UPDATE: It seems the publisher has removed the author from their 2024 release schedule. I don’t normally do reactions but with how much detail there is to a story like this, it felt more appropriate to give full in context thoughts like this rather than the 5-8 minutes a fantasy news story is able to receive. Let me know your thoughts!
@hinnakoto
9 ай бұрын
wild stuff 😳 great coverage and i like how respectful you are, you just dragged the author’s actions, no personal attacks
@dreddiknight
9 ай бұрын
You did good here 👍🏿 Thank you
@whiteraven562
9 ай бұрын
Good on the publishers to yank her book. No rewards for assholes like this
@ericduey9556
9 ай бұрын
I enjoy reaction videos where the person doing the reaction adds significant commentary and participates in a wider discussion (like you did here). Lots of reaction "creators" have a big content parasitism problem, but that's far from what I would expect here if you decide to do this again in the future.
@shanejayell
9 ай бұрын
Publisher, Agent, and Illumicrate are all cutting ties. She's done.
@marianamauricio
9 ай бұрын
this person got their book published, had incredible cover artists, had positive ARC reviews, had deals with one of the most popular book boxes to make special editions of their book, and they ruined it all by being greedy……. destroying your career like this is WILD
@shanejayell
9 ай бұрын
What blows me away is they gave her a chance to just apologize and promise not to do it again, and she refused it and kept lying.
@Omar-kl3xp
9 ай бұрын
What’s the book name that they published,I just don’t want to buy a book from this author accidentally.
@meikusje
9 ай бұрын
@@Omar-kl3xpthe book deal got pulled, I believe, so their book hasn't been published.
@shanejayell
9 ай бұрын
Crown of Starlight@@Omar-kl3xp
@MariaRodriguez-dx6sm
9 ай бұрын
She literally had success served to her in a silver plate, and she ruined it because she was still insecure and needed to bring others down to feel better. Classic mean girl behavior
@opo3628
9 ай бұрын
It just blows my mind. Cait had *everything* an aspiring author could ever hope for, and she flushed it all down the toilet...because she felt threatened? How? Does she not realize that there's no law that says any given reader can only choose one book in a genre to buy and read? If she actually did all this solely to sabotage PoC authors, then she's a *huge* piece of 💩! Regardless, Cait got exactly what was coming to her. Her career as an author is utterly destroyed -- ended before it even truly began. And she has absolutely nobody to blame but herself.
@rickwrites2612
5 ай бұрын
Her reputation is ruined. Any author can easily start over with a psuedonym. Assuming they can really write.
@interstellar_1003
9 ай бұрын
some of the authors she review bombed were even on the SAME IMPRINT! the same publisher. toxic and deranged!
@gizemunver6188
9 ай бұрын
One of them had the same agent as her i think, and the agent dropped her she announced it on twitter😊
@nichoudha
9 ай бұрын
Wow, backstabbing your agent after they got you published. That's so wild. @@gizemunver6188
@medeiapsyche
9 ай бұрын
And one of books she review bombed was even her FRIEND's, Thea Guanzon's book (The Hurricane Wars). Her friend even gave good reviews on her book.
@thankscovey
9 ай бұрын
the author could’ve used all this energy to promote her book.
@LilyEvans1996
9 ай бұрын
Envy is a scary thing
@apeculiarproject3501
9 ай бұрын
my thought exactly - why not just do some real marketing?
@AnonymousOnimous
9 ай бұрын
We're getting toasty standing this close to the dumpster fire. Thank you to Xiran Jay Zhao for going so in depth for this.
@cherryblossomings
9 ай бұрын
One of the craziest parts of this story was that in Cait’s fake discord chat, they legit admitted to targeting POC “for shits and giggles” like wtf they knew they were being racist !! They had so much potential and still felt so threatened
@anonview
9 ай бұрын
I'm a beta-reader with experience in the publishing industry, and I can confirm that she is going to have a _very_ hard time getting traditionally published from now on. Allegedly, big agents and editors have a blacklist of author names to avoid because of bad behavior. I know several aspiring authors who would die to get the kind of golden opportunity she had. Aspiring authors who are actually nice and approachable, and who will even lift up their fellow writers despite the already tight competition. Such a shame.
@luanals5199
9 ай бұрын
I've been on many strong meds to treat my mental illness, that I've had horrible reactions and side effects to. Doing anything like this doesn't seem like something you can blame your meds on. When you're mentally ill, you already have to fight against being seen as crazy and irresponsible. People like this just contribute to the stigma, in order to save themselves from responsibility and it's disgusting.
