I assumed this would be more heavy on the “thriller” but it wasn’t. It was a story of female friendship, in childhood and adulthood. Of obsession, internet culture, trauma. It was written so well and the dual timelines worked so good together.

This story of friendship that has gone off the rails is a well-written book of relationships, fear of change and the courage to move forward. Cassie and Billie have been friends since their year in seventh grade in the Hudson Valley. They also hold tightly to secrets from their childhood there, and the secrets that once held them together seem to be tearing them apart. This is a story told in dual timeline, showing the development of their friendship and their co-dependence on one another in the past, and their drifting away in the present. Cassie is happily married, an internet influencer and has a small baby. Billie chases an increasingly elusive friendship with Cassie and ends up committing a desperate act in order to get Cassie’s attention. The characters were complex and not particularly relatable to me, but I did like them and thought that they were realistically portrayed. The plot was gripping and fast-paced once I got into the story and understood the way it moved between characters and time. That did take several chapters but it was worth continuing to read because once I caught on, the book was an engaging and fascinating study of the human psyche. At times, the suspense became intense, but mostly there was an undercurrent of suspense and a lot of drama. The twists are well-crafted into the story and those were my favorite part as more and more truth was revealed. This is a multi-layered page turner that is a satisfying read and one that would be great for book clubs to discuss.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

I really enjoyed this book and I love the cover. The book is very character based which I love and i didn’t have any unanswered questions in the end. The chapters were a good length and weren’t too long and had dual POVs. Some topics covered in the book were sexual abuse, Alzheimer’s and social media influencer. I wouldn’t classify this book as a mystery or thriller and the only reason I didn’t rate 5 stars was because I didn’t get really attached to the story.

Bye, Baby has dual POV’s with dual timelines that centers on the toxic female friendship between Billie West and Cassie Barnwell. ON THE FIRST PAGE, Cassie finds herself living a mother’s worst nightmare. Her baby has been kidnapped: -with Billie to blame. Of course, Cassie doesn’t know this.

Cassie is a new mom who married into wealth, and is a popular fashion + lifestyle influencer. Billie has the incredible job of being a destination planner to the wealthy. She travels around the world to beautiful locations; -perfect for her single-childless life. Cassie and Billie drift apart after a heated argument, which is perfectly fine with Cassie, Billie not so much.. she has tried reaching out, but Cassie wants nothing to do with her. OH, and one more thing.. they share a startling secret from their past.

This to me is not a thriller, but I really enjoyed the psychological aspect of this tale! How it follows their early friendship at age twelve into adulthood. It shows Billie dealing with trauma as a teen, grief and loss associated with Alzheimer’s. And then we have Cassie whose only apparent expectation in life is to attach herself to the wealthy, definitely a “gold digger.” I had a better understanding of why Billie became who she is now after learning of her past. Cassie from childhood on, only cared about Cassie. She is a cunning opportunist that I did not like. I loved the dual POV’s here which gave much depth to the main characters, and what a great ending. 4 stars — Pub. 3/5/24

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read the ARC of Bye, Baby. I'm having a bit of a hard time deciding on my rating for this book. I enjoyed it and think it had a lot of great elements to it. But my least favorite kind of character is a pathetic one, and I hate to say it, but found I Billie's character to be pathetic. While, I think she was a strong woman, I had a really hard time with her feelings toward Cassie. Obviously the main storyline is about how this longtime friendship has clearly become very one-sided, but I felt myself cringing at many of Billie's thoughts and actions, while my heart was breaking for her at the same time.

Putting that aside, I am giving it 4 stars, because I genuinely enjoyed reading it. The alternating POV’s between these two main characters and the flashbacks were very insightful. The backstory was told slowly, which I thought was very effective. The reader was able to truly understand both of their thoughts, whether we agreed with them or not.

The writing was very good and as I mentioned, it touched on many topics, including friendship, motherhood, social media, Alzheimer's, trust and much more. This was the type of book that I will think about for a long time. I liked the ending and was very satisfied when I finished it. This was the first book I read by Carola Lovering, but will definitely look forward to read more from her.

This isn't at all what I expected when I requested this book. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is this a thriller/mystery, but it's also a story of friendships, childhood trauma and relationships in general. I didn't expect to get all the feels. I honestly didn't want to put it down. The author did a wonderful job going back and forth between POV's and timelines. A wonderful read!

