Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. This sweet story shows that relationships don’t follow a recipe.Īfter surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself. Syd and Harley are White the supporting cast is racially diverse. Over the course of the narrative, Syd examines different types of romantic feelings, from infatuation to love, and considers what precisely is key to a healthy relationship. Syd’s love of baking shines throughout the text, with actual recipes that Syd uses interspersed throughout. While outright bigotry is not shown, Syd’s life demonstrates the difficulties of having to explain one’s orientation and gender and the burden of feeling unheard. LGBTQ+ characters take center stage in this work, led by agender narrator Syd (who does not care for pronouns) and demisexual Harley there’s a polyamorous triad among the supporting cast, and at one event, a nonbinary elderly person serves as a reminder that queer people come in all ages. This may seem simple at first, but Syd soon discovers that no relationship is entirely cookie cutter. Aided by genderfluid delivery person Harley, Syd is determined to repair these broken relationships. Unfortunately, Syd has also just unlocked a magical power, and the customers who buy the brownies start to go through breakups of their own-including the gay couple who own the bakery, putting its very survival at risk. Syd navigates relationships and discovers a magical power.Īfter a rough breakup, 17-year-old Syd, who works at the Proud Muffin in Austin, Texas, bakes all the negative feelings into a batch of brownies.

The heartbreak bakery