Reviews

The Camp by Nancy Bush

coffeeandlostinabook's review

2.0

I don't know why I finished this book. It was difficult to read as the chapters had 20-30 pages for most chapters and there were several POV in The Camp. I counted 12. It also would randomly jump to flashbacks with Brooke, Rona, and Wendy. This should have been a DNF for me honestly. The ending was pulled together nicely, but the book overall just had too much going on.

cyireadbooks's review

2.0

The Camp was a pretty forgettable read for me. I struggled through most of it and it was very tempting to quit on several occasions. But since I got to the point of no return (56%,) I was forced to continue till the end.

I’m not going to offer my rendition of the story since I barely remember the plot. And the description doesn’t quite come close to what occurs in the novel.

There were numerous characters and I lost track of who’s who. Luckily, there were some carryover characters from Bush’s previous novel (The Babysitter. A 5 star read for me) that provided some context into Emma’s disability.

The novel is basically a whodunit. But with several tangential storylines, I struggled with the flow and direction of the narrative. And the lackluster ending really didn’t help boost its appeal. I just felt as though the author was forced to churn out another novel for the sake of churning out another novel. Two excruciating stars.

I received a digital ARC from Kensington Books through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

nixbix_reads's review

2.0

I really wanted to like this. With a setting that just brings to mind so many teen slasher movies of the 70s & 80s, this had the potential a campy & gory homage. However, I thought that it was so busy & complicated that it missed the mark. There’s a lot of characters, and we see this book through many POVs, but it seemed like new characters were being added every few chapters, and I gave up on trying to remember who was who. With the new characters came different plot lines, and while they all linked up by the end of the story, they all just seemed to complicate the story, and I found it a real struggle to read. I found most of the characters to be pretty unlikeable, and didn’t care if they survived their weekend at Camp Fog Lake or not.

Thanks to Kensington Booms & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

dj1010fl's review

4.0

Really enjoyed this book! Think I have a new author to add to my must read list.

darquedreamer's review

dark fast-paced

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

1.0

Definitely not what I was hoping for. The writing was clunky. There were too many points of view. The plot was muddled and couldn't decide which direction it wanted to go in. There was a lot of unnecessary content, "character building", repetitiveness, and confusing twists and plot points. I don't even know why I finished it... 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

minipanda's review against another edition

2.0

 Not for me.

Here's Claire's Review, she pretty much says it all.

At first, I thought I was in a reading slump or something because nothing about this novel stuck. There were too many characters to keep track of and nothing about the story stood out. I ended up skimming through the novel.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Nancy Bush, and Kensington Books for graciously sending me the ARC to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.** 

pandasbookshelf's review

4.0

The Camp by Nancy Bush is a standalone thriller. I've not read this author before. The premise of the book sounded really exciting and I love the idea of a camp murder mystery. I didn't like the large cast of characters introduced and found it confusing to keep track of who was who and how they related to each other. The mystery was chilling and it made me want to know what really happened to the people involved. I would read more by this author. I think fans of thrillers, camp horror or YA novels would enjoy this one.

lscheibal's review

5.0

The Camp by Nancy Bush makes me really glad I never went to a summer camp...or was born into a cult. I found this to be very suspenseful and I finished the last half of the book in two days. I appreciate the author wrapping up *almost* everyone's stories, but it is killing me to not know what happened to Emma. Did I just miss it? I would read another book that followed Emma's Story for a few months before Camp Love Shack until she returns 20 years later for the parents/alumni weekend.

Also, respect to Sunny Dae.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Kensington Books for the advanced review copy. I have added more Nancy Bush books to my TBR.

maaaaaaddison's review

1.0

I’m trying to do better at not making myself finish books that I’m not enjoying because that puts me in a slump… so DNF. This book is so poorly written, there’s like 500 different characters narrating, and there’s grown women talking like they’re 15 years old. This book was pitched to me as Friday the 13th meets yellowjackets and I’m like wow, this is made for me. Unfortunately I was not finding any similarities except for the fact it takes place at a summer camp. Also after reading other reviews this is technically a sequel, but nowhere is it mentioned it is. Maybe I would’ve understood certain characters better if I had known.

alicia_reads_'s review

Too many POV/(apparently) pointless side stories, juvenile writing and immature characters.