WILD. BONKERS. 10/10.

Must read if you’re a OTH super fan. Just know, it’s not about OTH. But, Jesus! (no pun intended)

You never really know what someone is going through. I loved One Tree Hill, I still do, and Haley was my favorite character. I understand that not everyone has a perfect life, but after following Bethany Joy Lenz on TV and social media, it wasn’t until the Drama Queens Podcast, where I feel like people started to understand her for herself, and not just the character she played.

The emotional and traumatic journey Bethany Joy Lenz has had would surprise many. Whenever the topic of cults pops up, there are always going to be people who will think that they’re too smart to be in a cult. After reading about her experiences, Bethany Joy Lenz explains how anyone can be swept up into a group, when in search of love and acceptance.

Though I would never wish for anyone to go through what he went through, as she stated in her story, she wouldn’t have her beautiful daughter, if she had not taken the paths she did

The excitement I got when I was approved for this.. omg. I’ve been a huge one tree hill fan since the beginning. Reading about her journey while filming the show.. WOW.

One Tree Hill + a cult = UNPUTDOWNABLE !!

I’ve always been a fan of Bethany Joy Lenz since my one tree hill obsession began in high school, so it was a given I would read her book!

Dang, I mean it when I say this book was unputdownable; I read it in ~24 hours. Joy’s voice shines through so vividly, keeping the reader engaged the entire story. So many parts of this book made me angry on her behalf, but I’m so glad she finally found peace and safety from the life she once lived. i will definitely purchase this book upon publication, and I will likely also re-read via audio because Joy reads it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon Books and author Bethany Joy Lenz for the ARC in exchange for my honest review of Dinner for Vampires, set for publication October 21, 2024.
What a heartbreaking and honest story. Having grown up as a child of divorce who longed for a big family of my own, who wanted to fit in and often felt like a square peg forcing myself into a round hole throughout my youth, I found this story extremely relatable and compelling. There’s no sensationalist antics here, it’s simply a straightforward explanation of how anyone could fall prey to the Pray.
Lenz takes us on an eye-opening journey of her life, growing up on the East Coast and in Texas, and shows us how religion played a formative part of her childhood and teens. When she made the move to LA and became part of a “prayer circle” it was all so innocent, and just another step on her journey with God, that it’s no wonder no questions were raised. What happened along her path from the prayer circle to manipulation and abuse was such a natural progression I had to keep asking myself “Would I have realized what was happening if I were the one in Joy’s place? Would I have had the strength of self to get out earlier? Would I have been put off by anything that was happening in the name of ‘Family’?” And the answer I kept coming back to, repeatedly, was “Probably not.”
“Dinner for Vampires” holds a startling truth: gaslighters, manipulators, people who can easily take advantage of others are very real and they are often those we are closest to.
I was overwhelmed by the easy writing style of this book. Joy writes like she’s talking to her best friend. She employs simple dialogue to tell a complicated story with ease and takes the reader on a journey that’s unforgettable. Told with charm and a touch of self-deprecation, Lenz writes from the perspective of a survivor, and readers will find a satisfying conclusion to her story.

Wow, I read this book in under 24 hours! Written like Bethany Joy Lenz is personally telling you her story. I was so frustrated while I was reading, I just wanted to shake her and say, YOU ARE IN A CULT! Unfortunately for Bethany Joy, it took years and the loss of 2 Million dollars until she realized it for herself.

I am not normally a fan of memoirs. I wasn't a fan of One Tree Hill, where BJL was a cast member. I know her from Hallmark movies ;) What drew me to this book was the cult aspect. I can see how she fell into the "Family." This book was so interesting. It was easy to read and fast paced, highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

An interesting and quick read! The book is divided into three parts that describe Bethany’s life before, during, and after the cult. I’m amazed at her ability to recollect specific conversations and her bravery in leaving that environment and sharing her story. The third part felt a bit rushed but understandable as it overlaps with the present day.

Dinner With Vampires is a memoir written by Bethany Joy Lenz. She played Hailey in the hit TV series, One Tree Hill. And, she spent a decade in a cult.

This book takes you through Joy’s life, beginning when she was a child actress, through her unbelievable experience in and her escape from the cult. Joy was an only child who always dreamed of being in a big family. She began going to a bible study group with friends. It all started so innocently. She thought she found the family she’d always wished for. But soon, it turned into something very different.

