This is a struggle for me to rate. Going with middle of the road 3 stars. Let me dissect my thoughts.....

Liked: I wanted to like this premise and I always love to read about female friendships. I did feel tense several times waiting to find out what would happen/ how the story would unfold. Alex was super sweet! When Billie let herself feel how she felt their relationship was lovely to read. And I love a good flashback/ multi-timeline, this one was good and the past timeline unfolded at a good pace.

Didn't like: This was super slow, like: I was 20% in and my husband asked me what the book was about.... I couldn't really answer because nothing (other than "The Big Thing") specific had happened between the characters. We get a slow background of their relationship and it wasn't a bad read but I found myself bored at times.

There were parts of this that got me FIRED UP. Women are not MEANT TO be wives and mothers. We are on this planet for other reasons than supporting tiny humans that don't feed themselves or clean or pay bills or, really, contribute anything to the household (lol). The Cassie & McKay friendship is SO FREAKING TOXIC. It was well-written because it made me cringe so hard but it was hard to read at the same time. The ending was such a disappointment, sadly.

(Do we see how I'm struggling? This entire review is a mess of contradictions: it was well-written but hard to read???? What is wrong with me LMAO)

This one is a little hard from me to review. While I did enjoy it, I consider it women's fiction instead of a thriller. This book was also a slow burn for me. It felt twice as long as it actually was.

When the book opens, you know right away that Billie is responsible for the kidnapping of Cassie's daughter. I definitely wanted to keep reading to find out what events led up to that point. I liked the dual POVs between Cassie and Billie, as weĺl as the flashbacks. Billie was likable enough but frustrated me at times. Cassie was only bearable after the kidnapping. I liked Jane and Alex the most.

There were no twists in this one. It was more about the relationship between Billie and Cassie and the traumas they dealt with when they were in high school, as well as the aftermath of Cassie pushing Billie out of her life after college. It was well written, and I liked how the ending was done.

Thank you, @netgalley and @stmartinspress, for the #gifted e-arc!

3.5 rounded

Bye, Baby was an incredible story of two female friends who naturally start to drift apart. Written from multiple timelines, the characters were so well-developed and I could not decide who I was routing for, even when I knew I shouldn't be routing for one of them!

Carola Lovering did an amazing job of setting the pace for this story, even when nothing crazy was happening, I found myself hooked to every word and flew through this one. I loved the small romance written into the plot, and loved the theme of self-discovery and it being ok to grow apart. Overall, highly recommend!

Bye, Baby, by Carola Lovering, is neither a mystery nor a thriller. It is a book about friendship, begun in high school and extending into mid-thirties. Friendships based on need and hidden truths are not necessarily doomed to failure, but the success rate has got to be small. Cassie and Billie are two women whose lifestyles diverged over time, while their neediness for each other continued. While I found both main characters to be insufferable in different ways, I enjoyed the story, including its somewhat improbable resolution. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read a digital ARC.

5 💫

Thank you to netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read Bye, baby by Carola Lovering in exchange for an honest review.

I could not put this book down. I would categorize it as a slow, but hot burn. There were no slow parts where I found my attention waning. It is a perfect read for Mothers or anyone who can relate to toxic friendships.

Billie and Cassie are besties since high school. They have maneuvered all life’s pleasant and not so pleasant circumstances, some of which were traumatizing to say the least.. sexual abuse, alcoholism, dementia, toxic friendships and more. Most of these circumstances have bonded them together with a glue that seemed unbreakable until It isn’t.

I won’t spoil the rest of the story for you, but it’s juicy. You won’t be disappointed.

What’s meant for you will always be for you!

What do you do when you realize your best friend is one of the shallowest, self-absorbed, egomaniacal people you've ever met, but you still love her?

There’s no other way to say this: Cassie is a bad person.
And it's not about her visceral need to be a gold digger - that's probably the only aspect I approve of her -, it's literally everything else. From middle school to college you can feel her hatred over every aspect of her life, the fact that she didn't “deserve” to be poor.
But when she could finally do something about it, she worked the ladder of suitable Manhattan bachelors and found her man. And then, she downloaded Instagram and became the worst possible version of herself.

We don't see any of this through Billie’s eyes because she's too in love with the idea she has of her best friend to actually see her.
I mean, I understand why she defends Cassie and why she cares about her so much, but when is it enough?

The message of the story is pretty clear already in the first half of the book: some people are decent people who do bad things, while others keep claiming themselves to be “good” while being the worst type of human.
And while I'm well aware of the difference between my temper and Billie’s, I couldn’t be more disappointed by the ending, when she finally realized that their whole friendship was never about her, but always about Cassie and what Cassie wanted for her life and what Cassie “deserved”.

I just wish she’d been more pissed, as I find little comfort in knowing that Cassie will be divorced and miserable in five-year maximum.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Bye, Baby is the story of Billie West and Cassie Barnwell's friendship. They were extremely close friends for many years, but recently have grown apart. Cassie is now a fashion influencer, and Billie is, well, Billie. Although they were bonded by a tragedy in highschool, that particular tragedy is also what drove them apart. Billie, in effort to become close to Cassie again, follows Cassie on social media and sporadically reaches out. When Billie's new boss asks her to cat-sit, Billie says yes...and later comes to realize that Cass's apartment is one floor up. Cassie is throwing a big party, and Billie wasn't invited. When Billie hears Cass's baby crying, she climbs up the fire escape and takes the baby to comfort it. However, she quickly realizes the error of her ways, and desperately tries to figure out a way out of the predicament that she has put herself in.

Will Billie be able to talk her way out of this one? Will the tragedy from their high school days bring Cassie and Billie back together?

This was my first Carola Lovering book, and I loved it! Am looking forward to reading more of her work.

