A novel about the dark side of close friendships; especially when two women are bound by more than just nostalgia and fond memories.
Hello and welcome! Or if you’ve been here before, welcome back! Today I’m going to be chatting about “yet another ARC that I’ve had in my Kindle for goodness knows how long and only just got around to reading it” called “Bye, Baby” by Carola Lovering. I need to be better about this…
But! Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s a marathon, not a sprint! And any other sayings that make me feel better about my giant ARC list.
Here’s a quick synopsis for you: “Bye, Baby” follows two old friends, Billie and Cassie. Friends since childhood, they used to be inseparable. Ride or die BFF’s… until recently. Nowadays, Cassie screens Billie’s calls and keeps her out of the loop when it comes to her personal life. With the exception of Cassie’s daily social media posts and stories, Billie feels extremely disconnected from her former best friend, and she has no idea why.
After a shocking incident that takes place during Cassie’s birthday party, Cassie no longer feels like the confident, happy-go-lucky entrepreneur that posts every detail of her days. Worried for the safety of her family, Cassie begins to let out the girl she tried so hard to squash throughout her influencer transformation, and Billie only wants her best friend back. Can these two become the friends they used to be again, or has too much happened between the two of them?
My star rating: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
So I haven’t been reading much in this genre recently – I tend to get irritated when the “twist” is super obvious or the author uses the super fun (yet obnoxious) plot device of the good ol’ “unreliable narrator,” which, if done poorly, is just an easy way to basically write whatever you want until the end where the whole story gets blown apart and all 300+ pages I just read mean nothing. However, when it comes to “Bye, Baby,” I’m wondering where the genre tags came from.
It’s not “mysterious.” It’s not “thrilling.” Do we just not have genre names for these types of books? Can we use “mystery lite?” “Lightly thrilling?” “Drama??”I don’t know, I’m rambling through my typing fingers.
There are definitely some dark themes throughout the book. Severe trauma that was horrific to read through. It gets pretty in the weeds about it, so if you yourself have past trauma, proceed with care and check trigger warnings. I don’t have nearly the level of trauma this character experiences and it was rough reading for a while.
Again, this brings me back to whether this is a mystery/thriller or a dark drama. The blurb on Goodreads (and probably many other places) reveals the shocking and rather horrific incident that happens in the present time, and it also reveals who did it. It also reveals that there is a traumatic situation that occurs when the characters are younger. What that situation is is rather obvious when you read a few chapters of flashbacks and meet the almost comically horrible antagonist from the characters’ past. Seriously, why have the antagonists I’ve been reading recently been so cartoony?
The book does a good job of showing the dark side of friendships. When Billie is phased out of Cassie’s life, she tries to fight tooth and nail to get back in her good graces. She checks Cassie’s Instagram posts and stories daily, she tries calling her or sending texts to let her know she’s “thinking of her!” At first you think Cassie just “outgrew” her friendship with Billie, but throughout the book more and more is revealed about what happened when they were younger and how it changed their friendship forever.
It’s hard to go more into detail of what I liked specifically about the horrific situation and what it led to without spoiling the book, so I’ll try to be vague. I did like how Billie clung to Cassie all these years because they – in a way – trauma bonded, but the “lightbulb” moment Billie finally gets is another aspect I liked. All this time Billie thought Cassie was her “ride or die” bestie, but in reality Cassie did what she did in high school due to her own personal issues and self-loathing. Which, I mean… duh? I didn’t think she did what she did purely for Billie, but I’m glad Billie figured it out on her own. It was what she needed to finally move forward with the many issues she had and hopefully heal.
Honestly, both these ladies need serious therapy, and I get why it wasn’t in the book. It would’ve been a lot and probably bogged down the story. But seriously… therapy. Both of them. There’s so much going on in their pasts it’s insane.
When it comes to the secondary characters, I really liked Alex, Billie’s love interest. Honestly, she doesn’t deserve him. He’s a sweet guy and I love how he was able to get to Billie and help her have a healthy relationship. He seems to fit her well. Did I like how the book ended when it came to the two of them? I’m not really sure. I could take it or leave it with how it leaves off. Again, Billie needs serious therapy.
Billie’s friend/boss Jane is another character I really liked. She seems no-nonsense and yet if you’re her friend and you come to her house and say, “Hey, I need help with something…” she’ll grab a shovel, no questions asked. Now that’s a ride or die friend. While the small plot point that occurs between Jane and a former work client of hers seems random and only used to show how douchey that former client is and to cause a rift between Billie and Cassie, it gave my girl Jane more page time, so I’m not too upset. Otherwise I feel like we’d barely see her.
Overall, it was a fast read that I liked as a whole. It just didn’t “wow” me. The genre tags also confused me since I didn’t see this as a mystery/thriller at all, but maybe I’m just new to the genre. Or maybe publishers don’t really have a specific name for these kinds of books.
Have you read “Bye, Baby” by Carola Lovering? What are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments below, I love hearing from y’all!
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. “Bye, Baby” was released on March 5.
Until next time, my lovelies!
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