Flannery has always been in love with Tyrone O'Rourke. They grew up together, their mothers meeting in the same breast-feeding class following their births, and for five years they lived next door to each other. Even when Tyrone moved, they still went to the same school and were inseparable. But then middle school came, and they attended different buildings. Now a senior in high school, 16-year-old Flannery still pins for Tyrone, who makes her heart flutter every time she sees him.
Flannery was born following a one-night encounter between her mother and her father, who may nor may not have been named Xavier, and who showed up in St. John's, Newfoundland, on a ship made up of recycling materials. For her first nine years, she and Miranda, her mother, were always together, despite the occasional boyfriends that came through their lives. Then Hank lived with them for three years, but moved on when Miranda, who is a struggling artist with limited capacity to earn money, would not move with him to a different province. Miranda soon found out she was pregnant with Flannery's step-brother. The family is poor, barely a step ahead of the power being turned off.
In school, Flannery's best friend Amber is barely awake. As a champion swimmer, Amber spends most of her time in a pool, and uses school as an opportunity to catch up on her sleep. They are in the same entrepreneurship class, and to pass the class they need to come up with a product to sell. Amber is paired with Gary, the guy she has had a crush on for a while, while Flannery, to her delight and horror, is paired with Tyrone, who barely comes to school. Tyrone is the most (in)famous street graffiti artist in St. John's, but his home life is rough, and he hates his step-father.
Tyrone proposes that they sell love potions. Is this a sign that he likes Flannery, or was it one of his throwaways ideas? As Amber falls under the thumb of a control freak, and as Tyrone never shows up, leaving Flannery to do all the work, Flannery is forced to reckon with her own feelings and decide what matters most for her.
Flannery is a well rounded character who is plagued with doubt, and her inner monologue is an effective mixture of hilarious and sad. All of her friends, and all of their parents are deeply flawed, making this story relatable. Fans of coming-of-age tales will appreciate Flannery's tribulations through life and will enjoy seeing her grow as she navigates the treacherous waters of senior year.
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