If It Makes You Happy

I loved this book for Winnie's strong voice, the well imagined town, her family dynamic, and the difficult questions Winnie has to face. http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-Audiobook copy of this book. My opinions are my own and are unbiased. I really enjoyed this one! I read "Let's Talk About Love" earlier in the year by the same author, and wanted to pick up another book by the author. I've been reading less YA Contemporary recently as I'm getting a bit further away from being a teenager myself, but I really wanted to try this one. This book has a queer, fat main character called Winnie who works in her Grandmother's diner during the summer before she goes to college. The book details the different things that she goes through, and her relationships. I would recommend this to someone who is looking for a queer YA contemporary, with hard hitting themes as well as some very cute moments. I'd also really recommend the audiobook. The narrator did an excellent job of portraying the story. I would check trigger warnings though, as there is some fat shaming, and difficult relationships with family members, so take care.

I'm so sad... I hoped to love this but it was sadly just OK for me. :(

I loved this book so much. So many moments of "YES, this is what complicated relationships (familial and otherwise) can be like!" and "YES! this is what being fat is like." and "YES! this is what it's like to have someone in your life basically tell you that you don't get to have an opinion or rights on what you do with your life." If you're queer, particularly poly or ace, if you're fat, if you've been in a difficult or an unhealthy familial relationship, and given how on target she is on those, I would assume also if you're black, you'll 100% recognize moments in here, and for me this felt really vindicating and empowering. I especially loved this for basically handling a bunch of life being difficult and sometimes pretty bullshit at you, but getting through it in a way that doesn't feel hopeless or like you have no agency. It's a lot of characters having believable flaws, making believable mistakes, having believable conflict, and then working through it and mostly doing better. Just simultaneously a very realistic book, and still a very hopeful book, and wow is that something I'm appreciating in 2020, heh. I also just enjoy Claire Kann's sense of humor. :)

3.5 stars When you read the blurb, you realize this book will be pretty diverse, but it's more so than I realized. My favorite thing about that was it didn't feel forced. The characters were themselves and that was that. I love when authors create a world like that and everything seems natural. If It Makes You Happy follows Winnie, a plus-sized girl of color. She is spending the summer with her grandmother (like she does every year) and plans on helping her grandmother run her diner. She sees herself running it one day and is happy with this. Winnie has an ungirlfriend Kara. They're not labeling anything, but seeing where things go. It took me awhile to really get sucked into this story. Not because I didn't love the characters or what was happening, but it felt like it took awhile for something to happen. We read about Winnie's day to day life and her emotions. She has a dream and is going day to day figuring them out. This book has different relationships and connections and that's basically where everything takes place. I have to start off by saying my favorite connection was between Winnie and her brother. I loved how much they were there for each other and really tried to spend time together. That bond felt really special and had me smiling quite often. I had mixed feelings with her grandmother. While I understand people can be set in their ways, it felt to me way too often that the grandmother didn't want to listen. She expected Winnie to, but didn't follow the same rules. I was very frustrated with that at times. The romance in this book was sweet, but also too much at times. I love the bond Winnie had with Kara and how even though they didn't define things, they had their own clarity of what they were. They were really sweet, even if it did have challenges. Then comes Dallas. It's clear he likes Winnie and Kara isn't happy with that. For me the book spent too much time focusing on this love triangle. At times it was too much drama. I love that it shows that emotions aren't black and white and things don't magically resolve themselves. My favorite aspect of that was Winnie realizing she was feeling things and wanting to talk it out. Even when something pretty mean takes place. Winnie is such a fun character. She is far from perfect, but knows this. I loved that she was happy in her own skin and wasn't willing to change, because other people think she should. I was so proud to finally have a character that stood up for herself and not being ashamed for being who she is. Winnie can speak without thinking, but she means well. If It Makes You Happy is another summer read to bring to the pool. Once you get sucked in, you're done reading before you know it. This author created a lot of amazing characters and I love the small town feel I got from this setting.

