Interested in a spoiler free summary? Check out my Annotation of this book.
REVIEW
Author: A. R. Capetta
Title: The Heartbreak Bakery
Category/Type: Young Adult Fiction
Genre: {LGBTQIAP+} Romance
Subgenre: Foodie Romance
Publication Date: October 12, 2021
Number of Pages: 338 pages of text; 2 pages of acknowledgements
Series (if applicable): This book is not a part of a series
Content warnings: Toxic relationships, mentions of sexual activities (but nothing is described or happens on the page).
Summary: Grab yourself a plate of cookies and get ready to devour this delightful story where food has magical powers and love can save the day.
Syd (no pronouns), a teenage baking prodigy, was just dumped. When Syd channels that breakup anger into a batch of brownies, everyone who eats them also breaks up. Now Syd is on a mission to create a plethora of magical baked goods full of positive feelings that can undo the harm. Harley (he or they; check the pin), the super cute bike delivery person, is the only one who seems to believe in Syd’s magical baking abilities. That means up to Syd and Harley must team up to save the day by un-breaking up everyone with a series of specially crafted recipes. As Syd and Harley spend more and more time together, they begin to discover they might have more than a love of baked goods in common.
Featuring an almost entirely queer cast, with LGBTQIAAP+ identity issues sprinkled in, this upbeat and energetic Romance novel is bound to warm your heart and make your stomach growl.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
WARNING: May contain spoilers
Was this the absolute perfect book? No. But it still gets 5 stars because it was deliciously delightful!! (All food puns intended). You can't help but fall for the agender cupcake, Syd (and also the gender cupcake recipe). Syd's inner monologue is fantastic and keeps the book moving forward. As a queer baker, it felt like the connections and metaphors between baking and life were spot on and seamless. Capetta’s decision to incorporate emotions into the recipes was a genius way to further the connection between baking and life that anyone could understand. I also loved the exploration of gender that mentioned the challenges of not being binary but while the story remained uplifting. You will also fall for the side characters who keep things fun and quirky even when it gets serious. The magical realism was blended well, especially since it focused on baking, making for an incredibly relatable way to work magic into everyday life. As someone who grew up queer but not knowing it because I didn't have the community or vocabulary that is available to Syd, I felt that the sarcasm Syd uses was spot on. It's a way that so many in the queer community, especially us non-binary folks, deal with all life has in store. I am still swooning over this book and I want to make all the recipes, though I must admit I'm a little concerned they might really be magical!
The cover design was another thing to win my heart. Bright flourescents jazz up the dust jacket and the inclusion of a recipe card in lieu of a traditional summary was genius. But wait, there's more! Take that dust jacket off and the hardcover is bright pink with fluorescent yellow endsheets and purple endband. OMIGOODNESS! This design and the color choices really tied everything to the content of the book beautifully. I'm absolutely ordering a copy for myself from my local indie because it's going to break my heart to return this one to the library later today.
Final resting place: I returned the copy I borrowed to the library and my purchased copy will be resting between Wuthering Heights and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
What I’m reading now
My annotations and reviews are always running a bit (or more) behind what I’m actually reading so I thought I’d start a new section where I just list the current book on my nightstand. A little bit of a teaser, if you will, for reviews to come.
Sense and Second-Degree Murder by Tirzah Price