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A review by acatastrophe
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- 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
(from my personal reading journal, July 21, 2023)
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia