgalley for this e-arc, it comes out June 24th! This is my first by this author and definitely want to look up more books.

Another great read by Miranda Smith! A bit of a locked room thriller with a fantastic cast of characters. A roller coaster ride that made it impossible to know who to trust. Non stop thrills and action. Great storytelling.
Thank you NetGalley, Miranda Smith and Bantam Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I have decided that the pacing of this book deserves an A+. We have the present day, the pacing is normal, typical, reminiscing on the past and alluding to something awful that happened. Will something terrible happen again? Then in the flashbacks, the drama comes quicker, with on-set incidents and an understanding that someone we are reading about is going to die. The action happens faster. Then we have the script and book, from the first excerpt we are thrown into the horror and action. It was perfect and meant there wasn't a dull moment while also allowing us to get to know the characters. It's a typical horror story with a great structure. I really enjoyed the different characters, especially the MC. I loved how she stood up for herself and the end, man...I am a sucker for a twist. It wasn't what I was expecting and I loved it.

LOVING this horror - locked room, reunion, friends and creepy people. The past and present narration - as well as the scene summaries from filming give this book an incredibly creepy perspective.
Ella is bullied into returning to the set of her first film - the start of the Grad Night series. Struggling to get her name out there, Ella agrees to participate. And the fun begins. The messy relationships.

3.25 stars!

I really loved the idea of this one and was excited for a good slasher/mystery. It was far from a boring read or a bad one at all, it just felt a bit lackluster for me unfortunately. The characters weren't un-enjoyable exactly but there wasn't really anyone I found myself wanting to root for, up until the very end, where I did find myself hoping for a certain someone (won't name them, for spoilery reasons) to either be the killer and win (a bad sign, maybe) or be the sole survivor.

I knew twists were coming, because the story of what allegedly happened wasn't being hidden at all it seemed, but the first major reveal wasn't my favorite. I will say, the ending really picked up after that though and had me gasping a couple times. Overall, a satisfying enough finale.

The writing itself was good, the pacing was on the slow side but mostly fine, but the execution just didn't quite live up to what I'd hoped for.

This was a fun Summerween thriller! It was definitely slower than expected at first, though. The narrator vaguely tells us that something bad happened in the past over and over, but it doesn’t get fun and slasher-y until about 2/3 of the way through.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This is a good book for someone who enjoys 90s slasher films. While the pacing was kind of slow, I did enjoy the plot twists and the villain at the end did surprise me. None of the side characters were particularly likeable so it was hard to care when they started getting picked off.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Final girl - check. “We did something bad” secret - check. Masked killer - check. Smile for the Cameras is a horror/thriller that feels like a nod to some of the ‘90’s horror movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer. I’m a sucker for ‘90’s nostalgia. Twenty years after the slasher film Grad Night came out, the original cast and crew are reunited in the same location to film a reunion. Not only are all the members of the original cast there but also a twenty year old secret they all share is there as well. Told in a dual timeline, we find out how the cast got along then and how it’s affecting them now. We also find out this secret that has haunted a few of them all for those twenty years. I really enjoyed Miranda Smith’s Smile for the Cameras. I love a good slasher book and this was a good slasher book. The chapters were short and that is always a positive for me, especially in a horror novel. It keeps the pacing fast. Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for- Ballantine for the eARC.

This really worked for me. I loved the dual timelines and the horror on a horror movie set. I liked the way it all unfolded and the complexities of the characters.

I definitely enjoyed Smile for the Cameras. From the beginning, I was drawn to the character of Ella. She felt emotionally believable and layered, and I stayed invested in her journey all the way through. The story balances present-day tension with introspection as Ella processes what happened years ago and what it means to return to the place where it all started.

The alternating structure between past events, the present, and the movie script chapters gave the story a unique voice that kept me engaged. I also loved the isolated cabin setting. It added an eerie atmosphere and built suspense without relying too much on outright horror.

The supporting characters were vivid and distinct, and the mystery of what happened in the past was intriguing. There were some solid twists near the end that took me by surprise, which I appreciated.

Where the book lost a little strength for me was in the climax. Once the killing began and the danger was immediate, it became hard to believe that the characters would stop to talk about what happened twenty years ago instead of focusing fully on escaping. In that moment, survival would realistically take over. That stretch in logic pulled me out of the moment a bit.

Also, I think the official synopsis does the book a huge disservice. It gives away a plot element that doesn’t happen until more than halfway through. Readers are told upfront that people begin dying in ways that mirror the movie, but that doesn’t actually happen until deep into the book. It makes the story seem like a horror-thriller with a focus on unmasking a killer, when in reality much of the book is slower and more reflective.

I think the story would be stronger if readers were allowed to experience that development as a twist.

