Rainbow Rowell

Cherry, 36, had always been plus-sized, but also had always been confident. She grew up in a household of large women - her mother as well as her four sisters - who unapologetically embraced who they were and how they looked.

But Cherry — like every other full-figured person — found it nearly impossible to escape weight bias and stigma. While she hadn’t internalized the negative stereotypes associated with being overweight, she did see herself as “a fat lady” and knew others might show more judge her on that basis:

“She knew how she looked, how people saw her - she thought about it constantly. Whatever else Cherry was thinking and doing (which was a lot; if Cherry were a train car, she’d be the locomotive) she was also thinking about being fat.”

It hadn’t interfered much with her life so far. For years she had been happily married to Tom, who adored her. Tom was a graphic artist, and his online comic strip series called “Thursday” somehow morphed into “a cult webcomic turned blockbuster graphic novel turned major motion picture.” The strip followed the quotidian life of The Guy and Baby - neither of whom ever had a name. But “The Guy” was clearly Tom, and the overweight “Baby” was too much like Cherry for her comfort.

Their marriage fell apart a year ago and now they were separated, with Cherry still in Omaha and Tom in Los Angeles. The content of “Thursday” wasn't the reason their marriage ran into trouble however. Nor was it because Tom was becoming increasingly well-known and in demand. Rather, the situation was much more nuanced, mostly having to do with their problems communicating with each other.

As their separation extended, there were additional complications. Cherry started seeing Russ, an old college friend, and Tom, in his loneliness, had turned to someone else as well.

Then, a personal shift within Cherry’s tight-knit family profoundly impacted her. One of Cherry’s sisters, Hope, started taking Mounjaro, one of the new weight loss drugs. Hope lost over 100 pounds, and Cherry was hurt, seeing it as a betrayal and a judgment on her and the rest of the family.

When Tom finally came back, after a year, to get his things from the house, the troublesome complexities in all the relationships reached a crisis point.

This is not an unhappy story though. Cherry has a full life (including a lot of sex), a great job with plenty of affirmation from her co-workers, and is admired for her talents in arts and crafts. Although she is quick to push someone away in relationships (always assuming her weight is a problem), otherwise she is quite confident in herself and in her abilities.

The dialogue, the struggles of Cherry and Tom to divide their possessions, and even the sex scenes are endearingly messy, and utterly realistic.

As usual, Rowell shows extraordinary insight into all kinds of relationships, revealing everyone’s flaws without negativity or prejudice. Her affection for her characters and for “real life” is catching, resulting in a lovely story that is by turns poignant, humorous, and ultimately gratifying. show less

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The tears on Cherry’s cheeks were fat.

In the months after Tom left—and the months after it became clear that he wasn’t coming home—Cherry’s tears had changed.

There were days when her eyes felt so full, the tears ran in rivulets. She’d swear that crying had never felt that way before—that before, she’d cried drops, and now, she cried show more streams. There must be some science to it, one sort of crying for transient pains and another sort for crippling grief.

WHAT'S CHERRY BABY ABOUT?
Cherry is a pretty successful marketer in Omaha; her husband was in advertising and did a little webcomic in his spare time. It was semi-autobiographical and had almost no followers. At some point, around the time that they started to see each other, a new character, "Baby" enters the cast (unbeknownst to her). Sometime after that, Tom's comic caught fire. It was published in book form—and optioned as a film.

Now Tom is in L.A. working on the movie, and Cherry—along with his dog—are still in Omaha. Cherry and Tom are getting a divorce. And Cherry isn't taking it well.

She's in full-grieving mode. A few months in, she treats herself. Tom hated concerts, she's always loved them, and one of her all-time favorite bands will be doing a show in town. So she goes, anticipating a pick-me-up. While there, Cherry runs into Russ—a friend from college. Russ isn't "the one who got away." But he is the big "what if" question in her life.

Apparently, the feeling was mutual. Even better, Russ hasn't read Tom's comic and knows nothing about it. He's probably the only person in Omaha who doesn't connect Cherry and Baby (even her family equates them, which Cherry hates). What could be better?

