Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

17 reviews

kshertz's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

Really Chuck Tingle can do anything and I would follow him anywhere. I’m not much for a horror, but I love the type of horror that he writes. His horror is based on the world around us and the people that make the world horrific. He makes excellent Points and I find myself swept up in the story and committed to the characters. Camp Damascus and the idea of conversion camps as a horror with certain supernatural pieces was really well done. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

spaghettii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

3.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

enyltiak's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, and Grief

elysianbud's review against another edition

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

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I learned earlier today that the Bible only started using the word “homosexual” and its other forms in 1946. Evidently, the same word was previously translated as masturbator and its various forms. So conversion therapy, I would guess, probably only followed suit after homosexuality became demonized by the Church (otherwise, there’d be no church if they had to convert every masturbator to what exactly????).

Gay people have been around since the beginning of time, because more of us are scientifically gayer than “polite” society wants to admit (sexuality is a range spanning heterosexuality to homosexuality with lots of shades in between). So the idea of conversion camps fascinates me. Why are we trying to homogenize the world? What is the deep fear or desire motivating it? Thus, I had to read this book, and it wasn’t exactly what I expected, but that’s partially because I forgot to read the small print saying it was also a horror book. However, I suppose it is a horrible experience for those forced to undergo it. And I imagine a lot of what’s in the book might be true enough (the cost and the brainwashing).

Mostly, I’m glad there’s a book for questioning young people to read that lets them know there’s nothing wrong with them and that they have the power to resist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

laboromi's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Stalking, Car accident, and Gaslighting

Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol

emizulu's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

I loved this book. Heartfelt, heartbreaking, and fulfilling. Interesting world building, at just the kind of pace that lets you put together a few of the background pieces yourself. Would definitely recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

pacifickat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

*full review coming...*

"Something is wrong in Neverton, and that something isn't me." -Rose

"Don't worry, Rose. I've got you. I've always got you." -Dad

"Let there be Rose." -Rose

Content Warnings:

Religious abuse,

Demonic possession, Demons, Hell, Eternal conscious torment,

Guilt, Shame, Fear, Thought stopping, Brainwashing, Cults and cult ideologies, Gay conversion therapy, Confinement, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Body horror, Toxic relationships, Vomit, Lesbophobia, Car accident, Child abuse, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Drug use, Amnesia and memory loss

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Alcohol

Religious abuse,

demonic possession, demons, hell, eternal conscious torment

, guilt, shame, fear, thought stopping, brainwashing, cults, gay conversion therapy, gay conversion camps

machewson's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

Wow!  I consider myself to be a fairly slow reader, but I started and finished this book in one day.  It's not particularly long and I could not put it down.  The journey we go on in this book of self acceptance and love is absolutely incredible.  If you only read one book this year or even this decade make it this one.  I don't want to get into any spoilers, but if you are a queer person I can't recommend this book highly enough.  It feels cathartic, loving and incredible from start to finish.  The mystery and suspense absolutely keep you glued to this book until the last sentence.  I know this is rambling but my god this book has me feeling all kinds of ways.  This is very easily going in my top five all time reads.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder