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Camp Daze
With summer winding down, the counselors at Camp Aspen Heart are counting the days until they go home to their own beds after weeks of songs and campouts and budding friendships. But a missing food delivery after the start of one of the last sessions sets off alarms in the isolated camp. With no easy way to contact the outside world Conifer, a survivalist who grew up going to the camp every summer before becoming a counselor herself, heads out to try and find out what is going on, only to be confronted with the a nuclear war has started, and they've been forgotten.
Conifer was raised to survive the end of the world. Any end of the world. Except this one, alone in the woods with over a hundred-fifty kids to save and only a handful of other young counselors to help her.
Conifer was raised to survive the end of the world. Any end of the world. Except this one, alone in the woods with over a hundred-fifty kids to save and only a handful of other young counselors to help her.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 30, 2024
3 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 26, 2024
Took a chance backing this book on Kickstarter and I actually really liked it.
Camp Daze is about a young woman who works as a summer camp counselor in the Colorado mountains. When the nuclear apocalypse occurs, she has to use her survivalist skills to take care of the campers while facing an uncertain future.
I thought it was very well paced—even without much action, the writing is very atmospheric and drew me in effectively. I'm not a very outdoorsy person, but Wood seems to know her stuff—the book inspired me to go outside, which is quite a feat.
My main issue with the book is that I strongly feel it needed more proofreading—I noticed quite a few typos. Not a huge deal, but annoying! If you're willing to look past that, I'd still recommend it though. 4/5 stars
Camp Daze is about a young woman who works as a summer camp counselor in the Colorado mountains. When the nuclear apocalypse occurs, she has to use her survivalist skills to take care of the campers while facing an uncertain future.
I thought it was very well paced—even without much action, the writing is very atmospheric and drew me in effectively. I'm not a very outdoorsy person, but Wood seems to know her stuff—the book inspired me to go outside, which is quite a feat.
My main issue with the book is that I strongly feel it needed more proofreading—I noticed quite a few typos. Not a huge deal, but annoying! If you're willing to look past that, I'd still recommend it though. 4/5 stars
June 14, 2024
Wow. So I backed this book on Kickstarter, and I am SO glad that I did! Wow. I’ll keep this review as spoiler free as possible, while still giving my genuine review. The ebook version just came through to us backers yesterday, and as soon as I read the email I went and started the book. I stayed up way too late reading because I just couldn’t put it down until I was too tired to keep going! And I just finished it at work on my lunch break.
First things first, even though it’s post-apocalyptic, Camp Daze starts slightly before all hell breaks loose. And the tension building of the first portion of the book is excellent! The description of the anxiety of global tensions and the not-knowing was extremely accurate. I was on edge but also excited and intrigued. The concept is great and I was so curious how things would happen. I feel like there was enough detail given to satisfy the curiosity and make the world of the story feel real, but not so much that it detracted from or overshadowed the plot.
The characters are diverse and interesting. I loved how they were all established with minor details that paint a lovely mural of how everyone fits together. How they were reflective of the real world without anyone’s storyline being completely subsumed by their different identities. Conifer as a narrator was highly relatable to me as a neurodivergent person myself. I loved her common sense approaches to things, her unflinching observations of reality, and her humanity. She was so fleshed out and felt so real to me.
Mostly I just love the themes of this story- the struggle for survival against all odds. The human will to not just survive but to hope, and to thrive in spite of everything going bad. Being thrust into responsibility you never predicted. What it means to be a leader, how to balance needs of a community. Making the best out of a bad situation. Grieving and moving forward.
I appreciate so much that this draws from more realistic pictures of disaster response! People are more cooperative and communities do come together more than apocalyptic fiction tends to portray! And I also loved the realistic depiction of how easy it is to let fear take over, and hijack reason, when you have responsibility for other people to consider. But the book does such a great job of showing the navigation through that fear, and the progression into a new normal.
The only negative I would even think to include is that I noticed some typos throughout. Mostly it was words swapped like “to” and “too” or “bare” and “bear,” among others, a couple sentences that seemed to be missing words, and one instance where the original version of first person narration didn’t get edited out. But those were infrequent enough that it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book, as it only momentarily pulled me out of the immersion. The story and the characters were absolutely compelling enough to overlook those and keep reading. Like I said- I couldn’t put it down!
Full disclosure- usually time skips in books really bother me. I want to know what the characters are up to and I want to be there for the progression of their story. But in this book, the time skips used were very natural and felt totally appropriate. After each skip, the characters seemed to have progressed in a very realistic way. It didn’t feel rushed at all the way books with time skips usually feel to me. It served the overall story and I never got the sense I missed anything meaningful about the progression of their lives, even if I wished I could read more about these characters and what they’re up to!
Overall just great character and plot writing, very natural while still incredibly interesting story beats, and some super exciting threads left hanging for possible future stories (I hope!). I really loved this book and I’m so glad I supported it. I know I’ll re-read it and come back to it and dwell on it for a long time to come. I heartily recommend it for anyone who enjoys post-apocalyptic fiction, especially if you like hopeful and optimistic stories about groups of people coming together and making things better.
First things first, even though it’s post-apocalyptic, Camp Daze starts slightly before all hell breaks loose. And the tension building of the first portion of the book is excellent! The description of the anxiety of global tensions and the not-knowing was extremely accurate. I was on edge but also excited and intrigued. The concept is great and I was so curious how things would happen. I feel like there was enough detail given to satisfy the curiosity and make the world of the story feel real, but not so much that it detracted from or overshadowed the plot.
