As a fan of “One Tree Hill”, my favorite character was always Haley James Scott played by the author, Bethany Joy Lenz. I love celebrity biographies and I was particularly interested in this one because I realize that there are so many cults out there masquerading as “Christian” when they are truly exactly the opposite of that. As a follower of Christ myself, I found it really interesting to see how Joy got pulled into this cult. I do feel compelled to mention as I start this review that if you are looking to read about some behind the scenes stories about One Tree Hill or the cast, you aren’t going to find that with this book. I personally thought that Joy wrote enough of One Tree Hill information that stayed relevant to the story but didn’t veer off on that too much which I actually felt may have distracted from the overall message. As much as some OTH behind the scenes would have been interesting, that’s what the Drama Queens podcast is for. Also, because Joy made it clear in this book that her sole focus and group was the cult and its members, she chose to keep her costars at a distance so that’s another reason I believe there weren’t stories about One Tree Hill in this book. Despite that, I was totally hooked. One thing I remained unsure of was if the two men who started the Bible study group that Joy joined at the beginning of the book had been cult leaders. It didn’t seem like they were as I understood by the end of the book. Les definitely was when he took over. Joy did a terrific job of showing how easily she got into this trap of a cult and how slowly over time, things just got progressively worse. I really commend her so much and have a lot of respect for her to remain a Christian after all that stuff happened to her because that would not be easy to do. Also, I have so much respect for her for getting her daughter out of that place. Truly, the most satisfying part of the book was where she recognized that she was in a cult. The part about the baseball game was so disturbing and the truth about Kurt was not surprising. She had good instincts about him from the beginning, especially r when she realized something was amiss with the cough medicine. Parts of it are hard to read because as a reader, it is clear that these people are walking red flags but you cannot fault Joy for not seeing it because living it is a whole lot different than reading her hindsight on it. Thank goodness for Joy’s dad for all his research. I’m glad Joy and Rosie seem to be in a better place now and I think this book can really teach you, as she says toward the end, cults can be well disguised and easy to fall into. This is different than any celebrity biography I’ve ever read (and I sure did read a lot of them) but it is an interesting read and I would highly recommend. It flows really nicely.

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon Books and most of all, Bethany Joy Lenz, for letting me receive a copy of this book early in exchange for a review.

I devoured this book in less than 48 hours. It was my most anticipated read of the year… probably for the past year after Joy first mentioned her involvement in a cult on the Drama Queens podcast. She's said several times that she has been somewhat insecure about telling her story, as the cult she left wasn't as "viral" as others. But this story will draw you in immediately and keep surprising you at every turn, taking you on a rollercoaster of emotions including but not limited to disbelief, anger, and heartbreak.

It was a perfect storm: childhood wounds, feeling isolated away from home, and a seemingly like-minded community welcoming her with open arms. What started as an innocuous, casual bible study group soon spiraled into something much more menacing, leading to emotional, psychological and financial abuse..

In this memoir, Joy recounts her start in show business as a child, experiencing her parent's divorce, getting her big break on One Tree Hill, and stumbling into a cult that would change the trajectory of her life and career. You see the slow burn of red flags, with just enough positivity peppered in to keep someone feeling comfortable, and the grooming happening in real time to make sure a victim will always doubt their own inner voice.

As a life-long fan of One Tree Hill (currently rewatching for the millionth time) it's truly jarring to read about Joy's home life in contrast with her character's. It's like she was playing two roles at the same time, without much agency over either (maybe more agency as Haley?!). The memoir almost reads like fiction-- thanks in part to Joy's engaging storytelling but also the drama within the story itself. There were parts as I was reading where my hand literally flew to my mouth in shock.

It's a quick read, and I was appreciative that it was written chronologically and easy to follow. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but each plays a pretty significant role in the story arc.

If you're not a fan (or only a casual fan) of One Tree Hill, I think this memoir will still be interesting to read from the cult aspect, as it really paints a complete picture from start to finish of being targeted, groomed, and then finally the wake up call to leave. If you're a die-hard OTH fan like I am, you'll love the recognizable players mentioned (Hilarie, Sophia, Daphne, Paul, James...) but just to manage expectations: this isn't a One Tree Hill tell-all. You get glimpses of her time behind the scenes, but mostly as it relates to her being socially isolated by the cult, and then rebuilding relationships afterward.

One thing I do wish she talked about more though was her relationship with Haley's storyline in terms of getting married and pregnant in high school. Knowing that she had so many people in her ear about her career choices from the religious perspective, I'm curious if this influenced Haley's trajectory as a character.

