This Stays Between Us by Sara Ochs | Thriller Review
I read The Resort last year and really enjoyed it, so I was very excited to dive into This Stays Between Us by Sara Ochs. Her first book combined travel, murder, and expat life in such a fun and interesting way. I had a feeling that This Stays Between Us was going to be just as enthralling. Stay tuned for my full This Stays Between Us book review where I’ll tell you all about this upcoming thriller release.
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What is This Stays Between Us by Sara Ochs About?
For fans of Lucy Foley and Society of Lies comes a crackling study abroad thriller that proves that a trip of a lifetime can have deadly consequences…
Ten years ago
A study abroad program like no other: a month-long trip of education and adventure, exploring everything Australia has to offer. And at first, it’s everything best friends Phoebe and Claire, and the rest of the student group expects: sunshine, whirlwind romance, and all-night parties. But it isn’t long before cracks begin to form within the group. Ones that lead to Phoebe’s disappearance …
Now
It’s the call Claire has been waiting for years for. Phoebe’s remains have been found. It’s time to return, for her and the others to go back to Australia. But as Claire retraces their steps and tries to piece together exactly what happened to her best friend all those years ago, it quickly becomes clear everyone in the group has secrets. Including Claire.
Because only she knows what really happened that fateful day ten years ago. The day she killed her best friend. And she’ll do anything she can to keep the others from learning the truth. (from Amazon.com)
My Initial Thoughts
As I mentioned earlier, I really enjoyed Sara Ochs first thriller novel which was set in Thailand. And her new book This Stay Between Us takes place in Australia. How cool! I haven’t traveled abroad much so I really like reading about it in books. In The Resort, the main characters are expats, or people who chose to move abroad and live in a new place.
In This Stays Between Us, the story takes place during two time periods. The first is ten years ago, when the main characters were in college. They were all participating in a month long study abroad program in Australia. They weren’t really taking classes or anything. It was more like a way to travel and get to meet people from other countries.
The second part of the story takes place 10 years later. During their study abroad program, a student named Phoebe disappeared. And it was always a little suspicious because she was on the outs with quite a few people. Now it’s ten years later and the group is asked to come back to Australia to talk to the police detectives who are investigating into Phoebe’s death.
As it turns out, the group has a lot of secrets between them. Some of them may just contain information about Phoebe’s disappearance. And others are trying to forget the trauma from their past.
The Mystery
I really enjoyed how the story was told between two perspectives: Phoebe and Claire.
Phoebe’s part of the story takes place in the past. She tells about how the study abroad trip started. Her character is a little bit controversial and she gets on the bad side of quite a few people right off the bat. Her behaviors have unexpected consequences as she causes drama in the group. Her roommate is Claire, and although the two of them seemingly get along there is also some tension.
The story in present day is told through Claire’s perspective. Claire seems nice, although she is hiding a secret that she can’t tell anyone else about. She feels incredibly guilty about Phoebe’s disappearance, but she doesn’t lay all of her cards out at once.
What happened? What did she do? And what does she known? The storytelling is very mysterious and I’m appreciative of that. I really didn’t know whose point of view I was supposed to believe, even as the story progressed. And that makes for a very interesting thriller.
The Present
It’s very interesting to read about the reuniting of the group of friends from college. Because one of the most important things about growing up is that we change. Sometimes it’s for the worse. Other times it’s for the better.
It did seem strange to me how close everyone stayed over the years. And the reason I say that is because they were only in Australia for a month. They didn’t even live there for a full semester. But I suspended my disbelief in order to enjoy the story. Like I said, the story was revealed little by little as the two perspectives changed. This slow-burning suspense novel really held my interest from the first page until the last.
What Did I Like About This Story?
I am not that familiar with Australia and so it was interesting to read a story set there. I enjoyed the descriptions of the outback and of the different places that the college students traveled to. I liked how Claire and Phoebe both had interesting backstories which led them to participate in the program in the first place. Phoebe’s backstory especially made me sad for her. You know from the beginning though that she’s not going to make it. But a reader can still hope… Crazier twists have happened.
What Didn’t I Like About This Story?
I will say… I enjoyed The Resort and I enjoyed This Stays Between Us too. But both of the endings felt a little random. And by that, I mean the ending was interesting. But totally out of left field. There weren’t very many clues to lead us to who did it. So as tension builds, don’t even try to figure it out. Lol. Because I really don’t think you will.
I still found this to be a compulsive thriller. But the ending is very surprising in both books and I don’t think many readers would be able to figure it out.
In Conclusion
Thanks for checking out my This Stays Between Us book review. I thought this was a really fun thriller and I think many other readers will enjoy it too.
