Cait Corrain review bombing controversy

In late 2023, aspiring fantasy author Cait Corrain created multiple fake accounts on Goodreads to review bomb other authors. Del Rey Books and agent Rebecca Podos canceled their contracts with Corrain.

Events
On December 5, 2023, author Xiran Jay Zhao posted on Twitter, "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". After Internet speculation on the author's identity, Zhao named the author as Cait Corrain and shared a Google Doc showing screenshots of low ratings from accounts allegedly owned by Corrain.

Corrain issued an apology, saying that they had recently "suffered a complete psychological breakdown" after "fighting a losing battle against depression, alcoholism and substance abuse". They entered an "intensive psychiatric care" facility on December 12, 2023.

The fantasy novel Crown of Starlight was scheduled to be Cait Corrain's debut title, published in 2024 through Del Rey, a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Penguin Random House. As of December 12, Corrain was no longer represented by agent Rebecca Podos. Del Rey and UK publisher Daphne Press also cancelled their contracts with Corrain.

While Corrain initially described the negative reviews as left by a friend and provided screenshots of a conversation between herself and the friend, they later said that the friend had been "non-existent". Internet users also commented that the list of targeted authors included people of color.

The controversy was cited by industry professionals as an example of abuse issues on Goodreads.