User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I... can’t hold enough of this book in my hands. I listened to the audiobook, and it was
superb. I listened to
You Should See Me in a Crown everywhere, but then it was over and I mourned its loss. I wished, then, that the story could be solid and picked up and held close, so that I could reach for it and trace the words with my fingers whenever I needed. I immediately ordered a physical copy right there and then.
You Should See Me in a Crown follows the story of Liz Lighty who wants nothing but to not feel an ache in her soul where some part of her always feels wanting. Liz hung her hopes on a scholarship to Pennington—her dream school—which she believed would be “the fast track to the rest of [her] life.” But a rejection letter douses Liz’s dream in her chest, and Liz suddenly feels she has lost her own story, fallen out of its pages, and landed in a country from which she couldn’t return. But when her brother convinces her to run for prom queen—with its $10,000 scholarship prize—the idea strikes Liz as sensible in a mad sort of way. Liz—who is accustomed to being quiet and feels secure in the near invisibility her insignificance in the high school hierarchy bestows upon her—knows this is her only chance, but dreads the exhausting artifice that comes when you put yourself onstage, and ask to be judged. A burning determination glows in Liz, nonetheless. Liz will be her school’s “infamous, subversive, dangerous, queer-as-hell prom queen wannabe” if that’s what it takes to seize her dreams. The playing field might be a steep incline with Liz at the bottom with boulders attached to both her ankles, but she is determined to push and push until something breaks in her favor, for once. That’s the Lighty Way, after all.
We feel, but we always fight. It’s the Lighty Way.
Johnson tells a deeply compassionate and tender story about the howling cold of unbelonging—that lonely dwelling-place inside that sometimes threatens to leak out and drown you—and her telling found the seams inside me and tugged. What hangs over Liz, and what the author illustrates so beautifully, is the traces of shadow where a broken system—or rather, a system that is working just as designed—has been breaking its hand against the bones of people who didn’t fit the mold of “cis, het, and white.” Liz Lighty is surrounded on all sides by people who move through the world without expectation of a door slammed in their faces, people who would look at her from the narrow parapet of their noses and finding her wanting. For years, Liz had let their words lurk quietly under the surface of herself. She learned to whittle herself down to a few essential truths—being a good granddaughter and sister, an excellent student, a first-chair clarinet player—keep her head down, and fit the small shape the world left for her. But Liz is fed up with the idea of being judged, cast in a role, given a title, measured up, inevitably found lacking—and I was buoyed by the wellspring of strength and defiance she was capable of drawing from. The heart of the novel, after all, is clear, star-bright, and powerful. There’s a fire burning in
You Should See Me in a Crown like furnace doors thrown wide open so you can feel the flames, the bright fire of someone who is determined to exist in a way that is unpalatable to others, who is unafraid to take up space, to participate in the world, to reach out and grasp its beating core with bare hands, to be awake.
The friendships in this book are also so good. Liz’s friends are a calm and steady port in the storm of her life, the ones who would shore her up, and wrap up the hurt. They’re the grass between the nettles—a safe place for her to land. But friends can break your heart too and the novel doesn’t shy away from showing how friendship breakups can carve just as deep. Liz’s friendship with Jordan, in particular, pierced a little too close to my heart. Liz passes Jordan in the school hallways, works besides him on extracurricular activities, and does her best to act as if they had never quarreled, and never parted and were in fact no more than casual acquaintances in the first place. But Liz feels the distance between them keenly. The memory of what he’s done four years before is a fresh stab: not just disappointment, or anger, but grief too, real grief, for something lost. But Liz and Jordan are planets in orbit, pulling at each other as surely as gravity. Their friendship might be damaged and eroded, but it was not destroyed. They had both given each other wounds, but they were not mortal, and in their own halting ways, they were trying very hard to make amends, to make up for the hurt, so that their jagged edges might once again fit together like puzzle pieces.
The tenderness with which the author writes the sapphic romance blooming between Liz and Mack—Liz’s rivaling prom queen candidate—is so ineffable and aching, and it tugged at my heart. I yearned to find some way to hook myself to their story, to their soft moments together, and never leave. And oh my god, their first kiss! I must’ve played that part at least a dozen times lol.
Because here, always, we deserve this good thing.
All in all, the experience of reading
You Should See Me in a Crown felt like pulling the curtains open on a sunny morning. It's sweet, moving, and so tenderly told.
Rating: really liked it
This book was so stinkin' cute! It was hard not to smile the whole time while reading about such cute compatible characters coming together. I loved the ending, without spoiling anything it was very heartwarming. Liz was a great character and seeing her romance with Amanda bloom was adorable! Watching two girls fall in love in a small town and shake things up was awesome. But there was also a lot of layers to this story, so it had so much going for it. A great Valentine's day read overall!
Rating: really liked it
This was so fucking cute, I can't stand it. You need to read this small-town F/F romance immediately 🥺
Rating: really liked it
without a doubt, this will make my best of 2020 list. this was e v e r y t h i n g !!! ❤️
➽
Content and trigger warnings: anxiety, panic attacks, death of a parent,chronically ill loved one, outing, homophobia (thank you Fadwa!)
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This is was July 2020 pick for the Dragons and Tea Book Club! 🐉☕
Rating: really liked it
gay culture be like [locks eyes with a girl] wow she has pretty eyes.......
oh no I think I’m in love—★—
- to be honest, I thought this was going to be a 3-star book the entire time I was reading this but by the end I was surprised by how much I was enjoying it!
- this book follows a Black queer girl with anxiety named Liz who must run for prom queen in her school’s prom competition in order to win the money she needs to get into her dream college. but she has to figure out how to put herself out there and deal with a crush she got on her opponent??
-
I loved Liz as a character so much! her growth was really great to watch over the course of the story, and I really loved the message of deserving to take up space as someone who normally isn’t allowed any in a less tolerant small town
- I really, really adored Liz’s and Jordan’s friendship. it made me smile all the time and I love platonic boy/girl relationships!
- the
female friendship was also great—conflicts arose but then were resolved and I appreciated that a lot, considering how YA contemporary has a tendency to pit girls against each other (though there was still a stereotypical mean girl but oh well)
-
cute (f/f) romance too!! realistically portrayed, and they were both so sweet to each other. the blurb makes it seem like the romance is a big part of the story, and while it
is important, it’s definitely not centered—Liz as an individual character is—and I loved that
- I thought this book did a really good job of introducing, handling, and resolving conflicts overall? there were definitely some things that felt like could have been developed just a tiny bit more but I was generally pretty impressed
- I ended up crying at one point, but I think that was due to me being triggered by the parts about a family member’s illness, rather than this being a hugely emotional book. but there were still
a lot of sweet moments! I wish the family moments that were portrayed at the end had been more present throughout the book because I really loved them
tl;dr: surprised me! enjoyed all the character relationships, fun to read, and made me smile a lot. definitely recommended!
—★—
ownvoices reviews:- Fadwa
- will be adding on to this as more reviews are posted!
—★—
:: rep :: Black queer MC with anxiety, wlw LI, Black side character with sickle cell anemia, Black side character
:: content warnings :: death of a parent (off-page), loved ones with chronic illness, a character being outed, homophobia (challenged), panic attacks
Rating: really liked it
It has come to my attention that I have exactly one brain cell and no heart.
I have had three conference calls today, and I have another big one tomorrow, and therefore the amount of a) work and b) small talk and c) fake smiling I have done has been the cause of death for the 17 brain cells I had previous to this cursed day.
I just don't have anything else to say about tropical storms, you know? On the spectrum of light pre-nitty gritty conversation they rank more interesting than whatever people's children are up to, but significantly less entertaining than any piece of gosssip I've ever heard.
Anyway.
The reason I know I have no heart is because this book, which everyone calls "adorable" and "so cute" and "fun" and "generally life-changing levels of wonderful," and which is populated with characters that people refer to with nonsense phrases like "cinnamon roll," made me feel nothing.
And I'm a huge fan of cinnamon rolls, so honestly I'm not sure what went wrong.
This just felt...so unrealistic to me??? Sometimes I don't have a hard time withholding my sense of reason, but those are the times I read fantasy. I don't read contemporaries about high schoolers when I'm feeling whimsical.
But I've read magical realism that made more sense to me than this book about a school with a million-dollar prom where professional celebrity photographers take the pictures. And also the school has its own social media platform.
