ARC Review:

Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell

Publication Date: April 14, 2026

Summary from NetGalley:

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.

Semi-autobiographical. 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.

Cherry had promised to love Tom through thick and thin.

She’d meant it.

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 Sutton knew Cherry when she was a young art student with a fondness for pin-up dresses and patent leather heels. Before Tom.

Russ knows Cherry. He likes Cherry.

And best of all . . . he’s never heard of Thursday.

Tender, funny, and utterly human, Cherry Baby is Rainbow Rowell’s richest, most surprising—sexiest—novel yet.

ARC provided by William Morrow via Netgalley for an honest review.

Confession:

I really enjoyed reading this contemporary story about love, family and self discovery. Ms Rowell really knows how to write realistic and relatable characters and sharing their lives with us. I did have a few issues with this one, mainly the length and repetitiveness of Cherry’s inner dialogue, but for the most part it is a tender exploration of love and personal struggles.

Cherry is the sole narrator of this story, and while I really loved her, I did struggle a bit at times with her inner dialogue. She is a very confident and self assured woman, who is mostly comfortable with her weight, but is also very sensitive about it. I loved the descriptions of some of the outfits she wore, they sounded adorable. But no matter how confident Cherry would project herself to be, she would also self sabotage her relationships because of how she thought the other person perceived her weight. Her inner dialogue about her weight was also a little on the repetitive side. Cherry does show a lot of personal growth in this story though, which was lovely.

I liked many of the other characters in the story, especially Russ, the man from her past that she reconnects with. I thought he was a great character and a good match for Cherry, especially after we meet Tom, her ex. Tom did not wow me, and I felt that he really took advantage of her. Cherry’s feelings for both of them felt authentic and even though I didn’t love her final choice, I totally understood why she went the way she did.

Cherry’s family plays a big role in the story and I loved them all. Her four sisters were a hoot and even through some of their snide comments to each other, you could feel the love and support they have for each other. Their texts to each other were hilarious. Her family is chaotic and large, but they always have each other’s backs when needed. I really appreciated the honest conversation Cherry had with one of her sisters about GLP-1s. It is an important topic and the issues surrounding the choices about using it or not were well laid out here.

The pacing was good for the most part, although it did drag a bit in the middle. Most of this was due to Cherry just circling around the same issues over and over again in her head. The romances were good and the spice was just spicy enough without going overboard. I loved the dialogue between the characters as well.

If you are a fan of this author’s other contemporary novels, I think you will enjoy this one. If you are looking for a second chance romance story with very realistic and lovable characters this is one you should consider.