Did you love The Drowning Woman? Check out The Haters by Robin Harding Review + Spoilers. What did I think of this psychological suspense about an author who finds herself mercilessly harassed and trolled online? I’m here to reveal all + protected spoilers and the ending explained!
The Haters by Robyn Harding: Overview
- To be published on July 9, 2024 by Grand Central Publishing
- 352 pages
- Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review
- More suspense books by this author: The Party (2017), Her Pretty Face (2018), The Arrangement (2019), The Swap (2020), The Perfect Family (2021) and The Drowning Woman (2023).
The Haters by Robyn Harding: Jen’s Quick Take
- A very readable psychological suspense book
- A realistic portrayal of online harassment (and questionable author behavior)
- Has a “book within a book” element, which is always fun
- For me, The Haters fell apart at the end but I did enjoy the ride!
Review of The Haters by Robyn Harding + Spoilers and the ending explained
I will try to avoid singing the chorus of “Shake it Off.”
I will also avoid making all the obvious jokes about reviewing a book about an author who loses it after someone starts leaving scathing reviews of her book.
I read The Arrangement by Robyn Harding in 2019 and wasn’t a huge fan. It also had a stalking theme about a sugar baby who goes all Fatal Attraction on her sugar daddy and felt very Lifetime TV.
But I’m always willing to give an author a second (or third) chance, so when Harding’s most recent book, The Drowning Woman, got rave reviews, I tried it and thought it was good!
After I realized that The Haters was all about topics I know well: author-reviewer drama and online harassment, I decided to request it.
All in all, I found The Haters addictively readable.
Main character Camryn is celebrating the publication of her debut novel, Burnt Orchid, which reads like a of parody bad 1990s romantic suspense (think books like Lace or The Other Side of Midnight). And we get to read long excerpts of it!
But the other narrative in the book, the one that shows poor Camryn descending from an enthusiastic debut author to a brittle, haunted, suspicious woman, was really well-done.
It all starts with a one-star online review that includes the accusation that Camryn is using the sad stories of the students she works with in her own fiction.
At first Camryn is incredulous. She did no such thing! Then she makes the mistake of engaging with this anonymous hater, even trying to unmask them. Things go WAY downhill from there.
I loved that there were so many suspects! Could this mysterious online troll be a jealous rival writer? Camryn’s hunky younger boyfriend? Her ex-husband’s insecure new partner? Maybe her daughter’s boyfriend, who thinks Camryn is trying to break them up?
But I was a little disappointed at the ending, which I will explain with SPOILERS below
I compare all books with this plot to this Reese’s Book Club pick.
If you found the narrative of online harrassment in The Haters truly chilling, I have a great podcast for you: Unraveled: Season 2. Check it out!
I can’t really explain without spoilers. If you want to read them, please use your email and/or Facebook account to read them. You will then receive my newsletter, which I think you’ll love. But if not, please feel free to unsubscribe (or I will automatically unsubscribe you if you ignore my emails!)
The ending aside, I do think The Haters makes a good summer pick. And if you haven’t read The Drowning Woman, you should add that to your list as well!