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The Haters by Robyn Harding Review + Spoilers

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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!

Graphic for Review of The Haters by Robyn Harding with spoilers + 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

Original photo of a copy of The Haters on a bookcase next to other pink thrillers.

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!)

As I suspected, both those chapters of Burnt Orchid I had to suffer through AND the subplot of teen drama at the school where Camryn works were key to solving the mystery.

At work, Camryn was trying to help Abbie, a girl who nearly died from an overdose at a party. Camryn is certain that mean girl Fiona was somehow involved in the overdose and in posting a video of the event.

Yes, Fiona was behind it all!

  • First off, I guess the reason we had to read ALL those chapters of Burnt Orchid was because of the fire scene.
  • Shane, a hacker hired by Camryn to unmask her tormentor, died in a suspicious house fire.
  • Then Camryn saw Abbie’s bandaged arm. When Abbie’s mother mentioned her daughter suffered a severe burn, Camryn confronted Abbie, who confessed.
  • Abbie told Camryn that Fiona masterminded Camryn’s harassment.
  • Seeing that Camryn, her school counselor, was onto her and not backing off, Fiona told tech-savvy Abbie that Camryn’s daughter Liza was the one who gave Abbie the drugs, then convinced Abbie to harass Camryn online. 
  • Abbie went to Shane’s house to steal a computer which she thought incriminated her. She then started a small fire, an idea she got from Camryn’s book. She assumed Shane would wake up and escape.
  • Fiona’s school friends finally turned on her and told the police the truth what happened that night at the party: Fiona convinced Abbie to take the drugs at the party and then uploaded the video of her OD’ing to social media. Fiona denied it and was not charged.  
  • Abbie was charged with criminally negligent homicide in Shane’s death. She pled not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder (PTSD) and was given a short sentence at a forensic psychiatric facility. 
  • Camryn moved to a counselor job at a different school. After being dropped by her publisher and still traumatized from the harassment, she decided to take a break from writing. 

Yes, I am a former YA reviewer, but I can’t say I loved the teen elements of this book, which I thought were the weakest part.

Fiona was sort of cartoonishly evil, like Regina George. And why not harass Liza, Camryn’s daughter, who a) was at the party and part of Fiona’s cover-up and b) liked Hugo, a guy Fiona was also into.

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!

About Jen Ryland

Over 12 years of book blogging and reviewing, I have read over 1500 books. A fair and honest reviewer who loves book discussions, I'm here to help you find a book you'll love to read AND give you a place to talk about it and ask questions.
Find me on Instagram and Pinterest as @jenryland!

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