@wyvern723
9 ай бұрын
I miss Xiran's posts in KZitem. That being said, I'm super excited for the sequel to Iron Widow. This is some really petty behavior. They were getting hype, good reviews. Why? Wow. Review bombing an author gave you a blurb? Yuck.
@KaiInMotion
9 ай бұрын
IRON WIDOW was brutal as fuck! Loved every minute of it. I can't wait for Heavenly Tyrant and I have no idea what to expect.
@jaginaiaelectrizs6341
9 ай бұрын
Why did I think Daniel had actually read a book by them? 🤔🤔😅
@safaiaryu12
9 ай бұрын
I also miss their KZitem posts!! Though it's a bit personal, since I actively avoid "X" (Twitter) and go through long phases of not checking Tumblr... so it's my own fault that I don't see their posts, lol. But they have great takes, I've learned a ton about the French Revolution, and Iron Widow is a wild ride!!! Can't wait for Heavenly Tyrant!
@gizemunver6188
9 ай бұрын
Same!! Tho i saw that heavently tyrant got pushed back to september in the uk idk about canada release
@JAAAY62
9 ай бұрын
I also miss their long KZitem videos!!
@aaronharvey5625
9 ай бұрын
I’m so baffled by their choice to do this. I understand insecurity and all but other authors aren’t your competitors! Their book sounds interesting, the cover is gorgeous and eye catching, they have (had) a pretty big name publisher putting it out. If it’s at all well written they were going to see success. This is just ASTOUNDINGLY stupid.
@laceyschan5095
9 ай бұрын
Absolutely wild the things people think they can get away with online, ESP WHEN THEY COME FROM NOTORIOUSLY OBSESSIVE ONLINE COMMUNITIES
@Erin-n7r
9 ай бұрын
Apparently both Illumicrate and their agent dropped them 😬😬
@catherineelmore2004
9 ай бұрын
As of 4 hours ago *their publisher too*. Like... Their book deal is no more.
@Omar-kl3xp
9 ай бұрын
What’s the author name ?
@Milovatsi
9 ай бұрын
@@Omar-kl3xp cait corrain
@tylernixon652
9 ай бұрын
The Yugi and Obama in her background photo is killing me lmao
@wonderfulkitty
9 ай бұрын
What really sucks is how she targeted mostly poc writers. Pure meanness.
@cerebralrhetoric1013
3 ай бұрын
Really? You mean people of the White color?
@TessOfTheEmeraldSea
9 ай бұрын
15:13 I honestly believe it’s because she realised the extent of what she had done and doubling down made her the victim. Suddenly what had happened to these authors was nothing compared to what happened to her. SHE was the one whose friend betrayed her, SHE was the one whose insecurities were weaponised and used against her. Like sure these authors got 1 star reviews but SHE was the real victim, she got the real world hurt, she lost a friend, yadayadayada Utterly pathetic and I feel for all the people she’s hurt.
@L_For_Literature
9 ай бұрын
Dude, I appreciate how mature you are. Because you’re absolutely correct. People would take something like that too far with possible violence lol
@cindynguyen5661
9 ай бұрын
The hype for Crown of Starlight was massive and Cait Corrain just threw it all away for racism. I’ve been a long time fan of Xiran and my respect for her grew so much from this.
@kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061
7 ай бұрын
Just a friendly heads up that Xiran's pronouns are they/them.
@cindynguyen5661
6 ай бұрын
@@kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061 thanks for letting me know
@MDTuckerWritingAmbience
9 ай бұрын
i may be wrong since i'm not aware of Cait's history or if she wrote for reading apps (or something similar), but this feels like terminally online behavior 😮💨 like "it works on [this site]" without any awareness that lack of accountability doesn't really exist anywhere else. shame that most people will only know her for this now.
@LarenOz
9 ай бұрын
Honestly in terms of fanfic/fandom this whole episode is pretty tame. Though the Reylo involvement was like some sprinkles on top! 😂
@GummyDinosaursify
9 ай бұрын
@@LarenOz The Reylo fandom pulling out a google doc of every single Reylo tweet in order to prove that Lilly never existed is on another plane of existence with how absolutely insane that sounds.
@daviddarlingauthor
9 ай бұрын
BRUTAL.... As an author, and a person, I can't imagine doing this.
