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qteabeans's review
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-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
A read for the queer who needs the reminder that there is nothing wrong with being queer. This book is in that sweet space where it is a horror novel but it is mostly about self-love and acceptance. Can you make repairs for past harms you've done? Can you find connection with those you love? You can. All you have to do is literally fight demons.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Confinement, Grief, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, and Child death
Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Minor: Cursing, Alcohol, and Vomit
minervacerridwen's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.5
Even though I wanted to like the queer autistic main character, something about the writing made it very hard to connect with this book. It's written in first person and throws in cliché sentences in odd places, making me wonder if this was done on purpose or simply escaped an extra round of editing. The pacing of the story left me with the same question. In the first half it was interesting to see the evolution in the main character from someone extremely faithful to her religion and everything she'd learned, into a critical thinker who is trying to find her place away from the cult, but there was a large chunk after that where I lost interest. The story picked up right at the end and there were some cool concepts, but overall the distance from the main character and the general feel made it so Camp Damascus wasn't the right book for me.
Something that bothered me was that while Rose explicitly considered that these "demons" were creatures from a different universe, she never had a moment's compassion for them. Only at the end did it turn out that they only attacked queer people because they were made to, and that they'd much rather torture the oppressors instead. It felt like a dissonant that she realised they might also "just be animals" but that she didn't even try reasoning with them before finding ways to kill them, at a point where I don't think she'd had the vision of them torturing people in hell (?) yet. But then she still allows them to be on the loose at the end. I think it would have been in character for her to give the question of "what if someone or something is used for evil and needs to be stopped for that evil to stop, while at the same time it's also just some creature" more thought. Especially within the context of people being tortured just for being different.
For a long time I wondered whether the Peter Pan reference right at the beginning would become important, and while it was small, I was very glad to see the image of Rose's shadow engulfing the city at the very end. That was a nice touch.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Torture, Vomit, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, and Homophobia
bites_of_books's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is Chuck Tingle's first adult horror novel and I am very pleasantly surprised! We follow Rose Darling, a young woman who is starting to notice that things in her very religious town aren't all that they seem but also that not everything she thought about herself aligns with said community. Her town is known for housing a 100% success conversion camp for queer youth and she hasn't thought twice about this until she starts feeling a certain way about another young woman in her school. Her therapist and parents are incredibly supportive so she's pretty sure she'll be able to figure things out, except her own curiosity is starting to peel back at the given truths around her until she finds.... way more than she expected to find...
A true horror book that starts a bit slow but escalates to an ending that was deeply satisfying. I did almost wish for it to be multi-POV so that I could see things from the other character's perspectives as well, I'm super curious about their lives!
A true horror book that starts a bit slow but escalates to an ending that was deeply satisfying. I did almost wish for it to be multi-POV so that I could see things from the other character's perspectives as well, I'm super curious about their lives!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Car accident, Death, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Vomit, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, and Religious bigotry
the_vegan_bookworm's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Gore, Murder, Forced institutionalization, and Body horror
Minor: Animal cruelty
Insects are heavily involved with th body horror - I would recommend avoiding if that is triggering for you.sarahemily's review
dark
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Car accident
lavenderviolin's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Body horror
arlingtonchamberofgay's review
dark
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
5.0
A loose thread I couldn’t stop pulling on, Camp Damascus is a story for all the queer kids hurt by the church. We are not the monsters they make us out to be, but it doesn’t mean we can’t fight like hell to get our lives back.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Homophobia, and Vomit
Moderate: Car accident, Death, and Forced institutionalization
faeriekit's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This read took me about...an hour? I thought the main character was written a little stilted at first, and she was, because she was autistic. Once I knew what she was meant to be she was very familiar. Overall, it was a fun horror story about breaking free of conversion camp, coming into your own, and included a lot of gross stuff I'm grateful to say that I can't visualize correctly, thank heavens. It wasn't the most horrifying thing I've read, it was a fast-paced read, and considering the author's more usual works, I'm glad to see that he's expanding into longer narratives that by their nature hold more in them. I would consider this more of an adventure story than horror.
But maybe I've spent too long studying cults for this to seem all that weird, haha. Some religious elements just don't work on me anymore.
