A review by shelbyanoel
This Stays Between Us by Sara Ochs

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I absolutely loved “This Stays Between Us”. I’ve never had the pleasure of reading Sarah Ochs books before, but I do love a good thriller. I devoured this one in a day and I’m not sad about it. Set in the diverse, unique, and stunning Outback of Australia, a group of travel abroad friends is reunited years after their original adventure. What they think is that it’s just a reunion, but they’re thrown into a police investigation of their missing friend and her remains being discovered. Forcing the group of Claire, Josh, Declan, Adrien, Kyan, Tomas, and Hari to be reunited together and relive the loss of their friend; however, one of them isn’t who they seem and Claire seeks to find the truth of what happened to Phoebe. 

The twists and turns of who can be trusted, who’s being honest and real, and who has withheld more than what they’re sharing we seek to discover and find out. I really enjoyed the twists and turns, trying to put the pieces together. I really loved the alternating viewpoints of the characters from then and now as we discover what happened to Phoebe and the events that happened that summer. I also appreciated the setting. I mean, Australia?! It all came together in the end and buckle down to read and reread the epilogue! 

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Sourcebooks, and Sarah Ochs for this wonderful read! I’m looking forward to recommending it to my friends and bookclub groups!