I fear the thing(s) some people will enjoy about this – everything that can go wrong goes wrong, the ~zany~ characters, constantly making the wrong decisions over and over – are exactly why I did not enjoy this. I also found the pacing to go off the rails a little about 30-40% of the way through.

This was one wild ride! I could not put this book down. Just when you think it can’t get any crazier, it does. It’s a beautiful story of friendship, love and testing boundaries. 10/10 will recommend this to everyone!

This was such a suspenseful atmosphere that I was wanting and enjoyed in the genre, it had that character development that I wanted and enjoyed the way they worked in this world. Christina Dotson has a great way of telling the story and characters that I was engaged with what was going on.

“Unfortunately for you, it was Mrs. Sherman’s husband who was registered to the Kensington Suite, not Mrs. Sherman, and thanks to your careless actions, she was able to gain access to his belongings as well as his, um, companion’s.”

This was frustrating to read because I just wanted to scream at her protagonist for every decision she made! It’s a story of young woman caught up in her best friend’s bad decisions and the life path it takes her down.

There was a lot of suspense and some great humor in these pages, but in the end, I just could not connect with the characters and their decisions. It wasn’t a win for me, but I am seeing that many reviewers love it!

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

DNF. I read about 50% of this book and was tired of the antics from Kayla and Zorie. I like a suspenseful book but love to see things turn around, but these main characters just kept making stupid decisions and it frustrated me. While this book wasn’t for me I think it would be great for someone that likes suspense the entire book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own

So this book had a lot of twists and turns- some of them seemed warranted but the change in scenery got old fast after the fourth stop. I feel like the transformation of one of the characters was a bit far fetched. I also didn’t particularly like the ending and felt that the book just kind of stopped. The Thelma and Louise vibe is always fun though.

This cover first caught my attention and then I found out it was a thriller and I knew I wanted to read it ASAP!!!
I absolutely couldn’t put it down! I started reading it and whenever I looked up I was already at 30%! Kayla and Zorie take us all on a journey 😅 first starts with them being so broke they don’t know how they are gonna make it to the next day. Then they get the bright idea to rob one last wedding 😅 that quickly goes south and once you reach that point buckle up because the perfect way to describe this book is ADDICTING! You’ll want to keep going to find out what these two girls are gonna be up to next. And trust me, they stay BUSY!

Love You to Death is a darkly compelling tale that asks “How deep can a friendship go, and at what point does the bond become toxic and destructive?”

The story follows Kayla and Zorie, two black women who are stuck in dead end jobs and barely making ends meet. They supplement their meager income by crashing weddings and stealing wedding gifts and money. On their very last job, things go awry and someone dies, forcing them to go on the run.

The story is really compelling. I found I could not stop reading it for the ways in which Zorie and Kayla’s relationship is tested time and again, as actions are taken and true natures revealed. I could not find any genuinely slow parts of the book that were not crucial to the plot and really couldn’t suggest trimming anything out.

The strength of the story really comes from the characters. The author did an excellent job crafting main characters who are simultaneously sympathetic and yet monstrous in their own way. Zorie starts out as the perfect “ride or die” friend but that love for Kayla becomes twisted into a justification for committing great misdeeds in the name of protecting her. Kayla’s bond with Zorie is both a crutch and a curse, providing Kayla with solace even as she knows it’s destroying her. They are both very human in this regard, and the revelations about themselves and each other makes them both very human.

I highly recommend this book as a great read.

Love You To Death by Christina Dotson is an interesting story. It began with a fast pace, but around 30% the pacing seemed to become slower. There were times where Kayla would detour from what was happening in the moment to explain about a past experience between herself and Kayla. While it provided additional information about their backgrounds, this kept happening so much that it began to feel disruptive more than helpful to moving the story forward.

Initially, I felt bad for Kyala and Zorie because of their separate childhood issues with their birth parents--Kayla's deceased mother and father who has moved on with his new wife and child as well as Zorie's mother who abandoned her different ways and physically absent father. However, this changed as I read the story. They both continuously made terrible and selfish choices, and they both "lacked ambition" but identified themselves as blameless victims for every situation that they put themselves in. They were both bad influences on each other. Both of them were impulsive and reactive. Also, they were very dumb criminals and it was a surprise that they hadn't been caught sooner because of the continuously dumb choices that they kept making. Granted, Zorie was worse than Kayla at times. Greed and selfishness were big themes throughout this book with numerous characters. So many characters were either being selfish and greedy in general or at the expense of others through an abuse of power and control. The exception to this seemed to be Dez--poor Dez.

While the story wasn't terrible, so much of it is just Kayla and Zorie committing more and more dumb crimes. At some point it became hard to continue reading because of how silly the crime spree was. It was almost like a knock off version of the Thelma and Louise movie, except in the movie someone was killed in an effort to stop a sexual assault. My point is that the story became redundant and boring for a large chunk of the story while I was waiting for them to get caught or experience some retribution from this Confederate family whose wedding they crashed who desired vengeance. For this to be a shorter story, the crime spree seemed to last for a long time. The ending was also predictable. Overall, it was a decent story but not a story that I would read more than once.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review.

what a witty, fast-paced novel! i really enjoyed the beginning. dotson’s writing style and kayla’s character cracked me up. i really felt for her and her family struggles, as well as her feeling of being stuck while everyone else’s lives are moving on without you.

the plot was gripping, but at times it felt like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. i guess that was the point of the book, but it was hard to keep up at times.

zorie drove me up the wall. she was not a good friend and clearly was struggling with some mental health issues. she had no accountability for her actions, and ultimately left kayla on her own to pick up the pieces. however, kayla was unbearable at times. i’m all for unlikeable characters and an entertaining dysfunctional dynamic, but these two women took codependency to a whole other level. i had to stop at times and look at the wall as i was reading like i was on a sitcom. cue gregory from abbott elementary saying “y’all are getting this, right?”

i liked this one, but i wouldn’t pick it up again. i recommend it for anyone looking for a gripping, action-packed read to take on a vacation by the pool. i wasn’t satisfied with the ending, but i think that those who love action and unlikeable characters would enjoy it.

also, i love a kentucky author and was so happy to read dotson’s bio and see that she calls the bluegrass state her home 🤠😌✨

thank you to netgalley and ballantine for an arc of christina dotson’s novel “love you to death!” all opinions are my own, and i did not receive any compensation for this review.

Love You To Death by Christina Dotson, Zara and Kayla crash weddings so they can steal the money that’s given to the bride and groom. During the week they work at a three star hotel or at least they did until Kayla got fired letting someone into a hotel room after being given a great tip. so despite the fact Kayla wanted to stop their wedding crashing they’re going to do it one more time to make ends meet until she can find another job only things go deadly wrong at the next wedding. First of all it’s for a white couple who are having an antebellum wedding theme with a banner that says the south will rise again. That should’ve been their first clue to get the hell out of there let me just stop the review right here and say this is the funniest part of the book when Kayla was Twerking and dancing with Billy I couldn’t stop laughing. moving on when leaving the parking lot after a mad dash for their car. They accidentally run over the maid of honor and soon they learn she dies and they’re wanted for murder. They decide to make a run for it and leave town. in a hoopty that Zara who has the worst taste in men received from her boyfriend after he steals all the money they stole from the wedding. they’re trying to get to New Orleans and more than once Kayla will question the bad decisions Zara makes but always sticks by her side. I thought this book was going to be hilarious but sadly it was not I do think it’s only fair for me to say I don’t know why but stealing under any reason gets under my skin it could be to save your mom‘s life and it would still irk me that someone decided to be a thief. I cannot think of why it is but for some reason stealing and lying is something that he irritates my soul and I guess I could say it triggers me not in the way trauma or mental illness triggers others but it just gets under my skin having said that I push through because as I said there were some really funny parts to this book but soon I just was shaking my head and hoping the book would be over soon. From her pulling a gun on the singer who was so nice to them to robbing the gas station that was just so many times in this book I just don’t understand the choices she made not Zara or Kayla I did not like this book I am sorry I do appreciate the lol moments but they weren’t enough to overcome the irritant this book became. Not to mention the ending was such a letdown there’s no redemptive moment no moment where you say oh at least she did that there’s nothing to redeem either one of these women. I totally understand the ride or die motto but if someone loves you they’re not going to want you to go to prison shoot someone or do anything that would put your life in jeopardy. #NetGalley, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #ChristinaDotson, #LoveYouToDeath,h

I really enjoyed this action packed novel. There may have been a fee moments of unbelievability but the writing and characters kept the story moving and allowed the suspension of disbelief. A fun ride!

Thank you Penguin Random House for the ARC! Love you to Death was wild. It was almost too nonstop action packed for me. We meet Kayla and her best friend Zorie who are stuck in life as housemaids at a local hotel. They have a little side gig of wedding crashing and stealing the cash. One very unlucky wedding finds them on the run and the story literally does not stop from there. 

There aren’t a lot of “likable” characters (except Dez, poor Dez!) and there is a lot of dumb decision making that seems impossible. There is violence, murder, and crazy situations. Readers who enjoyed Razerblade Tears, another action packed, gory novel told from the perspective of a black father, would love this twist on Thelma and Louise centered on two young black best friends.

Kayla, one of the book's two main characters, asks at 38% of the book "Are we the good guys?" Ummm, no. Not in any stretch of any imagination. Not even close. And thus, we have my main problem with the book. I found nothing likable, redeeming or heroic about either Kayla or Zorie. They continued to make bad decision after bad decision after bad decision after bad decision, and then they made more bad decisions, and always blamed the world or anybody else for their misfortunes. Yikes.

And yes, late in the book one does (sort of) come to one's senses and understand the evil that the pair has perpetuated for years. To me, it's too little, too late.

From the blurb: "Sharp, unpredictable, and madcap from start to finish, Love You to Death is the most fun—and deadly—road trip you’ll ever take." Sharp, yes. Unpredictable, no. They pretty much made any bad decision possible, which was very predictable. Madcap? Yes. Yes, it was deadly, but not fun, for me at least.

No thanks. I just don't get this at all. I wasn't rooting for them.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

Okay this was a rollercoaster of a story. Not going to lie, it started off great, then got a little wild with the drama and series of unfortunate events/activities.. but the ending cancelled out any of the long drawn out events and made me a bit emotional: HUGE shoutout to the author for this book. Will be recommending

I received an ARC of this book from Random House via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. This was fast-paced and easy to read; there is definitely a lot of action as well as interesting characters and humor. I expected more of a climax, though - some great twist. At around 75% through, I started wondering how it would be wrapped up with so little remaining. And I was not totally satisfied with the ending.

The friends' relationship, their feelings of being stuck in a small town, their scheme to make easy money stealing from the weddings - these aspects seemed realistic. As their spree goes on, however, it does venture into some unbelievability. I was also wondering the entire time how they really thought they would get out of the mountains of trouble they found themselves in.

Overall, it was an entertaining read, but I feel like something was lacking at the end.

These besties are ride or die for real! Don't cross them. We support women's rights and wrongs.... This wild and bloody Southern set road trip makes for a great short read. I would've really enjoyed seeing a bit more from Zorie before the plot kicked off.

3.5 rounded down.

Kayla and Zorie have been best friends most of their lives, but does Kayla really know Zorie at all? This book looks at how toxic female friendships can be, along with how our closest friends can help or hinder us in ways we might not even understand. I found it interesting that they talked about being good people when they so weren’t, especially Zorie. I suppose it’s true that everyone thinks they’re a good guy.

Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that Kayla’s life would have been much better off if she’d never become friends with Zorie.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

This was such a unique idea for a book. A team of friends who make a hobby off of robbing weddings encounter a fatal obstacle in their plight. Their journey on the run turns into discovering more about each other than they cared to know. Very thrilling! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for a copy of this book for an honest review.