Update : Late Monday evening , Corrainconfirmed that she ’d been brushup bombard POC source , attribute it to past battle with genial health . As she explicate on Twitter , she had a mental breakdown earlier this month , which resulted in her create the Goodreads accounts to advance A Crown of Starlight ’s rating and negatively review the playscript of other entry fantasy / sci - fi novels .
“ Two of those authors — Molly X. Chang and Danielle Jensen — are fellow Del Rey authors , ” Corrain pronounce . “ Kamilah Cole and Bethany Baptiste just befall to be on the wrong Goodreads listing at the wrong clip . I feel no ill will towards them , it was just my reverence of how my book would be received running out of control . [ … ] I ’m sorrier than you ’ll ever know , and there ’s nothing I can say to erase what I did to you . ”
A solemn excuse . I screw this is long , but that ’s because I ’m trying to own and openly address every facial expression of what I did.pic.twitter.com/MEtyDLCkDw
Image: Del Rey/Random House Group
— Cait ( @CaitCorrain)December 12 , 2023
Corrain further confirmed that her say ally “ Lilly ” was non - existing , acknowledge that it only further exacerbated the issue . In taking “ full responsibility ” to what happened , she said she ’ll be turn over out to the unnatural author and going into an intensive psychiatric care and rehab facility . “ All I can do going forrard is to endeavor to survive my lifespan in a way that show you there are n’t empty words . ”
While Del Rey has slay A Crown of Starlight from its 2024 schedule , Amazoncurrently lists the volume ’s freeing as May 11 , 2027 .
Update # 2 : Del Reyhas now said it will no longer publish Corrain ’s book , or “ any other works on that declaration . ” Starlight ’s Amazon varlet is now basically dead .
originally : Late last hebdomad , thefantasy / sci - fi record scenefound itself in disarray following allegation of an authorreview bombingseveral other authors in the community . The conclusion result has seen author Cait Corrain lose her deal with Del Rey Publishing , and other partnerships she had in the works also cancel .
get ’s back up a number : Corrain is an source whose debut novel , A Crown of Starlight , was intended for release on May 14 , 2024 ; per Goodreads , it ’s a “ turned on , sci - fi reimagining ” of the story of Grecian god Dionysus and Ariadne . The controversy began on social media , where biotic community members likeIron WidowauthorXiran Jay Zhaoclaimed than an unknown author was penning one - star reviews for books by debut authors of colouring material on Goodreads . These reviews had been appear over the last several months from six Goodreads account that were also spotted liking one another ’s review . The reviews — which included takes onBethany Baptiste’sThe Poisons We Drink and Molly X. Chang ’s To stare Upon Wicked Gods — include turns of phrase like “ it ’s so uncollectible , I ’m writing a review about it , ” and questioned publishing house Del Rey ’s choice of debuts to invest in .
WhileZhaoopted to not name the author so everyone could dissolve the matter privately , things reached a full stop where that was basically no longer an option . After their post , it did n’t take long for drug user to deduce that Corrain was behind the one - star reviews . A publicly useable Google doc style “ Review Bomb Receipts ” tallied31 pages ’ worthof grounds showing the Goodreads accounts , and how they were all unite together through individual exploiter - made lists that seemed to keep track of introduction generator whose works were release in 2024 . As Zhao notes , some accounts used to give these reviews had user gens that were “ clearly POC ” ( including Oh Se - Young , also the name of a well - have intercourse South Korean actress ) . And if that did n’t give it away , the invoice had Corrain ’s own book listed as their favorite upcoming rubric ; some even gave the Good Book five star .
A full explanation of reviewbombgate.#booktok#caitcorrain#crownofstarlight
♬ original audio – Xiran Jay Zhao
After the Goodreads accounting were discovered , Corrain — talk in a Slack chat for unveiling authors , screenshots of which were shared on social media — claimed she had evidence linking the review bombardment to her friend “ Lilly . ” That grounds consist of Slack and Discord screenshots of conversation in which “ Lilly ” admitted she wrote the negative reviews because Corrain had antecedently diagnose book she thought would steal her own first appearance ’s thunder ; onlookers mistrust either the pair were in on it together or Corrain was just talking to herself . Either direction , the authors want to reach out to “ Lilly , ” but Corrain was n’t outgoing with ways to do that . What she did reveal is that“Lilly ” was purportedly an overzealous Reylo fan(those who send Kylo Ren and Rey from Star Wars)—an oddly specific item that blew up in her face almost immediately , afterother Reylo fans conferredand agreed that finicky individual did n’t seem to subsist among their social station .
Ultimately , Corrain ’s now been dropped by her agentBecca Podos , and A Crown of Starlight has been completely pull fromDel Rey’s2024 publish slate . Further , the book subscription serviceIllumicratewill no longer stockpile Starlight in its May 2024 box . If the generator herself has commented on the affair , it ’s unclear , as her entire social media presence is now locked and has been since Zhao ’s allegations last week .
Perhaps even weirder than the Reylo connection is the fact that before all this came to Inner Light , Corrain was in an enviable perspective : A Crown of Starlight had gotten positive early reviews from those who ’d understand it , and she had a two - book flock with Del Rey . As of now , her future tense in the publishing world seems unclear ; io9 get hold of out to Del Rey for comment and will update if and when we get wind back . For those curious , the list of reassessment - bombed book and their vent dates are as follow : So get Them burn down by Kamilah Cole(January 16 , 2024);Voyage of the Damned by Frances White;The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste(March 5);To Gaze Upon Wicked Godsby Molly X. Chang ( April 16 ) ; andMistress of Lies by K.M. Enright(August 13 ) .
Correction : An earlier interlingual rendition of this mail service had a newspaper headline identifying Corrain as a YA author .
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