Get Out meets Friday the 13th, based on the urban legend of Lake Lanier in Georgia? Sign me up!

First off, the cover of this book is stunning😍

Also give me all the campy slasher horror vibes💀🔪

The concept is intriguing, seamlessly blending urban legends, supernatural elements, and historical moments. It’s packed with all the campfire creepy vibes, eerie atmospheres, and ghostly sightings that make for a compelling read.

Teenagers as main characters can be tricky, but Taylor was a standout. She was well-written, felt real, and I found myself rooting for her the entire time. The other characters also resonated with me; they were well-crafted and added depth to the story.

While it’s a YA book and doesn’t delve too deeply into hardcore horror, and can be somewhat predictable, it’s still fast-paced and kept me hooked. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thank you NetGalley and Sterling & Stone for the opportunity to read this! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'd never read this author before but this book sounded perfect for a spooky summer read. It was enjoyable quick read. This was a YA book so it wasn't overly spooky but great if your normally enjoy these types of books

I'd like to thank netgalley and the publishers for a chance to read and review this book .

I’m going to start off by saying AMAZING cover! This is a YA horror book to add to your summer reading list. Although this is on the shorter side, don’t let that fool you, it still has quite the story to be told.
You follow Victoria as she is sent to Camp Lanier for the summer. Things get weird quick. I really don’t want to say too much about this one. I think this is a great book to go in, not knowing much. The author did a fabulous job showing the injustices that were, and are still ongoing today. He kept me entertained and made me enraged. A book that makes you feel, while still delivering a campy slasher vibe, is a job well done.
I finished this in one sitting, and would gladly read another book by Sylvester Barzey.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sterling & Stone for the opportunity to read an early copy.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this book! It was so fast paced and eerie. I enjoyed it so much! It was such a good book for summerween! It had suspense, a good storyline, spooky moments and I was on the edge of my seat reading it!

I read this book just as fast as Taylor was running from those ghosts! OKAY!
I really enjoyed this fast paced
horror story. We've all heard about Lake Lanier in Georgia (if you haven't all the more reason to read this book) and the mysterious deaths that's happened in this lake that was built over a Black community. Well @sylvesterbarzey takes us to a summer camp called Camp Lanier where Taylor is sent to work after getting caught shoplifting and being railroaded by her so called friends. Once she arrives she starts to question whether jail would have been better because she's the only one who sees and hears the screams of a little girl.
She realizes something isn't right at the camp and wonders why the "workers" are "running away." Taylor is a likable character and her narration is funny and facetious. This story's focus on an urban legend based on facts and history, deals with themes of generational racism and discrimination, grief, self identity and acceptance. Palpable, suspenseful, creepy and scary. And I'm not just talking about the ghosts! A great read!

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This book follows a teen who is forced to go to a camp for community service. Things quickly turn bad at this camp.

Unfortunately, I just didn't connect with this book or like it. I may not be the audience since I am not a teen. I felt like the characters and the plot were all just very cliché and it just didn't grab my attention.

I hope others love this one.

Camp Lanier was a good read to pick up for an easy summer horror. The mystery of what is going on at Camp Lanier really hooks you in, making it hard to put down. I really enjoyed the historical elements that were meshed into the story, sparking emotion - particularly anger. I did find that the book was definitely on the younger side. The dialogue was simple and the story moved quickly. I felt that this was both good and bad. Good in the sense that it was fast-paced, but bad in the sense that it was hard to connect with the characters and to fully grasp the nature of what happened with Taylor's brother. Overall, this book was good and I'd definitely recommend it. Great summer read to bring camping or to a cottage for a weekend!

This was a fun spooky horror novel. I picked it up solely because I live near Lake Lanier and know that everyone thinks it is haunted! I enjoyed the story line and i appreciate the historical aspects that were also included. Not many people know about how Lake Lanier came to be.

Camp Lanier was a very good quick read. As someone who is intrigued by the stories of Lake Lanier, I was excited to read this. Thank you NetGalley and Sterling & Stone for this advanced free copy in exchange for my honest review.

A summer camp, a lake on top of a town, and a crazed killer on the loose - that's a recipe for a great horror novel if there ever was one.

When Taylor finds herself in an unfortunate situation with a group of so-called friends, her punishment is to spend the summer at a camp at Lake Lanier. As she learns that children have been "running away" from the camp, she begins to suspect that something more sinister is at play. With the help of some other campers, she is determined to find out the truth.

As a Gen Xer, I grew up watching camp slasher films, so when I learned that the backdrop of this novel was a summer camp, my interest was piqued. Add in the history of Oscarville and the urban legends surrounding Lake Lanier, and I knew I had to read it. This book will be great if you love an excellent, fast-paced horror.

I grew up in the shadow of Lake Lanier. My father used to tell me ghost stories about the many people who had lost their lives in that lake which would fill child-me with the morbid wonder and fascination you can only have before you realize the actual history. The idea of a town underwater has both enchanted and horrified me almost my entire life. I've driven by and seen many a rescue team scanning the lake for missing persons. This ghost story is one I've been waiting to read for years.

When Taylor is sent to Camp Lanier after shoplifting at Lenox Mall, she finds that everything isn't what it appears at this idyllic lakeside camp. Campers are missing and she keeps seeing a ghostly figure in a white dress. A compelling and hilarious narrator, Taylor is a wonderful final girl who you root for almost immediately. Her cast of camper friends are wonderful as well. My only critique is that the villains are pretty obvious from the start, but some villains are just obvious. That's the horrible thing about racism: its ability to be so out in the open and obvious without suffering any consequence on the racists' side. However, I would've liked a couple more twists and turns before we discover exactly what's been going on at the camp all these years.

