Hello everyone!
I'm so pumped to talk about today's book. Its one of my favorite reads from this year and I was not expecting to love it as much as I did. When I received an email about this book, I decided to give it a chance not knowing much about Bethany Joy Lenz or One Tree Hill, and I'm so glad that I did. This post may contain spoilers.
Let’s get into it!
Here are the quick facts:
eBook
Publishers: Simon and Schuster
Publishing Date: October 22, 2024
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 5/5 stars
320 pages
Bethany Joy Lenz starred in the CW's hit show One Tree Hill from 2003 to 2012 as one of the main characters Haley James Scott. I had heard of the show, being in middle school when the show finished airing, but I had never had a desire to watch it. While cohosting the Drama Queens podcast, a recap of the show, with cohosts Hilarie Burton Morgan and Sophia Bush, Lenz causally mentioned that she was in a cult during the show's entirety. This comment lead to her deciding to write this memoir starting in her childhood, into her introduction in the cult, and its deep affects on her life.
My rule of thumb is that regardless of the content of a memoir I do rate it five stars because I find that the bravery and strength that's necessary to write your story and share it is something I don't posses and admire in the authors of these books. With that being said, I really enjoyed this book. The clear narrative of how Lenz fell into the high control group and how deeply it impacted her life in so many ways. It helped that there was a clear thread of the "hows" that led to Lenz being the perfect target. She was young, had moved across the country, and was devout in her faith as a Christian which led her to a Bible study group that eventually because apart of the Big House Family, what she names the high control group.
Though One Tree Hill is her most notable work, the book itself doesn't rely on her success while on the show. She was already so enmeshed in this group that Wilmington, NC and her time on the show almost felt like the backdrop to a much larger story. Lenz does a good job of giving herself grace for falling into this group while still holding herself accountable for the choices she made to get there. I feel as though she did leave stuff out, which is within her right of sharing her story, but at some points it did feel vague. However, I understand why she would err on the side of caution given that, I believe, that this group still exists and the other members of that group didn't consent to having everything shared.
While doing her promotional tour for this book, Lenz has done a hand full of interviews that help create a larger picture of the group and her time in it. In addition to reading the book, I would highly recommend listening to her interview with Alex Cooper on the podcast, Call Her Daddy It's a well done interview that, personally, helped me round out what I had read. I've also been watching One Tree Hill because of this book, which is a really great soapy sort of show if you're into that genre. Thank you again to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advanced copy of the book
Dinner For Vampires Life on a Cult TV Show is out today, October 22, 2024. I'll link places down below to purchase the book. I highly recommend checking it out even if you're not a fan of One Tree Hill.
Until next time!
Links:
Simon and Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Dinner-for-Vampires/Bethany-Joy-Lenz/9781668067307
Bethany Joy Lenz Call Her Daddy Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7oBL6muiAa2k0patL2Nxru?si=dbd6209fb1544bef
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