Reviews

*Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this title in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.*

What a fun novel with lots of hopes, dreams, and...vampires!

I love the way in which this story gently and firmly calls out the flaws in diet culture while also creating a fun, mysterious camp experience. Julie Murphy always tackles the topics surrounding weight with grace and confidence, something I will always appreciate.

Maggie is a wonderfully curious, question-asking camper who will not let the decisions of adults carve the path of her future. I will definitely be recommending this in the future.

Maggie is set on attending Camp Rising Star this summer to overcome her stage fright and claim the spotlight like she has always dreamed. The day before she is set to leave for the best summer ever, her parents announce that they have different plans...Next thing she knows, Maggie is shipped off to a fat camp run by the world-famous wellness influencer Sylvia Sylvania where her parents believe she will "become healthy." Maggie quickly discovers that something is...not right at Camp Sylvania...especially after dark. Author Julie Murphy manages to gently and firmly call out the flaws in diet culture while also creating a fun, mysterious camp experience that will leave readers slightly weirded out.

cboddie's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

6th-8th

Content Warnings

girlreading's review

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4.0

I was admittedly nervous going into this one. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a book set at a 'fat camp', let alone one for children but I'm so happy (and relieved) to say none of my fears came to fruition.

Camp Sylvania is wonderfully fun camp adventure following a bunch of kids getting up to epic camp hijinks and just so happens to have an empowering message of body acceptance. Julie Murphy expertly calls out diet culture and society's treatment of fat people, whilst never once letting this story be anything but a story of kids who save the world (not because or despite of being fat). The kids in this book are fat; they know they're fat, they accept they're fat and they also know they're just as worthy and able as people in smaller bodies. In fact, it's only the adults around them that ever make them question this but thankfully, any negative comment, thought or action towards weight is counteracted and rebuked.

Overall, this is a brilliantly fun, paranormal camp adventure and I adored every single moment of it. This is the kind of book I wish I'd grown up reading. My only hope is that one day we won't need books set at 'fat camps' because the dangerous idea that any child (or adult) needs to change or think differently about themselves because of their weight is abolished entirely.

TW: fatphobia, discussion on weight and dieting