This Book Is for You If:
- You enjoy rivals-to-lovers
- You ever wanted the prom queen to ditch her king in favour of a princess
- You’ve ever found yourself going down the rabbit hole that is watching infinite promposals on YouTube
Review:
“For the first time in, well, maybe ever, I’m feeling something better than being cool— I feel like I fit. I’m smiling what I’m sure is a cheesy, self-satisfied smile, and the tightness that usually takes up residence in my chest slowly fades.”
Let’s be real, if someone had told me a few years ago about a story in which two girls vying for prom queen fall in love, I would have immediately bawled my eyes out and requested the fanfiction writer to give me all the feels and destroy me. So imagine my surprise, when years later, this story is not only a real, physical thing that I can read but that it is a published book that young teens will be able to pick up *cue past me tearing up that queer people are finally getting all the stories they deserve in traditionally published formats*
Anyways, You Should See Me in a Crown was an absolute blast to read.
Before I read this book, promposals were something firmly planted on the outskirts of my knowledge – I’d seen a few viral videos and I might have come across one or two while bingeing older teen shows. Then this book came swooping in with a town that’s obsessed with everything prom – so much so that it is the defining event of the year for most of the inhabitants of Campbell, Indiana. I loved reading about all the different traditions and activities prom court contenders are involved in and Liz was such a fun character to go on that journey with.
Liz doesn’t have an easy life – she struggles with anxiety, her brother’s hereditary fight with sickle cell anaemia, and her own expectations she places on herself to be the best she can be. There’s a lot of pressure Liz puts on herself to succeed, not only at school but also as a good friend, a good girlfriend, a good sister, and so on. Despite some of these story strands not being explored too thoroughly, I still loved that Johnson took the time to flesh out what makes Liz, Liz.
Mack, the new girl and Liz’s eventual love interest, was an absolute show-stealer. In all honesty, I think the phrase “cute as a button” was created solely for her. She’s vibrant, funny, aloof, and talks a mile a minute plus she’s just so wholesome. I loved how Liz and Mack were kind of dancing around each other in the beginning, but then had a real connection that went beyond the confines of the competition.
Jordan, Liz’s former best friend, was also a breath of fresh air – a cute, rich jock who is not the love interest? Sign me up. Open discussions about how friendships ending can be more painful than romantic relationships crumbling? Yes, please. I just loved how Johnson subverted the stereotypical “girl falls for jock” and instead gave us “dumb of heart jock fights to get his best friend back who happens to be a girl but does not want to get into her pants because girls and boys can just be friends”. I really just want to applaud the author for that. Also, Jordan is a cutie pie and he will steal your heart.
The last thing that I really liked was how Liz learned throughout the story that winning the crown by toeing the line and doing exactly what’s expected of her instead of being who she is and having her own moral code isn’t necessarily a victory. Liz begins to understand that just because there isn’t a place for her – queer and black – in Campbell, that doesn’t mean that she can’t create that place for her and everyone else who feels like they are invisible. That really warmed my heart.
You Should See Me in a Crown is a debut that reaffirms what everyone knows to be true: if the world won’t give you the space you need, it’s up to you to create it. Optimistic, emphatic and eat-your-heart-out ambitious, Liz is a queen that needs to have a spot on your bookshelves!
You Should See Me in a Crown is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of June 2nd 2020.
Will you be picking up You Should See Me in a Crown? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
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?
