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A review by sophie5927
If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann
3.0
It pains me to give this less than 4 stars, because Let’s Talk About Love is one of my favourite YA romance books. I think my main issue with this story is that it didn’t seem to know what it was trying to do.
I liked each character and the relationships Winnie had with them, but they would flip flop in and out of focus and some interactions would leave me confused as to why they were included at all. Winnie had a distinct voice and I really admired her character, but it’s like every few paragraphs she would switch to a different problem to address with no clear transition in between.
I also had a problem with the logistics of the town tradition, she was like “who put my name in the goblet of fire” but then just accepted it and we never found out who did it. Which would be fine but it’s not in my opinion compatible with her social anxiety and stage fright. The cooking show concept was all over the place, it felt very much like an afterthought rather than something that was supposed to drive the story forward.
She also kept having the same argument with her grandma over and over again, and while I don’t need full closure at the end of my books, it left me unsettled that things with her grandma didn’t change or get better by the end of the book.
I don’t know, it was super atmospheric and I loved being in Winnie’s world, which leaves me even more disappointed because I can see so much potential for me to have absolutely adored this book. I just wish there was a clearer story line, and that this didn’t feel like a ton of tangents strung together and compiled into a book.
I will say reading it was worth it just for Alice and Takumi’s cameo, it was so unexpected and cute! I will be reading Claire Kann’s next book, I really hope I like it more than I did this one :)
I liked each character and the relationships Winnie had with them, but they would flip flop in and out of focus and some interactions would leave me confused as to why they were included at all. Winnie had a distinct voice and I really admired her character, but it’s like every few paragraphs she would switch to a different problem to address with no clear transition in between.
I also had a problem with the logistics of the town tradition, she was like “who put my name in the goblet of fire” but then just accepted it and we never found out who did it. Which would be fine but it’s not in my opinion compatible with her social anxiety and stage fright. The cooking show concept was all over the place, it felt very much like an afterthought rather than something that was supposed to drive the story forward.
She also kept having the same argument with her grandma over and over again, and while I don’t need full closure at the end of my books, it left me unsettled that things with her grandma didn’t change or get better by the end of the book.
I don’t know, it was super atmospheric and I loved being in Winnie’s world, which leaves me even more disappointed because I can see so much potential for me to have absolutely adored this book. I just wish there was a clearer story line, and that this didn’t feel like a ton of tangents strung together and compiled into a book.
I will say reading it was worth it just for Alice and Takumi’s cameo, it was so unexpected and cute! I will be reading Claire Kann’s next book, I really hope I like it more than I did this one :)