Published: 04 June 2019 (print)/2021 (audio) 
Publisher: Swoon Reads/Spotify Audio
Pages: 352/9 hrs and 48 mins
Narrator: Caroline Sorunke
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
…until she becomes Misty Haven’s Summer Queen in a highly anticipated matchmaking tradition that she wants absolutely nothing to do with.
Newly crowned, Winnie is forced to take centre stage in photoshoots and a never-ending list of community royal engagements. Almost immediately, she discovers that she’s deathly afraid of it all: the spotlight, the obligations, and the way her Merry Haven Summer King, wears his heart, humour, and honesty on his sleeve.
Stripped of Goldeen’s protective bubble, to salvage her summer Winnie must conquer her fears, defy expectations, and be the best Winnie she knows she can be–regardless of what anyone else thinks of her.
I almost gave up on this book quite early on. It was uninteresting and I wasn’t connecting to these characters or their weird small town celebration. It is one of those small town beauty pageants that is revered to only those in the town limits. Puddin’ had something similar which was also just as strange.
I persisted because I wanted to see the diversity rep, it had appeared on a few lists and I was reading it as a box ticker instead of any real interest in the plot. Thankfully it got better by the halfway point, by then you get to know the characters and could work around the weird stuff and pick out some good moments.
I liked Winnie, and I liked her opinions and her fight against injustice. The weird pageant isn’t as big of a plot point as I thought it would be which made it better. I zoned out on a few bits but it didn’t impact the plot or my understanding.
It is a great book for representation because it covers a lot of different experiences. Winnie is queer, kinda bi, kinda pan, but queer easily covers it. Despite armed with this knowledge I’m still not entirely sure what the deal is with Cara. There is mention of a queer platonic relationship which is fantastic, and she has been pegged as aromatic but it is vague within the story. Again, unspecified is totally fine, there doesn’t need to be neon signs and labels pointing everything out to a reader, but sometimes it is nice having things confirmed. I think the implications are enough to go on though, especially given Kann’s history of writing LGBTQIA rep.
Around the strong opinions and the personal strife the story does get boring again but you power through. There’s generational issues to explore plus there are good, serious, and honest conversations between friends and family members which is a nice change from unrealistically avoiding conversations for plot tension.
Overall it’s slow, it’s a bit boring, but I can see it is important and Winnie is a good character to tell the story. Sorunke is a decent narrator and brought Winnie’s voice to life. I liked that the ending wasn’t a perfect happily ever after. It felt real, and it felt hopeful, which is all you could ask for really.
You can purchase If It Makes You Happy via the following
Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson
Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible
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