Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. I tried hard to like this book. I was excited to read this because I know the stories about Camp Lanier and the town that was flooded. This book was very much a YA novel trying to be a horror novel. This could have been an amazing book but I feel like the characters were undeveloped and hard to relate to. The main character went from strong to weak. She was not consistent. The horror aspect was lacking for me as well.

WOW! CAMP LANIER by Sylvester Barzey is one powerful, take-your-breath, open-your-eyes, novel!! Heartbreaking, yes! Terrifying, yes!! Human Evil, most definitely!
Match all that up against our take-no-prisoners, persevere-till-it's-done, compassionate, yet easily frightened, intrepid heroine protagonist! Taylor is unstoppable! I love and admire her, and I hope, hope, hope, Mr. Barzey will deliver her an encore (many encores)!

A note as to the background: Lake Lanier is a real location. Very probably it is Haunted. (If not, it should be; it's death toll is amazing!) I live in this State, so I often hear both the news and the legends. The community of Oscarville was a real location. There's a lot of factual history behind this story, and even the fictional approach highlights and showcases the disgusting, dismaying, and horrifying, history of the treatment of the Black populace in this State, and in so many other States. Shameful history, shameful blot on this nation.

CAMP LANIER releases July 16. Do not miss it! Be prepared to be terrified, and to "live" inside these characters (both contemporary and past). And to Taylor: You're incredible!! ROCK ON!!!

Camp Lanier is a great spooky summer read. It has classic horror elements - summer camp with a strange past and a lake everyone's afraid of, eerie sounds and shadows in the woods, rumors swirling around town - and some modern updates. Without giving too much of the story away, this book reads a bit like a YA novelization of a Jordan Peele film and I am here for it. Camp Lanier is a fun and easy read that will also give you a scare. I look forward to reading more from this author.

This was a really good read. I liked the characters and the story. It messes with you to learn that some of the events of this book were true. You hear about things like that, but you never really get the details. And, of course, things like this are kept in the dark to keep people from looking bad.

But I digress. This was a quick read that kept me engaged and dying to know what was going to happen next. There were a few things that irritated me about the FMC, but the story was great. I would definitely read more from the author.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of Camp Lanier by Sylvester Barney. I loved this book, the back story and the writing were fantastic. It is social horror while also being creepy. Ghost stories and urban legends in the woods are notoriously scary. This book did not disappoint.

Taylor is sent to Camp Lanier after she is caught shoplifting. The urban legend is that an all Black town was forced out to create the lake. Taylor notices some odd things happening including kids running away. She is determined to find out why and if it is the Atlanta Ripper.

I struggled to get through this novel.
I wanted to like it so bad, but the writing, to me, was awful.

I enjoyed the concept of the novel, but the execution was terrible. This read more like a first draft.

I was looking forward to diving into this book, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. The story felt rushed and left me with more questions than answers. I think the author may have bitten off more than they could chew, trying to pack too many ideas into a single novel.

The characters were particularly problematic. I struggled to get a sense of who they were and what motivated them. The main character's personality was inconsistent, veering wildly from badass to cowardly. This made it difficult for me to connect with her.

While I was hoping for a scary horror story, the actual horror elements were underwhelming. The plot relied on overused tropes like creepy kids in white dresses and a serial killer with a leather face. The attempts at humor fell flat, feeling out of place and forced. One moment the characters would be terrified, and the next they'd be cracking jokes. This jarring tone change made it hard for me to become invested in the story.

Despite my disappointment, I did appreciate that the book is based on real events, which added a layer of authenticity to the story. The afterword by the author was also well-written and provided some interesting insights into their inspiration and research process.

Overall, this book wasn't my cup of tea.

This was so much fun and I flew through the book! I was reading it at night so every little noise I heard, I’d be freaked out! This gives off fantastical summer, horror, camp vibes. I used to work at a summer camp. ( my summer camp was a little different, for it was a weight loss summer camp ) So certain scenes I had a connection with. The one part in the beginning, with the girls going to the soda machine. I was like Soda?! You can’t have that!! Haha! There are a lot of historical facts in the book. Which I found very educational and informative. If you are looking for a campy, summer, horror. This book is worth a read. Even if you aren’t, I believe it is still worth checking out.

Thank you NetGalley, Sylvester Barzey, and the publisher, Sterling & Stone.

This was my first book I read by this author and certainly not the last. I flew through this book so fast.

The story focus heavily on racism and the horrible treatment of black people, that they still experience to this day.

It made me sit on the edge of my seat and I think the story is very impactful. Especially after finishing the book and reading it was loosely based on real events. Even though this story is part slasher, part ghost story, the real horror is definitely the racism.

Camp Lanier is a quick and easy read (easy as in, you can fly right through it, not the subject). I loved how the author was able to incorporate history into the story.

I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.
4.5 Stars

This was a wild and spooky ride! The summer camp vibes were spot on, and the supernatural aspect was amazing. It’s hard to find a good summer camp horror book, but this succeeded!

I thought this was done well. Not super scary but written in a believable way. It was fast paced and loosely based on historical events that happened at this lake. A girl will have to survive a week at this camp and people have been disappearing. What’s happening at this camp?? And will she be the next missing person?
I’ve heard a lot of terrible things about a lake like this near where I live and it’s all I thought about when I finished this.
Thanks Sterling & Stone via NetGalley.

