You Should See Me In A Crown is a brilliant, LGBT, young adult contemporary book following Liz as she tries to win Prom Queen to be able to afford to go to the college of her dreams to student medicine.
You Should See Me In A Crown, Leah Johnson
Themes: Young adult, contemporary, LGBTQIA+
Reading Format: Paperback
4.5 STARS // 8.7 CAWPILE
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Thank you so much, Scholastic for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. This book is released in the UK on July 2nd.
TW: You Should See Me In A Crown does include a public outing and a deceased parent.
I had heard so much about this cute contemporary through everyone raving about it on Twitter before starting a copy of my own. All I knew was it was about Liz trying to be crowned Prom Queen. This book deals with friendships, relationships, family dynamics, the hierarchy of school life and also the rights of students and prejudices against them. It certainly is a fun contemporary, but this book 100% tackles larger issues too.
Liz is a very lovable character, she’s kind, honest, brave and a fighter. She has gone through some crap things in life and is still going strong and being the best Liz she can be. Her family doesn’t have much money and she feels that pressure when it comes to affording college the study medicine. She, therefore, tries to jump through the hoops or approval to be crowned Prom Queen to win enough money to pay for her education. Seeing a teen understand and tackle her own finances is a really interesting perspective to read from, Liz is incredibly responsible and driven, which I love to see!
Her support network of friends is varied and I love her little group. Leah Johnson has painted us a picture of a girl who is loved and loves back. She is passionate and so are her friends. I love that they all have their talents and things they are known for, they definitely each have their own personalities.
At the heart of this book is Liz’s sexuality and her decisions when it comes to coming out at school and having a girlfriend. Liz’s school is a bit backwards in their approach to same-sex relationships, even saying you can only have a date to Prom if they aren’t the same gender as you. Liz wants to challenge her school’s rules whilst also making a difference and being smart about it. I felt the passion of her narration, her want to do the right thing and break the barriers of normal that are set up around her. She’s the main character we want to read about, not perfect, not without flaws, but always trying to do better, to learn and grow and make the world around her a better place too.
Overall this book gave me smiles, laughs and had me swallowing back tears. It was a fun contemporary that is perfect for a summer read.
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Great review! I love the cover! She has such a bright smile.