A slow-burn, character-driven story, I really enjoyed this book. I wouldn't classify it as a mystery in the traditional sense, but there is a level of suspense around the character actions and motivations. The present and the past are slowly unravelled so that the reader can finally put all the pieces together and see the bigger picture of Billie and Cassie's friendship. I thought the pacing was perfect, and the characters were strong. I would definitely recommend this book (but don't go in expecting a traditional mystery/thriller).

Last year I discovered Lovering from the tv show based on her book - Tell Me Lies. I didn’t love the book. Bye, Baby was everything I could have hoped for. I read this book in two days and it kept the pages turning. I had such a visual painted that I hope this is turned into a tv show as well! I kept wanting to know what happens next and how the story would end. I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

I’m a big Carola Lovering fan. I’ve read all her books and this is my favorite since Tell Me Lies. I love books with female friendship as a main theme and the thriller aspect alongside it was so fun. I couldn’t put this one down. Bye, Baby gets five stars from me.

Cassie and Billie have been friends since childhood but they're drifting apart. Cassie is mostly doing the drifting, she's a new mom and an Instagram influencer, she doesn't want any ties to her old life. Then something terrible happened and the first person Cassie wants is Billie. Cassie is not a likeable person so it was hard figuring out the friendship dynamic. I also had issues with how Billie reacted in the situation she created. Overall enjoyable. Touches on sexual assault.

This author has been kind of hit or miss for me, but I was excited to give her another shot! Unfortunately, Bye, Baby was not for me, but I think I'm in the minority! This story was definitely a slow burn and not a thriller, revolving around the extremely toxic friendship between Billie and Cassie. I liked the multiple POVs here, but found them both incredibly unlikeable and couldn't connect with either of them. I slogged through it to find out what happened, but can't say I really enjoyed it! I will look forward to whatever the author does next, as I think she's very talented. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Addictive page turner! I don't necessarily think it's a thriller more like a light suspense but it was good! Sometimes multiple POVs throw me off but this was well put together. Each character was easy to differentiate and I appreciated that. Couldn't put it down and finished in a day!.

4+ stars

So much happens in this book. As others have mentioned, it deals with a lot of issues surrounding female friendship, social media use, motherhood, and more. I really enjoyed it, but it also addresses a lot of serious and sensitive issues as well. I find I really appreciate this writer’s books and the way she creates suspenseful, compelling narratives that are thrilling and easy to follow but that balance the entertainment value with discussion of real-world issues. This one was definitely a win for me.

Honestly, I usually hate an influencer plot but this one hit different.

Carola Lovering's books always slap. It's like watching a Bravo show with all the drama and toxic relationships. This one focuses on a toxic friendship and I could not stop reading. Lovering has such a way of writing books that have you so invested with not much of a plot if that makes sense. It's like you are just getting a look into these people's lives and you can't look away.

BYE,BABY follows two best friends that have grown apart with time… but a dark secret ties them together. When one of the women's newborn baby goes missing, the cracks in their friendships really get exposed. It's juicy you guys.

Carola Lovering is one of my favorite authors so when I received this eARC, I was pumped! Unfortunately I liked this one just okay. I felt like it was longer than necessary and I really struggled with Billie and Cassie’s friendship. I know that was the point, but it just really wore me down. This was still a fun read, but not one I’d recommend to moms probably! Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5⭐️

I liked this one.
You have Cassie and Billie, who were childhood friends and started growing apart as their lives have led them in different directions. Billie hopes and tries to cling to the relationship, while Cassie is going where life takes her.

I don’t quite know how to explain how I feel. I feel like it went fast but at the same time nothing really happened. The ending just ended. With what happens through the book and the ending. I was just left thinking “huh?” But I also see how the ending ended that way.

Thank you to Carola Lovering, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

I’ve read two of Lovering’s prior novels and didn’t really like them, so this was my last try. And I’ll say im glad I stuck around because I really enjoyed this one! There was a ton of drama and the deep dive into the friendship was really well done. This book gave me similar anxiety reading it as I had when reading Yellowface (iykyk). My only complaint is I actually wish that first chapter (which tells you what happens halfway through the book) wasn’t even in there, I think it would have added to the suspense and drama even more.

Withholding my post for this on social media until the publisher provides a response regarding the boycott.

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering is the story of a missing baby and a changing friendship. Cassie is married and successful, and she has just had a baby. Billie is the opposite. They were friends while growing up, but they've drifted apart over the years. What happens when Cassie's baby goes missing? This story was a little crazy, but it kept me entertained. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

So the thing about this book was that it’s not a mystery thriller at all. Like I hate the term but this is women’s fiction. The dramatic thing that the entire book is based around doesn’t happen until about 50% if the way through. and honestly? I’m kind of glad I picked up the book after forgetting what the synopsis was because instead of waiting for the twist, I would’ve been waiting for when the baby goes missing.

The relationship between Cassie and Billie was AWFUL. Like, I get it. I understand that one ended up being terrible and one ends up essentially staring at her online. But like - Cassie’s reason for calling her friend trash was so little, and Billie needed some self esteem. But tbh, having the background that she had, there was no way that she would be doing okay.

Speaking of which, holy fucking content warnings, Batman!!!! I was not expecting that, and to have it on page was so gross!!! Holy shit. But also watching the slow descent of her mother into Alzheimer's was so incredibly sad, especially with what was coming.

Honestly, all the red herrings might have been a better story than what we got. This was sad, but like… not fun. Another reviewer mentioned something how this book was all tension and no substance, and that really was it. This was so…disappointing.

I usually love this author’s work because there is always a twist that is truly batshit insane, but this twist was just… sad. Like.

Geez.

Anyway.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the chance to read and review.