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regaliaofchaos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting
acatastrophe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A really quick read--I started this while waiting to board at Muhammad Ali in Louisville and finished before we were even halfway to LA. Tingle is technically published extensively before this, but his previous work doesn't have a lot to do with Camp Damascus, so I'm counting it as a first novel. It's quite nice--the worldbuilding (on the demonic aspects in particular) is good, and the main character is a very competent depiction of an autistic woman (which... Tingle is autistic, so this tracks). However, there's quite a bit of degradation at the end; it's quite rushed and a little indistinct. It feels like the lore is either buried or somewhat hastily written. I was also a little disappointed that Tingle chose to never really show what the camp itself was like--I get that queer trauma might (for some) be best left off-screen, but I think the story loses quite a bit in minimizing the reality of conversion therapy. Tingle doesn't pull punches with imagery, so I don't think he should pull punches in that regard, either.
Camp Damascus follows Rose Darling, a young woman in a fundamentalist Christian community who experiences a host of bizarre events and demonic run-ins, which turn out to be side-effects of a previous stay at the titular conversion camp. Her lesbian desire is linked to aggression by an assigned demon. She works with an ex-Camp councilor, himself "ex-gay," to exterminate their minders, then reunites with her once (and once-again?) girlfriend to take down the Camp itself. Despite a rather rushed ending and a disappointing amount of pulled punches in the back half, a solid first novel and a great feat for Dr. Chuck Tingle. Love is real!
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia
ljallday's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
eklektikam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
binevolentbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
gossamerchild's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
steph_weigle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
3.75
Look at trigger/content warnings beforehand! Nothing too too graphic but def could be hard to read.
Would def check out more from the author.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Car accident
atomicbritt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
blighted_beak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Body horror, Homophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Car accident
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting