I received an eARC from @netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just straight up a fun time! I didn’t entirely know what to expect going into it which I think was a good thing; if I’d had any preconceived notions I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much. The graphic novel does leave many unanswered questions, and does feel more like a surface-story, but beyond that I had a great time with it. I would definitely recommend this as a lightheaded and fast read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars!

I never went to a summer camp once as a kid, so I don't know why this is the case, but I'm such a sucker for summer camp stories. When I saw that this was set in the 90s, too? Sold. I'm so glad I picked this cute little graphic novel up, because I enjoyed it SO much. It was absolutely hilarious, I was living for the goth/grunge main character, the music references were delightful, and Elodie's little band of redheaded misfits... I seriously was almost in tears laughing over some of their antics. The mystery had a twist that I loved probably more than I should have, and there was a slow-blooming romantic subplot that had my queer little heart swelling with joy. I can't recommend Camp Spirit highly enough. ♥

This is a peculiar graphic novel that is a bit like Lumberjanes, in that it is girls (and boys) at summer camp, and there are weird things going on, such as supernatural spirits infecting deer, and then there are common things, such as treasure hunts.

It is set in the 1990s, so that grunge and Nirvana are current trends, and that is what the main character is interested in. the story goes on a bit long, but I do like the little girls that the main character has to take care of, because they are funny, and I found myself skipping bits of the story where the adults are talking.

High and low points, a bit on the uneven side. When it was good, it was really good, but when it was not, it was not.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

90s culture. Sassiness. Sarcasm. Canadian. Graphic Novel.

Elodie gets forced by her Mother to work as a camp counselor over the summer and it is NOT what she wanted to do. This gothic delight loves Nirvana and rock bands, but instead is being forced to deal with people she didn't want to see (yuck, schoolmates... popular and NERDY school mates...) and munchkins.

Arrows are shot at everyone, and the fallout is hilarious. The kids swear and taunt Elodie, and it's hysterical. Star Wars and Nirvana references were stellar! LGBT characters gets this book bonus points! The magical fantasy element? WILD! There's just so many good parts in this book, including the little sassy red heads. Also: Canada represent!

It's like this book was MADE for me! Elodie is super sassy and sarcastic, and has a wicked inner voice. She could say mean things, but instead she'll pat those losers on the head and let them do their thing. Oh man, do I love her! I relate way too hard! On top of that, the kids are talking about sex and asking awfully hilarious questions (which totally is what camps do, I've worked at them - kids are crazy) and that makes this book more PG-13 and R rated. Oh the giggles I had reading what some of these kids had to ask and say...

To top it off, the art is colourful and cartoon-y. I totally dug every part of the illustrations in this book. The tone of the book and the fun of the art style really gave this book the extra 'umph' to top my graphic novels list!

Overall, this is a must read from this blogger/reviewer! I 100% love this book and highly recommend it. It's wild and fun and super sassy!

Five out of five stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for giving me the opportunity to pick up this epic book! Keep up the great work!

Camp Spirit by Axelle Lenoir: Had the potential to be an amazing graphic novel full of spooky camp stories, awesome 90’s music references and a super cute lgbtq first love/experiences story. Unfortunately the continuous homophobic comments from side characters left an awful taste. Even if the author was trying to be true to 1994, the comments added nothing to the story and were awful. I have heard the argument be made that "well it is accurate for how people talked in 1994" and I might have sided with that if there had been more push back from other characters in response, but instead the homophobic comments just hung in the air and really distracted from the rest of the story.

Camp Spirit
Top Shelf Productions, 2020, 210 pages
Trigger Warning Strong language
About the Author: Axelle Lenoir started as a 2D video game artist but left to pursue her work. Her work takes on a beautiful blend of the natural and supernatural along with the urban and natural world.
“Why doom Sunday for the camp theme song … because it might just be the greatest song ever written”
Camp Spirit follows the story of Elodie’s summer job as a camp counselor before she goes off to college to pursue a degree in Literature. It’s 1994 and Elodie is not a fan of the bugs, trees, and little redheaded monsters (her campers). Elodie would rather chill indoors and rock out but her mom brought her here and as time goes on, she finds out the woods, her campers, her fellow counselors especially Catherine isn’t all that bad, and there’s more going on in these woods than originally thought.
Camp Spirit rocks. The natural world and the world of rock and roll don’t cross often but here it all works. The two main characters Catherine and Elodie come from opposite sides of the spectrum but as Catherine helps Elodie learn about the wonder of nature and Elodie helps Catherine learn how to rock the story blends into a beautiful coming of age story between these two girls. Their relationship is well written, and their friendship that bleeds into more takes a realistic and dynamic flow throughout the story. We can see both characters maturing as people as they mature with each other. The background characters are nice, but the camp chief stands out with dynamic movements and art style. All three jump off the page in this story and the art partnered with a charming and engaging story make the pages fly by. If you are looking for a fun and entertaining story full of good times and a few supernatural horrors come on into camp spirit.
PRR Writer, Jon Kresal

Though I had never heard of this graphic novel, as soon as I read the synopsis I wanted to pick it up. Set in the 90s at a summer camp that has a spooky legend woven into it's history. The main character, Elodie, wants to be anywhere but there - but she's stuck at the camp being a camp counselor.

The story and characters were so quirky and the art style perfectly suited that. While some of the elements of the plot were kind of predictable, the characters and their sub plots more than made up for it. Elodie is very much the odd one out, but that's partly because of her own decisions and actions, watching her become more animated and more engaged. I absolutely loved the interactions she had with her group of campers and how they came to life throughout the story.

It was a really fun read and definitely was accurate to the 90s (including slang/language used in the 90s) and was just a great journey about figuring yourself out and perspectives changing when you actually get to know people.

3.5 stars

Trigger warning: homophobia (challenged), death of an animal

Elodie is stuck as a camp counselor, but she knows nothing of the outdoors or children. And she's got the worst bunch of campers ever—a group of foul-mouthed, red-haired demons who weirdly take a shine to her. On top of that, there's something weird about the camp chief and Elodie has an odd attraction to a fellow counselor...

It was good, but a lot weirder than I anticipated?

I absolutely adored the red-heads. They were horrible and filled with boundless energy and I loved it and how they bonded so fiercely to Elodie (and also to Hank, who was basically a 50-year old male version of Elodie).

It was very 90s, very Canadian, and I feel like it should have stayed with being a book on relationships and just kept a tinge of the weird spooky camp-story element. Once the forest spirit things were added in full force (beyond the maybe-nightmares), it got weird and a little too much for the story itself. The supernatural element made the ending a little blander and unresolved than it should have been as well.

However, I liked the relationships, and I loved the guerrilla-banana warfare scenes.

Basically, it challenged stereotypical "girl" behavior and allowed girls to be out of control, inappropriate, blood-thirsty little demon spawn.

Three stars, bonus half star for the sapphic relationship at the end.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

I didn't know what to expect from this book, but it turned out to be a fab graphic novel! It's hard to put it in a box-- it's got some elements of a good romcom alongside some supernatural stuff going on, but it was a great time. The camp setting really worked for me, and you ALWAYS love to see a sweet f/f romance. I'd especially recommend this for a fun, fast summer read.

I spotted this while perusing through the graphic novels section of NetGalley and the cover looked so adorable! The summary promised a good ol' fashioned summer-camp-set story, reminiscent of 'Lumberjanes'.

TW: negative discussion and depiction of fat people, fetishization of lesbians

What I Liked
-The art style was so charming! The characters really popped out and the comedic timing was so on-point. I especially liked when the more supernatural aspects of the plot came into focus.
-The red headed girls were awesome! I want an entire series dedicated to their wild adventures.
-It was a nice surprise to find that this book is Canadian! I especially love the depiction of French-Canadians 'cause it's always hilarious (and sometimes accurate).

What I Didn't Like
-I really didn't like Elodie. Even as a teenager, I never liked angsty teenager characters who thought they were better than others because they didn't care about anything. Elodie was rude and obnoxious, and no one called her out on her bad attitude. We're just supposed to side with her against the other counselors who understandably avoid her and don't like her. And the constant mention of her beauty got annoying really fast.
-Basically all the other characters were uninteresting and forgettable. But they still had personalities I cared about more than Elodie's.
-So because I didn't like Elodie and I can't remember the blonde's name (and no, I won't go looking for it), I honestly didn't care about their romance. It was bland and boring. The blonde was such a try-hard and let Elodie get away with being a shitty person.
-The plot is lackluster, at best. I got so bored that eventually I skipped the last few pages. Let's just say I've read much better camp-based stories that integrate the supernatural.
-There's an actual scene where the only black counselor is having her hair touched by the kids and says something along the lines of, "me and my hair are dark because I'm from somewhere else"......like wtf????? It's 2020 and I still have to see this kind of phrasing for the ONLY VISIBLE CHARACTER OF COLOUR?

Conclusion
No one is more disappointed than me that this was just a total dud. Oh well, it's about time I got back to reading 'Lumberjanes', anyways!

My Rating: 1/5

Let's start out with saying, I enjoyed this graphic novel. A bunch!

The illustrations: Perfect for the story. I loved how the Camp Chief was portrayed as well and Elodie's little red-headed devils. The funny was funny, the scary was scary, the romantic was romantic.

The characters: Loved seeing Elodie come out of her shell and getting to know Catherine and seeing their friendship bloom even though E is a bit reluctant. The rest of the counselors show off their personalities well even though they don't have that much on-page time. The red-headed devils are hilarious and sweet and scary all at once and they should have had more page time.

The story: Intriguing. It's not a flowery story, it's not a cozy camp summer with lazing around. But it also isn't a horrible camp story where everyone dies horrible deaths. (okay, there might be more kinds of camp stories) It's a fun and smart camp story about a young woman doing something way out of her comfort zone and finding she's kind of good at it. It's also a story where something mysterious happens. About secrets and something... out in the woods.

It culminated about abruptly. A bit anti-climactic, to be honest. But it was a sweet ending, all the same, so I'm happy.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for the free ARC - these thoughts and opinions are entirely unbiased.

I'm not quite sure how to rate this. The writing was very dry. I wasn't pulled in for such a lengthy graphic novel. I quickly lost interest in the plot and characters of the story. The art was cute. Overall made me think of something you'd visually see on MTV in the 90s.

I have to admit that I didn't finish this book. It was a good premise, the art was good, and the writing was fine, however it just didn't grab and hold my attention. It was a bit chaotic in each panel, making it hard to focus and follow the story, at least for me. I definitely think here is an audience for it, which is why I gave it more stars than I usually would for a book I didn't finish reading.

Starts off as kind of a 90's version of <i>Meatballs</i> set in Quebec. Elodie is a 90's grunge kid forced by her mother to become a camp councilor. She's introverted and not an outdoor kind of girl at all. She's assigned to monitor an unruly gang of redhead girls who ask lots of inappropriate questions. It's all lighthearted and fun with great expressive art. Lenoir excels at character relationships and sending up situations we've all been in before, like having to use public restrooms and showers. About halfway through the book the story shifts to this strange supernatural mystery about two forest spirits. It didn't make much sense to me and this section of the book is devoid of that humor that made the first half so enjoyable. The book does get back on track once the supernatural subplot is finished.

A fun angsty summer camp adventure featuring creepy and goofy characters, possible paranormal shenanigans, a lovable group of rambunctious redheads, and a sweet and swoon worthy love story.
The drawing and coloring was perfect. I love Lenoir’s range from quirky to serious she absolutely nailed each and every frame.
The fantastic cast of unforgettable characters is where Camp Spirit shines most. I loved this various cast especially Elodie and Catherine, who had a fantastic connection.
I was honestly blown away by every aspect of this comic book, Axelle Lenoir has made a lifelong fan of me after reading this. Best summer camp ever.

Gay Daria goes to camp with a bit of supernatural thrown in. I thought the art was cute, very 90s. I loved seeing the Walkmans and reading the 90's musical references. The supernatural part I didn't really get.

I was given a copy of Camp Spirit by Axelle Lenoir from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this graphic novel. I thought the plot was pretty cute. I enjoyed the main characters. I really loved the art style. This reminded me of camp movies from the 80s and 90s. I do think that with the novel being set in the 90s, that there could have been 90s references. For the most part this could have been a contemporary setting. There were only a couple mentions of bands. I wish there had been some 90s style or slang thrown in. There were some controversial things in the novel. This biggest being a character that was both sexist and homophobic. I wish he’d been checked more. Maybe this was commentary on the 90s. That aside. I think this a great graphic novel for anyone wanting a bit of escapist fun. I’d recommend it.

Camp Spirit is a YA graphic novel set in the 1990s in Ontario, where its protagonist, Elodie, has been forced by her mom to be a camp counselor for the summer. Elodie is very 90s grunge and is not at all interested in camping or the outdoors. What starts as a frothy, pulpy sort of story takes a sharp turn about mid-way through, and turns this summer romance into a a graphic novel full of intrigue, mystical nightmares, demonic presences, and urban legends. Even through this shift, though, the book never loses its center- the growing friendship (and maybe more) between Elodie and camp counselor extraordinaire, Catherine.

This book is adorable and un-put-down-able, and I really loved both Elodie and Catherine. Their relationship is super sweet, and I loved seeing them grow from acquaintances to friends to more-than-friends throughout the course of the story. Both of the characters feel very 90s, and it was really fun to read. Elodie is the perfect 90s grunge, and I loved loved loved her style.

There’s actually quite a bit of the story focused on Elodie’s growing fondness for the kids in her stead, who are all redheads and mostly rambunctious. The kids have characters, which is nice to see for them being minor characters. If you happened to go to summer camps in the 1990s or thereabouts, like me, you will feel right at home in this story. Even if you never went to camp or aren’t in the targeted demographic, I still think this story will resonate with you, just maybe not to the point that it did with me.

The illustrations and coloring of the book are really nice, and effectively evoke the camp setting. I think the scenery was especially well-captured, and the eery blue lights and green “demonic” coloring was really very effective.

All in all, this was a 4 star graphic novel for me! I think it was exceptionally fun, but missing some depth, which I love in my reading. I can see where this may not be the book for everyone, but I felt the nostalgia and loved my time with it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review! Camp Spirit releases on April 14, 2020.

My review will be posted on my blog, Back Shelf Books, at the below link on March 20, 2020. My review has been posted at the below goodreads link today.

I received this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley! Overall, I really liked this graphic novel. It follows our main character, Elodie, on her first experience as a camp counselor. While she initially thinks that she is looking at six weeks of boredom in the middle of the Canadian woods, she quickly learns that there’s more than meets the eye at Camp Bear Lake. The story was propulsive, layered with lots of character development, and had a hint of the supernatural. It’s definitely a graphic novel for adults; some of the jokes and language were a little too off- color for my taste, but I typically read more middle grade and so that’s to be expected. This book will definitely give you a good story, and it looks like it’s being set up to continue in a series hopefully!

Camp Spirit is Lumberjanes for an older audience, set in the long forgotten times of 1994. Emoldie is the kind of grunge teen who's 'too cool' for summer camp, but when her mother forces her to go as savings for college, she grudgingly agrees. Missing training means she gets saddled with the most unruly of the campers, but her own mix of snark and dark humor is just the thing to make her the perfect leader for even the most rambunctious of youngsters. Add in an evil forest demon and the sweetest of teen lesbian romance, and you have the perfect cocktail for a fun and thrilling summer romp. The colorful art did an excellent job of capturing the awkwardness and brilliance of emotion that comes with being a teen. The eccentric, often flailing camp leader and his calm, cool, collected wife were an added bonus to an already delightful read.