And I went to a high school where the band kids were popular and it was uncool to be on the football team, so if anyone can believe fantastical high school plotlines it's me.
The romance also didn't hit for me?? It wasn't even the love-at-first-sight thing that bugged me, it was...that I didn't understand why these two characters liked each other.
Possibly because I didn't like either of them.
Otherwise...this was fine.
Bottom line: I'm the reading equivalent of the old man in cartoons who yells at kids to keep off his lawn.
Rating: really liked it
Really related to Liz’s grandpa who was always napping in the background
Rating: really liked it
I don't believe in fairy tales and love at first sight and all that, but for just a second, I think this girl and those eyes and the way her freckles dot the entire expanse of her face are cute enough to make a believer out of me.
It's been a long time since I've reached for a fluffy, cutesy YA contemporary story because I thought I had gotten burnt out on the genre, but I'm here to tell you all that wasn't the case;
I just wasn't picking up the right ones, and this book is absolutely the right one. This book takes literally every single thing I love to see in a fluffy YA contemporary/romance story and does them brilliantly, with a fresh take breathed into each and every trope and a narrator I would protect with everything in me. Liz Lighty is flawless and I'll hear no arguments!
"You're very Book One Prince Zuko — all honor and determination and stuff. You could use some guidance from an old pro to ease you into Book Three Prince Zuko: more relaxed, more open to adventure, better hair."
First of all, these characters are
hilarious. Whether it's the pop culture references (with the above A:TLA reference reigning supreme, obviously), the banter between Liz and her love interest (I AM OBSESSED), or the playful, authentic sarcasm and wit we see not only in Liz's own narration but in her brother and her friends, too — these characters feel so REAL and genuine and three-dimensional, and I loved them so much! (Except Racist Rachel, of course. But even Racist Rachel's friends subverted some serious "mean girl" tropes and I'm so proud of them!) And I can't possibly review this book without mentioning Liz's family, whether it's her precious grandparents, or her brother supporting her with every fiber of his being despite his own daily health concerns with his sickle cell. I just cherish the entire Lighty family so damn much, y'all.
I'm so tired of the way this place treats people who are different, tired of feeling like I exist in the margins of my own life. I deserve better than that.
Most of all, though, I adored how complex and nuanced Liz Lighty's high school experience is. She has friends, she gets incredible grades and works her butt off to make her grandparents proud, and she knows she has a bright future ahead of her if she only has a chance to pursue it — but she also recognizes how unfairly she's treated as a Black queer girl in small-town Indiana, and she knows she deserves better. The moment when Liz shifts from a wallflower to someone who's going to
make people listen to her and recognize her worth? Absolutely beautiful, and I was getting so emotional because I was
so proud of her!
I roll my eyes so she knows that I'm joking, and she snorts with her laugh this time. It's a cuter sound than should be legal, really.
Last but not least, I gotta take a second to rave about how absolutely friggin' precious the
romance between Liz and Mack is. While I don't feel that it's really the primary focus of the story, it's a prominent thread and it's executed so well! There's no insta-love, but Liz definitely crushes hard, and so does Mack. Watching them interact is so adorable, and even when there's a conflict, they work through things maturely and smoothly. I'm convinced that Liz and Mack are soul mates who would go on from this story to make it through college together and grow old and have cute babies, and nobody can change my mind.
"How does she even know what data is? The elders are evolving, and it's going to ruin us all."
If I haven't convinced you to give this adorable, beautiful, hilarious, heart-warming story a read, then I have clearly failed, because
You Should See Me in a Crown is one of the best things I've read in a very long time — and definitely the best YA contemporary I've read in
ages — and I want everyone I know to add this to their TBRs immediately. It's
that good. ♥
✨
Representation: Liz is Black & sapphic; Mack is sapphic; multiple side characters are BIPOC; Liz's brother Robbie is Black & has sickle cell disease
✨
Content warnings for: (view spoiler)
[previous loss of a parent, sickle cell disease & related health scares (including a hospital visit), homophobia (challenged), transphobia (very brief, challenged), racism (challenged) (hide spoiler)]All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Scholastic Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Rating: really liked it