The thing I applaud this book for the most is exploring the history of both Oscarville and the Atlanta Ripper. Both events have been underreported and largely ignored. Lake Lanier is the absolute perfect setting for this story. For those who don't know about Oscarville, just know that an entire town of people was forcibly removed from their land and the town flooded to make a lake. Of course it's haunted! How could it not be? The lake does claim a ton of lives per year and it's surrounded by terrifying forests which have also been host to several murders. Fun!

A fun mixture of history and 'Get Out', this book was a delight to read from start to finish. Cathartic, spooky, and important, 'Camp Lanier' is something special.

Creepy camp? Check. Racial inequality? Check. Immaculate summer reading vibes complete with horror and mystery? Check check and check!

this was a DNF for me at 10%. I understand it’s YA but the writing was cringy. I am disappointed the summary seemed so interesting!!

How is this my first book by Sylvester Barzey? I love YA horror, and this book is a great example of everything that works in that genre for me. In this story, Taylor is a basketball player at a private school who falls in with bad "friends" and ends up sentenced to a summer camp work program. Honestly, I took a break and watched Holes because it had the same vibes, with the very real, imperfect kids in a bad situation. Like in Holes, there is a supernatural element, but Camp Lanier goes much further, with bloody ghosts and disappearing campers.
There were a lot of things that I loved about this, the main one being Taylor and her parents. They were so real, with their banter and loving acceptance. Taylor was also a great friend, loyal to the girls who got her in trouble for far longer than she should have been and then loyal to her new friends at camp. The story is also loosely based on real events, and the historical note at the end shows that historical events are closer than we like to think.
I was also immensely satisfied with the ending. If all the loose ends hadn't been addressed, I would have asked for a sequel. I still wouldn't mind seeing some of the same people in another book. Thanks so much to NetGalley for letting me read this.

This was a awesome take on the proverbial campy horror trope!!! Well written and moved at a steady pace that kept my interest at all times...in fact, I read it one night!!!

We have Taylor, a teenager POC girl who has fallen in with the wrong girls in high school. One fateful day, Taylor gets caught shoplifting and is sentenced to work in a camp for young, rich kids. The ensuing plot involves other teen counselors fighting off an evil killer and Taylor having "hallucinations " of what really happened at this camp.

Gore level is medium for me but I really did enjoy reading this novel. Thanks to Netgalley for the early read!

Camp Lanier is an engaging book that reveals the depths of human cruelty. In the story, Taylor is at Camp Lanier for community service when strange things start happening. As her friends disappear, she questions whether the events are supernatural or real. Taylor's experiences shed light on the struggles of people of color, and her determination despite her struggles is truly inspiring. Taylor is a strong and compassionate person who I would like to see more of in future books. Interestingly, Lake Lanier is a real location with a significant death toll, and the community of Oscarville also exists. The author beautifully combined fiction with real-life places and historical events. While I expected ghosts and nightmares, the book also deeply addresses real-life horrors, particularly racism. The book highlights the horrifying treatment of the Black population in the state and ties it into the creation of the camp by including the fictional owners as participants in the history of Oscarville.

Reading other reviews makes sense that this is a coming of age, YA horror story. Despite its relatively short length, the story felt complete. I thoroughly enjoyed it; however, as I was unaware it was a YA novel, at time some of the language was a little young. But, that is my misundertanding and overall it is a very captivating and well written story.

Thank you to Sterling and Stone, NetGalley, and Sylvester Barzey for a wonderful spooky camp horror story. It made for a fun Summerween read and I highly recommend it for a great camp adventure. The story is about Taylor Johnson who after getting caught shoplifting with her friends-her white friends-gets sent to a summer camp in order to change her life. Initially she was rather confused and shocked when she arrived but soon finds out that for decades mysterious disappearances have happened at this camp and it all relates to the curse of Lake Lanier. The story is based on urban legend of Lake Lanier, Georgia—an all black town was forced out to make way for the lake. Legend says it’s been cursed ever since.
Very well written and I really enjoyed the characters in the story. I love a great urban legend brought to life on the page, especially when it’s done well.

A fantastic YA horror read!

I know for a fact that I would have absolutely LOVED this book as a teenager! Even as an adult, I was really engaged with the story the entire time.

It's not just your average Summer Camp horror/thriller, I found the story to be really unique. I really enjoyed that although the novel is fiction, it focused on the history of Lake Lanier and the horrific things that people of colour endured during that time.

The characters, plot and writing were all perfect for a YA book.

A very enjoyable read!

The only criticism I have is that I think it could use another edit as there were quite a few spelling errors that I picked up on.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a fun, creepy but not too creepy camp tale. I can see why the summary compared it to Get Out and Friday the 13th.

I liked the way the way historical aspect of the story was woven in. It added some depth to everything. The protagonists were all likable in this one. The villains were of the racist, mustache twirling variety but it was fun to root against them and the ending was satisfying.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

It is a 3.5-3.8 for me. So not a full 3 but not quite a full 4.

The book started off very slow and then picked up about halfway through. It was a good book and it had a good story. But it felt rushed. This YA thriller was very short and so I think that maybe if it was a little longer there could have been some more build up. I would still recommend this book to other people but probably to younger people or people just getting into thrillers/horror.

I wish we had more background information and I was hoping the characters would start evolving some more.