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emilycait 's review for:
If It Makes You Happy
by Julie Olivia
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
I requested this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 2.5/5 stars rounded down to 2 for Goodreads.
I was drawn to this title because of the punch-to-the-face autumnal + Gilmore Girls vibes I was getting from the cover design. (Also it was 40 degrees Celsius BEFORE the humidity where I live when I requested this and I was craving escaping into fall over a beach read.)
STRENGTHS
- small town vibes are fun; the Stars Hollow-esque festivals that draw people into this B&B are fun markers of time
- Cliff being a dedicated parent was nice to see; love seeing a great dad on page
- seeing Michelle fail at running her deceased mom's B&B at first was nice; I love that she thinks that she can get away with doing the bare minimum (providing a bed and some food) and has to learn the hard way to earn those good reviews and satisfied customers
WEAKNESSES
- there are almost too many characters that are introduced in such a short span of time; small town vibes means a lot of these characters are quick to insert themselves into Michelle's life and that includes their names; I was trapped on a flight reading this, so no distractions, and WISHING desperately for a piece of paper to start a character cheat sheet; even up until the halfway mark I kept forgetting who Cliff (the freaking MMC) was because it was name soup!
- I started trying to assign them to Gilmore Girls characters to get a visual on each of them to try and keep them straight in my mind and still failed; I'm actually not sure how many characters were actually visually described now that I think about it which is maybe also why I struggled keeping this cast of characters apart?
- the names overlap with Gilmore Girls A LOT: we've got a child Luke, a teen Emily, a gender-swapped Michelle, a Carol (hello Carole King from the beloved theme song), there are probably more but again, NAME SOUP
OPPORTUNITIES
- I'm not sure why this had to be set in the 90s? Like a big part of the marketing for this is the "90s nostalgia" and aside from the occasional throwaway lines -- Josh works at the video rental store, someone getting a page, liking the Backstreet Boys, wearing a hair scrunchie -- I'm not sure what about this necessitated it being set in the 90s
- a small town in the 90s with long-standing traditions is going to still have those in the 2020s
- what does removing everyone having access to the internet from their cell phones in their pockets actually do to the plot of this story: big city gal Michelle takes over deceased mother's charming small-town B&B, makes friends with the sexy single dad Cliff and falls in love?
- I guess the opportunity here is (if this ends up being a series set in this small town) is to hopefully find PLOT reasons that justify this being set in the 90s? Like certain horror stories now fall apart because cell phones exist and we see creators either finding a reason why a cell phone wouldn't work OR setting things pre-cellphone if a simple call or text would solve all the problems; what is that problem in a ROMANCE that necessitates a 90s setting?
- I almost feel like (having been in some small/remote towns this summer) that the small town aspect of this actually is why I don't see the 90s setting justification? Small towns are going to have spotting cell service, they aren't going to have high speed fibre internet, they still often have a video rental store because streaming services don't work well, there is nothing to do so town events actually happen even in 2025
THREATS
- I think this relies heavily on Gilmore Girls familiarity for some of its charm; I'm curious if there is someone who hasn't encountered Gilmore Girls who picks this up, if it feels charming and rich; I do fear I was imaginatively placing this story in Stars Hollow and letting the show do a lot of the world building of the setting
Overall, it was a cozy way to pass time as a Gilmore Girls fan. I do think I would have DNF'd this out of frustration with the name soup if it hadn't been the only book I'd downloaded on my phone for a 6 hour plane ride. I'm not sure who I would recommend this to, other than big Gilmore Girls fans?
I was drawn to this title because of the punch-to-the-face autumnal + Gilmore Girls vibes I was getting from the cover design. (Also it was 40 degrees Celsius BEFORE the humidity where I live when I requested this and I was craving escaping into fall over a beach read.)
STRENGTHS
- small town vibes are fun; the Stars Hollow-esque festivals that draw people into this B&B are fun markers of time
- Cliff being a dedicated parent was nice to see; love seeing a great dad on page
- seeing Michelle fail at running her deceased mom's B&B at first was nice; I love that she thinks that she can get away with doing the bare minimum (providing a bed and some food) and has to learn the hard way to earn those good reviews and satisfied customers
WEAKNESSES
- there are almost too many characters that are introduced in such a short span of time; small town vibes means a lot of these characters are quick to insert themselves into Michelle's life and that includes their names; I was trapped on a flight reading this, so no distractions, and WISHING desperately for a piece of paper to start a character cheat sheet; even up until the halfway mark I kept forgetting who Cliff (the freaking MMC) was because it was name soup!
- I started trying to assign them to Gilmore Girls characters to get a visual on each of them to try and keep them straight in my mind and still failed; I'm actually not sure how many characters were actually visually described now that I think about it which is maybe also why I struggled keeping this cast of characters apart?
- the names overlap with Gilmore Girls A LOT: we've got a child Luke, a teen Emily, a gender-swapped Michelle, a Carol (hello Carole King from the beloved theme song), there are probably more but again, NAME SOUP
OPPORTUNITIES
- I'm not sure why this had to be set in the 90s? Like a big part of the marketing for this is the "90s nostalgia" and aside from the occasional throwaway lines -- Josh works at the video rental store, someone getting a page, liking the Backstreet Boys, wearing a hair scrunchie -- I'm not sure what about this necessitated it being set in the 90s
- a small town in the 90s with long-standing traditions is going to still have those in the 2020s
- what does removing everyone having access to the internet from their cell phones in their pockets actually do to the plot of this story: big city gal Michelle takes over deceased mother's charming small-town B&B, makes friends with the sexy single dad Cliff and falls in love?
- I guess the opportunity here is (if this ends up being a series set in this small town) is to hopefully find PLOT reasons that justify this being set in the 90s? Like certain horror stories now fall apart because cell phones exist and we see creators either finding a reason why a cell phone wouldn't work OR setting things pre-cellphone if a simple call or text would solve all the problems; what is that problem in a ROMANCE that necessitates a 90s setting?
- I almost feel like (having been in some small/remote towns this summer) that the small town aspect of this actually is why I don't see the 90s setting justification? Small towns are going to have spotting cell service, they aren't going to have high speed fibre internet, they still often have a video rental store because streaming services don't work well, there is nothing to do so town events actually happen even in 2025
THREATS
- I think this relies heavily on Gilmore Girls familiarity for some of its charm; I'm curious if there is someone who hasn't encountered Gilmore Girls who picks this up, if it feels charming and rich; I do fear I was imaginatively placing this story in Stars Hollow and letting the show do a lot of the world building of the setting
Overall, it was a cozy way to pass time as a Gilmore Girls fan. I do think I would have DNF'd this out of frustration with the name soup if it hadn't been the only book I'd downloaded on my phone for a 6 hour plane ride. I'm not sure who I would recommend this to, other than big Gilmore Girls fans?