Snapshot Review: If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann

Title: If It Makes You Happy
Author: Claire Kann
Series: N/A
Pages: 340
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: June 4th 2019

      “High school finally behind her, Winnie is all set to attend college in the fall. But first she’s spending her summer days working at her granny’s diner and begins spending her midnights with Dallas—the boy she loves to hate and hates that she likes. Winnie lives in Misty Haven, a small town where secrets are impossible to keep—like when Winnie allegedly snaps on Dr. Skinner, which results in everyone feeling compelled to give her weight loss advice for her own good. Because they care that’s she’s ‘too fat.’
    Winnie dreams of someday inheriting the diner—but it’ll go away if they can’t make money, and fast. Winnie has a solution—win a televised cooking competition and make bank. But Granny doesn’t want her to enter—so Winnie has to find a way around her formidable grandmother. Can she come out on top?”

      “Everyone had that one truth that fueled them. Mine was this: my family. My life revolved and lived and breathed around being that one person everyone could count on.”

• Winnie – Winnie is such a lovable character. Her family means everything to her, but it isn’t just her family, if she accepts a person into her inner circle, she will go whatever distance to make them happy. She’s strong-willed and comfortable with who she is in a world that often judges her and does not understand her. I love how the novel explores all of Winnie’s identities from being Black, to being fat, to being queer.
• Family – One of my favorite things about this novel is its focus on family. Winnie is very invested in each of her family members. She has a different relationship with each of her parents, her younger brother, her grandmother, and her cousin. Every relationship is given a separate focus and Kann isn’t shy about showing the negative aspects of these relationships. One of her most complicated relationship is with her grandmother. They don’t always see eye to eye and there are moments when it feels like they will never be on the same page. It’s a lesson in contentious familial relationships where love isn’t the cure all.
• Queer platonic relationship – If It Makes You Happy features a queer platonic relationship between Winnie and her “ungirlfriend” Kara. Winnie and Kara are committed to one another because they feel more than friendship but not in a romantic way. I really enjoyed reading about these two and how they navigated Winnie’s desire for a romantic relationship separate from what they have.
• Romance – There were some extremely cute, make you squeal moments between Winnie and her romantic love interest Dallas. Winnie has a lot of moments of not quite believing that Dallas is genuine in his interest, but finally allows herself to be happy, to have something she never thought she could have.
• Setting – If you enjoy small town contemporary books, If It Makes You Happy needs to be on your TBR. Winnie’s summer visits to Misty Haven have become tradition and it isn’t just visiting her grandmother and Kara that draw her back to this place. From the cozy descriptions of Goldeen’s diner to the over-the-top small town traditions, Kann brings this world to life while also not ignoring how people in a small town like Misty Haven can often be hostile to someone who looks like Winnie.

• Nothing to note.

Claire Kann delivers another sweet, heart-fluttering contemporary with her sophomore novel If It Makes You Happy. Winnie is the kind of character that will find a way into your heart from page one and I look forward to seeing what Kann has in store for us next.

★ ★ ★ ★
(4/5)