Name: Sarah Sammis's review of You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Item: You Should See Me in a Crown
Rating: 5
Author: Sarah Sammis

Leah Johnson

Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it's okay -- Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor. But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz's plans come crashing down . . . until she's reminded of her school's scholarship for prom king and queen. There's nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she's willing to do whatever it takes to get to Pennington. The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She's smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true?

You Should See Me in a Crown

Amivi

Sarah Sammis

Throughout, I loved Liz's voice. She remains upbeat even when things appear to be against her. That's not say she's always polite or always perfect. She's sarcastic in an intelligent, geeky way.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...

Becky Albertalli meets Jenny Han in a smart, hilarious, black girl magic, own voices rom-com by a staggeringly talented new writer. Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it's okay -- Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor. But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz's plans come crashing down . . . until she's reminded of her school's scholarship for prom king and queen. There's nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she's willing to do whatever it takes to get to Pennington. The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She's smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true?

Anjorin Molayo 

Mirella

** spoiler alert **
           probably more toward 2.5 stars*

I noticed that I usually rate YA contemporary higher than what I would rate it one or two days after finishing the books. I think this is due to the fact that I do get some enjoyment out of contemporaries; however, in retrospect I usually notice that the storied won't stick with me and will not have a lasting impact. Something similar happened with this story: I thought it was fun for the most and of course it was great to see a queer Black protagonist, but in the end I didn't really gain much from reading this.

Furthermore, there was a point (when Liz and Amanda had their fight because Liz wouldn't tell her about why she wants to be prom queen... like literally what is keeping you from telling her? Just tell her!!!) after which the book just became too cliché for me. Unfortunately, during the latter half of the book I spent quite some time eye rolling. Also on a quick side note: Which school is rich enough to have a professional photographer at prom and also have AIRPODS IN THE GIFT BAGS??? How is this realistic?

Finally, another minor criticism that I have is that I literally couldn't remember any of the characters. I don't know if this is simply because I wasn't focused enough or if there is a lack of characterisation for the characters (or too many side characters?). 

I would definitely still recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a fun high school story, without caring too much about the unrealistic and cliché elements of the story.

Jule

It was cute.
Pick this one up if you're looking for ...
- easy read / easy to listen to 
- queer book
- Black protagonists
- something cute
- high school theme
- prom story

Grace debbage

Always love the story of the underdog rising to the occasion. Also loved the LGBT representation as well as racial topics being discussed!

Gillian Rose

A very cute YA contemporary, but unfortunately, there were so many elements that I think some of the good parts didn't feel as important as they should have. It's such a nitpicky complaint, but there was way too much going on at some points and it took away enjoyment of the things I did like (such as the romance). Still, a fun read, made me think fondly about high school even though I did not have a prom!

Sarah Pino

menna

grace richards

3.5,, this book is cute but the way it’s written drove me insane, like the style of writing had me nearly giving up within the first few chapters because some of it is just so corny

This book is fantastic. It's cute and feel good and so much more.

Midori Kobayashi

3/5stars

I don't know if it was because I'm not the right audience for this or because the ending was too fucking predictable or maybe the love at first sight which felt so fucking unrealistic or all of them, I just did not like it as much as everyone else did. I mean yeah there are things to this that I really really loved but there are things I do not relate to/do not care about at all. 

Do I still recommend this book? Hell yes if a school setting with sapphic romance and a jock and some pick mes kind of setting interests you, sure by all means go ahead. I do understand how it can be some people's comfort read or whatever but not me. I just finished it for the sake of finishing but eh. 


  CWs for the book: anxiety, panic attacks, death of a parent,chronically ill loved one, outing, homophobia

Micah

I enjoyed this immensely, but I thought the plot point of keeping Liz's financial motivations in running for prom queen a secret to be silly. If there's a scholarship involved for prospective college students, of course, it would be at the forefront of everyone's mind if they ran/went to school with this kind of program. I get that Liz's family is low-income, one of a handful of black families in the area, and proud, but there was no reason that the scholarship reward of winning prom queen had to be kept a secret if it's advertised on the sign-up. And it's silly to think that Amanda wouldn't have realized that financial motivations were at play for people signing up to run for prom court.

Jantien 

I love books with girls who fall in love. I didn’t much care about the prom theme. This was a really cute mushy feelgood romance book.

Marloes

So many great elements! But lacking in some places too, unfortunately. I was really hyped for this book and look at this cover! Stunning! It’s also an own voices book, which there are not enough of if you ask me! I loved the queer rep, the Black rep & the anxiety rep, but I found that the storyline felt a bit shallow and so did the relationships. All of the secondary characters felt flat and undeveloped. I didn’t really buy the Liz/Amanda romance. It definitely had potential and I would still recommend this one!

Moon Child

It was a good reading moment, the environment, her life, felt raw and real, I enjoyed and recomend this book to anyone, spetially so that the reader can be able to put themselves in her shoes, how life, is not only a challenge, but people also can be challenging in the worst way. I enjoyed how a diferent scenario made her change and grow to develop her true self. If you dont like violence but still would like to read books and support black authors grab this one ^^ also about a very strong and independent young woman.

Rachel Evans

(4/5) Audiobook - 4 hours 9 minutes - I enjoyed this book more than I was expecting you to. Liz was a likeable main character, and the rest of the characters were also likeable and realistic. While it played into a few overused tropes, it didn't feel like a carbon copy of a queer YA book like some do. The whole prom thing was a little over the top, but then again, most things about very real American high schools feel fake to me so maybe that's why. The conflicts between characters also felt realistic enough. I also liked the depiction of friendship in this book, the way it can be sort of toxic without it being because the friend is just overly cruel for no reason. Overall a good queer YA book.

Claudia Ganea

This was a really cute, really enjoyable contemporary, and I thoroughly enjoyed the themes that were explored with it! I desperately needed a palate-cleanser after my previous reads, and that's exactly what I got - an easy, breezy, heartwarming read!

(view spoiler)[Liz Lighty is our very spunky protagonist, and you can't help but root for her throughout this novel. She has a clear set of goals that she wants to achieve at any cost, but she slowly realizes that nothing is truly worth losing yourself for, which I think is a great lesson. I loved her friendship with Gabi, Britt and Stone, I really liked the dynamic between her and her family, I loved the way in which she and Jordan were able to become close again, and I loved her romance with Mack (the switch from Mack to Amanda was immaculate and something that I DIE for every time!!)

That being said, while I really did enjoy my experience with this, I feel like the main area that it lacks in is the writing. As this is a YA and I am clearly not the main intended audience, I can't - and won't - judge it too harshly because of it, but I have to mention a couple of things that really stood out to me. 

First, the pacing was entirely too fast and off-balance for my liking. As the chapters were generally kept very short, everything unfolded at the speed of a bullet train, and as a result, the story felt a little underdeveloped to me. We're moving so quickly through scenes and events that we barely have any time to process what just happened in the previous chapters. While this did end up creating a Lighty Fast (HA) reading experience, I do feel like the novel would've benefitted from more pages and more time dedicating to fully developing the story and the characters.

Secondly - and again, I'm not judging the book too harshly because of this, because it was not written for me - I was also very off-put by the constant pop-culture references. I enjoy them when done in moderation, but when you have them on essentially every page, it makes the book feel a bit too tacky for my tastes.

This feels like the book I would've needed when I was in high school myself, or just about to enter it. It's got a very feel-good story, inspiring characters, and a message that little girls (little Black girls, especially) need and deserve to hear - that they are everything, just the way they are, and that they are always worthy of good things. Personally, though, it didn't have as much of an impact and fell a little flat - but if 15-year old Clau would've had a story like this, especially a QUEER story?? She would have been in LOVE!! And any book that teaches kids how incredible they are just by being themselves is a very worthwhile book to experience, I believe! (hide spoiler)]

Isabela H 

While this was adorable, don't get me wrong, it just fell a little flat by the end. Sure, there were twists and turns that I didn't see coming, but it just ended up being a little too perfect and stereotypically happy and resolved.

Connor 

This was SO FUN and SO GOOD and everyone should read it right now, the end.

Becky Albertalli meets Jenny Han in a smart, hilarious, black girl magic, own voices rom-com by fantastic debut talent, Leah Johnson. Liz has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkwardto shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed town. But Liz has an escape plan to attend an uber-elite college, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor. But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz's plans come crashing down . . . until she's reminded of her school's scholarship for prom king and queen. There's nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she's willing to do whatever it takes to get to college. The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She's smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true?

Carrington Kinslow

Where do I even begin with this review? I so badly wanted to like this, and I really thought I was going to. But when the first sentence referenced Beyonce, I knew this was going to be a cringe-fest. 

Let's just start with the overwhelming amount of pop culture references. No author has ever been able to pull off Harry Potter references, and this book has a disturbing amount of them. Same with The Hunger Games, which is brought up a sickeningly amount. Also, Beyonce makes several appearances. This is just SO CRINGEY. It did not work in the slightest, I gave myself a headache with the amount of times I had to roll my eyes. I was getting second-hand embarrassment from how hard this book was trying to be cute and quirky. Liz, the main character, is just SO not like the other girls. Yeah. I could not stand it. The numerous, poorly done, and awkward pop culture references just show a lack of creativity on the author's part. Being relatable really isn't difficult. Why do authors think outdated and not funny in the slightest pop culture references will make teenagers feel seen? 

Now, let's talk about the characters. First, they are inconsistently written. I got whiplash from how much these characters switched up. One second, they're fighting, the next, they're over it. One second they're horrible friends to Liz and Liz is angry with them, and then the next Liz for some reason thinks they're the best friends in the world. What? Liz just breezes over how horribly her friend Jordan treated her and doesn't even demand an apology. And when he finally offers one... it's so underwhelming and I couldn't even take it seriously. I really could not stand Liz's lack of a backbone. And then we discover that Gabi has been a super fake and selfish friend for like four years. But guess what, Liz has no concept of self respect and forgives her 3 seconds after discovering she's been betrayed and manipulated by her best friend. What a beautiful lesson to put into a book. 

And now let's talk about the pacing/development. Wow, was it bad. So there's a new girl, for some reason Liz is automatically in love with her, and then they're girlfriends after like 150 pages. And then of course they have a dramatic breakup that gets forgotten in a few more pages and then happily ever after because I guess there is no such thing as holding people accountable for their shitty actions in this book. That's a pretty common theme. Absolutely zero build up and development in their relationship. No chemistry whatsoever. 

And generally speaking, this book is so immature and just... silly. Does this author truly think this is how high schools operate? I know this is a fictional book, but this was just outrageous. Why does this random high school in Indiana of all places function like A-lister Hollywood. A website was created by students that functions as a gossip site? Yeah, sure, makes perfect sense. Sometimes I think YA authors have never been a teenager nor met a teenager in their life. 

Ultimately, I could not stand this book and I am shocked at how highly rated it is. I only skimmed the last 100 or so pages because I just couldn't subject myself to it anymore. 

"You Should See Me in a Crown" - 1/5 Stars

alex wolfinger 

Courtney 

Dee B. 

3.5 stars, rounding up to 4.
.
This voice sounded authentically gen z but this is also coming from a millennial so...forgive me gen z. Lol.
. 
Okay, first of all... Rachel is disgusting and it hurts that she is a replica of real people that exist out there. This book is full of the little micro aggressions black people face everyday and Liz experiences it twicefold as a queer girl in small minded small town America. 
. 
It might hurt to have to relive this I'm a book, but it's worth it, because Liz Lighty is able to draw courage from those in her corner and you can too. 
Read. This. Book. You deserve it.

Amivi &
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

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You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson