TL;DR: As someone who was a huge fan of One Tree Hill and whose favourite characters were Haley (and Nathan—Naley 4ever!), I was immediately intrigued when I saw that Lenz had published a book about her “cult” experience. I was shocked by the events that transpired in this and it’s difficult to imagine this was all happening behind-the-scenes as Lenz was on set playing her biggest role to date. It’s a heartbreaking and emotional read! It takes such strength and courage to tell a story like this and I hope that it brought Lenz a measure of peace for her future. I would definitely recommend the audiobook as it’s read by the author and there were several cameos from OTH stars, which was a pleasant surprise!

As I started reading this book, I realized that I was picturing Bethany Joy Lenz as her character Haley in One Tree Hill because I didn’t realize that she was so religious! I think books like this really go to show that you never know what someone is going through because on the surface you see one image being projected, but behind-the-scenes, a completely different story can be playing out. Haley was my favourite character in OTH and so reading Dinner for Vampires was more than a little shocking to me. I’m astounded that, as she was playing in what would become an epic TV show with a cult following, she was also living a nightmare as part of a cult and experiencing something as equally life changing both on and off-screen. Seriously, massive props to her for being so vulnerable about her entire experience. I can’t imagine how much courage it would take to share one of the most shocking periods in your life with strangers, and even friends and family. I read this with the audiobook and I loved hearing Lenz voicing her story because it made it that much more personal. There were even a few awesome audio cameos from OTH actors and I adored those parts so much!

Bethany Joy Lenz’s recollection of becoming part of The Big House Family was, to me, equally shocking, fascinating, infuriating, and utterly heart breaking. It was bewildering to see how easily she slipped into this religious cult and I think, as Lenz points out early on, it stemmed from how desperate she was to feel like she belonged somewhere. All of the questions she had about where she was in life and what she wanted to achieve were echoed and validated by the members of this church group.

Reading about how these people operated was so insidious because as a reader you see the tactics they use to keep people in line exactly for what they are—tricks that take advantage of those at their most vulnerable and trusting. In hindsight now, Lenz clearly recognizes that too. To have her go from saying things like “I find no attraction at all to this person” to then wind up marrying them was, I think, part of what made this also so tough to read at times. I couldn’t help but search while reading and came across her wedding picture, and wow. You can see how miserable and terrified she was to be in that position—the look her face says everything! And that she feels empathy and compassion for QB, despite everything he put her through, really shows her true character.

Other really tough parts (and I couldn’t get through them without shedding a couple of tears) was seeing Lenz give up the dreams she had since she was a kid. Seeing her turn away from and rejecting offers for roles that were a huge part of why she even went into acting in the first place was utterly heart breaking and left me feeling rather sick to my stomach. I can’t imagine the weight of guilt and anger you’d feel towards yourself as you heal from this trauma. It’s clear that while she has come a long way from the initial moment of leaving the cult, there is still much for her to process. I hope that writing this story and speaking it out loud into the world will help her find that peace.

Have you read Dinner for Vampires or is it on your TBR?

• Follow me on Goodreads!
• Follow me on Bluesky
• Follow me on Instagram!
• Follow me on Twitter!