I had a lot of fun with this book. I think it was decently written and found it believable. The premise was intriguing and I like that the novel didn't try to solve all of the issues, but rather focused on the stories of the main characters. It made it a great balance between fun summer ya and sf dystopian speculative fiction. I'm sure I'll be thinking about it in the next weeks.

A reallly different expeirence. I really liked the book. The story was well written. Loved the characters. I would definitely recommend this book. A must read.

Kirkus Reviews stated that this will appeal to fans of Black Mirror, and I definitely agree. The colourful, bright cover art covers a darkness hidden underneath. Logan and Sam are the two main characters, and the book mostly follows their perspectives. Logan is one of the children within camp. She entered with her husband, also now a child for the summer—they are sent in as individuals to reignite their love—but finds herself drawn to a different camper, who just so happens to be the suspect in a high-profile murder case. Sam is one of the counsellors, struggling with her morals and slowly finding out heavier and darker secrets as time goes on. Being able to follow the story through their perspectives was an excellent tool in showing the contrast between someone who knows what’s going on and often struggles with the idea and someone who makes it very easy to forget she isn’t just a child.

I definitely would have liked a bit more backstory on the characters, as I did find myself getting lost among them at times and I never really got a picture in my head of the majority of them. At the same time, I think the book could have been shortened in other ways, some parts feeling a bit like filler. There was a lot of potential to dig deeper at darker elements, which were often just swept away and quickly forgotten, although frustratingly stayed with me, wanting some resolution. But the idea behind this story is clever, the characters realistic and I found the book harder to put down the further along I reached.

Thank you to NetGalley, Quinlan Grim and California Coldblood Books for this DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the idea of this book when I read the blurb but unfortunately the reading wasn’t as good, it felt very stilted and I couldn’t engage with any of the characters. It was just quite odd.

I really wanted to enjoy this. The premise sounded really intriguing, I’m a huge sci-fi fan so I’m already familiar with the concept the story is discussing.
The idea of transferring a persons conscious self. The ethics surrounding it and the fact that people genuinely discussed this idea on a daily basis.
However, although the story itself was good, it could have used a little more depth on the characters and a quicker pace to the story itself.
I think those little things would make a huge difference to the overall reading experience.
After finishing the book, I thought about it. And that’s a bonus. When books stay with you and continue to make you question things, that clearly shows there’s something to it.
So yes, I would recommend this to others.
Thank you to the author the publisher and Netgalley for my arc,

This book was intriguing with the theme of adults psyche/soul/personalities being transferred into the bodies of children so they can relive their childhood or reboot or create new memories. Very clever premise with ethical dilemmas being deliberately skirted over until the end of the book.
There are distractions, such as the ghost of Danny McGee where I would have personally preferred more depth and info on the characters.
Danny NcGee does however become a tool for Lucas towards the end of the story.

Altogether an interesting if slow read.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

I loved the sound of this book and was looking forward to reading it. However, as soon as I started it, I found it very hard to connect with the characters. I just didn't like them, or in fact the book, not a good read for me.

I went into this book with a passion for SciFi- specifically SciFi which deals with consciousness transfer. I think that such a topic brings up such a good platform for discussing the ethics of human life. And I think that is what this book was trying to achieve. But unfortunately in my opinion it fell short. Not only with the plot overall and the character development of Sam and Logan, but also with the many other themes that were brought in. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and sexual assault were all present but not well delved into. Also, it was *very* difficult to read the SA scene between Logan and Hugo even though they are technically not children. But it doesn't change that what happened, happened to a person who full believed and was in the body of a twelve-year-old. It was just quite harrowing. Thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC.

The Ghost of Danny McGee is an interesting idea backed up by some great writing. We are introduced to the controversial Camp Phoenix where, if you have enough money, adults get their consciousness transferred into children - campers - who spend their summer at the Camp with normal counsellors and normal activities. Other than being adults in children’s bodies the whole thing is rather normal. Except...Not really. The children don't have their adult memories and over time everything starts to unravel, with the counsellors and the children struggling with what is reality really? There is no connection to the outside world, everyone is isolated in this ordinary-extraordinary bubble.