Overall, I liked it; I would read it again! I kind of wish there was more follow-through after the ending just to wrap, but eh. You know. A lot of people think the movie ends after the monster is killed, and I'm just left wondering who swept up the broken glass from the fight scene. Try it out for yourself, and get into Tingleverse! (Or whatever it's called!)
*If you are sensitive to body horror, especiallybugs and insects in humans , I would put this one down. It's very prevalent as a plotline throughout the narrative.
Overall, I liked it; I would read it again! I kind of wish there was more follow-through after the ending just to wrap, but eh. You know. A lot of people think the movie ends after the monster is killed, and I'm just left wondering who swept up the broken glass from the fight scene. Try it out for yourself, and get into Tingleverse! (Or whatever it's called!)
*If you are sensitive to body horror, especially
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Forced institutionalization
If you're sensitive totigger89's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was an excellent queer horror novel, with bonus autistic representation in the main character. It deals heavily with religion — in fact, I'd go so far as to say that Rose's character growth deals more with her religious beliefs than with her sexuality — so those with associated trauma should read carefully. Despite the horror themes, I found the overall tone to be one of optimism and hope, which I appreciated. Religion and queerness can exist together without inevitably leading to trauma, and I appreciated that this novel showed that as an option for at least one of the characters, in the end.
This novel is written in classic Tingleverse style. By that I don't mean that it's erotic — it's not that kind of book in the slightest — but rather that Chuck is writing using the same narrative voice and style that he uses for his Tinglers. This can be an acquired taste. I don't believe it makes the work any less serious, but if you're not used to how it flows then it could be difficult to get immersed in the story. I wasn't sure how his spooky scenes or action sequences would read, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well the style worked in those contexts.
Overall I enjoyed the plot, but the one thing that bothered me was a moment where Rose's faith went from 100 to 0 with very little explanation. I believe that it can happen that abruptly, even for someone as immersed as she was, but for such an pivotal character moment I needed a bit more insight into her thought process. It doesn't have to be pages upon pages of angsty monologue, but at least walk me through her assembly of the evidence that led to her conclusion! It was probably obvious to Chuck, but since I am not him I was left in the dark, which ultimately made her character arc feel like it had this strange hole in the middle of it.
I do feel like this book is a YA title, contrary to the marketing. The kind of character growth Rose experiences is a classic YA plot, with her older-than-typical age being explained by growing up in a sheltered religious environment. I honestly think the only reason it's officially an adult title is because no publisher wants to have teenagers googling their new favorite author "Chuck Tingle", only to stumble across "Pounded In The Butt By My Own Butt". There is nothing erotic in this title, and my opinion is that not only is it completely appropriate but would also have strong appeal for older teens, especially ones who are questioning the morality of the faith they grew up in.
This novel is written in classic Tingleverse style. By that I don't mean that it's erotic — it's not that kind of book in the slightest — but rather that Chuck is writing using the same narrative voice and style that he uses for his Tinglers. This can be an acquired taste. I don't believe it makes the work any less serious, but if you're not used to how it flows then it could be difficult to get immersed in the story. I wasn't sure how his spooky scenes or action sequences would read, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well the style worked in those contexts.
Overall I enjoyed the plot, but the one thing that bothered me was a moment where Rose's faith went from 100 to 0 with very little explanation. I believe that it can happen that abruptly, even for someone as immersed as she was, but for such an pivotal character moment I needed a bit more insight into her thought process. It doesn't have to be pages upon pages of angsty monologue, but at least walk me through her assembly of the evidence that led to her conclusion! It was probably obvious to Chuck, but since I am not him I was left in the dark, which ultimately made her character arc feel like it had this strange hole in the middle of it.
I do feel like this book is a YA title, contrary to the marketing. The kind of character growth Rose experiences is a classic YA plot, with her older-than-typical age being explained by growing up in a sheltered religious environment. I honestly think the only reason it's officially an adult title is because no publisher wants to have teenagers googling their new favorite author "Chuck Tingle", only to stumble across "Pounded In The Butt By My Own Butt". There is nothing erotic in this title, and my opinion is that not only is it completely appropriate but would also have strong appeal for older teens, especially ones who are questioning the morality of the faith they grew up in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Vomit, Body horror, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Homophobia
There are several instances where the point of view character vomits out a large quantity of flying insectsmatthewosborne's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-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
3.5
Not exactly the book I thought I was getting, but a good read all the same.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Vomit, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia