You Should See Me in a Crown Paperback – June 1, 2021

TW: anti blackness, homophobia, being outed, vomitingCW: pre-book parent death, illness mentions, panic attacks, anxiety, an instance of vomiting from a panic attack, hospitals, some medical procedure talkYou Should See Me In A Crown quickly drew me into the life of Liz Lighty, a hard-working high school senior whose dream is to become a doctor and also attend the university her late mother to pursue a further education in composing. From the beginning, I had to root for Liz and loved how she succeeded despite the hurdles life threw her way. Many Black women and girls go through hardships without a solid support system and I love love love that Liz has a loving family she’s close to and can count on, even if she forgets that for a little while and thinks everything is on her shoulders alone.This book made me laugh and tear up. For Black readers like myself, it’s relatable and comforting to see someone like us going through it, but also gearing up to be gay and fall in love, but also have a bitchin prom experience! It was very feel good while also touching on some deep topics like racism, mental health awareness, poverty, self-identity, toxic friendships, and having family members with chronic disease.While Liz’s world is turned upside down trying to fund her dream, she falls in love. I think Johnson did a wonderful job giving us a sweet wlw romance for the Black queer audience. It wasn’t insta-love, but Liz and Mac have obvious chemistry and I loved their relationship! Even when there were mistakes or someone didn’t show up for their girlfriend how they should’ve, it wasn’t ignored and they actually had to talk about their feelings! I really loved that and think it’s super important for younger audiences to know it’s okay to say what hurt you and not keep it locked up inside.Overall, I loved reading this book. It has a happy gay end for the lead couple and has tons of Black girl magic! I couldn’t stop thinking that Black kids are so so lucky to be growing up in an era where YA books are starting to show more and more stories with us in the forefront. It went right on my favorites shelf and I’ll be keeping an eye out for Leah Johnson’s future works.

I don't often read contemporary YA books. I mostly read fantasy books. This book popped up on my Twitter feed, I read the description and thought it sounded interesting enough for me to check out. I read it in 3 days and it was highly enjoyable. It was an easy, quick read with an amazing happy ending.I really liked Liz Lighty. She didn't always make the best decisions but I always understood why and how these decisions were made. She was an extremely believable teenage character. I could easily see her come to life in the world we live in. Her portrayal was flawed, realistic, and every ounce the teenagers we all once were.The romance was sweet, cute, and filled me with delight. I often found myself smiling whenever Lighty interacted with Amanda. I loved how she became a bumbling mess on the inside and how her crush on Amanda consumed her. Ah, to be a teenager in love again. I also really liked the consent message in this book. Not just with kissing but hugging. There was a scene a female hugged Lighty and she very politely said "I just want you to know that I don't like hugging." And the girl immediately replied "Sorry! I forgot, I should have asked first." This is a great message we should all partake in.Overall, I loved this book. Like I said, it was a quick and easy read. It was filled with drama, angst, but love and fluff win out in the end. 10 out of 10 I recommend.

This was perhaps the cutest, sweetest, softest, most heartwarming story I have ever read!As a poor, black teen, Liz Lighty as never felt as though she truly belonged Campbell, Indiana, a fairly upper-class and predominately white town. However, she has a plan to get out. She is going to attend college at Pennington, an elite school where she hopes to be a member of their orchestra while studying to become a doctor.However, all of that crashes around her when she finds out she wasn't awarded the scholarship she needs in order to be able to meet the financial cost of Pennington.Desperate, she decides to run for prom queen, because in her prom-obsessed community, those who earn the title of prom queen, are also awarded a scholarship to the school of her choice. But this is something so far outside of Liz's comfort zone, and she is riddled with anxiety just thinking about it.Luckily, their's Mac, the new girl who just so happens to be running for Prom Queen as well. She makes the whole thing bearable, and Liz might just have more then platonic feelings for her. But in her town, being queer might ruin her chances of winning the crown. Will falling for Mac be the end of her dreams, or the beginning?This story was absolutely lovely and gave me so much more than I was expecting.I was hesitant going into this, as I thought this would be riddled with social commentary. I dislike it greatly when authors use their own characters as a mouthpiece to voice their own personal political viewpoints, especially as they are often delivered in a very surface-level fashion, not providing nearly enough context or well-rounded information. Luckily, this did nothing of the sort.I also very much enjoyed Johson's writing, which was modern and relatable without being too over-saturated with pop-culture references (Basically, what Becki Albertalli wishes she could be.)This book also didn't fall into a lot of holes that many stories of this kind could trip into. While there was one mean girl, the front runner for prom queen, people in her circle didn't fall to her whims. They stood up to her when she was being hideous towards Liz, and I appreciated the representation of loving, kind, female friendships.I also love how supportive the other candidates for Prom King and Queen were, especially when Liz was publicly outed by the mean girl referenced above. They and the entire student body all came together in support of her, calling out their uptight school administration demanding they challenge the preexisting prejudices that have long existed in their school.Ultimately, this story was filled with many beautiful messages and I will definitely be on the look for more from Leah Johson in the future

