Quick Synopsis – Everybody knows that Cherry’s husband, Tom, is in Hollywood making a movie. Almost nobody knows that he isn’t coming home. Tom is the creator of Thursday—a semi-autobiographical webcomic that’s become an international phenomenon. That means there’s a character in this movie based on Cherry . . . “Baby.” Wide-hipped, heavy-chested, double-chinned Baby. Cherry never wanted this. No fat girl wants to see herself caricatured on the page—let alone on the big screen. But there’s no getting away from it. Baby looks so much like Cherry that strangers recognize her at the grocery store.

While her soon-to-be ex-husband is in Los Angeles getting rich and famous and being the internet’s latest boyfriend, Cherry is stuck in Omaha taking care of the dog he always wanted and the house they were going to raise a family in . . . and wondering who she’s supposed to be without him. One night, Cherry decides to leave all her problems, including Tom’s overgrown puppy, at home. She ventures out to see her favorite band play her favorite album . . . and someone recognizes her from across the room. Russ Stanton knew Cherry in college and now maybe they have a second chance.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Never Been Small by Jennaire

Publication Date – Apr. 14, 2026

Bookshop Link – Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell

Content Notes – There is a lot of talk about weight, body image, fat shaming, and negative self-talk. There are explicit sex scenes. There is off page infidelity.

Steamy Rating – 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rating – ⭐⭐.5 out of 5

Review – I had a really hard time with this book, partially because I could recognize myself in the main character, Cherry. Cherry is a fat woman who comes from a family of fat women. She’s 36 and going through a divorce. When she finds herself at a concert reconnecting with an old crush from college, Cherry has a glimpse of what a new life could look like. It’s been a year since her and her husband, Tom, separated. But because he’s making a movie based on a semi-autobiographical webcomic he wrote, it’s kind of hard to really escape him.

The novel follows Cherry as she’s kind of having a mid-life crisis. Of course, Tom comes back into her life to help pick up his stuff from the house. The tension is palpable and the book goes back and forth between present day and the past. I had several issues with this book. The main being that Tom and Cherry don’t talk to each other. Cherry is supportive of Tom’s career, but she never really reads his webcomic. He started to do the comic before he even met her, but it starts taking off early in their relationship. She knows she’s a main character in it but doesn’t actually seem to take an interest beyond being verbally supportive. It just felt like if your partner had this big thing in their life that they loved, you’d be more invested.

I will admit by the end of the book (slight spoiler) Cherry does recognize that she hasn’t been the best partner. Even a little recognition she has isn’t enough. The whole book is one miscommunication trope. Tom and Cherry have been together for 11 years, but there still seems to be minimal communication between them. Tom is painted as more of a stoic character, but it still felt like if after being together so long he should have been able to communicate his needs better. I feel like I would have liked this book more if they had been together a shorter amount of time.

The other big issue I had was the negative body talk. I am a fat woman in her 30s. I will likely always carry extra weight, but weight is not a direct indicator of health. So much of this book talks about Cherry’s body and her sister’s bodies. Hell, they ice out one of her sisters because that sister is taking a GLP1 medication and has lost a lot of weight. When you’re a fat woman, yes you do notice how you look compared to others. Yes, you worry about how your partner is perceived, especially if they’re smaller than you. When Cherry is dating a man more fit than her, she brings up how they didn’t originally date because he was ashamed of what other people would think of her size. That conversation hurt and was necessary to the plot, but I also wish Cherry would have done some more work on herself to not care as much about what other people think.

Look, if you like Rainbow Rowell’s other books, you’ll probably like this. But it wasn’t for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced reader’s copy. All opinions are my own.