Calvin Sears’s Reviews > Camp Damascus > Status Update

There is no such thing as Christian grindcore.

Wanted to press through the chapter but had to tap out for the night. Don’t even really have anything interesting to say. I just want this book to be over.

The Rose-Lisa confrontation might have been the first time I was almost compelled to feel an emotion while reading this book, but the flat matter-of-fact-ness of the prose took me right out of it. And the bit where she invents her own Bible verses, YEESH.

I think I like the raw ideas here — I like them a lot, actually — I just wish they were written by someone with a stronger pen. The amount of times Rose has said “I might be X, but even I know Y” or “I have to face this simple truth: [something obvious we could have gleaned through subtext]” so far is enough to make me want to scream.

So… I guess the answer is no, we don’t care anymore? And I guess we’re going to have Rose’s backstory just conveniently appear out of nowhere because we couldn’t think of a more interesting or natural way to do it?

Normally I try to press on through the chapter before I settle in for the night, but I just couldn’t muster the will. The prose is SO flat. Why do we devote so little space to such critical events as Martina’s death? Was I supposed to care that this happened? Could’ve fooled me.

The writing is proving competent enough but is still reading as YA to me. I tire of these tortured Biblical similes and Tingle’s relentless assault on subtext. There are bits I like, but nothing I love.

This book is plagued by enormously unsubtle prose, which leads me to believe I have been unceremoniously duped into reading a YA novel against my better judgement. This is perhaps the gravest sin of them all.