Oofffh! The opening of this story had me wondering if I should keep reading 😬. As a mother I was unsure if it was the book for me. The intrigue won over and I had to find out how it all unravelled!

Unfortunately it was a bust for me. The toxic friendship relationship and revenge kidnapping didn’t win me over. I found it a little unlikely in how the events transpired.

Appreciate the ARC, but only a 2.5⭐️ for me.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

DNF

I couldn’t get into this one unfortunately.

Let me start by saying that this book is not a thriller. It is a story about friendship and what happens to those friendships when you grow up and grow apart.
Billie and Cassie are both relatable characters who lead very different lives as they grow older. As Cassie’s world expands she seemingly outgrows her friendship with Billie. But the two harbor a very serious secret and Billie does something that absolutely rocks Cassie’s world, leaving her feeling vulnerable and unsure for the first time in her adult life.
Ms. Lovering spins an entertaining tale about friends and how life changes can alter those relationships. The characters are complex and likable, even when they do unlikeable things. It took me awhile to get into this story but once I did I was hooked. Billie’s insecurities at times make you want to shake her while simultaneously rooting for her. There’s great character development for both of these women and it concludes in an ending that will ultimately leave you satisfied.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wow this was a really gripping read about childhood friends gone bizarre. I enjoyed how it went back and forth between the friends. and timelines. Billie's obsession with Cassie was at times really annoying but .it worked perfectly in the storyline.
Bonus points for the surname of "West"
Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins Press and the Author Carola Lovering for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review..

Bye, Baby was a book that captivated me from the start. With it being told in dual timelines of Cassie and Billie’s past to present day, keeps you on your toes. You may fall in love with one timeline so you just want to read the other timeline fast to get back to that other timeline. I felt like I was more invested in the present timeline because I knew what was going to happen without knowing exactly how it would go down. The past timeline was interesting to read to find out how the two got to where they are now in present day. I loved reading the dynamic of how their relationship changed from bestie to nothing. It was a bit sad but sometimes that is how friendships go without meaning to. I will say the ending did shock me. It gives you hope for Billie and her life. It was a perfect way to end the story. I want to thank you for the e-arc so much! 4.5⭐️ (I just wish Cassie wasn’t so stuck up and harsh. I also wanted to know a bit more of her background as a teenager alongside Billie’s)

This is 3.5 stars for me. Above average suspense novel centered on the story of two friends who have drifted apart. It went in a direction that I did not expect.

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.