Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Camp Damascus

I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this (in a good way). When I was able to predict something, it would be only shortly before it was revealed.

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enyltiak's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book was 5 stars to me for about the first 75%… and then something just got lost. The last quarter wasn’t bad by any stretch, and I enjoyed it, but it didn’t propel me to keep reading the way the beginning and middle did. I honestly just felt like

the scenes between Rose and Saul and Rose and Willow, as well as the final appearance of Camp Damascus itself

would’ve been a whole lot more impactful if we’d gotten a better peek into these dynamics earlier on. A little bit of dramatic irony would’ve gone a long way in this story.

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bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

This book really cemented for me that I need to read more Chuck Tingle books.

I wasn’t super sure what to expect from the book just from the blurb, but I really enjoyed it. I love how it explored sexuality and religious trauma. Rose’s personal journey of realising what her feelings were and that confusion around that was deeply relatable. It made me take to her as a MC quickly. Not just the realisation of her sexuality, but the complex feelings around religion and realising how it hurt her. I liked the variety in how characters felt about religion, each had complex but still valid feelings on it. I especially liked the contrast between Rose and Saul. While both suffered at the camp, Rose turned away from religion while Saul embraced it in a more accepting way. I appreciated that neither was depicted as wrong, it was a level of nuance I hadn’t expected.

The characters as a whole were also so well done. Each felt like a real person with complicated feelings and motivations. They all felt consistent and I understood why they were doing what they did. I was pleasantly surprised by how many characters were given depth and complexity too. It was nice that even the less that stellar characters were still people.

The book’s atmosphere and descriptions were also great. Things were described in delightfully disgusting ways. It just made everything properly creepy. Not to mention how well the book did with atmosphere and tension building. There was a deep underlying sense of dread to the book and most scenes that I really enjoyed.

The only flaw that really bothered me was how heavy handed the book could be at times. However, a lot of topics the book discussed are really complex. I think it can be helpful to clearly state what you mean when talking about such layered topics.

Overall it was an amazing read and I highly recommend it. Even if you usually a horror reader, I think it’s worth checking out.

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r3allybadusername's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was great! My only complaint would be that I wish the ending felt a little unfinished.

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acechemicals's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I can't objectively review this book in any meaningful way. It resonated with me in every single way, from

memory loss due to religious abuse

finding a family that understands the need to protect others.

It took me four hours to read and I'm sure everyone I love is completely irritated by me reading passages or sending heart-rending quotes in DMs (or setting the book down so I could cry several times during the last quarter or so).

Entwining religion and horror is not new by any means, but done to great effect here. Everything is scarier through Rose's eyes, because she's sheltered. And we're so used to denial of the protagonist's experiences as a trope of horror that "you didn't see anything weird" seems normal, "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this" isn't out of the ordinary, but it ratchets up seamlessly and quickly for Rose in a way anyone familiar with high-control religion would recognize immediately.

I want everyone to read this. I also want to cry for the next six months. And I couldn't have asked for a better ending.

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