A solid meet-again-cute. A woman in need of a fresh start. A guy who is almost perfect. What could be better?

FAT GIRL LIFE

A fat girl can’t wait for boys to pluck her like a flower or find her on the beach like a seashell.

Cherry had never been Cinderella. She’d always been the prince chasing down what she wanted. (She’d been a witch, enchanting apples.) She’d had to reach for things. For love. For attention.

Cherry has had nothing but Fat Girl Summers her whole life. And the other three seasons, too. She's fat—she tells us this from the outset. Her mother and her sisters are, too. It's not due to laziness, overeating (not that any of them are shy about eating, however), lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyles, or whatever. It's a genetic thing; their family is just fat. And they're all okay with it.

Well, they're more than okay with it. Not quite proud of it, but unashamed is the better word.

And the fastest way to get on Cherry's bad side is to imply there's something wrong with it. She's pretty (possibly more than pretty, it's hard to judge from the way it's presented), charming, fun, caring, and fat. In her eyes, she's the whole package.

And it's really hard to argue with her (if you wanted to).

This, obviously, has shaped her life—it's not easy for Fat Girls/Women/Boys/Men in the U.S. She accepts it, realizes how it molded her personality and expectations—but thanks to her mothers and sisters, she's been able to gain the level of confidence that she can get through it. Not unscathed, but whole.

THE PROVERBIAL DOOR IS AJAR
Granted, it's been a while since I read Rowell—but this is a bit, ahem, spicier than I appreciate. Definitely more than I'm used to with her. The door does close—eventually—on the sex scenes, but it stays open a lot longer than I think it needed to (or opens earlier than it needs to).

But that's a matter of taste, I realize. And I'm not trying to put down Rowell here, I think I get why she made the decisions she did in this regard. But I'm not suggesting this book to my mother, sister, or daughter (but I wouldn't discourage their reading it, either).

WHY DID I PICK THIS UP? WHY DID I KEEP READING?
I picked this up because I really enjoy Rowell's writing (well, I couldn't make myself pay attention to the fan fiction bits of Fangirl, so I didn't read the spin-offs, but otherwise...), and I was glad to get a chance to read her again.

I stuck with it because I really liked Cherry and got invested in her life. Also, Rowell's voice and tone is just so comfortable, there's no reason to think about stopping.

I'm sure there's a better way to put it—but comfortable is better than cozy, which I keep using. There's a warmth, a humanity, and a little bit of humor—and so much heart. You just want to keep reading, no matter what's happening (or isn't happening.)

WHAT DOES THIS BOOK TELL US ABOUT HUMANITY?
I think this book has a lot to say about the need to love and the need to be loved—as you are and as the object of your love is. Not as you want them to be, not as they were, but as they are (although as they were does play a role)—and the same for you. Loved as you are, for who you are.

Not just romantic love, either. There's friend love and family love, too. The book focuses on romantic love, but family love comes in second.

The depictions aren't always pretty—in fact, in this book, many of them are messy and nasty, with a great sense of "it shouldn't be like that."

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT CHERRY BABY?

Cherry had trusted Tom. She’d taken him for granted—she’d thought that she was supposed to. She’d believed they were a settled question.

Cherry's family is a nice, vaguely Lutheran, group who want four things for Cherry: 1. to be happy; 2. to get back together with Tom; 3. failing that, to start dating this nice man from their church; and 4. to come back to church (there's a not-at-all-subtle link between 3 and 4). They're a loving, close family, but really don't get what makes Cherry tick. Still, their interactions—in person or in group chats is one of the many, many highlights of the book.

Stevie, Tom's dog, is another one. She's a Newfoundland-Great Pyrenees mix, and the cause of a huge increase in lint/hair rollers in Cherry's budget. She was more dog than Cherry was ready for when Tom got her. And then when he left, the two only had each other. And a great bond was made. Stevie's chaotic energy is wonderful. And one scene (spoiler: the dog lives) with the two of them toward the end of the book, just about broke me.