TW: toxic relationship This story didn't really have any overarching plots, just mini ones that helped fuel the main driving forces of the novel. They are Winnie's relationships and her confidence to stand up for those she loves and for herself. Let's start with the toxic relationship between Winnie and her granny. Whenever something happens around Winnie, whether it be her fault or not, or even her Granny's fault, Granny always blamed Winnie for it and would give her the silent treatment until she dained that Winnie had apologized enough, and even then she treated her poorly. If there was an overarching plot, it would be Winnie learning to stand up against her Granny. Then there's Winston, her brother. He is very serious around other people, but when he's around Winnie, she brings out his passion and loving ways. She is the protective big sister who would do anything for her brother, and he is willing to help his sister, even if he doesn't like what that is. Kara is Winnie's ungirlfriend. They're more than just best friends, they have feelings for each other but aren't in an official relationship, though, everyone in town believes that they are. There was one point in the book where Kara displayed a red flag behavior, but she eventually realized how wrong she was behaving. I liked how Winnie was big on conversations and communicating with others. She even tries, and fails, with Granny. I think that, and her protectiveness over her loved ones, is her best quality. I loved the writing style and the insertion of quotes from movies (whenever I got them). And I liked some of the humour sprinkled throughout the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy free for review. All opinions are my own. There was so much about this that I liked, but there was also enough that I did not enjoy that I think I have to leave it at a middle-of-the-road 3 star rating. Let's start with the things I did like! THE REPRESENTATION. Winnie is self-described as queer, fat, and black, and she is living her best life and embracing all aspects of her identity! Winnie's self-confidence was contagious, and I could even feel my own self-esteem rising when reading about her. She's also incredibly giving and kind, and will absolutely throw down to defend those that she loves. I really enjoyed being inside her head through this story. This book also explores a queerplatonic relationship, which I had heard of but never read in a book before, so that was incredibly interesting and fun to read about. Speaking of relationships, Winnie's love interest was a baaaaabe. His name is Dallas and he was a really wonderful person who was there for Winnie and supported her through all the crazy things that were happening in the book. I think overall, the characters are what really shine in this book. They all feel fleshed out and the conflict between them feels realistic without being overdramatic. Now onto what I didn't like as much: the plot. Or lack thereof. This is a very character-driven book, as I just mentioned above, but it has essentially no plot. For me, that just isn't enough. I need some sort of driving force in a book and this just didn't have it. So if you super enjoy character-focused books and don't really care about plot, this may be a really great fit for you! It unfortunately didn't have that oomph I look for in my books. I do also think that some of the characters didn't treat Winnie very well and then didn't really face any consequences for their behavior. I don't mind messy characters and conflict, but the resolution to said conflict felt a little wishy-washy to me. People just walked all over Winnie and didn't have to deal with the fallout of their actions and that didn't sit right with me. Another thing that bothered me is that some dialogue hints that a character is on the ace or aro (or maybe both?) spectrum, but they don't just say "asexual" or "aromantic" on the page. In Claire Kann's debut, Let's Talk About Love, it was a HUGE DEAL that the main character said she was asexual in no uncertain terms, so it just felt a little odd that this wouldn't be confirmed in the text in this book. I did read an arc so maybe it changed in the final copy, but based on other reviews I don't think that's the case. This particular character seems pretty confident in herself and her identity, so it felt a little out of character that she wouldn't talk about that identity. Overall, I did enjoy this and would recommend it if you're looking for a fairly, though not entirely, light summery contemporary chock-full of diversity and small-town charm, along with a not-so-healthy dose of teen drama. Trigger and content warnings for fatphobia, emotional manipulation from friends and family, asthma attacks.

3.5 rounded up! Thank you to XPresso Blog Tours & Swoon Reads for providing me with an ARC copy of If It Makes You Happy in exchange for an honest review! Note: Any quotes used in this review are from the ARC copy & may not match up with the final copy! I wasn’t sure why I loved myself as much as I did. Never really questioned it. Lemme get the negative out of the way so that I can get to raving about If It Makes You Happy. The plot & scene transitioning felt messy at times — one second, we’re in one place & the very next, we’re somewhere new. This is honestly such a small nitpick, and the only complaint that I have on this Contemporary read. If It Makes You Happy has quite a bit of representation (Black! Fat! Queer! Poly!), which is what sticks out most in this read. & all of this representation is from our main character, Winnie. I love Winnie. She’s unapologetic & confident & fights for what she believes in. She makes a lot of comments on what it’s like being a fat girl & wow, as someone who’s in the obese range (uh? Screw the BMI is what I always say) — her commentary is absolutely relatable. I adored all of Winnie’s relationships; her romantic interest in Dallas, her queerplatonic relationship with Kara, her sibling relationship with Winston (which I’ll get to in one moment!) & her relationship with her cousin, Sam. There’s such a strong bond between Winnie & everyone mentioned — honesty & communication is key when it comes to any kind of relationship & it’s something that’s practiced a lot in this book (– although, there is conflict in terms of lies, but spoiler alert: things work out, because that’s just the kind of book this is). You’re a jerk & I love you. My all-time favorite relationship in this book isn’t romantic whatsoever — it’s the relationship between Winnie & her younger brother, Winston. I’ve always been a sucker for a good bronamic (Get it? Bro? Dynamic?..) It’s clear that Winnie & Winston would do anything for the other, and I absolutely adored them throughout the entire read. If It Makes You Happy tackles a lot of topics such as racism, misogyny & fat-shaming & to me, Claire Kann tackles these topics well. As mentioned above, her commentary on being fat is extremely relatable. At one point, Winnie discusses how ‘everyone hates fat people’ & when a fat person pisses them off, their weight is the first thing they go for when they retaliate. Let me tell y’all — I’ve pissed off a lot of men in my lifetime & their comeback seems to be them finding some unique way of calling me fat. But I am. It’s not a bad word to me at all. I get what you hear when saying it: I’m calling myself ugly or unlovable or it’s the horrendous state of slovenly being. That’s not what I’m saying, and it’s not my fault almost everyone has been conditioned to think that way. There’s also a couple of minor things that I enjoyed about If It Makes You Happy, such as the fact that the restaurant is called Goldeen’s, named after the Pokemon! Plus, I’m a sucker for books that have a restaurant setting, because I can relate to busy lunch shifts & all that fun stuff. If It Makes You Happy is your typical YA Contemporary filled with representation — it’s a quick & easy read, and I’d definitely recommend!