Book Review: Bye, Baby | Carola Lovering

Carola Lovering brings her signature suspenseful writing to explore the highs and lows of close female friendships in Bye, Baby. Her book explores the countless lingering effects that time, life changes, childhood trauma, and the past effect lifelong friendship.

About the Book | Bye, Baby

Structure

The central event of Bye, Baby occurs on October 13, 2023 and it opens the book as the Prologue. The rest of the book is told in two timelines. The main timeline described the weeks leading up to and following the central event. Each chapter is marked with the date and the number of days before or after October 13, 2023. Each chapter is also narrated by either Cassie or Billie. The other timeline describes events that happened much earlier in time. These are marked with the season, year, and narrator (Cassie or Billie) and are presented in italics in the text version of the book.

Plot

October 13, 2023

Billie is outdoors on the terrace off an apartment, holding a fussy baby in her arms when she hears it. One floor up her best friend Cassie is screaming. A calm voice tells her they’ve called the police. Cassie is panicked, asking to talk to Billie. One floor below, Billie listens to it all unfold, not revealing her presence. Cassie wails, “Where is my baby?” And Billie understands what she is going through. After all, she took her baby…

Before

Cassie and Billie met in the summer of 2000 when they are starting seventh grade. They instantly form a close friendship. Through the years Cassie supports Billie as her home life becomes more strained and traumatic. Just before they leave for college, something horrible happens and the two are bonded together for life.

Now

Cassie is married to a wealthy man, has a new baby at home, and has a growing following as an influencer. Cassie no longer wants anything to do with her past, and that includes Billie. Without explanation, Cassie has stopped inviting Billie to things and only rarely responds to her text messages. Billie is hurt and confused by the rejection from her best friend. Every day she checks Cassie’s social media posts about her life and feels more alone. Desperate to restore her friendship with Cassie, Billie does the unthinkable and takes Cassie’s baby. She’ll do anything to hide the truth from Cassie, but even the most buried secrets always come to light…

Review | Bye, Baby

I enjoyed this book so much, and truly didn’t want to put it down. I am drawn to character-driven novels and this story delivered in spades. Bye, Baby is filled with tension because Lovering doesn’t hide the tipping point that the friendship may not recover from. Billie taking Cassie’s baby happens in the opening chapter in a shocking reveal. The reader knows from this point where the events are leading but doesn’t know why it happened. The premise that a woman would take another woman’s baby is a horrifying one, and you’ll start the book strongly disliking Billie. Lovering has a lot more to reveal, though. Nothing excuses Billie’s action, but the close bond and subsequent distance between the friends makes more sense as the story unfolds.

What I liked

I appreciated that the reveal happens right at the start of the book, because the events surrounding it were much more compelling in many ways than the incident on the terrace. In fact, the kidnapping is brief and serves as a catalyst to bring the friends back together (ironic) but also shows that something so extreme and fraught with secrets may not be the foundation needed to rebuild a friendship long term. The dynamic between Billie and Cassie is emotionally charged on both sides. What first seemed like it may be one friend outgrowing the other soon is revealed to be significantly more complicated.

In the weeks leading up to the incident on the terrace, chapters from Billie and Cassie’s perspectives shine a spotlight on the disconnect between the friends. Billie’s chapters veer towards obsession, but also show the confusion and hurt that Cassie’s unexplained distance has caused. In Billie’s life outside of Cassie, she seems able to form and engage in healthy relationships (including a budding romantic relationship and a close friendship with her coworker Jane), which is the reader’s first clue that there is more to the story with Cassie.

Meanwhile Cassie’s chapters portray a selfish and insecure woman, who feels inferior to and desperate to be loved by her new best friend (not Billie) and husband. She spends her days posting on social media, selling overpriced clothing, and attending social events. She’s aware that she continues to blow Billie off at almost every turn and seems mostly uninterested in repairing their friendship. On a few occasions, Billie and Cassie meet in person and in those moments, Cassie briefly feels the pull of their friendship.

