It’s hard to rate memoirs. I had to read this as an avid OTH fan, especially having read both of Hilarie Burton Morgan’s memoirs. The religious cult aspect was difficult to read through, but that’s not Joy’s fault at all. It also helped to know some of the background on the stuff going on with the OTH creators, etc.

Try listening on audio: CMM & James Lafferty read their own parts and it definitely adds to the experience.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I don't typically go for a memoir but I love anything that has to do with cults so of course I had to give this a try. I really enjoyed getting inside her head to understand how an adult finds themselves in a cult and why they don't just leave. It was also really frustrating hearing what she went through, because I wanted to reach through the book and tell young Bethany that she was being taken advantage of.

I liked this better than I thought!

Links to come!

brb gonna go rewatch one tree hill and listen to her podcast

Three things I LOVE 1) a celebrity memoir 2) the behind the scenes of a TV show I have watched/loved 3) a cult story and this book had all three!!!!

Honestly this may have been one of my favorite books I've read this year. Bethany Joy writes from such a vulnerable place (and doesn't talk about OTH until the second half of the book). This book walks through her upbringing within her biological christian family. Her parents divorce when she is 16 and she moves to New York to purse acting after high school. She begins to pursue the Lord on her own by visiting different churches and meeting other believing actors. When she moves to LA to continue to pursue acting a friend invites her to a bible study for fellow actors. What started out as a normal gathering all changed when Les and his family showed up and joined their study. Through many years of her being convinced that this "spiritual family" loved her and was everything she needed and nothing else she felt so lonely being single that she decides to marry the Les' son. After years and years of conflict, abuse, and her mental health declining- through the bravery of other members questioning and leaving "the family" Bethany Joy is awaken to what is actaully going on around her and that she is indeed a part of a cult (despite those closest to her outside of the cult questioning this family all along." Because she journaled so much during those 10+ years of her life she is able to recount stories/memories with such clarity and detail.

Bethany Joy- thank you for sharing your story. May others be encouraged and brave enough to come forward and do the same.

Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Book was released 10/22/24 so grab a copy now!

Fascinating. I knew who Bethany Joy Lenz was because of One Tree Hill but I never knew she was in a cult until I started listening to their podcast and reading her story and how she got indoctrinated into a cult without her knowledge is mind blowing

Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for allowing me to have an eARC of Dinner for Vampire by Bethany Joy Lenz in exchange for an honest opinion.

I have loved Joy since I first started One Tree Hill. She has been someone I have consistently admired and finding out that she was writing a memoir was so exciting for me as an avid OTH fan. It's been my comfort show for so so long. Dinner for Vampires was so heartbreaking hearing about all of the things she had experienced and seeing that a lot of it happened in the time of her filming One Tree Hill. Hearing about her experiences and how they completely shaped her life was so sad because it felt like a lot of what ifs. It made me so angry for her knowing that she was so manipulated by people who she thought cared for her. Thank you Joy for sharing your story with us.

Thank you Simon and Schuster for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.


I went back and forth with the audio and ebook version. I highly recommend on audio. There were some special guest voices in the audio that was cool to see! It’s crazy to this was all happening to Joy throughout her entire run with OTH. I’m glad she has opened up about her story and glad she is healing with her daughter. There was some OTH scoop sprinkled on throughout!

If you loved One Tree Hill television show as much as I did, then you will enjoy this book. It will captivate you. The memoir, Dinner For Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show by Bethany Joy Lenz, tells an inspiring story. It describes how a woman broke away from a cult in her personal life.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Bethany played Haley James Scott on the show. She was an only child. She had to take care of herself growing up. Looking for familial love and someone to guide her, she joined a Bible study group. She didn’t foresee that this group would turn into a sinister cult that changed her life.

WHAT I LIKED:
This is a well-written memoir. It was like reading a fictional story, and it wasn’t dry like some memoirs. I enjoyed reading the behind-the-scenes with the actors on the show. Sometimes we forget that they are just actors leading their own lives. Even though Bethany’s friends were skeptical of her “Bible family” back home, they did what they could to support her.

I felt for Bethany as I was reading her story. People were using her and her stardom for their own financial gain. I cheered her on as she struggled to escape the cult and give her daughter a normal life. I never could understand how people are swept up by cults, but after reading her story, I now understand how easily it could happen. I’m glad she decided to share her story with her readers.

I would definitely recommend this memoir.

If you would like to read more of my book reviews, you can find them at: https://judiholst.com/book-reviews/

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Bethany Joy Lenz for my free copy. This is my honest review.

A really interesting story that highlights that you never really know what anyone else is going through and also that cults can be anywhere not just what we think of from movies. Great read. Engagingly told. Awesome on audio!

I don't know much about the author and was never a OTH devotee (although I am now considering watching it) but her memoir was captivating.

I am a fan of One Tree Hill, so I was expecting more about it in this memoir. It's mostly about her life as an actress and in the cult. I found it very interesting, but there was a lot of religious stuff I skimmed over. She told an intriguing story, and I'm sorry she had to go through this. She was taken advantage of for sure! I'm glad she was brave enough to share!

