e-Audio, 06:27:54
Narrated by: Katie Ladner
Release Date: June 6, 2023
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: June 9-11, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: Libro FM App
TW: Fat Shaming, Kidnapping, Violence
For Readers Interested In: MG, Paranormal, Horror, LOL, Fat Leads, Body PositivityFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’ and Dear Sweet Pea comes a hilarious and spooky middle grade summer-camp story that takes a bite out of fat camp.
Magnolia “Maggie” Hagen is determined to be in the spotlight…if she can just get over her stage fright. This summer, though, she has big plans to finally attend Camp Rising Star, the famous performing arts camp she’s been dying to go to for three whole summers.
But on the last day of school, her parents break the news: Maggie isn’t going to Camp Rising Star. She’s being shipped off to fat camp—and not just any fat camp. She’s going to Camp Sylvania, run by world-famous wellness influencer Sylvia Sylvania, who is known for her soon-to-be patented Scarlet Diet.
When Maggie arrives at camp, things are…weird. There are the humiliating weigh-ins and grueling workouts, as expected. But the campers are also encouraged to donate blood—at their age! The cafeteria serves only red foods and the oddly specific rules change every day. There are even rumors of a camp ghost.
Despite these horrors, Maggie makes friends and starts to actually enjoy herself. There are even tryouts for a camp production of The Music Man! This place might not be so bad…until campers start going missing and suspicious things begin happening—especially after dark.
The camp ghost might be the least scary thing about this place….
*MY THOUGHTS*
When I saw that Julie Murphy was writing another MG I immediately added it to my TBR. And then I saw what the title was and skimmed the synopsis, I knew even more so that it was a book for me. And now that I’ve read it I can confidentily say, “Yes it is.”
Ok so I usually hate vampires but I love Julie Murphy and I knew I’d give her a shot regardless of what it was about. And I was right to. Since this is MG it wasn’t creepy and was actually about them trying to figure out what was happening at the camp and why people were mysteriously leaving which was so much better to me than a romance with it. Idk why but those always make me feel weird lol This was filled with adventure and I really hope we get to re-visit this camp again. Well, not really. Considering what they were using it for lol But still the story was fun.
The plot was cool tho. I liked the way Murphy gave us clues but didn’t outright tell us that’s what they were. Like the nighttime visits and they couldn’t come in without an invitation which included the actual lead campers. It was just an odd mix-up of things and I thought it was so cute! Creepy but in a cute way. If I was a MG’er I think I would have been a little creeped out. So what did I do? I upped the amount of books I ordered for my library lol It’s a local, well known author and the book was really cute. It deserved it.
The other thing I liked about this was the fact that it was much deeper than just vampires. The way they disguised the camp was gross. They basically were saying it was a fat camp where the kids can go and get help to lose weight. But none of them wanted to. They were all happy with who they were. Their parents and/or other loved ones were the ones who made them go. And that pissed me off. So basically it gives a good message of body positivity as well. And the way they were luring them in to help feed the vampires?! I was using my mom voice by this point lol How dare they?! And then I remembered they couldn’t hear me asking them.
I DID think that there were some loose ends that were still there. I didn’t like the way things ended with the ghost story. Hopefully there is more and we’ll get more on them and what they’ve been doing since then. And why they just so happened to find those PLANTS out there and so on and so forth. Basically I hope there’s another but make the paranormal figure.
This was so cute! I knew I love Julie Murphy, so it was a no brainer to download this when i saw it! This was a dellightful MG camp thriller that everyone can enjoy! If creepy camps is your thing, give it a try!
Overall, I give this
