The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore Hardcover – February 13, 2018

I was truly looking forward to this book being about summer camp and the influence it has on girls’ future lives. As someone who spent thirty-four summers at camp as a camper at first, then later as a staff member, and still later as a camp director, I am extremely well aware of the role summer camp plays in building character and determining the directions we all take as we grow older. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much of that in this book. I found the camp portion of the story so far-fetched that I had difficulty enjoying the rest of the book. I felt the novel was very disjointed and lacked sufficient elements to coordinate the stories of the different girls. I know from reading other reviews that many people enjoyed this book, but I’m afraid I wasn’t one of them.

I have been dipping in and out of this book on my Kindle for a long time. I first heard this book reviewed on the Book Riot podcast and was intrigued by the idea of young girls at a sleep away camp who share a transformative traumatic exciting that plays out throughout their lives. There are some typical mean girls stereotypes and the teenage experience of irrational confidence mixed with the desire to stay dependent and cared for. Without spoiling any of the plot, suffice it to say that things go awry on an overnight expedition!

Some aspects of this book are terrific. Others are not. The disjointed telling of the tale, bouncing back and forth from the past and then to the future for each character often breaks the momentum. We want to know what happened to the girls and that distracts from reading about their present lives. Some characters are better portrayed than others.

I was expecting an adventure and survival, more discussion of the fateful canoe trip. It is reallyy more about them as adults, without reflecting on the shared experience.

The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore follows five young women through a traumatic experience they have on camping trip, followed by how their lives change from it. Fu is an amazing writer, and her phrasing is so intimately descriptive, I found myself loving the prose. I do wish there were more about how the trip affected the girls directly after, and sometimes I think the attention Fu pays to the characters is unbalanced. However, it was a great novel and definitely one I recommend.

I enjoyed reading and listening to this book with a new take on the mysterious "summer of the past" secrets. I read it weeks ago and when I looked at the picture I could still feel the place and people. In my book, thats a good story.

This book is beautiful and real. I felt like I got to know each character intimately, and the book went by faster than I wanted. I wanted to spend time with these characters forever.

Was hoping it would be more about camping.

The crystal clear writing drew me quickly into the worlds of this novel. Fu is a keen observer of humanity and her insights and compassion ring through. This book fed both mind and soul and it was a pleasure to read. There are way too many books to read, but this one was worth the time.

Easy and enjoyable read. Well-written. I would have thought that the 5 girls lives would have intersected in some respects,as what they all went through was fairly traumatic.

Sorry, it didn't work for me. Basic story of the kayak trip was compellingly presented but the connection between the trip story and the pre and post lives of the girls was too obscure for me.

Did not find this book captivating. A bit confusing and it rambled.

Great read.