👶Book Review👶
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Happy Friday, hope you’re ready for an unhinged book review because here is it 😂
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Summary: On a brisk fall night in a New York apartment, 35-year-old Billie West hears terrified screams. It’s her lifelong best friend Cassie Barnwell, one floor above, and she’s just realized her infant daughter has gone missing. Billie is shaken as she looks down into her own arms to see the baby, remembering—with a jolt of fear—that she is responsible for the kidnapping that has instantly shattered Cassie’s world.

Once fiercely bonded by their secrets, Cassie and Billie have drifted apart in adulthood, no longer the inseparable pair they used to be in their small Hudson Valley hometown. Cassie is married to a wealthy man, 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 and childless, and no longer fits into her world. But Billie knows the worst thing Cassie has ever done, and she will do whatever it takes to restore their friendship…
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Rating- ⭐️⭐️
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My thoughts- woof, I was excited for this one but what a disappointment 🥴it followed the most toxic friendship that will leave you screaming at your book to stop talking to each other. I couldn’t stand either FMC and found them both to be intolerable. This book had pretty heavy descriptions of child abuse and grooming that were super hard to read as well. There’s honestly not much I loved about this one. Sorry @netgalley and and @stmartinspress I’m just confused how this was a thriller? Clearly this is an unpopular opinion because everyone online seems to love it but definitely was not for me !
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QOTD: what is the last book that you gave a 5 star rating ?! Hit me with some good recommendations please 😍
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#byebaby #bookreview #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #booksofig #booksofinsta #bibliophile #booklover #bookaddict #bookaesthetic #bookish #booknerd #bookworms #bookwormsunite #bookobsessed #readersofinstagram #readersgonnaread #readmorebooks #readersofig #readersofinsta

Thank you @stmartinspress for the advanced eARC.
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This book is perfect for anyone looking for a quick suspenseful drama read! You can read any of her books in RECORD TIME. Her writing is the BEST. I’ll always look forward to her new books.
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Although this is a slow burn - it goes QUICK! The prologue hooks you from the start. You get an insight to what happens but it unravels what lead to it. Cassie and Billie have a complicated friendship and Carola does an amazing job showcasing the dark side of female friendships.
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This book is really character driven. I enjoyed the dual POV even though they both drove me crazy. Cassie made her whole identity as a mommy influencer whereas you don’t understand why Billie does SOME DUMB SHIT…but it is all explained!
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This book is definitely heavy on the baby/mother talk. If this is a trigger for you…PAUSE...but it truly makes the story less surface level.
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Keep ‘em’ coming, Carola!!

I wouldn’t call this a thriller as it was definitely a slow build and honestly dragged for a bit. I enjoyed the alternating POVs and timelines, but there was a lot going on without there be anything for me to really be invested in.

Normally, I really enjoy her books but this one didn’t quite hit the mark.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I read it in less than two days, captivated by the complex friendship of Billie and Cassie. I enjoyed the dual POVs and multiple timelines, and the author did a great job of giving each woman a distinct voice in the story. There were a few too many pop culture references for my taste that made it feel a bit try-hard, but I’d still definitely recommend!

Bye, Baby is more of a domestic/general fiction than mystery and thriller yet that doesn't take away from Carola Lovering's taut storytelling. Former best friends, Billie and Cassie, have drifted apart after years of secrets kept them together. At odds with being left out of Cassie's glamorous life, Billie is having trouble coming to grips with their friendship falling apart. When Billie coincidentally is one floor below Cassie's apartment and hears Cassie screaming as she realizes her baby girl is kidnapped, Billie looks down and realizes she as the baby in her arms. How did this happen? What led to Billie taking Cassie's baby? I really enjoyed the alternating timelines and perspectives as the layers are peeled away. Lovering examines what happens to strong female friendships when people change-and when we realize they were never who we thought they were. This novel is not to be missed!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalleyfor this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Ooh yall this one was wild!! Bye, Baby was a fast paced drama filled suspense that had dual timeline and povs, family drama, friendship drama and was very character driven.

I loved the influencer side of this book and could definitely relate to some! I really liked this book and can’t wait to read more from the author!