That said, this was an emotionally engaging, immersive read with a compelling main character and a creative structure. I’d definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy suspenseful, character-driven mysteries with a fresh format and strong atmosphere.

Thank you to both Net Galley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read this book early!

The plot had great potential to be amazing. I love the idea of following a woman going back to where she filmed a cult classic slasher movie. I also liked getting the multiple timelines and even the movie script throughout the story.

However, I feel that it didn't live up to it's full potential. The script felt like an after thought. If it was a movie I don't think it would have been at all successful. I found the characters to be one dimensional and at times boring characters.

This was good. I would actually give it 3.5 stars. I think others will like it. This was my first Miranda Smith read, but I think I will read more of hers.

I didn’t quite care for the twist because I don’t think there was enough to have someone guess it. I did like the addition of the script for the horror movie in it. I think it should be read because I don’t think the script would translate well on audio. The ending was a bit choppy, bunt overall, I did enjoy it. I kept reading to figure everything out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this advanced copy. These are my opinions.

As a huge fan of horror movies, I was excited to read this one. A cult-classic, a final girl, and a dark secret? What more could I want?

This book did a lot of things well. I liked how the movie script was interspersed throughout the novel, and the alternating timelines helped keep the plot moving. The ending definitely surprised me, which I appreciated!

However, the characters were pretty one-dimensional and boring, and the scares didn't really work.

This book would be a great summer read if you're looking for something easy but ultimately forgettable.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

As a lifelong horror/slasher fan, if you write a book about a final girl, I'm going to want to read it.

The story follows Ella, an actress who played a final girl in a beloved horror movie twenty years ago. During filming, something horrible happened that caused the cast to make a pact to never speak of it again. Ella, struggling with the weight of the tragedy and secret, eventually left Hollywood to care for her ailing money. Now 20 years after the movie's release a documentary is being made and the cast and crew reunite at the original filming location and wind up facing a real life killer.

One thing I really liked about the way this was written was that it featured the horror movie's script in between chapters. Now as a horror fan, I have to admit this was the most basic script and there's no way it would have made an impression on most slasher fans. Thankfully I found the story itself to be good.

The killer reveal could have easily gone a couple different ways, but I appreciate that it was unexpected. If someone thinks it was predictable, I would love for them to tell me exactly at what point they figured it out, because I don't believe them. There were a few twists that, while not groundbreaking, were decent and caught me off guard.

Ella as a final girl was a bit boring, but truthfully, most final girls are. Most of the characters weren't all that memorable, except maybe Aries. But overall, this was a quick read with decent twists and I enjoyed it. Great cover, too!

Twenty years ago Ella Winters made her splash in Hollywood as the final girl in the cult classic, Grad Night. During filming though is when the real horrors took place and since then Ella has kept a low profile taking care of her sick mother. Since her mother’s passing Ella wants to return to acting but is having no luck. The only way to break back in is to join the Grad Night cast as they film a reunion documentary. Soon though the actors seem to meet the fate their characters met in the original film and Ella is not sure if she will get to be the final girl again.

This book had all the tropes I loved, secluded cabin, horror movie, and a final girl. It also had a twist I did not see coming. Overall, this book was everything I needed and more to make an enjoyable, quick read that left me satisfied.

An interesting premise and setup that didn't quite land for me. I really loved the idea of an indie Scream Queen turned legitimate actress trying to revive her career with a reunion for the movie that made her famous. It was charming & intriguing.

However, I felt that the first 60% of the book is much of the same - Ella being insecure about how her life's turned out and being nervous about some secret she won't divulge, and then flashbacks that honestly didn't do much for me. Rinse and repeat until things start to ramp up, then we get a few twists to round out the book, and things get tied up a little too neatly.

Not to say I didn't enjoy it, but I thought it could have been better. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Smile for the Cameras was a great read! Fans of ‘80’s horror movies and final girls will love it!

Thank for the opportunity to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion!

Ugh I wanted to love this book so badly but it just did not live up to the expectations. It had so much potential but just fell flat and was predictable. The characters themselves were uninteresting and just did nothing to add to the story.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you for an arc copy of this book!

A slasher flick reunion told in a dual timeline - then (when the original movie was filmed) and now… the dual timeline & the movie scenes really set the vibe. Friday the 13th, Halloween, Scream, etc - this pays homage to them all. 20 year old ghosts and that twist… mind blowing. I did NOT see that coming.

As a fan of all things 90’s slasher films, I love Smile for the Cameras. There’s nothing I like to root for more than a final girl, and a movie final girl that reprises her role as a real final girl is so perfect! Admittedly it took me a bit to get hooked into Miranda Smith’s latest, but, once I did, I was frantically swiping pages. If, like me, you’re needing a change from problematic romance beach reads, Smile for the Cameras is just the bloody break you need!