Our narration is provided to us by Logan, a 12-year-old camper, and Sam, a 20-year-old counsellor. Although, in reality Logan is a much older woman going into the camp with her husband, Max, in an effort to 'fix' their marriage. I found Sam's point of view to be more engaging than Logan's and at times wished that the story was only told through Sam's eyes. Looking back on it, I was glad to see Logan's side, to see the side of someone who had no idea this wasn't a normal camp, it provided a nice contrast to the discomfort from Sam's perspective. It was very easy to forget that Logan wasn't a child and was an adult in a child's body until you flipped a page and were back in Sam's view and the puzzle changed again, everything clicking out of place and back into place at the same time.

When you find yourself waking up from sleep thinking about a book twice you know it's a good one. I was surprised it left that much of an impression on me! I was thinking this was going to be a standard 3 stars where I said 'it's a solid book, good storyline, good execution, unfortunately I didn't like x and y' but then I woke up thinking about the story and about the characters. It was a wild ride!

I found the characters interesting and relatable. Okay maybe Logan's 12-year-old self wasn't that relatable to me specifically, but I definitely knew people like her when I was that age. The weirdness of puberty and pre-teen awkwardness was really well done and even had me cringing in parts- It did make me want to go back and apologise to everyone who knew me when I was that age...Children can be really mean sometimes!

I only felt let down by some of the sweeping strokes given to some really heavy topics which seemed like an interesting storyline but were then dropped within a couple of pages. It felt like a lot to be including in a story which just didn't need it in all honesty. At times it felt like we were just scratching the surface of things, a hint of digging deeper and then we were just moved on to the next thing! A lot of width but with no depth. I also found myself struggling to picture what the characters looked like at times, Sam was ‘pretty’ was about the only description that latched into my head. I was just disappointed.

Overall, an interesting idea, well executed at times but disappointingly insubstantial at others.
Thank you to Net Galley, The author, and California Coldblooded Books for the ARC in an exchange for an honest review.

The Ghost of Danny McGee follows two different characters one summer at Camp Phoenix: Logan and Sam. Camp Phoenix is not your typical children's summer camp; this camp allows adults to transfer their consciousness into clones of their former, younger self to experience childhood all over again for one summer. Logan is one of the clients/campers, and Sam is one of the older camp counselors. We follow these two and a larger cast of campers and counselors throughout the ups and downs of the summer in the wilderness.

I really enjoyed this read. First, the atmosphere of a summer camp was very nostalgic and Grim's descriptions made it feel as if I was there with the Sam, Logan, Max, and Hugo. While I thought the plot was a bit predictable at points, overall I didn't know where this trail was leading me; it made me not want to put it down. Second, I appreciated how the author tackled some serious topics such as sexual assault and homophobia. The inclusion of this tougher subject matter manifested a lot of interesting questions about morality, ignorance, and whistle-blowing.

With the exception of a few minor spelling errors and some ingenuine dialogue, The Ghost of Danny McGee was a really interesting twist on sci-fi. I would recommend to anyone interested in summer camp settings, loose sci-fi plotlines, and thriller excitement.

Interesting premise and plot ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Camp Phoenix is a unique camp, it allows adults to relive their childhood years, but it's not a camp for adults.

Adults are but into a type of suspended hibernation while their minds are put into the bodies of created children for the summer with no memory of their adult self - after the summer the adults wake up and they have the memories of the summer.

For this summer we follow a few campers, a couple on the brink of divorce who want to see if they connect as their younger selves in a last chance to save their marriage. A famous singer and a famous film producer accused of murder, as well as some of the camp counsellors.

The story alternates chapters between Logan a child, who as an adult is the wife of the couple, and Sam a counsellor who is on her second stint at the camp and is learning more as she's being promoted.

I love this style of book and it works particularly well her as you get the adult and the child version of events.

The titular Danny McGee isn't a character in the book but a character created by Sam to use in stories about the camp, and the other counsellors use it and it develops and grows and the imagination of the children take it even further, which serves as a catalyst for the climax of the summer.

I enjoyed this book a lot and it's very reminiscent of a Black Mirror episode, I read it over two sittings and if I'd started earlier I would've got through it in a day. It was really well written and the switch between the characters and their style made sure that you never lost track of who was telling the chapter. I really wish that it had told us more about what happened to the characters after the summer, there is a brief wrap up in the last couple of chapters but there was a lot more that I would've liked to know.

I will definitely look out for more books from Quinlan Grim.

A coming of age meets American summer camp story with an intriguing twist, namely that the campers aren't quite what they seem.

Told from the viewpoints of Sam, one of the camp counsellors, back working at Camp Phoenix for another year, catching up with old friends and assuming new responsibilities and Logan, one of the preteen campers, finding her way in the world.

Full of twists, turns and the essential campfire ghost story, this a great light hearted read which will also leave you thinking.

- Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this early. -


Sadly, it is a DNF for me (I couldn't bring myself to continue, even though I was at 70% when I stopped) and there are various reason for that, but let's start with the positive things:
- the premise of the book is really interesting
- we have two POV's (one camper/child, one overseer), but you couldn't really separate who was telling because they were so similar
- the interactions between the children were good, but in my opinion the author should've gone further into the whole puberty state/behaviour (it often fell flat)

My issues:
1. the characters were really one dimensional and I felt my brain actively trying to like and care for them
2. they start to address important topics (like victim blaming; the whole body transfer thing is it right or wrong) but don't go deeper, they just say it ones and then we're done with it.
3. unnecessary animal death (do I need to go further explaining it?)
4. a hand job scene, but it were children (I know that the "children" are actually adults, BUT the characters act like children and for them it feels like they ARE children, so it was just really inappropriate) + there was no consent from the girls' side and the boy just forced her (leads to victim blaming later on)

I'm still going to give the book a rating because I read 70% of it.

i really liked the plot of the book over all its a 3 star book for me because it didnt engaged me well with the characters for some reason it didnt keep me hookwd with the book after few chapter so it was a dnf for me i really wanted to like the book but its 3 star read

Quite an astonishing premise, well executed and moves along at a cracking pace. It would have been nice to know a little more about the characters background but, all in all, an enjoyable read.

So the synopsis of this is what really drew me in to want to read this book :Camp Phoenix is a controversial and expensive summer camp program that transfers adults’ consciousness into a clone of their childhood selves. On the surface, it’s an ordinary summer camp. Twelve-year-old Logan has come to have a relaxing, carefree summer. Sam is a twenty-year-old counsellor, taking on the responsibility of the kids’ care by day, and riding the rollercoaster of a summer romance after hours.

As Logan faces the ups and downs of puberty, Sam watches over her and struggles with the bizarre truth: the campers in her care are not kids at all, but wealthy adults immersed in the ultimate escape from reality.

What Logan can't seem to remember is that at the end of the summer, she and her friends will all have to return to their grown-up bodies. Logan will again be a successful, middle-aged woman, and the popular boy she has a crush on? He will return to his life as a celebrity suspect at the centre of a high-profile murder case.

This gave me major Black Mirror vibes and is such a gripping and intriguing read!

I was attracted to this book by the premise: a summer camp for rich old people, temporarily transferred into custom-built child bodies. There were so many angles the author could explore when it comes to the personal, social and ethical implications of that, so many ‘what if’s. Where would she take it, I wondered?

In the first few chapters, I was afraid that Grim was going to try and pull off too much. While there’s only two POV characters we were introduced to a whole host of campers, counsellors and management early on, many of them with their own plot threads. This meant it took me quite a few chapters to settle into the story, but I was so intrigued by each of the questions introduced (What if you could meet your partner’s inner child? Is a murderer’s childhood self still responsible for his crimes? ) that I couldn’t help but read on.

In the end I loved it! I think what won me over was the atmosphere that Grim created. The whole thing was suffused with a gorgeous nostalgic dreaminess, but with an undercurrent of menace that the stories of ‘Danny McGee’ come to symbolise. Both of these feed into a sense of unreality that has even Sam, who believes she knows what is going on behind the scenes, questioning if she herself is ‘real’. I enjoyed her sections, although I didn’t bond with her quite as much as Logan, whose awkward pre-teen struggles were very relatable. The plot threads all wound nicely together towards the conclusion, and I thought the final chapters hit the right notes. All in all I would definitely recommend, and I will look out for more books from Grim.

I just didn't click with this book. I really tried and loved the concept, but for me I struggled with the dialogue of the "younger" characters. I have kids of similar ages and they just don't speak like they do in the book and it jarred too significantly for me to get any attachment.

Camp Phoenix which has a lot of mystery around the young children and adults who have gone before Logan. The plot is kind of unique, dystopian-mystery which was interesting. Are the kids going to the camp really are kids or something or someone else..

A good camping read.


Thank you Netgalley and California Coldblood Books for the ARC.


3.5/5 stars

I had to check whether this was aimed at the YA age group as the storyline was just not grabbing me at all.
The concept that you could go back to your youth is good -but I couldn't get the picture of a group of 30 somethings running around acting like 8 year olds out of my head .
Sorry did not finish it .

Thankyou NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review