Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Bye, Baby

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering

33 reviews

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.

Content Warnings

mrscorytee's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-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

2.5

Boring and at least 75 pages too long

Content Warnings

iamnita's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

I was so excited to get an ARC of a Carola Lovering book. I loved Can't Look Away. I buddy-read this with someone who also enjoyed that book. We schemed all the way through the first half expecting some giant twist that would make sense of the events in the book and significance of characters who played very minor roles. Given we both read thrillers regularly we expected a big reveal. And that's not what happened. There was no giant twist. I absolutely respect the messaging the book set out to share but the thriller aspect was not well enough developed.

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heather425's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75

This book was about a friendship or rather two frenemies. Billie and Cassie meet when they're in middle school. They're now in their mid-30s, living in NYC, and over each other. Kind of.

Cassie is a gold digger, who has been trying to get into the world of old money since her dad lost their family fortune when she was a child. Billie is in awe of her the moment they meet. Billie's home life is not good. Her step dad is a perv and her mom has early Alzheimer's.

The book alternates between the women both in the past and present day. Both are very flawed and it was hard to like either of them. Though part of the uncomfortable feelings were seeing parts of myself in both. Female friendships can definitely have a lot of jealousy. Which is part of the issue with Cassie and Billie.

Lovering kept me interested with her writing style. The drama about the baby wasn't interesting, but the thoughts and actions of the women kept me engaged.

Check this out when it hits shelves March 5. Thank you to netgalley for the arc!

Content Warnings

pomoevareads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Lovering has crafted a well paced story of two best friends, who are no longer best friends-but only one of them seems to know that. Jealousy, hurt, and misdirected threat, are at the heart of Bye, Baby.

Billie and Cassie have a long and complicated friendship. They hold secrets and are connected by the bonds of these secrets. But when Cassie marries the blue blooded trust fund receiving Grant and begins hanging out with his crowd and posting her grandiose lifestyle with her Instagram followers, Billie is left to wonder where or if she still fits into Cassie’s life. Then one night Cassie holds a big birthday bash, after telling Billie that she was staying in and having a quiet night, and the uninvited Billie discovers this while checking Cassie’s Instagram stories. During the party, Cassie’s infant daughter, Ella, goes missing. The story opens with Billie sitting on a sofa with Ella in her arms.

Taut and juicy, Bye, Baby delivered the drama. If not for my brain telling me I needed sleep, I would have continued reading this one all the way through in one go.

My favourite structure of before and now and sustained pacing made this book a solid read that I would highly recommend to other readers. There are a few trigger warnings outside of the obvious kidnapped baby; I will post the warnings in my StoryGraph review.

Thank you to @stmartinspress for reaching out to me to offer me this book, knowing that I would enjoy it and to @netgalley for the ARC. Bye, Baby publishes March 5, 2024. I am sharing my honest opinions on this selection.

Content Warnings

cassiereadsbooks_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

astoriareader's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

SYNOPSIS:

Billie & Cassie were childhood best friends. Through glimpses of the past, we learn about their secrets, their traumas, and their friendship.
In the present day, they aren’t as close, and we slowly learn why.
Cassie is a micro-influencer, as well as the owner of an upscale boutique. Billie works at an expensive, luxury travel consultancy.

MY THOUGHTS

I wouldn’t characterize this as thriller/suspense, but rather, a well-written drama about toxic, one-sided friendships.
Multiple POVs (Billie & Cassie) with both present & the past.
Fast-paced.
Set mostly in NYC (at least the present). I live in NYC, so I love reading books with this setting.
Lovering is an incredible writer, and she expertly creates a familiar, relatable story about old friendships. She crafted and plotted a seamless story that you’ll find yourself breezing through until the very end.
The main characters are both imperfect and flawed. I really liked Billie, and I felt sorry for her throughout the book. The book deals with Billie constantly trying to maintain a friendship with Cassie, instead of letting the friendship run its natural course.
Cassie wasn’t a likable character, and I thought she was very shallow & nauseating.
Lovering also explores motherhood AND choosing to be a childfree woman. I loved that she incorporated this, as it isn’t something that many writers acknowledge or incorporate.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Fast-paced + well-written. Drama about toxic friendships.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. It will be published on March 5, 2024.

Content Warnings

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

jillwedemeier's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Cassie and Billie are two lifelong best friends who have grown apart as they have grown older. On the night of Cassie's 35th birthday, Billie hears cries coming from Cassie's birthday party, one floor above her. Billie discovers that Cassie's infant daughter is crying, and no one is caring for the child while the party is going on. Billie takes the baby back downstairs to comfort her. Before Billie realizes what she has done, she hears Cassie's terrified screams as she tries to find her missing daughter. What follows is the story of how this inseparable pair, once fiercely bonded by dark secrets, has drifted apart in adulthood. Cassie married a wealthy man, had a baby, and is building a following on social media as a lifestyle influencer. Billie, on the other hand, is single, childless, and a world traveler. While Billie desperately wants to reconnect with her former best friend, Cassie desperately wants to leave her past—and Billie—behind.

Told from alternating perspectives and timelines, Bye, Baby explores the complexities of female friendships and the aftereffects of split-second decisions. I was completely engrossed in Billie and Cassie's stories and could not put this book down, finishing the entire thing in one day. While this book has many suspenseful moments, it is much more than just a thriller or a domestic suspense novel. This book is incredibly thought-provoking. I empathized with Billie in so many unexpected ways, and I think that many women will relate to this story. Overall, a very compelling read that I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

abaighritz's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.0

I typically like her books but this was a big nothing burger. I enjoy the writing and I don’t find myself not wanting to read but from the story itself I wanted more, something to tie it all together.

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