The rest of the book is just great. Once we meet Tom (in the book's present), you understand why Cherry loves him—and why it's so hard for her to be going through this period. When we see him at the beginning of their relationship, you have a hard time believing they'd go wrong. The romance with Russ could be just the thing to keep her afloat in this dark period in her life—and you can see it working.

But like that one guy said, the course of love never did run smooth. And some roads are bumpier than others. With sharp drop-offs to either side. And maybe some snow.

Still, Cherry's the kind of person you want to watch navigate that course—so you can root for her, cheer for her, and maybe weep with her. show less

Best friends since before high school everyone thought it would be Shiloh and Cary forever. Except, neither Shiloh nor Cary knew how to bridge that gap in their relationship. What happens is many missed opportunities.

Now, they're reunited at a friend's wedding for the first time in nearly fifteen years. They have both lived full lives in the intervening years. Can they pick up what they put down so long ago, or has too much time passed between them?

I love Rainbow Rowell's simplistic show more approach to writing about life and love. I say simple when in reality it's anything but simple. I should more appropriately say she truly captures the nuances and complications of everyday life in the most relatable way.

I absolutely adored Cary and Shiloh and I was so pulled into their story. The book is laid out in that we get chapters in the present and chapters in the past. I liked that there's such a dichotomy between Shiloh and Cary past and present that I didn't need the "before" sub-headers to indicate when we were getting a glimpse of them in the past. I think this perfectly highlights how different they are, how much they've grown, as individuals in the intervening years, but also the subtle ways in which they've remained the same.

I will say that I had the most difficult time reconciling the past Shiloh from the present Shiloh. I just think this is because she's had a much more substantial change with everything she's gone through. Instead of becoming the actress she wanted to be Shiloh was married, now divorced, and is mother to two young children and back, again, living with her mother in the house she grew up in, and teaching children's theater. Shiloh doesn't want to be living with her mother, and I think she wishes some things had turned out differently with her life, but she cannot see a way to change any of that.

On the other side is Cary who, after graduation, joined the Navy and has been enlisted ever since only coming back to Omaha occasionally to look after his mother. I think it shows a sense of steadfastness. He had one trajectory for his life and he has stuck with it for the long haul. The only thing, or someone, who could have moved him from his course would be Shiloh.

They've each carefully circled around one another, not wanting to rock the boat, not wanting to risk losing their friendship. The will they/won't they is pretty spot on as is their undeniable connection to one another.

I really liked how all the other characters surrounding Shiloh and Carey are rooting for them, it's just Shiloh and Carey themselves that are the biggest obstacles.

I'm happy that Rainbow Rowell decided to return to an adult title this time around after having spent the last few years in the YA and YA Fantasy realm. I was first introduced to her writing through her first book Attachments and these types of books of hers have always held a special place for me. I can now honestly say that Slow Dance fits perfectly in there as well. show less

Twins Cath and Wren leave their home in Omaha, where they live with their single dad, and head off to college in Lincoln, Nebraska. Cath is on her own for the first time as Wren is rooming with another student. Cath writes fan fiction about Simon Snow, a Harry Potter-like character whose author has been immensely successful. Wren is more of an extravert, while Cath is an introvert who suffers from social anxiety. Cath is taking a writing course. She shows great promise, and her professor show more encourages her, while not approving of fan fiction. The storyline follows Cath in her first year as she gets accustomed to life in the dorms, meets new friends, and continues her obsession with the Simon Snow fandom.

Life is complicated, and Cath has more than her share of issues. Her mother left the family when the twins were eight years old, her father has bipolar disorder, and her sister seems to be developing an alcohol addiction. It is entirely character-driven. There is, of course, a bit of romance, but it is not the driving factor and is very sweetly done.

I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I could have done with fewer excerpts from the Simon Snow books and fan fiction (a little of this goes a long way). I do not tend to read a lot of young adult novels. I generally find them too melodramatic, but this one is well-crafted with well-developed characters and a good amount of humor. I laughed out loud several times, which is always a good sign. show less