Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Bye, Baby

This is a fun, easy "thriller" read - one that has a mysterious overtone but nothing really shocking or twisty. Due to the multitimeline, dual perspective writing a lot of the twists are easy to see coming. While I really liked the book and couldn't put it down, it was hard to get past the fact that the core plot is centered around main characters who are oblivious and ignorant, and nothing would have happened if people just stopped to think. The writing was really fun and vivid though.

Major major warning for sexual assault/abuse. It's really prevalent and I don't think it was exactly needed to get the point across.

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masch212's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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msvernier's review

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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dblue236's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Trigger warnings: Childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, domestic abuse, domestic violence.

First things first, I absolutely hated both of these main characters. Couldn't stand them. Not a single redeeming quality about either of them. I was able to mostly get past that because I was into the story... and then that turned out to be a big nothing as well. There was no real resolution, no real point beyond "People suck, friendships fall apart." I kept waiting to get something out of this, and I just didn't. Points for what could have been, I guess.

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thebookishgamerr's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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arireadsitall's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

To some of this book in one word, it would be chaos. I loved that the title of the book has more than one implication within the story, and I think that that is just brilliant. The dual point of views/timelines really set the scene for how this book comes to be. The friendship between the two main characters and how broken it is, is the central point, and to be honest I don’t know how their friendship lasted as long as it did. it was built one of the characters being stronger than the other, and this protection and lie that they had. In my opinion, there’s too many characters and the side characters don’t add to the story. That being said are too many characters are very messy and have a lot of trauma. The backstory of Billie actually destroyed me, and I had to stop reading at one point because I was so sick to my stomach.

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book_reader_lover's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I enjoyed this story. It's billed as a psychological thriller, but to me it was more a woman's fiction. It dealt with friendship from school to adulthood and how that whole concept changes things. It's written in dual timelines, as well as multiple POV's.

Billie and Cassie met at the age of 12 and became best friends. As adults, one drifts from the other one, which happens in all friendships. Then one night, one does something that is unforgivable to the other.

There are trigger warnings in this book. Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse, and a crime ( I don't want to say which crime bc I don't want to give anything away).

While, I didn't always like Billie or Cassie, I could relate to them. How many of us still talk to their best friend in school, even once a month? I'm sure some do, but for most of us, you grow apart. Rather it's distance, children or just life getting in the way. I will say that their was good character development in the book. The story moved along at a good pace. But, I just didn't think the ending as a whole was believable. That's just my opinion though. Others may think that that would actually happen, but I'm not so sure.

Tentative Publication Date: March 5, 2024

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

😊 Happy Reading 😊

#netgalley #stmartinspress #carolalovering #byebaby

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rowanhill's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Features:

-Explores themes of toxic friendship, trauma bonding, motherhood, and growing apart.

-Starts at the climax

-Complicated characters coming to terms with their choices

-Multiple character perspectives

Billie and Cassie have always been inseparable…until they weren’t. This book about two women growing apart had me captivated from the start. Though there was definitely plenty of tension that kept me turning the pages, it is not really a true ‘thriller’ in my book. The main focus, and certainly the thing that I cared most about, is the past and present relationship of Billie and Cassie. In exploring this fraught friendship, Lovering covers many themes such as the decision to be a mother or not, dealing with trauma, socioeconomic status, the realities of being an influencer, and so much more. Not all of the ideas introduced are fully explored, but I loved having them there to add nuance and complexity to the characters and their relationship to one another. Ultimately, this is a book that I absolutely devoured and definitely recommend to readers who like stories focused on complicated relationships.

A relatable experience despite unrelatable circumstances

Though I found Billie and Cassie difficult to like as people, there are also things about both their experiences that I found extremely relatable. I think most of us have experienced growing apart from someone we were close to growing up. Though Billie’s fixation on her dwindling friendship with Cassie makes everything feel more sudden and extreme, Lovering does a good job conveying the parts of their relationship that will ultimately pull them apart from the very start. I am not a fan of Cassie, but I know people who have made a similar decision to leave their past, and the people in it, behind. Whether I agree with her particular choices or not, her overall desire to reinvent herself is something that I find myself sympathizing with.

Many of the other themes that Lovering explores through these characters I found very real as well. However, the more extreme actions, thoughts, and choices of Billie and Cassie that create extra tension also makes them less relatable. Despite being fully invested in the book, it took me quite a while to stop actively disliking these characters and allow myself to recognize the things that had been keeping me invested in their story. Once I did, I found a lot of beautiful work to like.

A little too ‘on the nose’ at times

This book explores a lot of different themes while the characters try to navigate their relationships and challenges life throws their way. In order to fit everything in and add additional drama, a number of elements are oversimplified and/or exaggerated. As a result, it is easy to miss the more subtle work that makes the characters and situation more nuanced and interesting. I am not someone who feels that every single thread introduced needs to be fully explored. However, there are definitely some that seem to have been added purely for dramatic effect and others that could have led to interesting development but ultimately get ignored in favor of a more straightforward presentation. Ultimately, the desire to make this feel like a thriller undermined its potential as a character novel and so it gets caught somewhere in between. Obviously, this didn’t prevent me from rating the book highly, but it does make it less than a perfect read.

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