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This Stays Between Us
Paperback

This Stays Between Us

$19.99
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Four girls share a cabin on their school retreat - in an abandoned town where the ghost of Smiling Jack is known to haunt the isolated campers.

Shelley is the new girl with her own haunted past.
Mack made things awkward by kissing her best friend.
Priya thinks she's ready to take the next step with her boyfriend.
Raffi has a flair for drama, and convinces them all to hold a seance.

But when you call on the darkness, sometimes the darkness replies . . .

Margot McGovern's homage to 90s horror films and final girls will keep you on the edge of your seat.

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MORE INFO
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Penguin Random House Australia
Country
Australia
Date
4 March 2025
Pages
336
ISBN
9781761346286

Four girls share a cabin on their school retreat - in an abandoned town where the ghost of Smiling Jack is known to haunt the isolated campers.

Shelley is the new girl with her own haunted past.
Mack made things awkward by kissing her best friend.
Priya thinks she's ready to take the next step with her boyfriend.
Raffi has a flair for drama, and convinces them all to hold a seance.

But when you call on the darkness, sometimes the darkness replies . . .

Margot McGovern's homage to 90s horror films and final girls will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Read More
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Penguin Random House Australia
Country
Australia
Date
4 March 2025
Pages
336
ISBN
9781761346286
 
Book Review

This Stays Between Us
by Margot McGovern

by Bella Mackey, Feb 2025

Mack, Raffi and Priya were looking forward to their school camp for a chance to hang out and cut loose away from watchful parents. But in an abandoned mining town, filled with stories of a sinister ghost called Smiling Jack, things don’t go as planned. Raffi isn’t talking to Mack, Priya just wants to get some alone time with her boyfriend, and they’re stuck sharing a cabin with the unsettling new girl, Shelley. A séance around a bonfire starts out as a fun distraction to smooth things over, but it ends up taking an ominous turn that none of the girls could have predicted.

This Stays Between Us is a gripping thriller that had me flying through chapters, desperate to know what happens. Not only has Margot McGovern told a horror story that is truly frightening, but she’s also balanced that with a rich and nuanced cast of characters that I absolutely loved. Switching perspective in each chapter, we get an unfiltered look at the thoughts and feelings of each girl, and their well-drawn humanity makes the ever-present threat of Smiling Jack all the more terrifying.

The blurb describes this novel as an homage to ’90s horror movies – note that content warnings include sexual assault and graphic violence – and it certainly equals the dread and fascination created by any teen slasher movie, but with a diverse cast of intelligent young women. I recommend this for horror readers aged 14+, especially those interested in feminist tales.

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