3.75 stars

Loved it. This is my favorites sub-genre. Though it is a ya, it was still very entertaining and had all the greatest elements of this brand of horror. The writing was good and kept me captivated. I will definitely revisit this author in the future.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sylvester Barzey for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Camp Lanier coming out July 16, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I love camp horror stories, so I was excited to check it out. Taylor has had a rough time and has to work at the camp as community service. I loved the writing. I thought it was a good mix of history, slasher and ghost story. The characters were complex. I loved the ending. It was a short read, but loved it. I would definitely check out more books by this author.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys camp horror stories featuring diverse characters!

Camp Lanier is a YA horror with supernatural elements. As far as YA horror goes, it was entertaining though somewhat predictable. I did like Taylor's character, and the history of lake Lanier, but all in all the writing style was a little young for me.
Taylor is a black student in an affluent private school, who is befriended by a group of white girls who convince her to hang out and steal. Though wary she eventually joins in but when they are caught Taylor is the one thrown under the bus. When confronted with jail or community service at Camp Lanier she takes the later. But once there Taylor begins seeing a ghost, hearing cries at night, and when a girl named Mia goes missing and is brushed off as a runaway her and another camper team up to get to the truth. Are the missing kids of Lake Lanier do to runaways or is there a killer running around taking girls that won't be missed.
I give this book a 3.5⭐'s rounded down, but for me it is because the writing is more for a younger audience.
Thank you netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ghosts, camp and a slasher?!? I had a feeling going into this that I would love it, but I didn't realize just how much! It confronts racism and it is based on a real history of Lake Lanier. That made this book that much more horrific! I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who likes the camp, slasher, haunting tropes. Great for a summer read!

This was a great quick read! I really enjoyed the whole story and plot. Taylor gets thrown under the bus by her "friends" for shoplifting and gets community service at Camp Lanier. She arrives to be told there is no room for her so she can room with Victoria as alternates. The 2 girls become friends. Taylor starts to experience some weird things around camp, hearing things that no one can hear, seeing things that no one can see. She soon learns that every year people tend to go missing at Camp Lanier and are labeled as runaways. She does not believe this and teams up with Liam to figure out what is really going on. Taylor hates all things spooky and hates horror movies, but she needs to find her friend Mia after she mysteriously disappears. She may not like the truth but Taylor brings it out and exposes Camp Lanier for what it really is.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A black teen facing jail time is given a deal and ordered to instead spend a summer at Camp Lanier.

YA Horror is very hit or miss for me, and I honestly didn't realize this was YA when I picked it up. That being said, this reads more on the juvenile side. The main character talks to the reader frequently, and while I can't say that it "didn't work," I just had a hard time with the voice. The side character Victoria was a standout and probably my favorite.

The themes are very heavy-handed, and I'd prefer if they were more nuanced. Again, because it's YA, I'm going to give it a pass.

I enjoyed the horror elements incorporated at the end, even if the execution and writing felt a little amateur.

Overall, I did have a good time, and I think a younger audience or someone who reads more YA and middle grade horror than I do will love this.

When Taylor is accused of committing a crime and sentenced, she is offered a get out of jail card: work a summer at Camp Lanier instead. The offer seems too good to be true, and maybe it is…the idyllic lake holds more than a few secrets, and some secrets are dying to be told.

Camp Lanier is a fast-paced horror that merges slasher and paranormal horror in a great combination that works surprisingly well. Through the entire story there is a constant but gentle reminder that systemic racism in society and Black History in America is more terrifying than a lot of horror books can even dare to imagine. The history behind the story will break your heart and set your pulse racing in equal measure, and every character is well developed. Barzey clearly has a love of the horror genre, and I really enjoyed the Easter eggs that were peppered in to the story (shout out to Gale Prescott).

The book contains minimal gore in favour of building suspense in the story and I think that worked well. My only criticism was that I found the ending a little rushed, I wanted more scenes with the lake and seeing what was there! But overall this was a great read and I loved the history behind the influences of the story at the end to add lots of context

What a ride this book was! Was not expecting the twist and turns that occurred. It sucked me in from the beginning with the gripping story of the FMC and the history behind it. My favorite thing about this book is the history the author gives you after the book is over about Camp Lanier and Oscarville

I downloaded a review copy of this from Netgalley on the basis of its interesting plot, which is a fictionalized version of a real place and events (look up the history of Lake Lanier). This is YA, and a bit on the younger side of YA, so comparing it to something like Tananarive Due's brilliant "The Reformatory" is not really fair, but it immediately read to me like a more simplified/slasher fic version of that book. That's not to say I didn't enjoy this one. While you might not get all the depth and nuance here that's in the Reformatory, let's face it, sometimes you want the full, five-course gourmet meal and sometimes you just want some easy fast food. I read this through in two days, the plot is somewhat predictable if you're at all familiar with horror conventions, but plays with it just enough to keep you wanting to turn the page. The most interesting parts to me were learning the history of lake and the town, and at heart this is a good old fashioned ghost/revenge story, with a bit of camp slasher thrown in and a satisfying, if mostly unsurprising, ending.