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A review by theawkwardbookw
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
4.0
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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review*
20 year old Rose Darling is a member of an ultra religious group called Kingdom of the Pine in Montana. She has been noticing weird feelings towards a female friend. When her parents start to inquire about her interest in a relationship with a boy, scary things begin happening to her. She begins seeing a demon following her and has coughed up strange black insects. She then starts hearing whispers about Camp Damascus, a gay conversion camp run by her church with a 100% success rate.
I am not religious in an way, so I usually don't vibe with books focusing heavily on religion, but this one drew me in right from the beginning. It does begin to lag in the middle, but I was invested enough to continue reading. I really liked Rose as our main character. She is autistic, and has deep beliefs rooted in her religion. As she begins to question it, she starts asking important questions. I thought she was very well written, and you couldn't help but root for her. The other characters (other than Saul, her friend from Camp) felt a bit flat, and underdeveloped compared to Rose, but I do think they helped push the story forward. I liked how it explored the darker parts of Christianity, but it also spoke on still finding comfort in the religion at times. The biggest complaint I probably have for this book is that I wish we spent more time at the actual camp as I loved when we finally got there... it just took a bit to get there as the majority of the book takes place just in the town.
Overall, I had a great time reading this, and I do recommend it, but be aware of any triggers that may pop up for you before picking it up!
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review*
20 year old Rose Darling is a member of an ultra religious group called Kingdom of the Pine in Montana. She has been noticing weird feelings towards a female friend. When her parents start to inquire about her interest in a relationship with a boy, scary things begin happening to her. She begins seeing a demon following her and has coughed up strange black insects. She then starts hearing whispers about Camp Damascus, a gay conversion camp run by her church with a 100% success rate.
I am not religious in an way, so I usually don't vibe with books focusing heavily on religion, but this one drew me in right from the beginning. It does begin to lag in the middle, but I was invested enough to continue reading. I really liked Rose as our main character. She is autistic, and has deep beliefs rooted in her religion. As she begins to question it, she starts asking important questions. I thought she was very well written, and you couldn't help but root for her. The other characters (other than Saul, her friend from Camp) felt a bit flat, and underdeveloped compared to Rose, but I do think they helped push the story forward. I liked how it explored the darker parts of Christianity, but it also spoke on still finding comfort in the religion at times. The biggest complaint I probably have for this book is that I wish we spent more time at the actual camp as I loved when we finally got there... it just took a bit to get there as the majority of the book takes place just in the town.
Overall, I had a great time reading this, and I do recommend it, but be aware of any triggers that may pop up for you before picking it up!