I am so obsessed with this book! It's not my usual genre but it was so goofy and road-trip-comedy-esque that I loved it. The premise has so much potential and Dotson absolutely delivers. The random situations they ended up in and the way that their relationship devolved over time allowed for so many crazy, chaotic, humorous moments, and Kayla especially is such a well rounded, interesting and comedic narrator. I would totally recommend this book to anyone looking for an engaging summer read!

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future

I love the cover of this book! When I read the synopsis, I knew this was the book for me. I was hooked on the dysfunction and recklessness of these friends. I loved the feeling of genuinely not knowing what would happen next and living vicariously through the characters. I think it’s a great read and others would also really enjoy it if they’re into unhinged characters and chaos.

Struggling to have enough money and dealing with family problems, two best friends continue to crash weddings to make ends meet. What will happen when their wedding crashing takes a nasty turn?

The premise of this book was super intriguing, and the prologue made me excited to figure out what happened. Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I was not a huge fan of the amount of cliches thrown in your face in the first part of this book and the writing style. Life is too short to read books that don’t excite you, so I ended up dnfing at about 9%.

I think my opinion seems to differ from many others, which I’m glad to hear. Every book is not for everybody, but I am grateful to be able to receive this eARC to see if it was a fit for me. It just unfortunately was not.

3.75 Stars

Kayla and Zorie have been best friends for most of their lives, working at the same hotel, living as roommates, crashing weddings together, and even going to jail together right out of high school. So when they find themselves in trouble with the law again, they go on the run together. They seem to be their own worst enemies, though, and everywhere they go they end up in more and more trouble.

The book summary highlights their hobby of wedding crashing, but that is such a small part of this story. It is really about the toxic friendship of these two women, and the effect that growing and changing throughout our lives has on it. At different times in the story it is difficult to tell who is dependent and who is the leader in this pair. And I think that is the point, that in that toxic environment, it is not always clear. The author does such a great job on these two characters and their development that the reader really feels like they know them. And while it is not a long book, there is enough background on their respective lives, that you have so much insight as to how they got where they are. The negative for me was that they were continually getting in deeper and deeper trouble to the point that it began to feel unrealistic. Despite this, I recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Christina Dotson’s Love You To Death is a blood-soaked, high-octane thriller that follows two best friends whose petty crime hobby—crashing weddings to steal gifts—spirals into a national manhunt. What starts as one last heist turns into a nightmare when Kayla and Zorie are dubbed the “Wedding Crasher Killers,” and their road trip escape becomes increasingly violent.

Dotson's writing is fast and razor-sharp, blending dark humor with real tension. The friendship between Kayla and Zorie is the heart of the novel—volatile, intense, and ultimately dangerous. As secrets come to light and loyalties shift, the story asks: how well do we really know the people closest to us?

That said, the characters are a lot—bold, reckless, and not always easy to root for. If you like your thrillers grounded in realism, this might be too much. But if you’re in for a messy, gripping ride full of chaos and betrayal, you’ll be hooked.

3.5/5 stars
Fast, furious, and unapologetically over-the-top.

I saved this one to read while lying on the beach in Miami last week. I spent most of the day reading this story. Love You To Death is definitely one you want to read. This was my first novel by this author. It came highly recommended from a Friend and now I'm highly recommending to others. My opinion is my own..

Love You To Death is a modern Thelma and Louise-esque story of two best friends who go on a crime spree. Nothing goes right for them as they power through mishap after mishap. An unusual book but I kept reading to see what happens at the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for the opportunity to read this ARC.

“Love You To Death” is by Christina Dotson. What a ride … I’m not sure I enjoyed most of it, but it was a ride. This book focuses on two women - Kayla and Zorie. I found the beginning of this book very engaging and somewhere around the 25% mark, things slowed down. While Kayla came across as the more responsible one, that she kept going along with Zorie’s ideas became very frustrating. There’s conflict at times I found the need to suspend belief. While I realize this book has the air of “Thelma and Lousie,” I wasn’t a huge fan of that movie and, thus, found this book a good one, but not a great one.

