Ever since I read and absolutely loved Lovering's debut, Tell Me Lies, I've followed her career and read all of her subsequent novels, with varying success. Bye, Baby, however, reminds me a lot of her first novel in the character development and the way that you can't keep your eyes off the page as you watch in horror at the decisions the characters make. I loved that both Cassie and Billie are mostly unlikable, but you find yourself rooting for them despite how difficult their personalities are. I also loved how Lovering shows this decades-long friendship and how someone who you share so much history with can be someone who doesn't quite "fit" into an adult life, and that can be an okay thing or a devastating thing, depending on your perspective. Bye, Baby is a thriller, but it has a tight focus on these two characters and the relationship between them, making it a story of friendship, abandonment, and obsession all at the same time. I really enjoyed this and feel it's up there along with Lovering's debut in terms of her best novels.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

• domestic suspense
• character driven
• toxic friendship

The characters were well-developed (although not likable) and the pacing was steady. At times, it was a little too over-the-top. This is the first book I've read by this author and it won't be my last.

🗣 Thank you to netgalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

Bye, Baby is a look at how two childhood friends go from being inseparable in youth and early 20's to no longer fitting into each other's lives., Cassie wants nothing more that to marry a very rich man, someone with family money. Billie is more interested in building her career and is very dependent on her friendship with Cassie.

I think both of these women needed some counseling! Told in first person alternating chapters from both women's point of view and going back in time in some chapters, we learn why there is a co-dependence between the women. There was a lot of trauma in their early lives and Billie has a good reason for feeling a strong bond with Cassie, but their adult lives are going in starkly different directions and you know that the friendship can't endure.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book is a page turner - I read it in a couple days! While not exactly a thriller or even a mystery per se, it is a fascinating story of a toxic friendship. It also covered serious topics such as early onset Alzheimer’s, sexual abuse, and kidnapping and less serious ones like the life of social media influencers. I liked the two narrator format - you could really get into the heads of the two former best friends. I enjoyed reading this! 3.5-4 ⭐️
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. Recommend!

Have you ever had someone in your life that you've loved forever? Not a romantic love but a deep friendship almost like you're two halves of a whole person and then been pushed out of that person's life.
It's like you were never actually as important to them as they are to you. That's what's happened to Billie in this book with Cassie. I've had this happen, and it's such an odd thing when you've shared a world with someone for practically your entire life, and then you're nothing to them.
It leaves you wondering if the way you saw the relationship was one-sided and you were just a placeholder until something better came along.

That's what this book made me feel. I couldn't help relating to Billie even though she definitely goes too far in her quest to be back in Cassie's life.

I loved every moment of this book and breezed right through it. Going in, I was expecting more of a psychological thriller. What it ended up was a story about a toxic and complicated female friendship. This was one of my favorite books I've read in a while.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Once closely bonded by their childhood secrets, Cassie and Billie have drifted apart in adulthood. Cassie has recently become a mother and is building a following as a lifestyle influencer. She is desperate to leave her past behind—including Billie, who is single, living a childfree life, and no longer fits into her instagram-able life. But Billie, desperate to maintain her connection with Cassie, does something that could forever change both of their lives.
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Wow this book had me hooked for a while, and I mean a long time. I thought this was a Thriller/Mystery but it fits more into something like suspense. The book strung me along with hints of something sinister happening outside of what was described in the synopsis.

I mean, to be fair, the unlikeable characters and obsessive/unrequited friendship was interesting and kept me reading for all 350 pages. Unfortunately, I was not happy with the arc of the story and ultimate resolution. This was extra disappointing because I loved the ride Too Good to be True took me on when I read it a few years ago.
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Note: there’s a major TW missing in the book for sexual assault.
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Thanks to Carola Lovering, NetGalley, and St Martin’s Press for a copy of the ARC

I enjoyed this psychological thriller told with alternating perspectives about toxic female friendships and the choices we make that have consequences, sometimes even deadly consequences. This was a page turner that kept me reading late into the night. I recommend going in blind with this one.

Another great one by Carola Lovering! Bye, Baby was a page-turner for me!! I read this quick because I couldn't put it down and it kept you sucked in! I had to know what was going to happen next. I wouldn't really call this a mystery/thriller book, but I definitely found it to be very suspenseful at times which I loved! I really liked the complexity of Billie and Cassies characters and how the storyline unfolded between past and present timelines. I started out not liking Billie's character at the beginning and then ended up liking Billie and not liking Cassie by the end. Overall, this was fantastic, and I highly recommend it. I am already looking forward to Lovering's next book!!

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for a copy of this in return for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for my free and honest review. This story drew me in from the start and made me feel all the emotions of and for the characters, especially Billie. Amazing job by this author. I could read this again and again.

Thank you to NetGalley, Carola Lovering and St Martin’s Press for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was more of a slow burn novel and I didn’t know how interested in it I would continue to be, but something about these characters just held me hostage. I needed to know what happened and I flew through the easy to read chapters filled with this toxic friendship.

Another St Martin's Press title I can't give feedback for. I did buy the audiobook to listen to and support the author. I'm hoping at some point St Martins Press will make a public statement to denounce racism , homophobia and islamophobia. .

Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel. The subject matter was too intense for me and I was not able to finish.