Mixed throughout the timeline leading up to the kidnapping are stories from their past. These were troubling but powerful chapters that leant context and weight to the present state of their friendship. Billie’s mother is suffering from some form of aggressive dementia or Alzheimer’s. As she has more bad days than good ones, she begins making decisions that will permanently change Billie’s life. She gets engaged to her boyfriend Wade and he moves in. He starts to take control of the finances, putting Billie’s college savings at risk. Holding her mother’s care over her head, Wade forces Billie to engage in sexual acts with him, assaulting her over and over. Billie stops confiding in her mother when she realizes that her mother doesn’t remember it the next day. Eventually, Billie confides in Cassie and appreciates her support. Eventually something big happens that bonds the two girls closer together.

Though many of the events in the past storyline were deeply troubling, I also found that I looked forward to seeing what would happen. Seeing Cassie and Billie as such close friends that they could almost be sisters leant more compassion for why Billie may have done what she did in the present story. Cassie in the past is fiercely protective of her friend and repeatedly stands up for her when Billie feels diminished. Seeing their friendship through graduation, into college, and even sharing their first grown up apartment after graduation was a striking contrast to the distance in the present. The two storylines were elegantly woven together so that the reader could feel the tension mounting towards the night of the kidnapping. The aftermath of that incident had my heart fluttering with nerves because of the emotional ramifications of Billie’s actions and lies. I desperately wanted the two to resolve everything, but I won’t spoil for you if they do!

Is it a thriller?

I wouldn’t describe this as a thriller, and that’s not a criticism (unless a reader is only looking for a thriller). The mystery/thriller genre has always been too broad in my opinion. Since I enjoy most books that fall within this category (and prefer mystery or character-driven thrillers over plot-driven thrillers), I don’t spend much time debating the nuance of whether a book should be in this genre. However, I know that other readers have stronger preferences and dislikes, so I try to give my thoughts on where I think this book should fit.

To me, Carola Lovering’s Bye, Baby is a character-driven suspense novel about female friendship and learning to see someone as they truly are rather than who we want them to be. The mystery comes in finding out what happened between the two central characters in the past and present that led up to the main catalyst that exposes them. I would call this book psychological suspense, dramatic fiction, or a character-driven mystery. I think those who appreciate a character drama will enjoy this book greatly, but it may not appeal to readers who prefer fast-paced, twist-y psychological thrillers or plot-driven thrillers.

Overall thoughts (TLDR)

This is a powerful and tense portrayal of female friendship across two decades and how it changes as people grow up. This was a portrait of this friendship and these two women, who are the biggest support for one another as well as the ones who can cause the most pain. At it’s core, this is about how trauma impacts even the closest relationships. The ending is satisfying and I thought about it long after I finished.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my copy. Opinions are my own

Audiobook Review | Karissa Vacker and Helen Laser

The audiobook for Bye, Baby is outstanding and brought the highs and lows of the story to life. Macmillan Audio went with two different voice actors which was absolutely the right choice for this book. Karissa Vacker was an excellent (if obvious) choice for Cassie. I can’t imagine who else could have done it better. Karissa captures worried mother, tormented wife, and troubled friend better than nearly anyone in the business! She’s always outstanding. Meanwhile Billie is narrated by Helen Laser, who I have less experience with but greatly enjoyed. Her voice is lower and her tone more serious than Karissa’s, bringing a weightiness to Billie’s story that was needed. Helen captured the quiet, troubled woman that experienced trauma and betrayal, leading to her poor decision in the present that breaks everything wide open. With two narrators, it helps when their voices are different so that the listener can always orient to whose narrative is being told, and that made Karissa and Helen a perfect duo in many ways.

About the Author | Carola Lovering

Carola Lovering is the author of the novels Tell Me Lies, Too Good to Be True, Can’t Look Away, and Bye, Baby. She is a graduate of Colorado College, and her work has appeared in The Cut, Vogue, Marie Claire, W Magazine, National Geographic, Outside, and Yoga Journal, among other publications. Her novel, Tell Me Lies, has been adapted into a television series for Hulu. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two young children.