venussenvy 's review for:

If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann

4.0

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Claire Kann’s second novel was relatable to me in many ways. I appreciated Winnie’s struggle for acceptance from her family and people around her. To be a Black, queer fat woman is to be subjected to endless microagressions and silencing tactics all the time. Especially within Black families, when elders think they’re right because they’re older. The strife between Winnie and her Granny resonated so hard, as I had a similar relationship with my grandparents growing up.

I also enjoyed reading about Winnie’s relationship with her brother Winston. That was my favorite thing about this book. The fierceness of Winnie’s love and support for him was so heartening. I loved all their little moments of support and unwavering protection of one another.

Unfortunately, the bulk of this story centered around a thruple, which was not conveyed in any of the snippets I’d seen of this book. I may have hesitated to read this if I’d known because polyam relationships and conflicts don’t really interest me. I found Winnie’s....ungirlfriend (?) Kara to be obnoxious and manipulative. While this conflict was addressed in the book, I didn’t appreciate that Winnie was so easily forgiving and did a lot of Kara’s emotional work (especially considering Winnie is Black and Kara is white.) I liked Dallas, all around good boy and Misty Haven King, but felt that his and Winnie’s developing relationship was centered around him being forced to accept the jealousies and rigid terms of Kara and Winnie’s vaguely defined queerplatonic friendship.

I tried to be sympathetic towards the growing and learning theme that’s ubiquitous in YA cus that’s the point right, but honestly a lot about how Kara treated Dallas and her immaturity towards communicating with Winnie doesn’t sit right with me. It didn’t seem realistic or fair for Dallas to feel like things were as hunky dory as Kann portrayed them to be at the end.

Considering all the themes packed into this book, Kann has done a great job of writing a sweet, snarky, and perfectly summery follow up to Let’s Talk About Love (which I absolutely adore.) I wish I could’ve given it a higher rating, but nonetheless Winnie’s personal journey (without all the relationship drama) makes it worth the read.