A road trip thriller? I knew I would love this! It's the perfect, fun book to read this summer. I seriously could not put it down.

Christina Dotson’s Love You to Death is straight-up wild. It’s about two besties, Kayla and Zorie, who start out crashing weddings and somehow slide into a full-on crime spree (like… how did we get here?). Their friendship is messy, borderline toxic, and weirdly believable — I kept yelling “girl, no” the whole time. The plot flies by; I finished it in basically one sitting because I needed to see just how far off the rails they’d go. My only complaint? The ending felt a bit rushed. I wanted more fallout and chaos. Still, it’s a fun, dark read that makes you question how far you’d go for your so-called best friend. Total popcorn thriller vibes.

I love the premise of this book. Two friends find themselves way in over their heads when they accidentally kill someone while stealing from a wedding that they had crashed. This book takes that premise in interesting directions and treats it with just the write amount of seriousness. It is comedic and absurd and genuinely entertaining. Unfortunately, it suffers from some pretty serious pacing issues. The two characters feel a bit repetitive at times, and the main arcs simply take too long. The ending twist felt a little cheap and I don’t know that I would call the ending fully satisfying. Largely, though, I would say that any issues I have with this book are simply a matter of personal taste. There is a lot about this book that I found really delightful, and I’m sure many people will truly love it.

OMG! What a wild ride. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was not expecting so many twists and turns ! This book was a very easy read because of how quickly I found myself turning pages. I couldn’t put the book down until I found out what happened to these girls. My heart really hurt for Kayla and while rooting for her a happy ending, I also found myself so angry at her naivety. I’ll be recommending this book quite often!

Love You to Death by Christina Dotson
Is a high octane fever dream car crash of bad decisions. You really can’t help but stare with eyes wide open at this wild, anxiety fueled story.

Bad things happen when Kayla and Zorie are together. From the time they were young girls, they’ve been making bad decisions. After getting out of prison, they get housekeeping jobs trying to stay on the straight and narrow. With one wrong judgement at work, their lives get turned upside down again, but with best friend’s honor they decide they’ll only go down if they get caught, together.

I read this book pretty quickly due to the fast pacing and exciting eventful narrative. The plot was strong, and I enjoyed the description of a crazed adventure. I would have really liked to have some more background for the characters other than some facts that seemed a bit repetitive. I also would have loved to see some more character development, instead of the same arguments multiple times. It didn’t seem like either of the characters really learned anything throughout their journey. I did like the mention of psych evaluations at the end of the novel and the diagnoses for reasonings for all that went down. The ending both surprised me and didn’t, although the scene felt a little rushed since the whole book was leading up to that point. Overall, I think this book is a 3/5 star read.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

💍 Love You to Death by Christina Dotson is a gleefully unhinged thriller that asks: what happens when friendship becomes a felony—and then something far more fatal?

At the center of this adrenaline-laced novel are Kayla and Zorie, two lifelong best friends bonded by trauma, poverty, and a shared penchant for crashing weddings. What begins as a mischievous hustle—stealing envelopes and pawnable gifts—spirals into a blood-soaked road trip across the American South after one heist goes violently wrong. Suddenly dubbed the “Wedding Crash Killers,” the duo becomes national news, and their ride-or-die loyalty is tested in ways neither could have imagined.

🚗 Narrative Drive & Tone
Dotson’s prose is fast, furious, and laced with biting humor. The novel reads like a mash-up of Thelma & Louise and Natural Born Killers, but with a distinctly modern, Black feminist edge. The antebellum-themed wedding that kicks off the chaos is both a plot catalyst and a sharp commentary on race, class, and spectacle. The pacing is relentless, but Dotson knows when to pause for breath—usually to deliver a gut-punch of emotional truth or a razor-edged observation about systemic injustice.

🧨 Characterization & Complexity
Kayla is the emotional anchor: jaded, resourceful, and haunted by a teenage prank that landed her in prison. Zorie, by contrast, is a charismatic wildcard whose charm masks something darker. Their dynamic is electric—equal parts codependent and combustible. As the body count rises, so does the tension between them, and Dotson masterfully teases out the psychological unraveling beneath the action.