Overall, I felt it was paced well. It's not very long and I never really felt it lagging, though I do feel that the ending was a little more rushed than the first two parts. It just seemed like we got a lot more of her inner thoughts during the grooming process versus the leaving process. Additionally, I think hearing more about recovery from this experience would have added a lot of value as Joy has mentioned on some talk shows that the aftermath was harder than her time in the cult.

I would have also liked to read more about how she co-parents with her ex-husband. She mentioned visitation rights in the beginning of their separation, but I imagine a lot was left out for the protection of her daughter. It would be interesting to hear how she navigates letting her have a relationship with someone who caused her so much pain.

I am so glad that she decided to share her story. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC-- I was literally jumping up and down when I was given the opportunity to read it ahead of release.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I loved One Tree Hill and was so excited when I got a copy of this. I screamed. This story is mind-blowing and I loved every minute of it.

I've been looking forward to this for a long time. I'm an avid listener of the Drama Queen podcast, as I watched the show when I was in my 20s, and I'm the same age at the Queens. It's been super interesting listening to them reflect on the show every week. I have to be honest, Joy is my least favorite Queen, but I've been super curious about her story, as she's been teasing it for a long time.

This book is super dishy and compelling. As a formerly religious person, and someone who is deeply obsessed with cults, I was all in on the religious cult aspect. The whole thing is real gross and concerning, and of course in retrospect it's obvious what was happening. I'm sad she wasted all that time, but glad she made it out the other end.

A note on the writing, and this was probably because this was an ARC, but there were multiple instances where entire paragraphs repeated themselves. Just needs a little editing.

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book*

Oof. Somehow, someway, Bethany Joy Lenz's debut memoir was one of the easiest books I've ever read and one of the hardest.

You (and I) know her as Haley James Scott from One Tree Hill, where she played Lucas's best friend, Nathan's wife, a musician, teacher, mom, and bestie. I've watched OTH many times. I'm rewatching it now with my husband. Haley was always my favorite character, the one I related to the most. To know what was going on behind the scenes of this cult TV show in her personal life is so...sad.

I often wondered while listening to the Drama Queens podcast and seeing social media posts made by on-screen besties Hilarie and Sophia why their relationship with Joy seemed so strained and distant. Like there were gaps and years missing. I now know why. Joy was in a cult for 10 years, isolated from her real family, old friends, and co-stars.

If cult culture interests you, pick up this book. The things that this man (who would, spoiler alert, become her FATHER-IN-LAW) did are abhorrent. The abuse she suffered was severe. And the thing is, a quick Google search will show that he still practices what he preaches and has multiple business ventures. Cancel this man!

My only wish with this book is that it were longer. Obviously, that would be ridiculous as it was already pretty lengthy and covering a lot of time, but sometimes I felt like things were rushed and I wasn't getting the full picture. Don't get me wrong, this was a cult. These people were crazy and manipulative and thieves. But the timelines sometimes were jarring to me (For example, we spend a LOT of time in 2005...so much so that I felt like a few of the months happened multiple times) and once she got married, we skipped three whole years! I feel like while what she was trying to say it was three years of more of the same, I wanted more. I wanted to know what was happening.

I also needed more of what lead to her breaking away. It felt like she went from fully trusting and believing in the cult to almost being so exhausted by it that she just...didn't anymore. In reality, I feel like it may have been a bit more complicated and nuanced, but for the sake of being concise, we arrived at the end quicker than we should have.

All in all, excellent book. I would've read more. I'm so sad for Joy, but happy that she found peace for herself and her daughter.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of one of my most anticipated books of the year! I had absolutely no idea about the trauma Lenz experienced during her time on one of my favorite shows, One Tree Hill. Hearing her tell her story is so brave but god, so many times I wanted to shake that past Bethany and tell her to get out!! The only thing holding me back from a full 5 star review is the excessive religion talk. I know the entire point is her time in a religious cult but there are many times she waxes poetic about her faith in a way that I could not relate to as someone who isn't religious at all. Those moments became a slog to read through, but overall a fantastic memoir!

I have always been a fan of One Tree Hill when it was on air, and even more so when I lived in Wilmington, NC and was able to visit the filming locations. Bethany Joy Lenz has always been a favorite of mine on the show and in other projects she has been a part of. I was shocked to learn that she was once part of a cult, which she talks about in her book. The book was incredibly moving, causing me to feel a mix of emotions from disbelief to empathy as she detailed her experiences. It made me angry that she could be manipulated in such a way, but she does a great job of explaining her journey. In the end, I felt deep sadness for what she went through, but I also felt happy that she overcame it and still has such a positive outlook on life.

