This was a hard book to put down. The evolution of a childhood friendship can be very complicated, especially when one friend has moved on and the other can't let go. A moment's unthinkable impulse steers the friendship down a spiral road. Trigger warning: sexual abuse.

Carola Lovering is a really good writer and she always has a good story to tell. This is the third book I’ve read by this author. This story takes place in NYC and is about a friendship between two old friends, Billie and Cassie, and their lives then and now. No spoilers! This is a terrific book!

An apt depiction of the waxing and waning of a long-standing friendship. Billie and Cassie have differing views of what it means to be a friend in thick and thin and whereas one has moved on, the other still clings to what was. The story was told in both real time and flashbacks and this added to the depth of the story. I think many women will be able to relate to the changes in a friendship that has lasted decades, albeit not in these exact circumstances. I especially appreciated the ending.

I really enjoyed this character-driven drama that delved into the evolution of friendship and self.

Cassie and Billie are unlikely best friends, but from the second they meet at the pool in junior high, they’re attached at the hip. They are there for each other through life’s highs and lows despite their differences, and their bond is cemented through a traumatic event that neither can truly leave in the past. Little girls grow up eventually, however, and the two drift apart until one seminal evening when Cassie’s infant daughter goes missing, and Billie finds herself holding the child, wondering how she ended up there.

Told in alternating perspectives and timelines both before and after the night that changes everything, this is a gripping novel that explores the depth - and limits - of friendship. If you’ve ever had a friend that was closer than a sister or felt the pain of losing a friend you thought would be by your side for the rest of your life, you’ll feel this one deeply. The descriptions of Cassie’s role as a microinfluencer were also right on point and gave me some laughs.

To avoid disappointment from unmet expectations, I think it is important going into this one to understand that it is not your typical thriller full of twists and turns. I’d characterize it more as a domestic drama with suspenseful elements. There are also pretty heavy trigger warnings for sexual assault (it’s not a trigger of mine and even I was pretty queasy reading those scenes) among others.

Pub Date: 3/5/24
Review To Be Published: 2/20/24
eARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been seeing rave reviews for this one and now I know why! I found the drama in Cassie and Billie’s relationship surprisingly addicting. I really felt for Billie throughout the entire story and thought the author did a great job developing the main characters. If you like domestic suspense, you should definitely get your hands on this one as soon as it comes out!

4.5/5

This thriller was so twisty! A kidnapping is my own personal worst nightmare. I read this book in one sitting and I still think about it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy. I mostly enjoyed this book. Since you start off knowing the main plot and antagonists, it is all in the details here which are a bit twisty. But...the ending was terrible for me. I really hoped for more by the end, but I also wasn't sure where else it could go.

What a twisted story of friendship! Cassie and Billie are best friends with a massive secret between them. They graduate and go off to separate colleges and try to have separate lives. Cassie is looking for a Richie Rich and isn’t happy until she lands one. Their friendship becomes one sided with Billie always going to Harvard to visit Cassie and not the other way around. Their friendship really changes and Billie is left behind. Enter the twisted part of their friendship. The story bounces between these two characters and the past and present. I really enjoyed this story! 4.5 stars

Bye Baby

So I wanted to start by saying that I really enjoyed Carolas books and was so happy to receive a copy of Bye Baby both eARC and ALC.

I ended up listening to the audio and while I was very intrigued from the beginning the ending left me like thats it?

I was excited to get the dual POV and multiple timelines. I think it added a lot to the story and learning about Cassie and Billies relationship made the story so interesting. Carola did a wonderful job of going into detail of their friendship without making it feel too detailed or boring.

I think the plot point was good but it just fell kind of flat towards the end. One plot happens and then that basically it.

Needless to say this wasn’t my favorite. But her writing is amazing and made a great story but I needed more from it to give it a better star rating.

3.75 🌟

If you read this book hoping for a good thriller, you'll be disappointed - it's a drama.

I feel bad rating this book because it wasn't what I expected - at all. I went in thinking thriller and it was drama, all drama. The book itself is written well. One of the characters I didn't care for, but that's the point of her character. I think if you go in knowing it's not a thriller, you'll like it more.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

This is an excellent read! Definitely written for people of the 21st century. There is a perfect mix of “social media influence” style of writing that was super relatable. This book read very well, the author has an excellent writing style that made reading very smooth. Would definitely recommend this to an audience of fast paced thrillers!

My favorite Lovering yet. This book is so incredibly gripping. I loved the exporation of female friendship and the toxicity of evolving out of a friendship with someone. A true standout!

This book was a great read. It was heartfelt and well written. The character development was well done, with elements everyone can relate to. I think students will be able to relate to the characters as well as Cassie’s obsession with social media. Her choice to go back on social media after knowing the truth will definitely lead to interesting conversations in a classroom.

What an enjoyable book!

This book is one about a toxic female friendship between Billie and Cassie that has spanned over 20 years. The book is character driven as opposed to plot driven. It develops the characters of the 2 women with chapters with alternating POV of each women. The book also goes back and forth between present day and the past, giving the women’s POVs over different periods of time.


Thank you to Carola Lovering, NetGalley, and Macmillan audio for providing me an advance copy of this audio to review for my honest and voluntary review!

