Newcomer Cait Corrain, in her debut as an author, has become embroiled in controversy over allegations of orchestrating review manipulation on Goodreads
The accusations gained widespread attention when fellow writer Xiran Jay Zhao took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to publicly criticize Corrain. Despite Corrain’s denial of involvement in the deceptive reviews, online users remain skeptical.
Author Cait Corrain fake reviews on Goodreads controversy drama explained as she review bombs authors
you can’t post any reviews for Cait Corrain’s Crown of Starlight. it’s a shame that goodreads didn’t provide this grace to the POC authors Cait review bombed with fake accounts. pic.twitter.com/HN8jxOuySV
— .˳⁺⁎˚ ꒰ఎ kenzie ໒꒱ ˚⁎⁺˳ . (@AURALVAMPlRE) December 9, 2023
This might be me being a whole villain but why should I give a single damn about Cait Corrain's mental health when she's been PURPOSFULLY and MANIACALLY trying to sabotage Black and Brown authors? Like… y'all good? I don't care about her at all in this scenario. pic.twitter.com/OiFOjqLti3
— Neeks ✨💀✨OATHBOUND TO SHAKESUM (@ItsNeeksYeah) December 9, 2023
Zhao Expressed Dissatisfaction
On December 6, Xiran Jay Zhao, another debut author, took to their official X account to express dissatisfaction, stating, “If you, as a debut author, are going to create numerous fake Goodreads accounts to give one-star reviews to debut works you perceive as competition, could you at least avoid making it blatantly obvious by up-voting your own books on numerous lists using those same accounts?”
Although Cait Corrain was not explicitly named, a netizen with the username @Natalie_Lief seemingly exposed her connection to the incident on December 7.
Lief asserted that Zhao’s remarks referred to Corrain and disclosed that several debut novels, including those by Danielle Jensen, Molly Chang, K M Enright, Kamilah Cole, and Frances White, received a series of undeserved one-star reviews.
Conversely, Corrain’s book, “Crown of Starlight,” received multiple five-star ratings from questionable accounts and was featured on various ‘highly anticipated’ reading lists.
Further fueling the controversy, the Goodreads account Tasty Spam categorized certain debut books under a list titled ‘Fake Reviews Bad Writing,’ where Bethany Baptiste’s debut work made an appearance.
A viral Google document compiled evidence of rivaling books receiving fake reviews while Corrain’s book received positive remarks, spanning 31 pages of “receipts.” For those unfamiliar, review bombing involves flooding the internet with multiple one-star reviews without actually reading or fairly critiquing the book.
Cait Corrain Admitted?
This not only affects a book’s ratings but can also lead to unfair reviews on platforms like Goodreads, influencing its overall performance. As the situation unfolded, Cait Corrain admitted on Slack that her friend, referred to as “Lilly,” was responsible for the negative reviews on her competitors’ books.
Corrain shared screenshots of her confronting Lilly, expressing concern about potential repercussions for her career. However, skeptics questioned the authenticity of the provided screenshots, citing inconsistencies in timestamps and dramatic language.
In response to the controversy, Cait Corrain opted to make her social media accounts private. Meanwhile, Bethany Baptiste, one of the affected authors, took to X to address the situation, using the term “albino snake in the hen house” to describe the challenges debut authors face.
This sparked accusations of ableism, with Baptiste defending her choice of words as metaphorical and not ableist. Cait Corrain, described as a “writer and artist” from the East Coast who uses she/them pronouns, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Her debut novel, “Crown of Starlight,” is a “snarky, queer, lushly romantic duology” inspired by the Greek gods Ariadne and Dionysus, with a scheduled release date of May 14, 2024.
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