@sunflowerpolka
9 ай бұрын
I was going to skip my Illumicrate January subscription which featured Voyage of the Damned by Frances White…because I saw it was rated so low on GR (I am new to GR) I didn’t know review bombing was an issue… I ended up not skipping it and gave it a chance.. and now I am finding out all this… yeah never using GR 😂
@Liam-zn6pk
9 ай бұрын
Be mindful of when things are rated low especially if it features LGBT characters. The Far Right love review bombing my existence
@ZimVader-0017
9 ай бұрын
@@Liam-zn6pkAn LGBTQIA+ author took those one-star reviews he got from bigots and printed them on the back cover of the physical version of the book. His pettiness is what made me buy it 😂
@ladyscarlette6289
9 ай бұрын
I watched this unfold pretty much live, and I still don't understand Cait and her motivations. It is clearly malicious and she just tanked herself, on purpose. Did she think this wouldn't come out?
@LadyScaper
9 ай бұрын
People who do this sort of thing, think it’s normal and she probably did it a lot before and didn’t get caught.
@KaraLambo
9 ай бұрын
Looks like someone is angling to be subject to a Yellowface sequel
@rio425ee
9 ай бұрын
Dropping this as a separate video was definitely the right move. Devoting a large section of what needs to be a fast paced collection of the weeks news to a pause, react, pause again section would have been an error. Dropping this video and being able to direct fantasy news viewers to it instead, is just good form.
@t.a.summers
9 ай бұрын
I didn't know you were going to cover this, so Im settling in. (Also, thank you for your thoughts.)
@BooksRebound
9 ай бұрын
Oh I love Xiran. I miss them. I haven't seen them in ages cause they haven't posted on KZitem in ages. 😢
@litlbucky
9 ай бұрын
I had heard some subscription box services were going to feature the author’s book before this all happened, I wonder if they can replace it with something else or if too late because of printers and contracts?
@whiteraven562
9 ай бұрын
Apparently, the publisher has pulled the book from their publication schedule so there isn't going to be anything to put in the boxes. Hopefully, Illumicrate and any other services had backups on standby
@nadieali
9 ай бұрын
When you were almost caught, you lied on Twitter acting surprised that someone made these fake accounts, committing a "nasty" act of bashing smaller authors when it was you all along. So, you were fully aware of your actions and how horrible they were you just never thought you'd get caught. That alone dismisses everything she said in her apology statement for me, hope she learn from this.💔
@HeidiMalagisi
9 ай бұрын
Her debut was just cancelled by Del Rey Books
@TheGallicWitch
9 ай бұрын
Unrelated by gods I hate Lore Olympus. The author is so creepy and their creepiness seeps into every fiber of that comics. The weird dynamics, the INSANE AGE GAP, the stalker, possessive, borderline abusive behaviour of Hades, how all the women around Koré/Persephone just normalise the relationship, the whole thing just creeps me the fuck out and I'm even more creeped out by how popular this has gotten despite the weird behaviour of the author, their characters and the whole fanbase around it. I really hope you won't neglect to mention the super rapey vibes if you ever do a review of it.
@erfanashkan5925
9 ай бұрын
the thing i dont get is why try to fake the discord messages ? if she had just denied any knowledge of this it would have been hard to decide if she was actualy guilty.
@IamAlmostRealWitch
9 ай бұрын
yeah, it could be some fan of her. people on internet are unhinged and review bombing is really common.
@erfanashkan5925
9 ай бұрын
@@IamAlmostRealWitch i could have believed that if she hadnt clearly photoshoped those chats. (she actualy apologized and said it was her in the end btw. but people are not realy happy with her apology )
@ZimVader-0017
9 ай бұрын
@@IamAlmostRealWitchCait confessed that it was all their doing and that apparently has been review bombing and making fake accounts since 2022.....
@opo3628
9 ай бұрын
Yeah, if Cait wanted to escape true culpability, she should have just continued to deny the allegations and suggest that maybe it was the work of a crazy super fan, instead of actually trying to fabricate such an elaborate, absurd story. It makes me wonder if her accusers had more damning evidence against her than what we know of.
@questionmoney
9 ай бұрын
Grrrrtrrrrrr I care not but care a little. I’m tired
@melaniehenry8821
9 ай бұрын
Thank you for this video shedding light on this! I think this should be a lesson to us all: don’t decide whether or not to read a book simply by the goodreads ratings. I’ve read books rated 3-3.5 stars that were wonderful. I’ve read books rated 3.5-5 stars that weren’t as good as some lower rated books. It’s the modern equivalent of don’t judge a book by it’s cover ❤️
@armanisar-feinial1789
9 ай бұрын
You should do this more often, this was hilarious.