(Actual: 3.5⭐, rounded up) A solidly engaging read for me, though I wouldn't necessarily call it a "thriller"? Perhaps more like "dramatic suspense," if anything. I'm definitely a mood reader, so sometimes it takes me a bit (or longer) to really be captured by a novel's premise.... but that wasn't the case here! As per usual, I went into this read blind, and a big plus for me right from the start was its pacing— the story starts with a bang and just doesn't let up. This is a quick read with compelling enough characters [in Cassie and Billie, respectively] that I remained invested despite it fizzling out a bit in its last act; the ending just felt.... a bit anti-climatic, I guess, given everything we come to learn as readers. That said, and while I do also think this book could have expanded upon these same themes even further, I enjoyed this book's exploration of long-term friendships and the unwavering loyalty and/or growing toxicity that both comes and can later be born from them (especially when there are plenty of secrets long since buried involved and to play with). I think where I related most to this book and with these characters is in the feelings of loneliness and grief that come with losing a close friend, because I think we all experience at least one bad "friend break-up" in life (and BB/Lovering takes that to the extreme). Overall, while I do think this book could have benefitted from some additional scenes (like therapy for Billie— so. much. therapy. PLEASE), I'd definitely still recommend it out to those looking for a fast read, as well as to to those who enjoy reads centered around complex interpersonal relationships and the choices we make for, because, or even in spite of them.

First off I’d like to thank the net galley and Carola Lovering for this ARC. Bye, Baby was an emotional read. I don’t think I’d fully classify this as a typical mystery/thriller it came off as contemporary at times, but it was good and I enjoyed it. I was intrigued by Cassie and Billie’s relationship. I wasn’t expecting their history to be as deep as it was, the bonds they forged really gave me an understanding as to how things played out in the rest of the book. Personally I think because I’m a mother I was invested in this book from the start and because of that I felt for Cassie a lot more than I would have if I wasn’t a mother. Overall it was an addictive read and took me through a roller coaster of emotions.

I could not finish this book.

The plot had so much promise but didn’t deliver. I was going into reading this book as a mystery/thriller but it was not.

Up to 50% of the book is about the building blocks of a toxic friendship bouncing back and forth between present/past/different perspectives. Then the big event happens and then it ends.

The writing was pretty good though, it wasn’t confusing when the setting/character perspective was jumping around, I wish the plot kept me more entertained.

I couldn’t force myself to keep reading. I skipped a head a little to see if it would grab my interest but it did not.

Maybe the last 40% gets better but I couldn’t power through to get there.

I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for an exciting mystery/thriller

I LOVED Tell Me Lies so I was very excited to receive this ARC of Bye, Baby. From page 1 I was hooked! The friendship between Cassie and Billie is a complicated one. This book starts when Billie hears the intense screams of her lifelong best friend, Cassie, as she discovers her infant daughter is missing. Only for Billie to discover, she is the one with Cassie's baby. The book then takes us back in time, both years and days, from Cassie and Billie's perspectives as we learn about their friendship, how it has developed over the years, and how it has become strained in more recent months.

I loved reading the two different perspectives. I had a difficult time relating to Cassie and felt terrible for how she treated Billie. I understood why they felt such a need to stay connected, but I was almost embarrassed for Billie at times, for how she pined after Cassie. I wanted more from the Grant storyline, I felt like there was a lot of build-up to his past behaviors and felt a little let down by the end result.

I enjoyed the flashback chapters and the development of Cassie and Billie's friendship and how it evolved over the years.

(I got an ARC of this from NetGalley, it will be out tomorrow!) (Content warning: sexual assault) I don’t know exactly what to call this book – thriller? Suspense? The book starts with the big action – Billie hearing her childhood best friend Cassie screaming as she realizes her baby is missing, only for Billie to realize that she is the one who has taken the baby. Billie panics, secretly returns the baby just a few hours later, but is elated to learn that in her moment of need, Cassie asked for Billie, their fractured-in-recent-years friendship seemingly repaired. The rest of the story alternates between going back to Cassie and Billie’s youth, to Cassie and Billie now, post kidnapping – a look at how, and why, their lives have changed, if things can be repaired, and at the impact of growing up and having kids of friendships. I don’t know that this was my absolute favorite, but I did really enjoy reading about female friendships in all their complexities.

