Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

19 reviews

_meeg's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Body horror, Biphobia, Physical abuse, Stalking, Car accident, Child abuse, Abandonment, Child death, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Grief, Blood, Kidnapping, and Medical content

Moderate: Confinement

chrobin's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.0

Some nice lighthearted Christian/cult queer revenge fantasy with some good body horror moments - that’s a pretty unique genre! Excellent concept, pulpy one dimensional delivery, but I think that’s what they’re going for.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Self harm, Bullying, Car accident, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Violence, and Vomit

justmehayleyb's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Gaslighting, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Outing, Torture, Mental illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Medical content, and Murder

boyswillbeboxes's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

I waited for this book for over a year, checking consistently for its release. And it was worth every minute! I loved the characters, loved the premise, loved the overall message. Mara Wilson was a fantastic choice for the voice narration. Aside from some minor plot things I think could have been a little smoother, this book was practically perfect.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Violence, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

dealingwithdragons's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Outing, Child death, Religious bigotry, Violence, Murder, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Medical content, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Blood, Child abuse, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Ableism and Abandonment

thebearnest's review

dark inspiring medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Confinement

throwback682's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Blood, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Torture, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Vomit, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Bugs

indig0tea's review

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

To start, I should mention that I finished this book rather quickly because I literally could not put it down.

It's an incredibly genuine and heartfelt story, with incredibly nuanced takes on topics many culturally christian queer folks can relate to. Not to mention, it's fantastically written, with engaging and scary (and sometimes a little gross) splashes of genuine horror throughout. 

I cannot wait to have it permanently on my bookshelf.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Physical abuse

If you have a strong aversion to insects and insect related horror, this book is not for you.

justanotherfinalgirlreview's review

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

Welcome to Camp Damascus, the most successful christian camp, where all your bodily sin’s including homosexuality can be cured permanently. Our methods work so well, your child won’t even remember coming here, nor will they have any recollection of their previous sinful desires. But if, god forbid,if any camper does have any recurring desires, we personally guarantee their own demons will keep them under control for the REST OF THEIR LIVES. Your satisfaction is a guarantee.

However, The Kingdom of the Pine Church never expected a camper quite like Neverton local Rose Darling, an on the spectrum, fact based and highly religious 20 year old girl.

As a "secular" girl myself, the first half of the novel was a slow start, with many religious references flying right over my head. I did not understand Rose's love of religion and found the Darling family a little weird. But as I got further into the book I truly began to appreciate the story and how texts can be used and manipulated for personal gain. I've grown up on the stories about how horrible Catholic education was for my father and his brothers, with all three boys finding unique ways to be uninvited back to school (including a streaking incident). The book really started to pick up for me halfway through and I could not put it down. I fell in love with Rose and Saul, their strange friendship and united goal. Rose's weird facts kept me hooked, and made me want to know more.  Chuck Tingle created a wonderful LGBTQIA+ and Religious Horror novel filled with gory visceral body horror that will have you looking for the nearest garbage bin to throw up in thanks to the transmissions from the other side. I highly recommend enrolling yourself in Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus this July!

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the opportunity to get an advanced readers copy, this book got me through a long hospital visit, and Rose being there too at the vending machines made me feel so much less alone

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Torture, Transphobia, Body horror, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, and Violence