2021 F.A.B. Bookclub pick # I.❤️. F.A.B.
This was a short cute read, about a small town girl running for prom Queen. 👸🏾 She’s not the normal fairytale candidate and honestly just needs the money from the potential win for school. 😉 But, wow, she’s got gusto. I loved the courageous moments and the relationships with friends. This was a heartwarming read. ❤️📚
Rating: really liked it
This was so freaking cute. This is a YA novel that follows this girl named Liz who decides to run for prom queen so she can get the scholarship that comes along with winning it, so she can go to her dream college. The only problem is the fact that she is falling for a girl she is competing with, so cue the forbidden romance!! This book was so cute and so soft and it made my heart so happy. It has a great message about being proud of who you are and some important own-voices representation, and
I think this would be a great novel for young adults to read. I loved Liz's relationship with her brother in this book, it was so soft and precious. I also enjoyed the discussion in this book about how challenging it could be for her at times to be a queer Black girl in a small town. This is a book I would love to see get a film adaptation, I would love to see Liz on screen!
Also, side note it's super cool that this book has a character named Gabby, it's super rare for me to see my own name in books and even though I wasn't the biggest fan of her character it made the experience even more awesome for me to read this book haha. I also loved the fact that Liz was in band in her school too, it made me miss those days I used to be in band class and made me feel super nostalgic.
Rating: really liked it
Oh myyyy... Why did I wait too long and let other books occupy me and procrastinate to have my special meeting with those amazing characters!
I’m telling you my friends defining this book as the sweetest, loveliest, coziest read is not enough!
I fell hard for this book because of many reasons which are:
One of the most inspirational, powerful MC:
There are lots of things to tell about Liz. She truly knows how challenging and hard to be a young black and queer girl in small town Indiana and how it hurts when she is treated unequally and unfairly. But she doesn’t have to stand it anymore!
She’s gorgeous, smart, brave, beautiful. She has amazing friends! She has supportive, incredible family! She is a successful student who can go to any college she wants to get out of that town to stay away its prejudiced folks! She can achieve anything she wants! I loved her girl power, getting out of the shadows to face the people, learning self respect, fueling her inner power.
Love story between Mack and Liz:
Hands down! They are adorable from the beginning and I couldn’t wish HEA more! Even though this heartfelt, extremely emotional was not only about their devoted love but it’s still a vivid piece of the story put a very wide smile on my face.
Well-crafted Supporting characters:
Liz’s brother Robbie’s brave and compelling fighting with his sickle cell disease and his struggles truly broke my heart. He was the one of the best brother for a little sister can have. And let’s not forget those adorable grandparents. It’s impossible not to fall in love with them. The one of the best things about this book is characters’ depictions. They’re so real, reminding us of people in our own lives, own families.
The inspirational approach to the sensitive issues:
Even though this book is considered as young adult book, it deals with so many important issues including homophobia, transphobia, racism with objective, realistic perspective. It awakens so many feelings including resentment, anger, sadness but in the end when you finish this book you feel extremely good, hopeful, light!
If you missed this book or accidentally skipped it, I highly recommend you to put back in your read list and urgently cancel everything to read it! It’s one of the most impressing books of this year with emotional writing, memorable characters and unforgettable messages which truly comes the author’s heart!
Rating: really liked it
Wow, I'm tearing up. I wish I'd had this when I was fourteen.
Rating: really liked it
4.5/5
I shed happy tears! Utterly delightful in every way. And absolutely worth the hype.
Rating: really liked it
God, help me. This was so lovely I ugly-cried. Like, repeatedly.
Don't get me wrong, it's also unfliching as fuck: there's issues of grief, shame, identity, marginalisation, loneliness, and poverty in here.
But it's also just full of love. Ack. My cold, dead heart just can't take it.
So much I appreciate about this: the exploration of intersectional identity, the heroine (who is just amazing), the gorgeously tender queer lovestory, the centrality of family and friendships, everything everything everything.
Rating: really liked it
this was SO CUTE. a wonderful and sweet sapphic romance about a girl who enters a prom queen contest in her small town to win the prize money that will allow her to go to her dream college. loved our main character's personality and also the very wholesome platonic friendship she has with one of the male characters. definitely recommend as a pick me up!!
