Campfire by Shawn Sarles

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

Give me a good scary story and I am all in! This book delivered just that. Campfire by Shawn Sarles follows main character Maddie as she goes on a camping trip with her extended family. Immediately, Maddie is attracted to their hot guide Caleb, and conspires with her best friend Chelsea (who has also accompanied them on the trip) to make a move. 

The first few days of the trip go fairly well, with everyone gathering to tell scary stories around the campfire at night. But then a bear scare puts people on edge and everything goes downhill from there. Suddenly the scary stories they have been telling begin to come true, and the fun family trip becomes a fight for survival.

I really enjoyed this book! The scary stories told were actually very creepy, and even though this is YA, I was actually freaked out a little even as a 28-year-old! And horror is my jam, so that's saying something. There were a lot of unexpected twists in this as well that I didn't see coming, and since I can usually predict things pretty well, that was definitely impressive.

I thought the main characters were fine. I didn't love them but I didn't hate them, and nothing really jumped out at me to sway me one way or another. But this was a much more plot-driven than character-driven story, so this was fine with me. I really appreciated how this book didn't paint the picture of the perfect family, but rather showed the tumultuous intricacies that make up real life. This really is the perfect story to sit on your deck with on a summer evening, or even take with you on a camping trip...if you dare.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

A huge thanks to JIMMY Patterson Books for sending me an advanced copy of this spooky summer read! Campfire by Shawn Sarles is out TODAY, July 17th, so be sure to pick up a copy!