Wow. I was (am) a huge One Tree Hill fan, and I never knew throughout watching the show what Bethany Joy Lenz was experiencing behind the scenes.

As Joy mentions in the book, she worried once she finally came out with her story that her "cult" wasn't salacious or "culty" enough for people to be interested. However, this story gripped me from the get-go. Growing up in church and understanding the culture that comes along with American Christianity, it is really easier than you'd think to be able to imagine how Joy got so interlaced with The Big House Family. There is a lot of commitment to surrendering and submissiveness that can easily become the conduits for bad people who want to manipulate others and demand power. It is really fascinating, albeit beyond disturbing, to see the slow progression of how people in these high demand groups break you down over time until you are questioning your own thoughts and instincts.

I do feel like when Joy got into the portion of the story about her marriage, a lot of the detail and her internal processing of those years was skipped over. However, I can appreciate that that is likely for the sake of her daughter. In terms of the flow of the story, through, it felt like there was so much detail of the early years of the "family" and then the later years when she started to question things, those parts were rushed through.

That being said, I still loved this book and flew through it. I am really happy that she told this story and I think that fans of One Tree Hill, as well as anyone who is fascinated by cults in general, will find this story very compelling and interesting.


Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Bethany Joy Lenz for the opportunity to read this book and share my honest review.

A compelling memoir that I am grateful to the publisher, author and netgalley for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Joy tells a captivating timeline of events about her personal past in alignment with her professional happenings. A fascinating read that I would recommend to any OTH fan!

For better or worse, I am a big One Tree Hill fan. So, the first thing to note is that if you're looking for a detailed account of Joy's experience on the show- nostalgic or entertaining behind-the-scenes stories, her take on the accusations against the show's creator or intimate tales about or with her co-stars- you're not going to get it. Considering the current re-watch podcast, "Drama Queens" which I faithfully listen to, I at least expected more commentary on the evolution of her relationships with Sophia and Hilarie, but nope. (I can count on one hand the number of times their names were mentioned.)

This book title and subtitle should simply be reversed: Dinner for Vampires- Life in a Cult: While Also Being on a Cult TV Show!

She gets the role on One Tree Hill about 35% into the book and the show ends around 80%. And within those chapters, the show is mostly a parallel timeline to her real life and the escalation of her bible study group to a high demand "family" aka cult. Very little of this book highlights the cult following the show had and still has to this day.

That said, it so happens that I am also extremely interested in cults, so I was still very engaged with this book. She tells the story slowly and sincerely, the way I imagine it happened and felt for her. She found a group where she felt accepted, loved and safe, a family that felt stronger and more peaceful than the one she was born into. I understood why she fell in love with these people. I'd want this feeling too, especially as a young actor essentially alone in LA. The alarms don't really start to go off until you find yourself isolated from your family and friends, losing your autonomy and millions of dollars. Oh, and you're married to the leader's son. Yikes.

I'll be interested to see how this is received when it's officially out in the world. I think people who've been or are in a similar situation will make a lot of connections to Joy's story. I think those fascinated by cult stories will want to understand how this one played out. I think general One Tree Hills fans will think it misses the mark in terms of it not being a balanced story of the show and the cult. But Bethany Joy Lenz fans will appreciate her insight and vulnerability in sharing her story.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. Not rating her experience but the writing and organization of the book.

i’m not a huge fan of one tree hill, i actually watched it for the first time last year and i really enjoyed it. i loved nathan and haley so i decided i wanted to give this a read. especially because im very fascinated by cult memoirs. i read a lot of fictional books but for some reason they don’t capture cults very well in my opinion. obviously because this was based on someone lived experience i felt it was captured well. this book was quick and i liked the timeline it talked about the events because some memoirs go back and forth. anyway i definitely recommend

Wow! I devoured this story in less than 24 hours.

If you have any interest in cults, this is for you. It’s common to hear about the before life of someone in a cult and then the aftermath of them getting out. This book does a great job at explaining in detail the before, during and after life in a cult.

The authors story is so relatable in terms of how/why she stayed in this “family” for so long. It’s easy to say that something like this would never happen to me. Or that the people that are in cults are uneducated and stupid for not realizing they’ve been sucked into a crazy world. Aside from the author becoming a famous actress, her story could be the story of anyone just looking to belong and have a family.

