Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Rowell (Slow Dance) delivers a big-hearted if imperfect second-chance love story. Recently separated from Tom, her husband of eight years in Omaha, Neb., Cherry feels a spark when she runs into her college crush, Russ. Unlike back then, this time the attraction is mutual, and the two strike up a fast-moving romance. Though she appears to cheerfully accept being fat ("She could say it out loud. She didn't hide from it"), Cherry suffers from persistent self-doubts, especially as she embarks on this new relationship. Meanwhile, Tom has been in Los Angeles helping produce a feature film based on his webcomic about a Cherry lookalike named Baby. When Tom returns to Omaha to pack up his things, Cherry's forced to confront her lingering heartbreak. Rowell punctuates her appealing conversational style with parenthetical asides on such subjects as Cherry's favorite Midwestern foods, while also thoughtfully exploring internalized fatphobia and the notion of self-acceptance in the age of GLP-1 weight loss drugs. Unfortunately, the characters' emotions and motivations remain unclear, especially Russ's, and a late flashback that finally explains the circumstances of Cherry and Tom's breakup feels both confusing and anticlimactic. This is a mixed bag. Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists. (Apr.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Cherry feels depressed and alone in Omaha. Everyone knows that her husband, Tom, is in Hollywood making a movie. Tom's semi-biographical web comic-turned-bestselling sensation, Thursday, is the most anticipated movie of the year. What almost no one else knows is that Tom is not coming back. Distance and betrayal have ruined the relationship, and now all Cherry has left is the giant but lovable dog she never wanted and the empty house where they planned to raise their future family. Cherry is particularly annoyed that her husband's most recognizable character is based on her: "Baby" a memorable, captivating plus-sized woman. Cherry never wanted to see herself depicted on the page or the big screen or be recognizable to strangers everywhere. One night, Cherry goes to see her favorite band and meets her college crush. He seems to be a good pick as Cherry's rebound, but when he realizes the impact Thursday has on her life, it might be too much for him. VERDICT Rowell (Slow Dance) explores body image, second chances, and rebuilding one's life after heartbreak. A must-read for those who enjoy the work of Emily Henry, Ashley Poston, and Katherine Center.--Linsey Milillo
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A second-chance romance from the author ofSlow Dance (2024) and the Simon Snow Trilogy. Cherry is fat. There are other things to know about Cherry, but this fact is essential to how she sees herself and--she knows--essential to how other people see her. And now that her husband's hugely popular webcomic is a movie, she not only has to endure people confusing her with the character that's based on her, but also the knowledge that the actor playing this character is wearing a fat suit. This pain is exacerbated by the fact that her marriage is over. It's at this rock-bottom moment that her college crush reenters her life…This is a book about being fat, and Rowell does a great job of depicting what internalized fatphobia looks like. "Cherry was so used to thinking about being fat, she hardly even noticed that she was doing it. She was so used to thinking about being fat, she neverthought about it." Observations like this will resonate with a lot of readers, as will Cherry's complicated feelings about weight-loss drugs. This is also a romance and, as a romance, it's kind of all over the place. It's totally realistic for Cherry to wonder if Russ--the guy from college--never pursued her because of her weight. This is a conflict that feels true. What's less believable is the way he reacts when he sees a trailer for Cherry's husband's movie. It's clear that he didn't get that this movie was going to be a blockbuster. In short, Russ freaks out, and it's not at all clear why. As for Cherry's husband, the way she feels about him at the beginning of the book is totally disconnected from the way she feels about him in the novel's latter half. It's normal to have complicated feelings about the end of a marriage, of course, but there's no emotional throughline to help the reader understand why Cherry's feelings change so dramatically. Rowell delivers the requisite happily-ever-after, but it doesn't quite satisfy. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