The characters are diverse and interesting. I loved how they were all established with minor details that paint a lovely mural of how everyone fits together. How they were reflective of the real world without anyone’s storyline being completely subsumed by their different identities. Conifer as a narrator was highly relatable to me as a neurodivergent person myself. I loved her common sense approaches to things, her unflinching observations of reality, and her humanity. She was so fleshed out and felt so real to me.
Mostly I just love the themes of this story- the struggle for survival against all odds. The human will to not just survive but to hope, and to thrive in spite of everything going bad. Being thrust into responsibility you never predicted. What it means to be a leader, how to balance needs of a community. Making the best out of a bad situation. Grieving and moving forward.
I appreciate so much that this draws from more realistic pictures of disaster response! People are more cooperative and communities do come together more than apocalyptic fiction tends to portray! And I also loved the realistic depiction of how easy it is to let fear take over, and hijack reason, when you have responsibility for other people to consider. But the book does such a great job of showing the navigation through that fear, and the progression into a new normal.
The only negative I would even think to include is that I noticed some typos throughout. Mostly it was words swapped like “to” and “too” or “bare” and “bear,” among others, a couple sentences that seemed to be missing words, and one instance where the original version of first person narration didn’t get edited out. But those were infrequent enough that it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book, as it only momentarily pulled me out of the immersion. The story and the characters were absolutely compelling enough to overlook those and keep reading. Like I said- I couldn’t put it down!
Full disclosure- usually time skips in books really bother me. I want to know what the characters are up to and I want to be there for the progression of their story. But in this book, the time skips used were very natural and felt totally appropriate. After each skip, the characters seemed to have progressed in a very realistic way. It didn’t feel rushed at all the way books with time skips usually feel to me. It served the overall story and I never got the sense I missed anything meaningful about the progression of their lives, even if I wished I could read more about these characters and what they’re up to!
Overall just great character and plot writing, very natural while still incredibly interesting story beats, and some super exciting threads left hanging for possible future stories (I hope!). I really loved this book and I’m so glad I supported it. I know I’ll re-read it and come back to it and dwell on it for a long time to come. I heartily recommend it for anyone who enjoys post-apocalyptic fiction, especially if you like hopeful and optimistic stories about groups of people coming together and making things better.
July 4, 2024
About the book: I thoroughly enjoyed reading Camp Daze by Katy L. Wood! I read it in two days as soon as I received it (while at staff training for an overnight camp, of course) and it was so well written that I felt like I was in the story experiencing the same heartbreak, panic, hopelessness, AND hope that the characters were feeling.
This is a great story about handling the end of the world, working together, and the magic of camp bringing each other together. By the end of the book, I was left with wanting more and excited for the sequel. As soon as I finished it, I went to some of my fellow book lovers and now my copy is being passed around and others are looking to buy their own copy. This is going on my re-read shelf for sure.
Personally: From camp staff to another, I really appreciated the details about camp and how relatable this camp experience was, down to the green fiberglass bows and similar camp traditions. I also appreciated the tough conversations and want my staff to read them so they can learn from them.
This book was also a great reminder that should a disaster happen, I will be one of the first casualties for sure haha.
This is a great story about handling the end of the world, working together, and the magic of camp bringing each other together. By the end of the book, I was left with wanting more and excited for the sequel. As soon as I finished it, I went to some of my fellow book lovers and now my copy is being passed around and others are looking to buy their own copy. This is going on my re-read shelf for sure.
Personally: From camp staff to another, I really appreciated the details about camp and how relatable this camp experience was, down to the green fiberglass bows and similar camp traditions. I also appreciated the tough conversations and want my staff to read them so they can learn from them.
This book was also a great reminder that should a disaster happen, I will be one of the first casualties for sure haha.
December 14, 2024
Amazing optimistic (but very realistic) take on a post-apocalyptic scenario set in a girl's summer camp in the Rockies.
Conifer is a camp counselor and survival expert raised by prepper parents, but most of the scenarios she's prepared for don't involve being responsible for a bunch of children. When nuclear war breaks out, Conifer has to use what she knows and work with the other counselors so that they and the nearly two hundred girls they're taking care of can survive.
I follow the author on Tumblr and supported the book on Kickstarter, so I had a pretty good idea that I would enjoy the book before I even read it. The author's deep knowledge of disaster response shines through and makes for a fascinating read, although the level of detail also made the first half a bit slower-paced than was strictly necessary.
Plus, the characters are compelling and multi-faceted. As someone who struggles with interpersonal and group dynamics sometimes, I also found it highly relatable that one of the things Conifer felt least prepared for was navigating other people's reactions to the apocalypse.
I highly recommend this book, and can't wait for the sequel!
Conifer is a camp counselor and survival expert raised by prepper parents, but most of the scenarios she's prepared for don't involve being responsible for a bunch of children. When nuclear war breaks out, Conifer has to use what she knows and work with the other counselors so that they and the nearly two hundred girls they're taking care of can survive.
I follow the author on Tumblr and supported the book on Kickstarter, so I had a pretty good idea that I would enjoy the book before I even read it. The author's deep knowledge of disaster response shines through and makes for a fascinating read, although the level of detail also made the first half a bit slower-paced than was strictly necessary.
Plus, the characters are compelling and multi-faceted. As someone who struggles with interpersonal and group dynamics sometimes, I also found it highly relatable that one of the things Conifer felt least prepared for was navigating other people's reactions to the apocalypse.
I highly recommend this book, and can't wait for the sequel!
September 4, 2024
Practical-minded camp counselors take on the post-apocalypse. Please write a sequel, because I've gotta know if they find rabies vaccines for those puppies.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews