Review: Camp Spirit

Title: Camp Spirit
Author: Axelle Lenoir
Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, LGBT
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 23, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Summer camp is supposed to be about finding nirvana in a rock garden… But Elodie prefers Nirvana and Soundgarden. Can she confront rambunctious kids, confusing feelings, and supernatural horrors all at once?

Summer 1994: with just two months left before college, Elodie is forced by her mother to take a job as a camp counselor. She doesn’t know the first thing about nature, or sports, of kids for that matter, and isn’t especially interested in learning… but now she’s responsible for a foul-mouthed horde of red-headed girls who just might win her over, whether she likes it or not. Just as Elodie starts getting used to her new environment, though — and close to one of the other counselors — a dark mystery lurking around the camp begins to haunt her dreams.

Review:

Elodie is forced to go to a summer camp as a councilor the summer before she starts college. Other classmates that she can’t stand are also going, but they’ve gone every year and it is Elodie’s first time attending. Elodie discovers that this camp isn’t anything like she thought it would be, with the creepy camp leader, a camp theme song filled with references to satan, and wild red headed girls who ask inappropriate questions. She finds herself learning about the dark and supernatural sides to this camp.

I never went to a summer camp, but I love stories about the creepy things that can happen there. With a bunch of imaginative kids cooped up in a camp, surrounded by a dark forest, supernatural events often occur in these stories. This story reminded me of the Lumberjanes series, but this one had more mature themes.

This book was set in Quebec in the 90s. There were lots of timely references, such as the Nirvana songs Elodie liked to listen to on her Walkman. Even though it was set more than twenty years ago, a lot of the events could have been happening today (not including the supernatural parts). The only difference was the kids didn’t have cellphones to play around with, but they probably couldn’t use them at a camp anyway. I liked that unique setting.

I really enjoyed this camp graphic novel!

Thank you IDW Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Have you read Camp Spirit? What did you think of it?