"She spent so much time doing all that": Cait Corrain drama explored as Goodreads review bombing receipts go viral 

Debut author Cait Corrain has come under fire for allegedly review bombing on Goodreads. The claims went viral after fellow writer Xiran Jay Zhao took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to put the former on blast. Although Corrain claimed that they were not behind the fake reviews, netizens believe otherwise.

On Wednesday, December 6, fellow debut author Xiran Jay Zhao took to their official X account to say:

“If you as a debut author are going to make a bunch of fake Goodreads accounts one-star-bombing fellow debuts you’re threatened by can you at least not make it so obvious by upvoting your own books on a bajillion different lists with those same accounts?”

Although the writer did not explicitly name Cait Corrain, the latter was seemingly exposed by a netizen who goes by the username @Natalie_Lief. Lief took to Twitter on December 7 to share that Zhao was referring to Corrain.

They also revealed that several debut novels were given a series of 1-star reviews, including those of Danielle Jensen, Molly Chang, K M Enright, Kamilah Cole, and Frances White, among others. Meanwhile, Corrain’s book Crown of Starlight was repeatedly given 5 stars by multiple “fake” accounts and also put under the 'highly anticipated' reading lists.

This also comes after Goodreads account Tasty Spam began putting certain debut books under a list titled ‘Fake Reviews Bad Writing,’ where Bethany Baptiste, a debut author's book made an appearance.

A Google document of the rivaling books receiving fake reviews while Corrain's book gets positive remarks has also gone viral online. The document has 31 pages of "receipts."

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Cait Corrain takes to Slack to debunk Goodreads review bombing scandal

For those unfamiliar, review bombing refers to taking to the internet to give books multiple 1-star or ill reviews despite never reading the book or critiquing it fairly. Not only are books given bad ratings, but they can also be accompanied by unfair reviews on websites like Goodreads, which often dictate whether a book is performing well or not.

As the drama continued, Cait Corrain took to Slack to admit that it was not her but her friend “Lilly” who was leaving bad reviews on Corrain’s competitors' books. Corrain also shared screenshots of her confronting the friend. In one of the messages Corrain told "Lilly,"

“You went after people at my imprint in my debut group do you have ANY idea how much this could have cost me I could lose my deal/ I could lose EVERYTHING if this is what Xiran was talking about I’m going to kill you."

She continued,

"All day I’ve been sitting here worried that someone was review bombing me, only to find out that I wasn’t the victim of a review bombing campaign, but instead someone I trusted and considered a friend really thought I was so insecure and helpless that I needed you to f**k step in and level the playing field?”

Although Corrain admitted that it was her friend behind the fake reviews, many were not convinced, as the message screenshots she provided seemed fake. According to The Messenger, the timestamps were inconsistent, and the dramatic language left many unconvinced.

Cait Corrain has since made her social media accounts private.

Bethany Baptiste was one among the many authors who received fake reviews for her book The Poisons We Drink. As the controversy unfolded, she took to X to call out Corrain by saying:

“Debuts have to deal with an albino snake in the hen house. Let us process this.”

Netizens believed that Baptiste was being ableist by using the term “albino” as a slur. She went on to justify the usage of the term on X by saying:

“It’s not ableism to compare a white person to an actual animal and use an old saying to drive home the deceit.”

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Who is Cait Corrain?

According to her official website, Corrain is a “writer and artist” from the East Coast. The author, who also goes by the she/them pronouns, revealed that they received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sequential Art from Savannah College of Art and Design.

Their debut novel, Crown of Starlight is a “snarky, queer, lushly romantic duology set” inspired by the Greek gods Ariadne and Dionysus. The book is scheduled to be released on May 14, 2024.