Book Review: The Girl on Camera | Morgan Dun-Campbell

Don’t let the reality tv premise turn you off of The Girl on Camera—it is filled with interesting commentary on how people act when they think no one is watching. With an almost dystopian-feel at times, this is a deep character study about people showing who they truly are, learning more about themselves, and how human nature makes some thrive, while others fall. Let me go a bit into the plot so that we can really dive into this book!

About the Book

“Are you ready to win the heart of the nation? Compete with seven other contestants for the cash prize? Change your life forever?”

Twenty-six-year old Rory Stevens has been living the life she thinks she is supposed to. She is engaged to a man who she likes well enough, she is working and considering school, but Rory isn’t putting herself out there. At times, she feels like she is barely living.

When an advertisement to apply for a reality television show comes across her email, Rory decides it’s time to put herself out there and do something completely different. After a mysterious application process, Rory is thriller to be selected for a completely new, ambiguous reality show: The Retreat.

Things are off to an interesting start when Rory finds herself locked into a remote camp grounds miles from any city with seven strangers. However, on the second day of filming – during a televised broadcast from the show’s host – all power shuts off with no explanation, leaving the contestants, quite literally, in the dark.

Certain that the blackout is temporary, the contestants begin to unravel when it becomes clear that no one is coming to rescue them. Completely stranded, it is now up to Rory and her seven companions to figure out what is happening.

Until one of them disappears…

Reflection

The cover of the book and the description drew me right in! I really was excited to find out what this show was all about, and what happened after the blackout. Rory is an interesting character because she really isn’t that likeable, but she is also kind of relatable. I know that doesn’t sound possible, but it really is how I’d describe Rory. What Dun-Campbell does well with Rory is give her a level of introspection that makes her actions redeeming, even when they are cowardly or cruel.

“We use the people around us until they’re of no personal value to us anymore, all of us do, in some way or another.”

There’s always something interesting to me about writers who don’t shy away from showing the worst side of their characters. One reason it worked well here is because of the nature of the situation. Rory and the seven contestants (many of whom are even more unlikeable than she is) are on a reality show. They preen for the cameras, each vying for the most attention. So when the camera’s shut off and they are truly stranded, left to their own devices, we really see the worst parts of them come out, but also the truest elements of their character.

“That’s human nature: a hierarchy always forms, the weak separated from the pack.”

Suddenly they don’t have to pretend to be kind, helpful, or intellectual. As I mentioned previously, there is an almost dystopian feel here where we see what humanity might turn to if we were in a survival scenario and there was fear over social dynamics and resources. Some of the changes in the characters I found to be shocking and riveting. I don’t want to say too many specifics, because I do think that this is one you should experience for yourself.

I saw another reviewer comment that this book is at times more drama than thriller, despite what the plot would have you believe. It works though! While the contestants are stranded, they may be unable to do much at night. And it is those times that we really see Dun-Campbell delve into their psyches.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy to review.