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alicia_reads_'s review
Too many POV/(apparently) pointless side stories, juvenile writing and immature characters.
lisacanteven's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Somehow I read this entire book, cover to cover. All I wanted to do every minute was quit.
I picked The Camp up because it is set in the forests near the Oregon coast, and I just moved to Portland. As I drive through the forests here I always contemplate how many bodies have been hidden among the trees with the intention to never be found again. I've been looking for a book to explore this possibility since. I can confidently say that this book did not help with this fascination.
First off there are too many characters, too many POV's, and too many irrelevant side stories: something about a surrogate, separated spouses, traumatic brain injury, etc. Yes, you read that right- a traumatic brain injury. One of the main characters was attacked her senior year related to what she saw at camp. It is very quickly confirmed by the author who attacked Emma, but it is such a brief moment that I almost missed it. No redemption for Emma there especially since none of the people in her life seem to know or just don't care why she was attacked so many years ago.
You're probably wondering how a character with a TBI that left her in an assisted living situation worked in this story. The answer is that she didn't. The way the author wrote this character was completely problematic. Emma actually had the most insight on what was happening throughout the whole book, but no one listened to here. I believe Emma's character was just a tool used as an unreliable narrator throughout the story. This is an example of ablest representation. The characters who did care for Emma were too wrapped up in their own twisted stuff to care for Emma properly, and then the characters who didn't trust her made it very awkwardly known. One ADULT character actually said to Emma, "I'm so sorry about your disability." Cool.
Aside from the worst offense of ableism, the writing was awful. Like written by a 16yo boy awful. There were things like the term "galumphed" used multiple times within a few pages. Surely there are synonyms for that word, especially as I feel it wasn't used correctly in the first place. She even uses the term, "pooh-poohed." Many times I felt this book was written by a child.
So we have ableism and bad writing to blame for my single star review, but I saved the big one for now. There was a lot of creepy pedophile behavior from the men in this book. None of that behavior was ever addressed as wrong by anyone or anything in the book. It was more like, "silly Donovan likes to look at young girls in their bikinis. Oh silly Donovan." Donovan does get his just desserts, but not because he was probably a registered s*x offender but because the killer just didn't like him. But it's okay bc there were multiple pedos in this book, but their behavior was normalized in this story. It was gross. One of the husbands wasn't a predator of the sexual kind, but he did beat his wife. No one seemed to care though.
In the end the killer was discovered and it wasn't even worth it. His reason for killing had to do with mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, but the author didn't put a name to his illness. She just let it go unspoken, but that's what it was. If you're keeping track that is now two different characters with mental illnesses just as a trope. Let's be more creative, Ms. Nancy.
I would never recommend this book. If you read through my whole review, you pretty much got the idea of the entire story. The only positive I have is that the fog was described pretty well. As someone who has lived in this Oregon coastal fog, it really is unlike any fog I've been in. If it was as sentient as Ms. Nancy described I just wish it would have swallowed this entire manuscript so it was never published. Too bad it didn't.
I picked The Camp up because it is set in the forests near the Oregon coast, and I just moved to Portland. As I drive through the forests here I always contemplate how many bodies have been hidden among the trees with the intention to never be found again. I've been looking for a book to explore this possibility since. I can confidently say that this book did not help with this fascination.
First off there are too many characters, too many POV's, and too many irrelevant side stories: something about a surrogate, separated spouses, traumatic brain injury, etc. Yes, you read that right- a traumatic brain injury. One of the main characters was attacked her senior year related to what she saw at camp. It is very quickly confirmed by the author who attacked Emma, but it is such a brief moment that I almost missed it. No redemption for Emma there especially since none of the people in her life seem to know or just don't care why she was attacked so many years ago.
You're probably wondering how a character with a TBI that left her in an assisted living situation worked in this story. The answer is that she didn't. The way the author wrote this character was completely problematic. Emma actually had the most insight on what was happening throughout the whole book, but no one listened to here. I believe Emma's character was just a tool used as an unreliable narrator throughout the story. This is an example of ablest representation. The characters who did care for Emma were too wrapped up in their own twisted stuff to care for Emma properly, and then the characters who didn't trust her made it very awkwardly known. One ADULT character actually said to Emma, "I'm so sorry about your disability." Cool.
Aside from the worst offense of ableism, the writing was awful. Like written by a 16yo boy awful. There were things like the term "galumphed" used multiple times within a few pages. Surely there are synonyms for that word, especially as I feel it wasn't used correctly in the first place. She even uses the term, "pooh-poohed." Many times I felt this book was written by a child.
So we have ableism and bad writing to blame for my single star review, but I saved the big one for now. There was a lot of creepy pedophile behavior from the men in this book. None of that behavior was ever addressed as wrong by anyone or anything in the book. It was more like, "silly Donovan likes to look at young girls in their bikinis. Oh silly Donovan." Donovan does get his just desserts, but not because he was probably a registered s*x offender but because the killer just didn't like him. But it's okay bc there were multiple pedos in this book, but their behavior was normalized in this story. It was gross. One of the husbands wasn't a predator of the sexual kind, but he did beat his wife. No one seemed to care though.
