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A review by abidavisf
If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Never in my life has an epilogue made me sob like If It Makes You Happy. I am not okay. I am overjoyed but I am emotional as anything, and not okay. Wow. Anyway, to the book…
If It Makes You Happy is a love story. It is a story about all kinds of love: romantic love, familial love, the love a pet has for their owner and vice versa, young love, the love of a community, of a home. It is told from the perspective of two love interests but, really, it explores every type of love you can imagine. Julie Olivia teaches us about grief and friendship, about learning to let go and to live your dreams. If It Makes You Happy is life-affirming.
The setting is its own character, and I only wish we could have explored it even more. The Stars Hollow-esque town of Copper Run is my dream. It is a tight knit community that genuinely cherishes each other. It invests in itself and its citizens. It’s everything you want in a small town. It is, frankly, everything you want in a home.
Michelle and Cliff are the perfect love interests, the definition of ‘opposites attract’, yet they are not the stars of the show. Every character in this book plays an important role but none more so than the family at the centre of it. Yes, that includes Michelle and Cliff, but it also includes Emily, Brittany and Rocket. The bond of these five characters, the love they share, is unbreakable and beautiful. Witnessing their family grow brought tears to my eyes multiple times (need I remind you about the epilogue), and I could honestly read about them all forever. Can I? May I? Truly, I’m getting emotional just writing about them now.
If It Makes You Happy is home. It is beautiful and cosy and filled with love. It is cinnamon and honey and blanket dens and puppy cuddles. I want to dive into this story and never leave. Thank you, Julie Olivia.
If It Makes You Happy is a love story. It is a story about all kinds of love: romantic love, familial love, the love a pet has for their owner and vice versa, young love, the love of a community, of a home. It is told from the perspective of two love interests but, really, it explores every type of love you can imagine. Julie Olivia teaches us about grief and friendship, about learning to let go and to live your dreams. If It Makes You Happy is life-affirming.
The setting is its own character, and I only wish we could have explored it even more. The Stars Hollow-esque town of Copper Run is my dream. It is a tight knit community that genuinely cherishes each other. It invests in itself and its citizens. It’s everything you want in a small town. It is, frankly, everything you want in a home.
Michelle and Cliff are the perfect love interests, the definition of ‘opposites attract’, yet they are not the stars of the show. Every character in this book plays an important role but none more so than the family at the centre of it. Yes, that includes Michelle and Cliff, but it also includes Emily, Brittany and Rocket. The bond of these five characters, the love they share, is unbreakable and beautiful. Witnessing their family grow brought tears to my eyes multiple times (need I remind you about the epilogue), and I could honestly read about them all forever. Can I? May I? Truly, I’m getting emotional just writing about them now.
If It Makes You Happy is home. It is beautiful and cosy and filled with love. It is cinnamon and honey and blanket dens and puppy cuddles. I want to dive into this story and never leave. Thank you, Julie Olivia.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail