Atonement Camp for Unrepentant Homophobes by Evan J. Corbin
"The oldest translation of a Gospel is returned to the world by a secret society long dedicated to its preservation. In it, Jesus explicitly condemns bigotry and homophobia. In a new world in which LGBTQ passengers receive preferential boarding for flights and the United States has elected its first lesbian President, Pastor Rick Harris is stalwart, closeted preacher who doggedly holds onto his increasingly unpopular convictions.
When an incendiary sermon goes too far and offends an influential family, Rick makes a painful choice to keep his job: He attends an atonement camp run by drag queens for society’s most unrepentant and terminally incurable homophobes.
Atonement Camp is immersion therapy for Pastor Harris, and it might be working. An open bar with pedicures, a devastatingly attractive roommate and an endless supply of glitter help him manage to make new friends. Soon, Rick and his cohorts learn the camp may hold its own secrets. Amid the smiling faces and scantily clad pool boys who staff the camp, a clandestine group plots to discredit the New Revelation and everything it stands for.
If Rick has the conviction to confront his own hypocrisy, he might be able to uncover the conspirators with help from his adopted flock—and find new truths within himself."
Welcome to my stop on the book tour for Atonement Camp for Unrepentant Homophobes! The book was released on September 2nd, 2020, and is Evan J. Corbin's debut novel.
Wow, this book was a wild ride! In this world, the New Revelation has been known to the world for five years. In that time, LGBTQ+ folx have gained priority boarding onto planes, the Catholic Pope has announced he's gay, there's an openly lesbian President of the United States, and across the country, there are numerous atonement camps run by drag queens for those individuals who are still bigoted towards LGBTQ+ people.
This book was campy, funny, and delightful at times. And it was also pretty damn serious at times too. Before we go too far, I want everyone to take careful note of the content warnings below. This book tackled some pretty heavy subjects surrounding religion and homophobia. It's implied in the title, of course, but it should also be noted that the book is told from the perspective of a closeted, homophobic pastor. At least the first half of this book has some pretty cringy language because of this. Rick eventually grows as a character and faces his internalized homophobia, but I want to be clear that the MC is not a likable person at the beginning at all. Also, this book really focused mostly on gay individuals and trans people were mentioned but not really discussed. It would have been nice to see a wider view of the LGBTQ+ community in this book.
With that said, this book was a lot of fun and could be downright ridiculous at times. Just the idea of a conversion camp for homophobes run by drag queens immediately made me want to read this book. There was camp. There were drag queens. There were drag queens with inexplicably shiny dresses, secret societies, and a hot roommate.
"This lights dimmed, but Eileen's dress still managed to reflect light from somewhere. Maybe there was no light at all. It could just be a side effect of homosexuality, Rick considered."
– Evan J. Corbin, Atonement Camp for Unrepentant Homophobes
There were also some really heartfelt chapters as well. You get a glimpse into Rick's past to see where everything went so wrong. And you see Rick really grow as a person from that point. There is also some very interesting commentary on the loss of exclusively queer spaces as LGBTQ+ people gain larger acceptance in the world.
This book was a quick read, fun, and also pretty thoughtful for being so campy. I do recommend this book, so long as you're not triggered by internalized homophobia and toxic Christianity.
A free copy of this book was provided to me by Pride Book Tours and author Evan J. Corbin in exchange for an honest review!
Genre: lgbtqia+
Representation: gay, mlm
Content Warnings: Homophobia, Internalized homophobia, Alcoholism, Drinking and driving, F-slur, Toxic Christianity, Racism, Kink
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