Why Did I Read The Camp by Karice Bolton?
Friends, one of my favorite settings in fiction is summer camp. I legitimately cannot get enough of it as a former camper myself. ESPECIALLY over the summer. So when a good friend was running the tour for this book, I decided to read Karice Bolton’s The Camp instead of Witch Avenue because I will read the hell out of almost any camp book. While I did not fall head over heels in love with the book, I at least found it to be much more readable than the other camp book I attempted. There are a few things that I just could NOT ignore, but I found Bolton’s book to be very breezy and quick – an okay weekend read.
What’s The Story Here?
Emma is sent to this camp for wayward youth in the Alaskan frontier called ReBoot. Only, she is not at all a wayward youth. At first, she hates it because all the felon dudes hit on her. Only, she meets a guy who is not at all a felon and totally capable of pitching a tent, he’s Liam and he’s one of the camp leaders, along with one of the only other girls, Stephanie. The camp is mad sketchy, the campers sleep in tents and not cabins. There’s no fun games or bonfires AND there is a serious bear problem. When campers start disappearing one by one, Emma knows there is something off. Further, the perpetrator starts terrorizing Emma. And so, The Camp is basically a throw back to those awesome RL Stine horror books of yore, actually it reminded me a lot of the books in the Point Horror line (hello THE LIFEGUARD). Anyways, that’s essentially the story — but with a lot more romance.
How Is Emma As A Main Character?
To be frank with you, I could probably not describe Emma very accurately and I just recently finished reading The Camp. She’s not annoying, but on the other hand, I feel like she’s very non-descript and the only way I could think to describe her would be ‘good looking girl who has a dead dad and is loaded’. That’s it. And while that is not awful, I just would have liked a bit more to go on than that. I never really felt totally connected with Emma.
Describe the romance?
Instalove. Boom done.
Kidding, I’ll go more into depth. So, basically Emma and Liam are the main couple/ the only couple in Bolton’s book. Liam puts up Emma’s tent and all of a sudden they are into each other. Like, they are dropping the I LOVE YOU bomb in a matter of weeks, which skeeves me out. I know, I know some people know pretty quickly but personally, I felt like the relationship developed way too fast and was missing the sexual tension that I love to read about. Also, Liam does a lot of protecting when Emma is involved and I just felt bored by it. ALSO. His eyes are caramel. That’s something you’ll learn several times over while reading this book.
How’s The Writing?
Here’s the thing, The Camp is a very, very quick read. Like, I read it in a few hours. I think my Kindle clocked me at 2 hours overall. However, that does not mean that it’s a literary masterpiece. I mean, I was actually able to read the book and never felt the desire to DNF. BUT, I think that it could have stood to benefit from more character development, sexual tension and a bit more build up. I probably would have gotten more mileage out of those books if it had those things. I will say, I did like how creepy and isolated she made the frontier feel.Now, other readers have enjoyed this one, but it’s not for me. I think it’s more for an audience that wants Point Horror but racier.
Sum It Up With A GIF:
Eh, it was alright and I would never judge you if you loved this, but I didn’t.
Disclosure: Received for review via Blog Tour
Other reviews of The Camp by Karice Bolton:
WhY.A. Not – “I had fun reading The Camp”
Pretty Little Memoirs – “no strings untied and no cliff-hangers”
Reading And Writing Urban Fantasy – “the romance was awww-worthy”
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Okay, but now I want to know why Emma was sent to a camp for wayward youth if she isn’t always getting into trouble. I’m definitely curious, and might have to read this one. I’m not a fan of that guy on the cover. His hair makes him look kind of creepy, in my opinion.
Is it bad that I don’t always mind insta-love. I mean, it’s not something that I love to see in books, but it doesn’t piss me off. Love triangles, on the other hand . . .
Hmm, this might make for a good October readathon selection. Because I grew up on Point Horror books, which helped warp me into the individual I am today. Not sure if I will pick this up, but at least it’s on my radar now. Loved the review!
I love the Joey gif. I’ve never thought much about summer camp setting, but it does sound like it could be the setting for a very interesting story. It’s good that it’s a quick. Great review 🙂
I pretty much feel EXACTLY as you do about this book! I mean, it was a quick read and entertaining and actually had me creeped out for lots of it. But it wasn’t very memorable.