🎭 Themes & Subtext
This isn’t just a crime spree—it’s a story about survival, identity, and the corrosive power of secrets. Dotson explores how marginalized women navigate a world stacked against them, and how even the tightest bonds can fray under pressure. The novel also interrogates the voyeurism of true crime culture, daring readers to question their own complicity in the spectacle.

📚 Final Verdict
Love You to Death is a wild, wickedly smart debut that blends pulp thrills with sharp social commentary. It’s a story about friendship at its most feral—and most fragile. If you like your thrillers with teeth, heart, and a dash of chaos, this one’s a must-read.

Want me to break down how this would sound as an audiobook? I have a feeling the right narrator could turn this into a full-blown cinematic experience.

I thought this book was silly and predictable. I have a love/hate relationship with thrillers and this one was no exception. The plot sounded so interesting and fresh to me, but unfortunately, the ending was so dumb. I can’t really say I liked the main character as well. This book just didn’t land for me. A total disappointment,

This book starts off strong. The vibe? Total Thelma & Louise energy—two best friends, a little chaos, and a whole lot of bad decisions. The wedding crashing angle was super fun at first, and the pace had me flying through the beginning.

One thing I really loved: Christina Dotson is a clinical social worker, and you can feel that background in the way she writes relationships. The emotional messiness between Kayla and Zorie felt real—codependency, trauma, loyalty pushed way past the limit. It added some real depth to the wild ride.

But somewhere in the middle, it started to lose momentum. The plot got a bit repetitive, and I wasn’t as hooked by the end. I wanted at least one of the characters to grow or change in a bigger way, and that didn’t totally land for me.

Still, it’s a bold, unique debut with a ton of voice. I’m definitely curious to see what Dotson writes next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

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Christina Dotson’s Love You to Death will make you rethink how far “ride-or-die” loyalty should really go. This thriller drops you straight into Kayla’s intense friendship with Zorie, a bond so fierce and codependent it’s both intoxicating and terrifying.

Dotson excels at exposing the moral gray area Kayla inhabits and how Zorie pushes her willingly into increasingly escalating behavior. Kayla refuses to see Zorie for who she truly is, clinging instead to a sanitized version of her best friend. When a disastrous road trip across the South turns into a full-blown flight from the law, Kayla is forced to confront Zorie’s darkness, her blurred boundaries, and the chilling consequences of unquestioned devotion.

Kayla’s complicated family history adds another layer, explaining why she clings to Zorie even as that loyalty drags her down. By the time the final twists hit, my pulse was pounding and I was genuinely holding my breath. I loved this book and look forward to reading more of Dotson’s work!

If you crave page-turners that ratchet up the tension, keep you guessing, and make you side-eye your closest relationships, Love You to Death belongs on your reading list!

Star Rating: 4.5

This was a chaotic tale of two best friends on the run after their scammery leads to an accidental murder. As they embark on the run, they encounter and cause more murder & mayhem until one of them decides they've had enough and needs to make a clean break. This book was so good, yet so frustrating to read as you root for the main character Kayla to change the course of her path as the other main character Zorie pulls all the strings and resorts to so many impulsive decisions. Throughout their journey of being on the run, I liked that more of Zorie's personality started to seep out. You have to suspend your disbelief that a normal person would just get off this ride and do the right thing, but the conflict is what keeps you drawn in. I needed a more satisfying ending but it doesn't take away from the journey this story takes you on.

A wild ride.

Kayla and Zorie are ride or dies.

They are almost thirty, working as hotel house keepers and wedding crash/thief on the weekends. Neither have support from elsewhere and they ate each other’s person.

But how well do we really know other people?

This book swiftly turns into a crime after crime spree than must have some really terrible consequences and you are at the edge of your seat until maybe those come about??

For me the middle kind of dragged but overall it was a compelling read.

Thanks to netgalley and random house for an eARC