This book absolutely blew my mind. I watched and was a fan of the show and had no idea that any of this ever happened. This cult targeted and coerced vulnerable people into emotional, psychological and financial abuse. Joy was emotionally manipulated into an abusive marriage with the minister’s son. She was also convinced to allow the leadership to manage all of her money. They ultimately drained 2 million dollars from her accounts without her knowledge or consent. Her story shows how she was so broken down over time, she questioned all of her own decisions to the point of believing everything she was being told by the leadership of this group. Joy’s story is honest, brave, inspiring and truly unbelievable. If you enjoy memoirs, were a fan of One Tree Hill or are interested in a peek into the life of someone who survived a cult, i highly recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC of Dinner With Vampires in exchange for my honest review.

Read. The. Acknowledgments. I admittedly rarely read the acknowledgements but it was a beautiful way to wrap this extremely vulnerable and eye opening memoir. I feel like I know Joy from watching OTH and listening to Drama Queens, but what an incredible actress she was to go through all of this manipulation and abuse and pull of the sometimes cheesy but beloved YA drama. I love how she still has faith, but brought us alongside the journey.

I've long been a fan of One Tree Hill, and Bethany Joy Lenz has always been my favorite character as Haley James Scott. It's a testament to her acting skills that you'd never know how tumultuous her real life was when watching the show.

This memoir broke my heart for her. The in-depth insight into living inside a cult was sometimes hard to read. The leaders were so creepy that I cringed each time they appeared on the page.

Part of me now understands how intelligent people get caught up in one, and another part understands even less, possibly because of how Joy wrote this story in hindsight. I'm sure her youth was a huge part of being so vulnerable to it. We're the same age, and my 20-year-old self understands better than my 42-year-old one.

It was an interesting and insightful read. It is also infuriating to know how often these cult leaders go largely unpunished by the law.

Joy's writing is easy to read, and the title is fitting. The ending felt rushed compared to how drawn out the cult years were, but it all came to a satisfying conclusion and hope for her and her daughter's future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the chance to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘝𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴: 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘛𝘝 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘸 (𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵!) is a memoir written by Bethany Joy Lenz, an actress and musician best known for her work on popular teen drama 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 and an array of Hallmark movies. I admit I watched the first few seasons of 𝘖𝘛𝘏 when it first aired in the early aughts, but my interest in the book primarily came from my fascination with stories of former cult members. Though there are some behind-the-scenes Hollywood tidbits, the bulk of 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘝𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 is centered around Lenz’s time in The Big House Family—a small and lesser known but still destructive religious group—and her break from it.

The memoir is very interesting and readable and offers valuable insight on how an independent, capable person could become prey to a high-control, high-demand cult. In Lenz’s case, an unhappy home, lonely school life, and feelings of being “second-best” led her to seek solace and a sense of belonging in the church as a youth and then to a bible study group as an adult living and working in Los Angeles for the first time. That bible study would morph into The Big House Family, and its leaders would take money from Lenz, isolate her from her parents and colleagues, heavily influence her romantic and social life, and steer her away from huge professional opportunities for almost a decade.

While I mostly enjoyed the book, there were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. First, Lenz changed the names of several people for privacy reasons, however for two of them she bestowed the aliases of “Blue Eyes” and “Quiet Boy”—this struck me as a bit twee and awkward. I really wish she had assigned actual names to them instead so it was less distracting in the story. Secondly, her tone when describing other people and her interactions with them often took on a judgmental quality. She does explain that she struggles with insecurity, but nonetheless I sometimes found her narration off-putting. But these observations are of course subjective and it’s very possible that these things won’t bother other readers as much.

Overall, 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘝𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 is an enthralling memoir and shares a unique perspective that one is unlikely to get from other actor autobiographies. Thank you to Simon & Schuster for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dinner for Vampires is already my favorite memoir of the year! Bethany Joy Lenz pours her soul into this book and you can feel it in her writing because it's so raw and vulnerable. In her memoir, she talks about her time in a cult, not for the simple purpose of showing you how naive she felt, but to show the importance of knowing yourself, sticking to your own morals/values, and realizing your own strength. Since the moment I first watched One Tree Hill and met Haley James Scott on screen, I became a fan and after reading her memoir I am an even bigger fan of hers because you get to see her as more than a celebrity/actress/singer you get to see her heart. Her kindness, love for others, and positivity shine brighter than all of the darkness!

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was a freshman in high school and caught a stomach bug. I stayed home from school and was lying in bed. At my mom's plea to eat something, I got up and ate some soup while watching the SoapNet channel and stumbled upon an episode of One Tree Hill. It was halfway through a rerun(probably an episode from season 2) and I was hooked. Haley James Scott quickly became the character I felt that I could relate to the most. I knew this show was going to be good and I begged my mom to buy me the DVDs because I couldn't continue to watch season 2 when I didn't even watch season 1. (Yes this was a time before streaming) I sped through the season and was all caught up and I never missed another episode. In my eyes, Bethany Joy Lenz had it all. She seemed cool and down-to-earth and was obviously super talented. She was a great actress, a beautiful singer, and again just seemed so cool. All this to say, I am a huge fan of hers. And when I heard that she was coming out with a memoir I knew I had to read it!

I started to read the first few chapters and was stunned. I didn't expect all the rough parts she had to go through. She gave so much happiness and joy to her fans and to know that she cried most days and had people who 'loved' her being the same people to make her question herself and tear her down when they saw fit, made my heart shatter.

From the beginning, you can see how big she dreamt. She wanted to be an actress and sing on Broadway and knew her hard work would take her there. And to see her achieve it had me bursting with joy. On the other side of it, I felt sad to see her turn down roles, distance herself from possible lifelong friendships,and shy away from passion projects because others convinced her that it was best for her relationship with God.

You learn quickly about how she became part of The Big House Family, the cult that she was in for a decade. It gave her little but took so much from her. While some might say, "Oh, only weak or naive people can fall into or be persuaded to be in a cult" that is just not the case. Bethany shows you her experience so that you can see that anyone can be wrapped up in the world and most of the time you don't even see it coming. In her case, she became introduced to the leaders when she moved to L.A. in her twenties to pursue her acting career. Bethany had always grown up in Bible study having a strong faith. Her roommate at the time introduced her to the leaders. How awesome was it? She already made a new friends who shared her faith. But what she didn't know what that was the beginning of her decade long journey of being a member of cult. All this while filming one of the most popular series. She describes how that had an impact on her seclusion and loneliness from cast members and how she wished she could have embraced connection and friendship. In one instance, she describes meeting Sophia Bush and having a instant connection. She felt comfortable in that moment and that was a trigger that brought up her past. Because of that she closed the door for a chance at a budding friendship and how she wished she could turn back time. She also details how she was captivated by the group, how their inner systems worked, and how she lost her autonomy in her every day life. From long meetings in a basement where you were told everything you were doing wrong, to being controlled in your personal and professional life, ultimately leading to an arranged marriage full of toxicity. It shocked me in a way that made me sad and angry but it made me have so much more respect and admiration for Bethany. This woman was told what to do, when to do it, when to stop. She cried so many tears, felt confused, and when she had a gut feeling about something being wrong she was quickly convinced that she had to go through the harsh times because it was all in God's plan. I can't even imagine going through it, but she had the strength to escape. And that's thanks to her daughter. When Bethany had her daughter Rosie, she was finally able to see these so called 'faithful leaders' (including her ex husband) for what they were: controlling, demeaning, and destructive. They took so much from her; they took away potential friendships, jobs, true love, time with loved ones, and her autonomy, leaving her with scars that will never go away. Now, what is so special about Bethany is that once these revelations came to light she didn't hide she fought! She fought for her dignity, for her daughter, and fought for their future.

After I finshed the book, I realized how fitting the title 'Dinner for Vampires' is. She sat down and spent 10 years of her life with this 'family' and when she didn't agree or appease their wishes anymore, the fangs came out ready to sink into their next victim. To realize her strength and love for herself and her daughter left me finishing the book with the biggest smile. This memoir was like reading a journal that your best friend wrote throughout her life. Yes, there were alot of bad times, but the good moments helped make it easier to move forward. Bethany Joy Lenz's Dinner for Vampires was simply unputdownable! It isn't easy to open up your life, let alone open up about your darkest times to the world, but her vulnerability was the best part. She wasn't afraid to put it out there especially if it helps someone else! I truly applaud her for showing us her heart!

Dinner For Vampires is the absolute best title for Bethany Joy Lenz 'experience growing up wanting to be a part of something special. Once she found her “spiritual family” , a group of people from different walks of life trying to do their best by god. It quickly evolved into something different. Control, submission, lack of self worth. The perfect storm to feast upon her soul and suck her dry mentally, emotionally, spiritually and financially.

Bethany, best known for her role as Haley James Scott on One Tree Hill, describes the rollercoaster of life from her isolation as a child, her parents' struggle that led to divorce and finally feeling like she found her place at an in -home Bible group she found in LA.
With her strained relationship with her parents and wanting to do best by god, she was the perfect target for this cult. Isolating her from family, friends, coworkers. Questioning her loyalty to her big house family every step of the way as well as her obedience to submit. Even though she did question herself and had a little voice in the back of her head telling her something was wrong, she wouldn't listen to it fully for years. The leader of the cult that later became her father-in-law took full advantage of Joy's career and the money she earned.
She struggled in her marriage, constantly questioning the relationship,but continued with it thinking divorce wasn't an option.
People in the group started to leave, violence started to happen more frequently and once Joy became a mother she knew she had to break the cycle and get out for her daughters well being.

