Stay away from The Haters, Camryn! 

It all started with an email through Camryn Lane’s author website – hateful words regarding her newly-published first novel, Burnt Orchid, and worst still, a personal attack on her character. Then, the one-star reviews start flooding in, and while taking part in an authors panel at a book festival a stranger accuses Camryn of abusing her position as a high school counsellor to gain material for Burnt Orchid. Camryn knows that every author receives negative feedback, and that you need to have a thick skin, but Camryn just wants everyone to love her book as much as she does. All she needs to do is engage with The Haters, and they will listen to, and see, her side, right? 

I kept begging Camryn to stay off the internet, and ignore The Haters, but it wouldn't have been much of a thriller if she had of listened to me, would it? The Haters was highly entertaining. To be honest, Camryn was a disaster. She was immature, paranoid, oblivious, obsessed, and self-centered, but this plot wouldn’t have worked with a more secure character. Her sarcastic sense of humor and absurd behaviour did crack me up through. My enjoyment of this novel came from waiting to see just how much deeper Cameron was going to dig the hole she was in, and eagerly awaiting to see who, and why, was behind everything. 

Camryn was the sole first-person narrator, which kept the tension high, and like Cameron I was side-eying everyone wondering if they were trustworthy. There were also excerpts from Cameron’s novel, Burnt Orchid, and I relished the parallels between her fictional work and the situation she found herself in because of The Haters. As light and fun as I found most of the novel, the ruthless attack and sabotage by on and offline trolls of Camryn’s character and safety was not funny in the slightest, neither were the personal stories other characters shared with Camryn regarding their own experiences with disparaging remarks, harassment, stalking, death threats, and verbal abuse. The Haters definitely had a serious side, and my heart broke for these authors. My heart also broke for the students Camryn counseled who were being mercilessly bullied. 

Robyn Harding has impressed me once again. Her domestic drama suspense thrillers are always so unique!