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering is a juicy, page-turning, intense read. The story follows the lives of two childhood best friends, Billie and Cassie. The two girls met at the age of 12 and were inseparable for 22 years. Glued at the hip that is until Cassie married the man of her dreams. That’s when things started to unravel. Cassie begins ghosting Billie and excluding her from her new life. Billie is so confused as she thought the two would always be friends, bonded for life. After all they share a huge deep dark secret that they must carry to their graves. But Cassie wants to forget their secret, the horrible unspeakable night when Cassie and Billie were 18 years old. Cassie knows the only way to do that is to shut Billie out of her life. And so Cassie focuses on her new extravagant life and tries to forget about Billie. That is until her 4 month old baby is kidnapped from a birthday party. Cassie is shattered and falls apart and the only thing that will help her survive is the comfort of her old forgotten friend Billie. Cassie reaches out and the rollercoaster begins.

This was a whirlwind of a read. In the beginning I loathed Billie for her needy dependence on Cassie (bordering on obsessive) and her inferiority complex. But as the story played out I felt such empathy and love for Billie for all she had endured and suffered. My feelings towards Cassie were more complicated. As an adult, she was an entitled, materialistic, gold digging snob. But during her childhood she was a fiercely loyal and protective friend to Billie.

I loved how the story switched between Cassie and Billies POV and also from past to present. The pace of Bye, Baby was perfect for me and I definitely felt the suspense building. Several times through out I felt protective of Billie and didn’t want her to be found out. I was rooting for Billie 100%. I do have to say that there definitely were some dark heavy moments in the story dealing with abuse which I found hard to read. So it is for this reason I’m rating the book 4/5 ⭐️. But other than that Bye, Baby was a phenomenal read. That I would highly recommend.

Thank you St Martins Press, Carola Lovering and Netgalley for my advanced copy of Bye, Baby, in exchange for my honest review.

Pub Date: March 5, 2024

Carola Lovering is the master at writing about mundane real-world events (2 friends drifting apart) with horribly unlikeable characters, but absolutely sucking the reader in. I could not put this down. Lovering talks about childhood friends drifting apart, influencer lifestyles, women not wanting to have kids, and, content warning, sexual assault. These were a few too many topics (wanting to be child-free wasn't important to this story despite my relating to it), but the rest of the plot was consuming. A thoroughly enjoyable contemporary suspense novel.

Thanks to Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this great ARC. All opinions are my own.

Bye Baby tells the story of two childhood best friends, Billie and Cassie, and how they've drifted apart as the years have passed. Cassie is an Instagram influencer/business owner/proud mama to a several months old baby, Ella. Billie is a luxury travel consultant, but she mainly spends her time watching Cassie's Instagram stories and reliving the good ole times; it seems to be the only way Billie can see Cassie ever since her best friend quite responding to her texts. Sure, she'll blame it on her new baby and mom brain, but Billie can see all, and she can feel Cassie pulling away. Billie, however, is hanging on for dear life, and no matter how hard Cassie tries to forget their past, one secret binds them together forever. After a somewhat betrayal, Billie makes a grave mistake, but it's one that puts her right back in Cassie's orbit.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I felt like the ending fizzled out a little bit, though. After reading this book, I have become much more aware of the Instagram influencer industry for some reason, with its carefully crafted posts and image, sponsored posts, the whole community of it and honestly, it kind of ruined it for me—in a good way. You really don't know what's going on in a person's life, even though they try to tell you they're being "honest" or "raw".

Honestly, everyone in this book SUCKED—​except Alex and Sasha (minor character)...and maybe the baby. Cassie is the worst, acting fake nice towards Billie but simultaneously talking trash about her best friend and trying to cut her out her life without even talking to her. God, what a terrible friend, and after all they had been through. Her friends absolutely sucked! Billie shouldn't have done what she did, but at least I liked her more than all the other hateful characters. Don't get me wrong, just because I don't like these characters doesn't mean it wasn't any less enjoyable! Sometimes it's fun just hate everyone you're reading. Billie was redeemable, though; she realized things about Cassie and decided to come clean and then get on with her life.

Don't know who I would recommend this to, but I do know I need to read Carola Lovering's other book, Tell Me Lies.