This book will break your heart, for what Joy went through. It will also make you so proud of her as well. Being able to finally admit that she was indeed in a cult after being told so many times took a lot of courage. The strength and determination she had to put her story out there for the world, I'm in awe of. I'm sure with this book others will feel seen going through similar experiences in their own lives whether it being family, religion or relationship issues. This is definitely a must read for 2024 even if your unfamiliar with Joys career.

* My copy of Dinner for Vampires was provided by NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I don't typically like to rate an autobiography, because then I feel like I'm rating someone's life, but this was an e-ARC. However, this is a fantastic book! It is so well written, it flows nicely with a very clean timeline. Some memoirs are just small stories at all different times and it can be hard to follow, but this is not one of those.

Bethany Joy Lenz was on a well known TV show, One Tree Hill, and while it was a good show, I wouldn't have said I knew much about the actors or actresses on it. While filming the show, and trying to "make it" in the entertainment industry, she was also trying to find her way in life, find God, love, and a family. She found all that through a group she calls The Family. The Family's "leader" was quick to isolate the members and control them in small ways, ways that would be huge and horribly manipulative. The book is her story in finding this group and then finding her freedom from it. I spent most of the book being so angry with how these people were treating their "chosen" family. It takes a lot for someone to see things need to change and find a way to make that happen, and thankfully Lenz did. She came out stronger and able to tell her story.

If you're looking for some dirt from an old TV show, this isn't that. This is a story about how a woman got herself out of a cult and survived. There's a lot of religious stuff, even after the cult, and I normally don't like that kind of thing. It was never over powering though, it's what she believes and she doesn't need you to believe it too and that's respectful.

I absolutely adored Bethany Joy Lenz in One Tree Hill and I was so excited to be granted the opportunity to read Dinner For Vampires. This was something I never knew about before and I was shocked at what Joy endured and amazed at her strength to get out. It’s been a long time since reading a nonfiction book and I was not disappointed. Her writing felt like I was reading an email from a friend and I had to force myself to put the book down a few times. Such an interesting story and I’m so glad that Joy shared it with the world!

Dinner For Vampires comes out on 10/22!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Bethany Joy Lenz for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars round up!
wow wow wow. I've watched a little bit of one tree hill and other things Bethany Joy Lenz has been in but the cult aspect of her book was really what intrigued me most and mannnnnnnn did she deliver!
What starts out as something wholesome and innocent quickly morphed into something else entirely. I highly recommend this book!! A warning if you are sensitive/ triggered by religion, this book goes into heavy detail about Christianity which at some points were tough for me to read.
I feel like she summed everything up so well and even with the ending and having closure I still want to know so much more!
Thank you to NetGalley, Bethany Joy Lenz, and Simon & Schuster for an advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion

I’ve always heard small snippets of Joy’s time in a cult so I was excited to learn more about her personal history while breaking into the Hollywood scene. It was nice to get the full spectrum of events that happened to her and see how it shaped the woman the came out the other end of it all. My only real negative critique is that there was a lot of unnecessary filler information thrown in at times when it didn’t need to be. Almost like the scene was being painted a little too clearly. It got to be a bit wordy and distracted from the overall takeaway a bit.

I devoured this book in 1 day! It is such a vulnerable, honest look at BJL's experience with a cult that did not look like a cult. I would have liked to read more about her life and faith journey since leaving but it was a very insightful, heartbreaking yet hopeful read that resonated with me in many respects.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the chance to read it in exchange for my thoughts.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Bethany Joy Lenz for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I haven’t seen much of One Tree Hill, but I was still really excited to pick this one up because I love memoirs and her life seems very interesting. I ended up really enjoying it!

This book follows Bethany’s time in a cult - and the title is perfect. It’s a fast-paced book and I read it quickly because I was really interesting to see what happened with the cult and how she escaped from it. Throughout, I felt a range of emotions, and was shocked, upset, and heart-broken for Bethany. I’m glad that she was able to escape and is now telling others about her story.

This book does include a little about OTH and her life as an actress, which was also fascinating to learn about. I recommend this book for everyone, even if you don’t know much about Bethany Joy Lenz. Be sure to pick it up when it comes out!

I loved One Tree Hill and I loved Nayley so much! I haven't been following their podcast but I knew I had to pick this one up. I think the only thing that could make this better was when the audiobook comes out.. I am really hoping she narrates it herself!!!