Thank you so much to St Martin's Press for the advance copy!
Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book will be published on March 5, 2024.

"That's the problem with trauma. You can decide to change how you think about it, time can fade it, but it's never going to disappear."

This is my 3rd book by Carola Lovering and once again I am just amazed at her skills. She has such a way of pulling the readers into a world where you are just pulled into this world of lies and deceit.

We learn the whole premise of the book in the prologue and it sets the stage for the rest of the book. I wouldn't say that there was a clear villain in the book as both characters are unlikeable at different parts throughout the book. Though I will say I did not like Mckay at allll even if her intuition was spot on. I did feel bad for Cassie after the kidnapping and her paranoia as a result of it.

Even with the crime of the kidnap and the fall out after it, the root of this book is the deep friendship between Cassie & Billie. Billie had such a sad teen years and what she had gone through no person should have. Though it made the bond between the girls stronger it also led to a lifelong secret that was always a dark cloud over them. This also shows how some friendships tend to grow apart as adult which is normal but when the kidnapping of her baby happened, the only person she wanted by her side was Billie. I don't want to go into too much detail of what happens in the book as it would take away from the fun in reading but its a ride.

"You're my best friend, Baby."

I like that we got both point of views from each of the characters as well as chapters that had stories from their past. It gave the readers a sense of their relationship and how it shaped them as adults. And this is also a reminder that friendships are complicated.

I paired my reading with the audio and I thought both narrators Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker did a great job with each of the characters! Their narration helped keep me invested and pushed the story along.

I think I was waiting for some other shoe to drop and there was a small plot point that I felt didn't get a satisfying enough closure for me. It was addressed and then kind of tossed aside but I thought maybe that could have been played with a little bit more. I also thought there was going to be more of a shock in the relationship with Billie than to how that all transpired (not saying that what happened wasn't major just thought it was going to be more).

The whole premise of the book was so fascinated and I just couldn't stop reading because I needed to know how it ended. And this is my reminder that I still need to go back to read Carola's first book Tell Me Lies.

If you are looking for a book about toxic friendships that just builds and builds - give this one a try!