The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta

The Heartbreak Bakery

by A.R. Capetta

A Lambda Literary Award Winner

Teenage baker Syd sends ripples of heartbreak through Austin’s queer community when a batch of post-being-dumped brownies turns out to be magical—and makes everyone who eats them break up.

“What’s done is done.”
Unless, of course, it was done by my brownies. Then it’s getting undone.

Syd (no pronouns, please) has always dealt with big, hard-to-talk-about things by baking. Being dumped is no different, except now Syd is baking at the Proud Muffin, a queer bakery and community space in Austin. And everyone who eats Syd’s breakup brownies . . . breaks up. Even Vin and Alec, who own the Proud Muffin. And their breakup might take the bakery down with it. Being dumped is one thing; causing ripples of queer heartbreak through the community is another. But the cute bike delivery person, Harley (he or they, check the pronoun pin, it’s probably on the messenger bag), believes Syd about the magic baking. And Harley believes Syd’s magical baking can fix things, too—one recipe at a time.

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

4 of 5 stars

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The one and only A.R. Capetta is back with another fantastic book! The Heartbreak Bakery is an LGBT and young adult fantasy novel where a little bit of magic touches upon the real world – in unexpected ways.

Syd has a gift. Syd is a baker at the Proud Muffin, which very much lives up to the name. There's only one problem... Everyone who eats Syd's famous breakup brownies...breaks up. Again, the brownies live up to their name.

As if that wasn't complicated enough, Vin and Alec have now tried the infamous brownies. Since they're the owners of the Proud Muffin bakery, this has put Syd into an awkward situation. Thankfully, there are people like Harley who believe that Syd can put some put into the world through baked goods.

Rep points for having an LGBTQ+ bakery, an agender main character, plus portraying demis, POC, and so much more. It was lovely to see so much in one place. More of this, please!

"Love comes in every flavor."

I went into The Heartbreak Bakery hoping for a light read with some of that amazing Capetta flare (you know what I'm talking about!). What I got was so much more than I expected. As I already mentioned, the representation in this book is unparalleled. I love it so much.

I also found the overall plot to be very endearing, from the breakup brownies to Harley's determination that Syd can build as well as break. I feel like that second theme is something that we've all felt/worried about in our lives, so it was beautiful to see here.

Also, let's be honest here: I love the idea of magic and baking. They naturally go together, don't you think? So yeah, I jumped at the chance to read The Heartbreak Bakery, and I would do it again! Also, I would totally not be too afraid to try some of Syd's baking.

Thanks to Candlewick Press and #Edelweiss for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 10 November, 2021: Finished reading
  • 10 November, 2021: Reviewed