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A review by alisonheide
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
3.25
Having a hard time fully forming my thoughts on this one. On one hand I really enjoyed the satirical look at religious indoctrination and homophobia through the use of horror. Rose’s narrative word choice was absolutely spot on for the type of ironic humor this book caputured.
On the other hand, I must echo other reviews here that describe the books as “surface level.” I liked the take that instead of us exploring Rose being taken to the conversion camp, it was the journey of discovering she had already attended. However, the details surrounding the camp, how Rose ended up there, and her original sexual journey were extremely limited. The camp didnt really give me the big bad aura it was supposed to. The vagueness of everything other than just the demon tethering annoyed me. Honestly all the lack of detail about the original queer awakening of the characters and camp experience annoyed me. The character development with Rose was also extremely abrupt. I get she had an “awakening” where she didn't gain all her memories per say but regained her mindset and feelings, but since we were not privy to that previous Rose, it was hard to wrap my head around.
It feels weird to give this book a 3.5 cause that my go to for my mildly amusing romance books, but it the books sins compiled as I read. Before her “come to Jesus” moment in the hospital, it was looking like more of a 4.5. I feel like a book like this that covers these topic in such an exploratory way deserves higher but I cannot ignore the execution because the concept made me giggle. This is a big reminder to me that just because a book is “smart” or more literary (I do feel this leans more towards a literary edge) doesn’t mean it’s a better than a good old historical romance. You can tackle serious topics and discussions badly and concepts can be lacking.
I do plan on reading Bury Your Gays and hope Tingle fixes some of his plot and character issues because the themes and motifs are awesome.
On the other hand, I must echo other reviews here that describe the books as “surface level.” I liked the take that instead of us exploring Rose being taken to the conversion camp, it was the journey of discovering she had already attended. However, the details surrounding the camp, how Rose ended up there, and her original sexual journey were extremely limited. The camp didnt really give me the big bad aura it was supposed to. The vagueness of everything other than just the demon tethering annoyed me. Honestly all the lack of detail about the original queer awakening of the characters and camp experience annoyed me. The character development with Rose was also extremely abrupt. I get she had an “awakening” where she didn't gain all her memories per say but regained her mindset and feelings, but since we were not privy to that previous Rose, it was hard to wrap my head around.
It feels weird to give this book a 3.5 cause that my go to for my mildly amusing romance books, but it the books sins compiled as I read. Before her “come to Jesus” moment in the hospital, it was looking like more of a 4.5. I feel like a book like this that covers these topic in such an exploratory way deserves higher but I cannot ignore the execution because the concept made me giggle. This is a big reminder to me that just because a book is “smart” or more literary (I do feel this leans more towards a literary edge) doesn’t mean it’s a better than a good old historical romance. You can tackle serious topics and discussions badly and concepts can be lacking.
I do plan on reading Bury Your Gays and hope Tingle fixes some of his plot and character issues because the themes and motifs are awesome.