@KaceyMcNeil-x2p
8 ай бұрын
She didn't handle it privately because she thought she would have gotten away with it.
@jp8649
9 ай бұрын
Unfortunately, I feel like it takes a lot of time to gain the self-awareness to grow from something like this if you're willing to do it in the first place. We're not going to get actual accountability from them any time soon :/ At least, not with the intention of actually setting things right. The author is probably purely in self-preservation mode and only cares about manipulating their way out of this situation since they seem to perceive getting caught in their bs as worse than hurting other people.
@LadyScaper
9 ай бұрын
Yep, master manipulators ONLY know how to manipulate. When caught, the only answer to “get out of this”, is to manipulate more. Look at the deals she got for a debut. Probably did A LOT of manipulating to get that much success thrown at her.
@robertblume2951
9 ай бұрын
Does anyone remember the Requires Hate drama from about a decade ago? It was very similar but had death threats and she pretended to be Thai.
@Seiaeka
9 ай бұрын
I can't understand why anyone would do this, even if they didn't already have a deal going. Like, wtf. Also, I can't wait for my friend to finish their book, because as one of the betta readers, I EFFING LOVE IT, and I can't wait to shill it out to everyone with all the fiber of my being and the burning passion of 10 million suns.
@pandapenguin10
9 ай бұрын
Love you
@x3rascalflatts
9 ай бұрын
I am not really part of booktube other than watching videos and following a few authors on Instagram so hearing about this was absolutely wild! It's so sad seeing sormone destroy their own career which looked promising. There were a couple debuts she review-bomed I haven't been planning to buy from book boxes because they're not the genre I like to read, but now I will go out of my way to support them and not her. She shot herself in the foot and then some with her behavior.
@ZimVader-0017
9 ай бұрын
Same here. Some of the books affected aren't what I usually go for (I prefer murder mysteries rather than romance), but I pre-ordered those I could afford.
@christianemden7637
9 ай бұрын
goodreads reviews have become fairly useless, for evidence I'd like to point to the glowing reviews of thorn of Emberlain by Scott Lynch, a book waiting to be finished for almost a decade. But Goodreads allows reviews and ratings oif unpublished books.
@T-Mo
9 ай бұрын
Thanks for the in depth reaction. I wrote a much longer comment, but couldn't summon the courage to send it. But your effort to bring this to attention level headed is commendable ❤️
@TheFlyingBookworm
9 ай бұрын
Me, participating in the Tapas romance writing competition, feeling guilty about my attempts to cheat the algorithm for visibility. *watches this video* Suddenly, asking people to click a link to bolster my views doesn't feel so criminal 😂
@warnerblair
9 ай бұрын
I have an arc of the author, who did the review bombing I comfortable reading and reviewing it especially on my TikTok.
@konowd
7 ай бұрын
Just learned about this. The publishing industry is awful enough as it is, and it’s hard enough out there without taking shots from your brethren.
@wandefter
9 ай бұрын
Amazon doesn't give a shit about goodreads
@davidpo5517
9 ай бұрын
I wonder if they were told by the publisher or their editor or someone that all these other authors are their competitors? Because although it's technically true, that's not how authors view each other, that's more how publishing companies view similar genre books (like Divergent vs. Hunger Games).
@noraeld5020
9 ай бұрын
Woah I didn't know Xiran wrote books
@FablestoneSeries
9 ай бұрын
Some people get into this industry for all the wrong reasons. Their ego, their hero worship and their wish fulfillment has guided them to make poor choices.
@karlcattegut8100
9 ай бұрын
I think the first videos i watched of yours were the ones where hate on the functionality and design of goodreads. Because I had googled to find out if goodreads sucked or it was just me
@rapha_spi
9 ай бұрын
Tragic
@CGFernandesOficial
9 ай бұрын
This is actually very sad and I hope she seeks help, imagine being that insecure and miserable.
@opo3628
9 ай бұрын
And this was all *despite* her (former) literary success and achievements that most aspiring writers would give their left eye and arm for. There is just no satisfying some people. 🤷♂
@TheSlurpy11
9 ай бұрын
Author sabotage doesn't make sense because reading is a consumption hobby. Nobody ever just reads one book?? Writing books should NOT be a competitive career. Other authors are not your competition - they are your colleagues. So stuff like this doesn't make sense, especially in an industry so dependent on marketing and perception.
@o_o-lj1ym
9 ай бұрын
This is wild. Why do people do this.