Oh man, this memoir is written in the most captivating way. I love how Bethany shares her story and love her bravery.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy of " Dinner for Vampires". As a die hard One Tree Hill fan, I was very curious about this book since Hailey Scott always seemed the epitome of perfection. To find out that that actress portraying her was being mentally abused by a cult after feeling abandoned by her parents was shocking. I will say I wish there was more OTH dirt, but the fact that she overcame what she did is amazing.

Thank you NetGalley and by Simon & Schuster for the Advance Readers Copy of Dinner for Vampires
by Bethany Joy Lenz

Bethany Joy Lenz is best known for her role as Haley James Scott on One Tree Hill, and if I am being honest I did not watch when it was first aring, It wasn't until much later after watching Bethany Joy Lenz in Hallmark Christmas movies, that my teenage daughter recognized her from OTH because she had just started watching, we from then on binged and I have loved her since and still watch her in the Hallmark movies,

I had no idea about her past and book focuses a lot more on Joy and her time in the cult, and they way this experience shaped her.

Amazing read

Being a huge fan of One Tree Hill it was so shocking to me to learn that Bethany was going through all this heartache while filming. She was unfortunately taken advantage of by someone that she thought had her best interest. So heartbreaking!

I loved the way she told her story. She really showed us how this all unfolded and how she got out. I hope for only good things for her and her daughter. They deserve to live a peaceful life.

This was a brave story to tell.

I live a life where Bethany Joy Lenz is the heroine of all my Romance films. She is one of my favorite actresses because she exudes kindness and genuineness and love. I could see how, at her youngest and most impressionable time, she fell under the power and control of a Christian fundamentalist group, which was a cult. To have read the dark times this woman, who beams with an infectious brightness, suffered through is unfathomable. She highlighted how simply but pervasively she went down a rabbit hole of being controlled by a small group at a time when she wanted a connection to something greater, kinder, loving, giving and supportive while rejecting the very thing she sought that was being offered by her own parents. Phew. This was a wild ride with little insights of her time at One Tree Hill.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for such an insightful memoir.

I was a huge fan of one tree hill in particular Hailey James Scott and I can honestly say I never knew any of her affiliations with a cult and was shocked and surprised to see such an intelligent confident young woman was pulled into it. This book made me realize it can happen to anyone this book was eye opening about how Christianity can be used to con people. I hope others read this and take it as a warning. I am so glad that she was willing to share her story so that hopefully others can be spared such fates. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

This was such an interesting read! I’ve loved One Tree Hill since it first aired so I knew I had to read this one. I had no idea Bethany was going through any of this when she was on the show, so it was interesting to see how her personal life affected her acting life. She went through so much and got manipulated by many people she thought she could trust. It was also fun to get the glimpses of other OTH cast members!

This was an interesting read. I didn’t know the details of Joy’s life while I was watching OTH, and enjoyed this inside look. I especially enjoyed the end where she told her audience, via a relayed story, to look at this account of her life with empathy instead of judgement.

When I read Dinner for Vampires, I felt like I was stepping into Bethany Joy Lenz’s world—seeing beyond the actress I knew from TV and into the raw reality of her life. In this memoir, Lenz opens up about her time in a cult while pursuing her acting career, sharing her experiences in a way that made me feel her vulnerability and strength firsthand. I was struck by how she broke down the subtle and powerful ways people can be manipulated, showing me that even the sharpest individuals aren’t immune.

I found it especially impactful how Lenz infused moments of humor and lightness, which made the heavy content easier to digest and feel more relatable. It was as if I could hear her voice, honest and real, talking directly to me about reclaiming her sense of self and freedom. For me, this wasn’t just a story about survival but a powerful reminder of how someone can rebuild and reclaim their life after hardship. If you’re like me and drawn to stories of resilience and rediscovery, Dinner for Vampires is definitely one to add to your list.

Hi, it’s me! I was definitely apart of the OTH cult following for sure, (and maybe still love everything about it)! 😅I have loved OTH for 20 years and I couldn’t get my hands on Joy’s book fast enough.

Dinner for Vampires, is a memoir about Bethany Joy Lenz’s life from the beginning of her acting career to how she landed her starting role on OTH, all the while falling victim to a religious cult. My heart goes out to her, as her career was soaring, her personal life was crumbling into the darkest years of her life.

This book is not all about OTH or a behind the scenes happenings of the show. It does have just enough OTH content that you get the full picture of everything she was going through while filming.

While I read this book, I also listened to a lot of the audio and I highly recommend the audio version! There are guest voices for several OTH alumni and it is read by Joy herself which is the best!

I absolutely loved Joy’s honesty and vulnerability all through out this memoir. In our twenties we all do some crazy, not-so-smart things, but reading about Joy opening up about the darkest years of her life made me just love her so much more! She honestly seems like the sweetest person who just wants to believe in the good of all people and I respect her so much for that.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the Advanced Reader Copy of this memoir, it was an honor to review this book!