This was lovely! The writing, plot and characters were excellent and I loved to see both the main characters journey and growth, and the wonderful relationships she formed. Just wonderful!

Eu entendo pessoas que reclamam quando os livros são clichês, mas eles só ficam chatos mesmo quando os personagens principais e suas vivências são sempre iguais. O baile de formatura (prom) em volta do qual esse livro inteiro gira ficaria extremamente batido e chato se o romance principal fosse hetero e entre pessoas cis e brancas. Ser entre duas garotas e a protagonista ser negra em uma escola de maioria branca enriqueceu demais a história. Era um livro assim que eu queria quando fui ler Conectadas e Sua Alteza Real. Como Conectadas, este daqui tem bastante conteúdo que vai além do clichê, é bastante fofo e apaixonante. Diferente de Sua Alteza Real, o romance é bem desenvolvido, no ritmo certo, entre personagens mais reais e interessantes.Não sei o que podem estar esperando para transformar esse livro em um filme! Ele é perfeito para isso, super visual, com uma ambientação engraçada e personagens secundários quase tão interessantes quanto os protagonistas! Liz é uma ótima narradora, é impossível não shippar o romance e até o Jordan é super cativante! O enredo é movimentado do começo ao fim e, apesar de ser previsível em alguns momentos, não chega a incomodar. É o tipo de coisa que você até quer que seja previsível!É incrível a diferença que faz quando o clichê acontece entre personagens que não são muito representados na mídia, principalmente quando elas têm uma história de vida, entre família e uma bagagem emocional realista e sólida! Pelo amor de deus, que escrevam clichês com mais representatividade, que eu quero ler todos! Adorei a leitura e estou louca para a autora lançar outros livros, porque vou ler também. Vou indicar para todo mundo que conheço, então é claro que recomendo!E a resenha teria ficado maior, mas tudo que eu tenho mesmo a dizer é que essa história fofa e clichê valeu muito a pena!

I am very pleased to have read this book. The characters are well developed and I did root for a happy ending of each of them. It deserves 5 stars because it intertwines the story of love, friendship and family beautifully. A wonderful, feel-good book. I loved it dearly.

«And I knew then what I've always known: Campbell is never going to make a space for me to fit. I'm going to have to demand it.»Este es uno de esos libros adorables con final feliz. Tiene un gran mensaje sobre estar orgulloso de quién eres y una importante representación de tu propia voz. Creo que esta sería una gran novela para que la lean los adolescentes ya que habla de temas como el racismo, la homofobia, la identidad y la madurez. Así como problemas familiares, económicos y enfermedades.Me encantó la relación de Liz con su hermano. También disfruté de cómo este libro nos muestra la dificultad de ser una chica negra y lesbiana en un pueblo pequeño. No deja de ser Young Adult, así que no esperes grandes cosas, pero es un libro entretenido que trata temas importantes.¿Os gusta tanto como a mi leer sobre protagonistas LGTB?

J'ai vraiment passé un super moment avec Liz. On la voit évoluer, réaliser certaines choses par rapport à sa condition de jeune fille noire, par rapport à ses amis (le personnage de Jordan est vraiment top), à la société dans laquelle elle vit. Elle lutte pour s'affirmer, mais avance quand même et c'est vraiment agréable à suivre. Des thèmes sérieux sont abordés, mais c'est une jolie lecture, pleine de jolis passages, qui vous laissera normalement avec un sourire "grand comme ça"!