Never Going Camping With These Idiots

 

TITLE: The Camp

AUTHOR: Nancy Bush

PUBLISHER: Zebra

PUBLISHING DATE: June 27, 2023

PAGES: 384   

SOURCE:ARC

FROM GOODREADS: 

There are always stories told around the fire at summer camp—tall tales about gruesome murders and unhinged killers, concocted to scare new arrivals and lend an extra jolt of excitement to those hormone-charged nights. At Camp Luft-Shawk, nicknamed Camp Love Shack, there are stories about a creeping fog that brings death with it. But here, they’re not just campfire tales. Here, the stories are real. 

Twenty years ago, a girl’s body was found on a ledge above the lake, arms crossed over her heart. Some said it was part of a suicide pact, connected to the nearby Haven Commune. Brooke, Rona, and Wendy were among the teenagers at camp that summer, looking for fun and sun, sex and adventure. They’ve never breathed a word about what really happened—or about the night their friendship shattered. 

Now the camp, renamed Camp Fog Lake, has reopened for a new generation, and many of those who were there on that long-ago night are returning for an alumni weekend. But something is stirring at the lake again. As the fog rolls in, evil comes with it. Those stories were a warning, and they didn’t listen. And the only question is, who will live long enough to regret it? 

MY THOUGHTS: I really hope this review doesn't turn into a rant but I'm not going to lie, the potential is there.  Let's start with something easy.  I like reading YA books and I like reading adult books, but I honestly can't tell you the targeted age for this novel because it goes back and forth so much between adult issues and teenage angst that I'm actually curious about the author's intentions.

So basically, Harley has just graduated high school and decides to sign up to work at Camp Fog Lake because she knows her ex and his girlfriend are also working there this summer and she wants to get him back.  It may not come across as that at first, but that's the gist of it.  She drags her friend Marissa, who doesn't want to leave her boyfriend but apparently has to because Harley wants her to.  That's plotline #1.  Plotline #2 is that 20 years ago, Harley's Aunt was at this camp with a bunch of mean girls and something horrible happened and the camp was closed.  But Emma, who apparently suffering a severe TBI in a different book by this author, can only recall cryptic bits and pieces.  The camp has a reunion over the July 4th weekend so the campers from 20 years ago reunite and learn what awful people they really are.  Oh, and plotline #3 involves a surrogacy and a religious cult.  

This book was just all too much.  I hated all of the characters, except maybe Emma, and they weren't' even the fun-to-hate type of characters. The "mystery/suspense" element was kind of weak and the ending was not worth the 384 pages it took to get there.  My favorite buddy reader Stormi was SUPPOSED to be reading this with me but she bailed at 20% and DNF'ed the thing.  I should have taken her lead.  I will say I do plan on reading The Babysitter by this author as it explains what happened to Emma and I'm remotely curious but if it doesn't work out better for me, this is an author I will probably avoid from here on out. 

RATING: 2 PAWS