Bye, Baby starts off with Billie making a shocking decision. The opening makes her seem like the villain. But as the story unravels and we learn more about Billie, she’s not the horrible person she seemed to be and I was desperately hoping for a good explanation for her actions. When we reach the halfway point, it is nothing but anxiety. I could not put the book down until I found out what the consequences would be.

I was frustrated with both Billie and Cassie throughout. Cassie was selfish, self-centered, and too focused on her image and status. Billie was obsessed, co-dependent, and impulsive. These dynamics created a toxic friendship that led to some bad decision making on both ends.

There are a lot of topics addressed in this book including Alzheimer’s, losing a parent, SA, friendship, losing friendship, stages of life, motherhood, abortion, choosing to be childless. It was heartbreaking, sickening, hopeful, stressful. A nightmare of a rollercoaster that I didn’t want to get off.

This was a really strong, bingeable psychological thriller all about toxic friendships. the book opens with Billie kidnapping her best friend’s baby - but we go back in time to find out exactly the whats and whys of how it came to be. I found both characters really interesting, and there is so much more to the story than it originally seems, I thought having the ‘reveal’ laid out so early in the book might make it boring, but there are so many layers to unfold and I had to see how everything came together in the end.

Cassie and Billie have been best friends since high school. When their lives start to drift apart, Billie is hurt and soon becomes obsessive by Cassie's blatant avoidance. She makes alarming moves to get her attention.

This is a page turner, and the influencer lifestyle of Cassie is a great storyline to amp up the suspense. I wouldn't categorize this as a mystery, but it's suspenseful. The chapters go back and forth in time from Cassie and Billie. It's a great format to get background information on the characters. The ending is very satisfying.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc.

BYE, BABY
rating: 4/5
genre: suspense/drama
in the mood for: bravo drama with depth, exploring female friendships, messy situations, anxiety lol

if you plan to read this book go in knowing it is NOT a thriller, unlike what it has been marketed as, and should be classified as a drama/suspense imo. setting expectations is so important and i think can contribute to the overall enjoyment of a book. since i've read TELL ME LIES i was expecting a messy drama with lots of character development, and that is exactly what we get here!

BYE, BABY follows two best friends, Billie and Cassie, who have been inseparable since childhood due to a traumatic event. in present day Billie and Cassie are experiencing a shift in their friendship ever since Cassie became a mother and her social media following grew. this change has left Billie feeling hurt and desperate enough to take Cassie's daughter on evening. the reader is immersed in Billie and Cassie's past and present through alternating timeline and dual POV.

i enjoyed how Lovering explored female friendship here, specifically their complexities and how they inevitably change as we grow older, have families, and priorities shift. i thought the book was very relatable as a 30 year old woman who does not have kids yet but is surrounded by friends who do. also a huge plus that Lovering shined light on BOTH sides of the spectrum with the dual POV - Billie is in her 30s and unsure if children are in her future, and Cassie is a new mother. i never felt that Lovering was 'favoring' one or the other, but instead gave great perspective from both women.

for me, part 1 was a slow build and i was worried Billie, Cassie, and the cast of characters would be unlikeable and surface level but that def changed especially as you get close to part 2. at that point i thought the characters became much more relatable and i truly COULD NOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN! i was beyond anxious for all people involved. if you like messy situations then you will thrive here haha! imo this is a perfect book for the mature reader. i'm not sure i would have cared or had an emotional understanding when i was in my teens/early twenties.

wow! this was so fun to read and kept my attention! i can’t wait to recommend it to my book club as they love the thriller genre. this dual pov kept it so interesting between the friends and exploring their past and current ftiendship.

Bye, Baby (ARC)
Carola Lovering
4⭐️

Pub Date: 3/5/2024

This is more of a domestic drama with some suspense rather than a Thriller to me. However, it doesn't take away the fact that I enjoyed this tremendously and had wanted to come back to it whenever I'm away from the book. It's dual POV, one of Cassie and one of Billie, which makes the whole plot and emotions more cohesive rather than just getting this from one POV. I was very distressed reading this because of how toxic this friendship is as well as the social media aspect. I'm not a fan of Cassie at all! I have big, unfriendly feelings towards her and honestly, no sympathy for her 🫣. She's a bully, a stuck-up, and I really felt like the whole "problem" wouldn't have come about if she wasn't such a bish to begin with. I felt a whole plethora of emotions reading this book. Mostly anger for a lot of people, and nervousness for Billie. I'm a fan of the writing style. At exactly 50%, the tone changes. Very noticeable and I thought it was great. Without spoiling anything, I will just say that the ending was too kind for me. I wish there was more to it. But I'm actually relieved for how it ended.

I’m a forever fan of dual POV and timeline novels, but add in some layers of suspense, stalking, and obsessive friendships and you have me completely sold!

This book really highlighted how oversharing on social media can be weaponized against someone, and the extreme levels people will go to in order to achieve that false sense of connection. I was hooked on Billie and Cassie’s friendship from the start and needed to know everything that happened in their past to get their relationship to where it stood currently.

The tension started to build early on in this one and the pacing was really well done! I didn’t want to put my Kindle down until the very end!

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for my ecopy of this book to read and review!

A stunning look at friendship, betrayal & the secrets we keep. "Bye, Baby" from Carola Lovering will likely be one of my favorite reads of 2024. Her writing evokes a pulse-pounding feeling without stating the obvious. A thriller at its core, this book will keep you up at night if for nothing more than its realistic, terrifying plot. You're going to want to keep turning the pages because these characters are not at all what they seem.