In the end the killer was discovered and it wasn't even worth it. His reason for killing had to do with mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, but the author didn't put a name to his illness. She just let it go unspoken, but that's what it was. If you're keeping track that is now two different characters with mental illnesses just as a trope. Let's be more creative, Ms. Nancy.
I would never recommend this book. If you read through my whole review, you pretty much got the idea of the entire story. The only positive I have is that the fog was described pretty well. As someone who has lived in this Oregon coastal fog, it really is unlike any fog I've been in. If it was as sentient as Ms. Nancy described I just wish it would have swallowed this entire manuscript so it was never published. Too bad it didn't.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, and Pregnancy
kaylovestoread's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
taylorhathcock's review
4.0
I mean if there is one thing I absolutely adore it is 80's/90's slasher films. So I really had no choice but to read this book. It definitely had those vibes. It was one of those where you are so unsure about every character and their motives until the very end. Brooke, Rona, and Wendy are hiding a big secret and nobody knows what they did that summer.... or do they? I think the broad range of characters helped to give it the creepy slasher vibe. I will admit that at times it was hard to follow exactly what character was the focus because it would shift with like a sentence. Like most 80s slasher films we get the brief snippet of what happened twenty years ago, without actually seeing what happened, it's part of the big reveal at the end after all.
I enjoyed the fact that the book had the adults come back to the camp for an alumni weekend. It was a different take on things that I haven't seen before, it was also fun to watch how quickly they reverted to past behaviors. Our main characters start to suspect that maybe, just maybe, the events of 20 years ago weren't how they appeared. It doesn't help when Emma claims to have seen a ghost from the past. The book really tries to model itself after the slasher films, which sometimes becomes a bit overwhelming due to the number of characters. Everyone in this book has some secrets and some of them are more connected than anyone thought.
I will admit it took a hot minute for me to actually decide who the killer was. I created all these elaborate theories on why it was this thing or that thing, which I'm sure the author helped by providing specific information at that point and time. I think this book was really good, but it might have been better as a film just because of all the moving parts. I liked how we kept getting tiny reveals about the summer that started everything and I think the big reveal was actually done really well. All in all I would say it was a perfect book for those who love slasher movies.
danadoesbooks's review
I ended up DNFing The Camp 170 pages into it. This is not an easy thriller to read. There are so many characters that are introduced that weren't even at the camp, but they are all related so you have to keep track of them. One of the main characters was also severly injured in an unrelated attack that is mentioned but never focused on in this book. Apparently all of the storylines do come together at the end and the last 100 pages are really exciting, but I don't want to wait to get to it.
aceofknaves88's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
booknallnight's review
slow-paced
2.5
I saw Friday the 13th meets Yellowjackets with a summer camp setting and I was sold. I was really looking forward to a slasher type read. However, that is not what I got. This isn't in any way close to being like Friday the 13th. Yes, there are some similarities BUT this doesn't have any of the quick-paced slasher scenes nor was it thrilling or remotely scary. It's also very slow and not much happens through the first 80ish percent.
That being said, although I was disappointed with the false advertising...it wasn't all bad and I did enjoy the last 20ish percent. This is when it finally kicked up a notch and you get a small play of action. Nothing thrilling but at least something finally happens.
I didn't love this one but I also didn't hate it. It was a great time waster and kept me occupied as I wasn't feeling all that great today so there is that at least.
I would say that this would be a good one for those who enjoy a mystery, likes camp settings and doesn't mind an extremely slow build. While this didn't work for me, it will for others so if this interests you, give it a go and see where you fall.
I sincerely appreciate Kensington Publishing for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
That being said, although I was disappointed with the false advertising...it wasn't all bad and I did enjoy the last 20ish percent. This is when it finally kicked up a notch and you get a small play of action. Nothing thrilling but at least something finally happens.
I didn't love this one but I also didn't hate it. It was a great time waster and kept me occupied as I wasn't feeling all that great today so there is that at least.
I would say that this would be a good one for those who enjoy a mystery, likes camp settings and doesn't mind an extremely slow build. While this didn't work for me, it will for others so if this interests you, give it a go and see where you fall.
I sincerely appreciate Kensington Publishing for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
booktrishandmagic's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I was reeled in by the fact that this book is marketed as Friday the 13th meets Yellowjackets. But that was a let down. I really wanted to like this one, but the book was just way too long. Nothing really happened until the last 1/4 of it. Which makes this a bit too slow of a burn for my taste. There were too many characters, I just couldn’t keep track of them all. And each chapter has multiple alternating POVs that aren’t labeled so it’s hard to follow along. Overall, it was an entertaining read, just didn’t really hit home for me. I do seem to be in the minority on this one though. So, I still suggest you pick this one up if you’re looking for camp thrillers or cult vibes.
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