@itsgonnabeanaurfromme
7 ай бұрын
12:13 I love that he says here and reacts to a very bad video of himself a month later. Very nice. And correct.
@debishvebishwish4839
9 ай бұрын
Rather than giving other people bad reviews, give yourself tons of good reviews. And that’s it. You don’t have to bomb review everyone else.
@GamersHolyArmy
8 ай бұрын
On the albino snake thing, I don't think it was ableist, but it does sound pretty racist though, especially since she clarified and said that it is in fact about race. I don't care if it's common in her culture, that doesn't make it better.
@dalasce9173
9 ай бұрын
Any idea which book this author bomb reviewed?
@HMAlves
9 ай бұрын
I can only imagine this as a catfish episode. SOOOORRYYYYY
@bumblewyn
9 ай бұрын
It really betrays someone's way of thinking when they think rating other (popular!) books badly and their own 5 stars will give people the impression their book is better, rather than the impression that this fake reviewer simply has bad taste. I frequently browse review profiles of people who rated my favourite books highly, to see what else they liked, because I trust we may have similar taste.
@jamesalexander958
9 ай бұрын
Now imagine what's going on with people who aren't completely inept. The internet is half astroturfing
@jrdeborja0000
9 ай бұрын
Cindy made a vid about this including the cait response. She made use of her condition to say they werent in the right mind. Ngl, she be lying to herself to feel less shitty. Cannot blame her but she cannot do anything about this issue and her career is goner.
@Aigra
9 ай бұрын
Question in this context - how relevant is the branding of the author these days? She constantly mentioned things like "a black disabled woman" and I assume that's how the author is marketed. Because unless her book's content is directly linked to her experiences it is irrelevant. Which leads to the question - does marketing put a target on authors by using their "race" etc. as a marketing tool?
@avaphynx
9 ай бұрын
It's not irrelevant because Cait was specifically went after black and poc writers. Even made that point in her fake conversation.
@Aigra
9 ай бұрын
@@avaphynx Did you understand what I asked? Because your comment has nothing to do with my question.
@katara2021
9 ай бұрын
@@Aigra To answer your question, people have taken the only member of such and such community to write such and such story to the next level, at least online so marketing has definitely started to lean that way. If you write a horror novel that just happens to have gay main character in a relationship chances are high your book will be marketed as LGBTQ book, double points if you are gay yourself. It started from a good place, giving spotlight to marginalized writers but now this kind of thinking is pigeonholing writers and their stories based on their identity. Its kind of like what women have dealt with for years where a book with young characters especially will be marketed as YA even though it's not YA.
@avaphynx
9 ай бұрын
@@Aigra I commented on the wrong. Comment lol
@jordanleighton6893
9 ай бұрын
7:30 Can you get those for discord dm’s? Unrelated to other stuff happening here I’m just curious if discord will actually release those to you
@ki5h0re
9 ай бұрын
Was this Cait that did this? If so she saw them as competition. No doubt some will support Cait. If the evidence is there.
@zynpkrdg
8 ай бұрын
rating your own book 5 stars from several accounts is literally the most normal thing to do daniel, don't worry haha. i think internet ratings of random people shouldn't really matter to start with? like it's just goodreads, i post the stupidest reviews sometimes that stem from super personal tastes that no one else probably should read lol.
@quinn0517
9 ай бұрын
You're right. Just a reminder that a shitload of common sayings in a lot of cultures are wicked ableist. It being common doesn't make it not an ableist statement. This POS individual hiding behind ableism as an excuse is ridiculously not ok (...and I'd say ableist behavior too) I will take my tangential comment on a random tangent of this issue & go. Thx Daniel for covering this & Xiran for all their diligence covering it.
@farawayfaerie8829
9 ай бұрын
Does this remind anyone of the movie Not Okay? 😅female lead creates fake screenshots, lies constantly, plays the victim, uses real victims to her advantage.
@Pablo360able
9 ай бұрын
The weirdest part of all this is definitely the three-star review bombs. Like, what are you even doing at that point?
@skleroosis
9 ай бұрын
I guess they thought the 1-star review bombing would be less obvious that way
@captainanopheles4307
9 ай бұрын
That casino story sounds just awful.
@aloha_uehara
9 ай бұрын
Jim Crow DNA is a helluva drug
@OxzrOZ
9 ай бұрын
Sup
@C0SSTY
9 ай бұрын
I stopped using Goodreads almost 2 years ago. It is full of crap, slow, and the user interface is awful. Moving to Storygraph was a very good decision. Some functions are lacking, especially social ones, but I actually find that to be a plus.