I would’ve loved to hear this as an audiobook with the author as the narrator. However, this is a book that I would highly recommend.

Thank you to #netgalley and the author for providing an ARC for my honest opinion.

As a huge fan of One Tree Hill, I was so excited to be selected to read an ARC of this book. I was seriously so impressed by the way Lenz tells her story, through a mix of both comedy and tragedy. Her story is exhilarating and shocking, especially after watching OTH so many times and never noticing what was going on behind the camera.

I knocked off one star because I felt like there was no connection to the “cult” part of a “cult tv show”. I enjoyed every time she talked about the show and anyone involved, but being considering the title, I thought we’d get more of an insight to how cult tv show fans act & interact with stars, etc etc. Regardless, I am so elated I got to read this and I think that people are going to be surprised to listen to Bethany Joy Lenz’ story.

Thank you NetGalley & the publishers for the ARC :)

I was totally riveted by Joy’s account of her faith journey and involvement in a cult. I flew through this book because it was so intriguing, especially as a fan of One Tree Hill (which she was filming while many events of this book took place). She writes so candidly and with the added benefit of hindsight. Hearing her retrospective take on the cult leaders and behaviors was so interesting because many of us are probably inclined to wonder how someone could possibly fall into something so nefarious.

I do wish that two things had been featured more prominently: 1) her experiences on the set of OTH (they were mentioned briefly but not very much—I expected more from this angle because of the subtitle and 2) her faith journey after leaving the cult.

At the beginning, she notes that much of the information came from her own personal journals, and the book read very much like a journal. It was easy to read, but the prose was not necessarily exemplary. This did not detract from my enjoyment of the content, however. There was also some language (several uses of s*** and f***).

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC!

I was an avid fan of one tree hill and I loved reading this about BJL’s life. I had no idea she was going through all this during filming of the show. Easy read and gives a good inside look at cults and how they work.

Wow this book automatically 5 stars from me. I loved everything about this and how Joy truly opened up with her readers to discuss her journey to self realization and finding her value. I loved her acting on OTH and I love the podcast the girls have so I was thrilled when I got to read and review this book. Sharing a part of your life with readers is so hard and she did it in the most thoughtful and eye opening way. I can’t wait to own a copy of this book.

Thank you for the chance to read this book! I first discovered Bethany Joy Lenz when she was on “Guiding Light” as Michelle and loved her storyline with Danny. This is the story of her life as a young adult who is looking for connection and joins a religious group brag is a cult. It’s heartbreaking reading of the way she loses control of her career choices, family/friends outside of “The Family,” and her hard-earned money. Thankfully, she is able to break free for herself and her daughter. One Tree Hill isn’t the main plot of this book, but we do learn how some of the parents on the show play a part in helping her rebuild her life after her divorce.
It’s sad everything Joy had to go through as she truly seems like a wonderful person, but she showed her strength in overcoming everything she had to.

I generally try not to rate autobiographies with a star rating - but since Net Galley and Simon & Schuster gave me a chance to read an early copy I will make an exception. I always hold a great amount of respect for people that are brave enough to speak their truth which is why I normally shy away from rating books of this nature.

The people that read this book hoping for lots of material regarding Joy’s experiences on One Tree Hill will probably be disappointed - cast members and moments are definitely mentioned, but this book details how Joy found herself a member of a cult and how she eventually climbed her way out of it. What she got wrapped up in and how it progressed was sad and even scary at times… she was emotionally manipulated and the cult ‘leader’ basically saw a naive young woman that he could control. The cult twisted the way Joy saw herself and other people and I’m just proud of her for finally finding the courage to break free so her daughter wouldn’t be raised in that environment.

I sincerely hope that this is not the last book that Joy writes because she absolutely as a talent for it. Her story captivated me and held my interest all the way through and I continue to be a fan!

I enjoyed reading Joy’s memoir and was equally fascinated and heartbroken by her story. The story is better than the writing, but my main complaint is the title and cover. It wasn’t until the end of the book that the title even remotely made sense. It should have been a theme throughout the book or called something else entirely. The cover is not good and not fitting. Still, it takes immense courage to share what she did, and I hope — despite the lacking title and cover — that putting this out there heals her a little more each day.

this was different from other memoirs I have read before. This was more like a story about her life within the cult and working in Hollywood and realizing that you are in a cult. She married the wrong person , and the cult drained her money. She was able to get back to working and taking care of her daughter. she also repaired many relationships. Yeah for her dad . Great book. I did watch one tree hill too.