This book was not what I expected. Allot of twists and turns I was not expecting. The ending was perfect and well worth the wait.

So it took a second for me to actually get into this book. I didn’t really understand what they were actually getting at, and the whole dynamic of Billie and Cassie’s relationship. But once the book started to pick up, it really sucked me in to where I couldn’t put it down. Quite a few plot twists, and a few moments will have you screaming at the book. But definitely a great read. :)

This book kept me on the edge of my seat right from the end of the first chapter. The title is telling and while I wouldn't say this is a mystery the tension in the prose is palpable. This is a story of toxic relationships and obsession. It hones in on what happens when life takes two friends in different directions as they move through adulthood. Carola Lovering did a great job in developing the characters and the concept is something that women can relate to. Billie and Cassie have different goals and aspirations and their lives have gone in two different directions. Cassie has made her peace with this, but Billie is left feeling powerless, neglected, and abandoned by her former best friend and her new life. Billie continues hanging on to each of Cassie's social media posts which creates a sense connection and insight to her former bff's life, when in reality everything she sees is careful curation.. Overall, this book was well written, timely, and relatable. It's a bit of a case study into how female friendships change from young adulthood to adulthood with the undercurrent of suspense and urgency from chapter 1. The story also has important implications about social media. The breeding ground for obsession that can occur when people have unfettered access to the lives of past relationships. This is a definite must-read for lovers of psychological suspense novels. 🌟🌟🌟🌟✨
#netgalley #carolalovering #netgalleyarc #ByeBaby

4-4.5 stars

I actually really kind of liked this read. Very much women's fiction with an emphasis on toxic friendships, social media validation, and lots of secrets. I got major Tarryn Fisher vibes while reading.

This book was a great example of a co-dependent friendship. Both Billie and Cassie got something from the other and their high school friendship became even more forged when a traumatic event bonds them with a secret forever. Fast forward to adulthood with one friend moving on while the other is trying to hang on to a friendship that has run the course and you have this book in a nutshell. Only the one friend does something really crazy, maybe out of spite, maybe in an out of body moment by stealing the other friend's baby off a balcony during her birthday party. I know. Crazy. What was she thinking? The spiral that subsequently occurs is full of guilt, fear, and a realization that sometimes the person you think knows you best, isn't the person you thought they were.

A page turner with good story pacing, slowly revealing the past along side the present, I never lost interest as this train wreck of events fully unfolded. I had my fingers crossed that somehow they could salvage what once was and both come out as better people. While that didn't quite happen, I was left feeling hopeful for both Cassie and Billie's futures. I enjoyed it and would read this author again.

BYE, BABY is not at all what I expected it to be … it’s marketed as a thriller, but I disagree. So put it out of your head that you’re getting a thriller, and I think you’ll like this one, too! I enjoyed Carola Lovering’s unflinching look at female friendships - both the good and bad parts - and the sometimes painful process of growing into the people we are.

Billie and Cassie have been friends since they were in middle school. Over the years, they’ve been there for each other through thick and thin. They've protected each other, uplifted one another and kept each other’s secrets. But now they’re adults, and they’re very different women. Cassie is now an influencer, married to a wealthy man, and she’s the new mom of a perfect little girl named Ella. Billie, on the other hand, has an amazing job that allows her to travel all over the world, and isn’t sure she wants children. Although Billie craves the closeness she used to share with Cassie, she often feels abandoned.

Told from alternating viewpoints, BYE, BABY begins with a bang: Cassie realizes with horror that someone has kidnapped Ella during a dinner party she’s hosting. Meanwhile, in the apartment directly downstairs, Billie hears Cassie’s screams, and is holding Ella in her arms. Why does Billie have the baby? What led to this moment? You have to keep reading to find out.

I liked that the main characters were not black and white - neither Billie nor Cassie is perfect - and that’s life! I related to each of the women at different points of the story. Lovering touches on the dark side of being an influencer, childhood trauma and the loss of a parent, as well as the decision whether or not to have children and the stigma that can come with that.

Overall, I felt this book was a little long, but the character development was very good and I was definitely motivated to see how everything wrapped up. I personally liked the ending a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced digital copy of BYE, BABY in exchange for my honest opinion.

This novel centers around the Billie and Cassie in alternating timelines and perspectives. Best friends as teens, it is evident that the two women shared some sort of falling out at some point, as they are no longer close as adults. The story unfolds telling us why, and leading to how Billie winds up stealing Cassie's baby from a party one night, and the aftermath.

The plot and beginning of this story had me hooked. I was so intrigued at the relationship between Billie and Cassie and what could have pushed them apart. This feeling continued for me up until what would be considered 'the twist,' and I found myself extremely underwhelmed. The reason, the outcome, it was very meh for me. This did bring my rating down a bit because I was hoping for a little more, however, I did still really appreciate the complex relationship between the women in this story. Billie and Cassie were two very different people with separate traumas and lifestyles, but were obviously loyal and loved each other in their own ways as shown by their actions. Was this enough for them in the end to mend a friendship? You'll have to read to find out and I do think it is worth it to do so, just perhaps not for the thriller aspect of it.

3.25/5⭐