@HandofOmega
9 ай бұрын
Is this maybe related to the Sad Puppies movement? Is that still a thing??
@MetalGildarts
9 ай бұрын
No and no.
@JasonLorette
9 ай бұрын
Iron Widow is awesome, definitely check it out! What a bizarre thing for that author to do.
@alastorcorvus
9 ай бұрын
I think the situation is already pretty much solved, what a shit show. But I'd definitely recommend picking up Xiran's books, I've only read their debut novel Iron Widow and it's pretty great YA/romantasy novel, really enjoyed it.
@PassiveAgressive319
8 ай бұрын
This unfortunately will not affect her sales, as people will purchase her book out of curiosity ( a la ‘a million little pieces’ saga a decade and half ago -although that was about telling the truth)
@midnightbloomofeorzea7182
9 ай бұрын
Did they think that review bombing other books would somehow increase the number of good reviews they'd get? Thats not how that works. That's not how any of this works! Reviews aren't an economy where there is a certain number of good reviews to hand out. A reviewer is just as likely to rate every book they read highly as they are to give bad reviews to everyone. I just do not understand the mindset for why anyone would do that.
@godminnette2
9 ай бұрын
So that if people were looking for books in the same genre, they'd see one with 4.2 stars and one with 3.9 stars and figure they'll go buy the one with 4.2 stars.
@snatchadams69
9 ай бұрын
Wait! hol' up, did she_...yep, she definitely used the Roseanne Barr defense.
@Murderbits
7 ай бұрын
As a cripple I’m so tired f people whining about “ableism..
@NateReadsDiversely
9 ай бұрын
The refusal of the olive branch got me too. Pure ego. Blowing out someone else's candle is not going to make yours shine brighter.
@nofacej1
9 ай бұрын
No, but it might make yours the brightest one left shining. Anything to stand out I guess. The worst part about all of this is that I'm not actually surprised this happened. The only genuinely surprising part to me was how gracious the other authors were in extending an olive branch. It speaks well of them.
@verigumetin4291
9 ай бұрын
@@nofacej1 I mean, it's normal. It's only the usual asshole. Who cares? What is the point of being angry at an idiot?
@LadyOfAlchemy
9 ай бұрын
Cait has just posted a statement where she admits to everything and apologises, using her mental state (and new meds) as an explanation for the shitty behaviour. It really rubs me the wrong way when people use their mental health like a shield. No, Cait, you did what you did because you thought you could get away with it, not because the medication made you do it.
@randamnlee6259
9 ай бұрын
That’s even 💩ier than what she did! That shows a major lack of accountability
@hardnewstakenharder
9 ай бұрын
Whom amongst us hasn't turned racist due to changing medication?
@resir9807
9 ай бұрын
@@hardnewstakenharder maybe the new medication was a pragerU membership or smth
@thatfatgammer
9 ай бұрын
not everybody perceives explanations as an excuse they also admit that despite the contributing factors of mental health episode, drug use, and new medication she takes full accountability for her actions and they will be taking steps to recover through rehab and therapy, she also states that they will be reaching out to the authors affected and attempting to make amends. personally as someone who has had a similar event, I understand how acute mental episodes can include actions that you would not do other wise and can genuinely go against your core beliefs. it is worth noting that the POC majority was not mentioned in their apology, but may not have actually been a contributing factor as it seems the lists she was trying to get on were the major contributor with her even downvoting works by one major author who gets enough votes that her votes made not real difference. I do not defend their actions and will not be buying this book, but I hate the way neurotypicals approach attempts to explain a situation as "making excuses".
@krisselissan6539
9 ай бұрын
I am 100% not trying to defend her, but I think with the new meds part she may have been trying to say that she was discontinuing old meds and starting new ones that are supposed to have the same effect, so during that switch there would’ve been a period where she was not taking either medication, or only taking them at a low dose (because with a lot of psych meds you can’t just start at the dose you want to take but have to slowly ease into it by taking smaller doses over days). I know someone who is taking mood stabilisers and had to switch medications because the original ones they were taking had serious side effects, and their behaviour changed noticeably during the time where they were switching from one mood stabiliser to the other, and they said their symptoms had become worse. However, this behaviour by this author seems to have taken place over a few weeks and seems very coordinated, which (to my knowledge) is not typical of actions taken during something like a manic episode. Also it’s incredibly unlikely that she would not be regularly seeing a psychologist and/or psychiatrist while switching meds that can have such intense effects, and I’d hope that those trained medical professionals and friends or family would’ve helped her set guidelines that would’ve prevented a situation like this.
@nancyjay790
9 ай бұрын
I'm guessing Reads With Rachel is going to have a new Authors Behaving Badly episode.
@joelleblanc8670
9 ай бұрын
Omg yes, I love Rachel
@dulcimerthefairy4793
9 ай бұрын
Can’t wait
@Abyrae
9 ай бұрын
OMG yes!
@CKBrooke
9 ай бұрын
I’ve been waiting for this!
@PiaPancakes
9 ай бұрын
Yeees! 😂
@waystatus8945
9 ай бұрын
First, Hbomberguy posted a huge video exposing multiple plagiarizers. Then, Xiran Jay Zhao's video about the review bombing situation came out. AND the craziest part is this is all happening while I'm reading Yellowface!
@MeriDoug
9 ай бұрын
Ha! Perfect book for the situation xD
@dylanrodrigues
9 ай бұрын
I think characterizing it as mere drama really trivializes the whole affair. This is a targeted harassment of POC authors, which will have an impact on their livelihoods, not some online catfight.
@GummyDinosaursify
9 ай бұрын
She had the INTENT of impacting their livelihoods negatively. It actually had the opposite effect. It tanked her livelihood and boosted theirs.
@MissCaraMint
9 ай бұрын
Well there’s the event, and then there is the drama surrounding it. The actual event itself was absolutely horrible though.
@welza001
9 ай бұрын
Here are the authors who were affected by this if you want to go support them: So Let them burn- kamilah Cole The poison we drink- Bethany Baptiste To gaze upon wicked gods- Molly X Chang Voyage of the damned-Francis white Mistress of Lies-KM Enright
@medeiapsyche
9 ай бұрын
Also The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
@kimoose8
9 ай бұрын
I was always told that lifting up other authors doesn’t hurt you as an author. In fact, directing your readers toward other authors you think they will enjoy only adds to your credibility. You can’t write enough books to be the only author they read, so there’s space to support one another.
@colibri224
9 ай бұрын
I expect this kind of petty attitude from a 14-16 years old. But I suppose this author is sadly much older ?
@covu5699
9 ай бұрын
She is a grown ass woman so yeah. She has no excuse for that horrid behavior considering her age to be honest. Envy and racism in one package, that's Cait Corrain
@gizemunver6188
9 ай бұрын
Yes she is an adult
@LaughingStockfarm1
9 ай бұрын
Let’s face it, if someone can’t even write a convincing conversation with a ‘friend’, how good could the dialogue in the book be? 😏
@Ryne91
9 ай бұрын
Yeah, the fact that they couldn't write convincing dialogue for the screenshots there was a bit on the nose
@crimebrulee
9 ай бұрын
Lool true. That fake convo was painful to read.
@JGirDesu
9 ай бұрын
More like the fact they couldn't write a more believable lie shows bad on her book lol like plot twist, girl, you're the villain
@kabirarya5381
9 ай бұрын
"I TRUSTED YOU" top 10 never said by anybody in a discord chat unironically.
@YourBlackLocal
9 ай бұрын
Quick Tip: If you are a new author. 100% don't give your own books reviews, especially on new accounts. It can get you banned if the Amazon bots notice suspicious behaviour they'll terminate your KDP account in the belief that you bought/solicitated reviews.
@resir9807
9 ай бұрын
What if I go the "all publicity is good publicity" route in my reviews and fucking ANNIHILATE my book
@Pablo360able
9 ай бұрын
@@resir9807the same things will happen *and* people will see your review and not be interested in your work. believe it or not, self-deprecation tends to deprecate yourself
@RichieManuta-tj2wl
9 ай бұрын
@@resir9807 That depends if you get any publicity at all, like no one might notice if you yourself trash your own book, you need to make sure people know you're the one doing it otherwise you'll get yourself banned for nothing.
@5Gburn
9 ай бұрын
I'm flabbergasted by this behavior. Leave your book reviews alone in all senses of the concept, right?
@npckse8508
9 ай бұрын
This whole thing speaks to how horrible the entire publishing thing is. Its hard to trust reviews under the best of circumstances and something like Goodreads is worthless. I often read a book and then check the goodreads reviews to see what folks were saying. Sometimes the effusive praise on a mediocre book is telling, especially when several reviews use the same phrases, word for word when discussing the story. It is so easy to be manipulated in 2023 with tech and social media. The best any of us can do is sort of find a few folks we trust and hope for the best.
@asf8648
9 ай бұрын
I never use good reads. It's not that I don't trust it, I would just rather wander through a store and pick something up that I find interesting, then come to my own conclusion and feelings. I don't really see the point of it, as if I want reviews I'll read actual critics reviews.
@film79
9 ай бұрын
I think good reads is a little helpful if you can find specific reviewers to follow, but thats about it.
@BookishEmperor
9 ай бұрын
That's why it's best to just always do your own research on any given topic. Taking anyone elses opinion before forming your own is never a good idea. Between bots and paid reviews or whatever other bullshit is out there now, it's all so sketchy.
@claudiafernandes1150
9 ай бұрын
One book that i loved this year had a 3.5 on goodreads 😂. I do like to read some folks opinions, if i am really indecisive about giving a book a chance but usually i get my recs from the same 5 people and the classics list😂.
@supsup335
9 ай бұрын
I actually only look up the reviews on amazon, if the have the book, and usually start with the long, in depth, bad reviews. They are often far more informative, and i found some really good books this way.
@britnicox3929
9 ай бұрын
The messages between the fake account and Cait feel like a mental processing and justification of everything that happened and a way for her to air out the points that people will bring up and already resolve them in her head. A psychologist would have a field day with that
@thefriesofLockeLamora
9 ай бұрын
What's more heinous is Cait's book has main characters who are poc Congratulations to Cait for being the most wtf book community story since that author that faked her death and took donations for her funeral
@lastseenontuesday6040
9 ай бұрын
wait what? who's that lmaooo
@samid.4096
9 ай бұрын
@@lastseenontuesday6040 iirc that author is Susan Meachen, i'm like 90% sure that Reads with Rachel has a video about that whole debacle 😅
@avaphynx
9 ай бұрын
Albino Snakes are animals that exist. Her friend really tried to deflect.
@HandofOmega
9 ай бұрын
LSP: "Oh my Glob, you guys...Drama Bomb!!" Shows how far out of the loop I am that when "The Reylos" were described as getting involved...I assumed that was a reference to some group I didn't know anything about, until I looked at the text, and realized, oh no, these actually ARE literal Reylo shippers! Nothing wrong with that, just kinda surprised that's still a major thing...
@maya-gur695
9 ай бұрын
I honestly don't trust Goodreads anymore because of review bombings. I only get my book recommendations from friends or KZitemrs who I've been following for years and I feel like I can trust.
@aquariussolaris2492
9 ай бұрын
I go to the library and let the unicerse guide me
@thepriceisright048
9 ай бұрын
@@aquariussolaris2492 finding an amazing random book from the library is a certain feeling i can’t describe
@itsagoddam.pandamic
9 ай бұрын
I really appreciate the way you covered this and the fact that you told people not to harass the author. She deserves to be punished (and it sounds like she was), but not by an internet mob.
@KyleJDurrantAuthor
9 ай бұрын
This reminds me of a situation that occurred in my microcosm of the indie horror community, where an author (who also ran a couple of small presses) started review bombing other people in the community, and when they got found out it took a lot of "receipts" before they admitted to it, and they still tried to deflect for a while until admitting it was insecurity, but by then the damage was done and they dissolved their publishing businesses and unlisted their books - career over! Authors should be standing together; other authors are not competition. Surely we don't want to make people think every other book in the genre we're writing is bad, right? As an author myself (fantasy, some sci-fi, and horror/weird fiction, plus some superhero stuff), I will ALWAYS try to encourage and support my fellow writers because I understand how hard this industry is! Anyway...this was a great reaction, it felt very fair and balanced even with their being a clear "villain" in the drama, and your commentary was very informative (and you gave the original commentary the time to shine rather than talking over it).
@celseac8107
9 ай бұрын
I heard the author used the feedback of Greeks for her story - something necessary but unfortunately rarely done for Greek Myth retellings. Had the book entered the market, this type of cultural feedback could be more normalised, especially for Greeks. She literally screwed everybody, including people of the culture she tried to represent.
@cerebralrhetoric1013
3 ай бұрын
We the Greek people will survive.
@willowingwhispers2612
9 ай бұрын
Keep in mind her publisher dropped her from their 2024 schedule, but they haven't mentioned dropping her entirely. On Amazon, while the physical edition is no longer available for pre-order, the kindle edition of the book has been bumped back to May of 2027. I think all they did was bump the release date back to let this blow over. It's crappy she's blaming her mental illness and insecurities on her behavior. You don't get a free pass just because you suffer from those things. You're a crappy person, people are going to treat you like a crappy person.
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