Reviews with content warning for Death - You Should See Me in a Crown

Reviews tagging 'Death'

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

27 reviews

nyoom's review

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emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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bookish_otaku's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I recently watched the movie Prom on Disney+ and realized that I actually don’t like prom stories all that much? It just feels archaic and stereotyped and generally anti-climactic, but I must say, Leah Johnson managed to breath life into a trope I otherwise find unbearably boring.

First, the intersectionality of Liz as a character. A young black girl that’s still closeted in her relatively traditional town, what is she to do when a spunky and undeniably charming new girl comes to town? Especially when this new girl could pose a threat to her chance at winning the title Prom Queen and the substantial scholarship that comes with it? Then we remember her brother who lives with genetic sickle cell and the emotional toll that takes on their family, especially when they’ve already lost their mother to the disease. It’s layer upon layer, and done in such a seamless way.

I absolutely loved watching the entirely platonic friendship that was Liz and Jordan. Honestly, the friendships in this book feel so underrated?

Gabi’s relationship with Liz should have been capitalized on more in my opinion. It was messier and more complex which could have led to a stronger and even more beautiful relationship after they made up, but it kind of felt brushed off. Like it was a check mark and suddenly, just like Gabi had feared, Liz didn’t need her anymore for plot and suddenly that was over. That was really disappointing to me.

The romance felt a little too much like insta love to me. I could feel that author trying to pace the relationship, but there was just no real space to do that in such a short book. Liz goes from feeling simple attraction to sounding like she’s about to pledge her soul and her future progeny’s soul this girl within a span of 200 pages. This is just my own personal taste though. I’m very much a fan of the slow burn and the platonic relationship.

I really loved the exploration of allyship and what it means to be a true friend. How good people can still do bad things and that even though they are good, they still need to be held accountable. It’s honestly such a nuanced and underrated perspective that I wish I saw more of everywhere, so I’m really happy it was included in this book. Alas, probably not capitalized on as much as I would have preferred, but oh well.

Liz’s character also struggles a lot with anxiety and I thought the representation of this was just so well done. I loved seeing Liz not be limited by her trauma and the symptom (anxiety) it bore, but how she adjusted and learned to live beside in it a ways. It didn’t go away, but it didn’t overshadow her and it didn’t limit her. So not only is she a black queer woman, but she’s also got that wonderful mental health rep. Oh, and she’s a great person, there aren’t too many of those around anymore are there.

A little pet peeve I did have was when tension was created between Liz and her love interest because of lack of communication. I think if Johnson had explored more deeply the reasons WHY Liz was too embarrassed to properly communicate, then it could have been more understandable and also held a nuanced introspection on something that, again, is not spoken about widely enough. Unfortunately, that fell a little short for me.

Near the end the pacing started to feel a little slow as we all knew what was going to happen and it felt like there was a lot of mental babble just to buy time. I understand that Liz was nervous, but it was a little too much and I wish it had been summed up by the author in a more concise way. We all knew how it was going to end and the rambling just felt torturous at that point.

I also wish that some of the side characters had gotten more development. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the evolution of Liz, but it felt a little wrong that I could not tell apart two of her best friends to save my life. Actually, I think it was three. They just felt so inessential to the overarching plot, it was a bit of a pity. The antagonist’s character could have also used some depth, although if it was Johnson’s point to make her a racist homophobe, then I guess she really didn’t deserve any depth, huh?

All in all, I must commend Johnson’s ability to revive what was, for me, a tired trope. I quite enjoyed this read!

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leahlovesloslibros's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Liz Lighty never thought she'd run for prom queen. She's not exactly what most people would consider popular, and she definitely doesn't fit the stereotype for the gorgeous rich white girl who normally dons the crown at her upper-class Midwestern high school. Rather, she is a nerdy, average-looking black girl who is being raised by her middle-class grandparents, and who depends on a large scholarship if she's going to attend the prestigious music school of her dreams on the way to becoming a pathologist.

When her scholarship falls through, and the only way left for her to pay for college is to win the scholarship that comes along with being crowned prom queen, Liz is forced to put herself in the running. The new girl at school, Mack, is also in the running....and Liz is falling for her. Can she land both her dream school and her dream girl, or will she be forced to choose?

I found Liz to have many relatable qualities, at least for me personally. I was raised in a middle-class family where both of my parents worked and we depended on financial aid to help us through college, while many of my peers came from upper-class families that included a lot more privilege than I would ever know. Additionally, I was a total music nerd in high school, and never would've considered myself someone who would run for prom queen, much less actually win the title. Finally, I can remember so many of the feelings that came along with my first "real" (self-aware) girl crush and the relationship that followed; the dynamic between Liz and Mack bright up some nostalgic moments for me. Overall, I enjoyed not only the story, but the fact that the minorities fought for what they believed in, even when the school tried to shut them down.

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irlchaosdemon's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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katiereadsthings's review

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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dulcinea's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Young Adult Contemporary LGBTQ+ : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was so lovely and feel-good! And a queer positive story about a loving multi-generational family thriving and understanding. I appreciated that Liz was a strong and positive female lead that struggled with just being "seen" and understood. Liz never got ugly even when that could have been an easy emotion to portray all she wanted was to do what was right and be a good person (maybe to a bit of a fault).

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miksbookpicks's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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penofpossibilities's review

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hopeful lighthearted

2.0

This was rather a disappointment. Everyone in the book community was raving about this book recently, and I had high hopes based on what I'd heard about this. The first few chapters failed to grip me, though, if not for extreme curiosity to find out what made this book stand out to people, I would have dnfed it. Only after I got halfway through did I seem to enjoy myself while reading this, because the plot had finally picked up. Let's talk about the plot however; it was a string of unimaginative clichés piled on top of one another. Now I understand the author was probably trying to make a point here, using well-known tropes and plot devices but putting them in a story about people who don't usually get the spotlight they deserve. I wholeheartedly appreciate and encourage books with sapphic relationships and poc main leads, also (and maybe even especially) when they're cute, fluffy, hopeful young adult books. But the predictability and absolute lack of subtilty in this one did not provide me anything of real substance to love and envelop myself in, and this was worsened by the fact that none of the characters were fleshed out or nuanced, at all. I could not root for any of them, because they felt like copy-and-paste archetypes. Yet again, I can see the reason for it, I really do, but that does not mean that your characters should be boring. I felt like loads of side-characters got introduced only to play absolutely no important role in the narrative and it made me wonder why they were there at all.
There was an antagonist who was just plain evil. No character depth, no real addition to the story except to provide the nessicary dramatic turmoil here and there, and it made me figuratively roll my eyes. I mean, really? I expected more from you.
Personally I also didn't click with the writing style very much. It was very un-literary and gave me the impression that I was reading a wattpad fanfiction or a rough draft (no shame on wattpad fanfiction! but they often barely have any description of atmosphere and focus solely on the character interactions, which is why I draw the comparisation). This was unfortunate for me, because there was not anything else that could redeem this reading experience for me, since I already did not care for the plot or characters.
Now, on to the good things! Because yes, I did think this was not a problematic or even a very bad book.
I want to be clear that this rating is almost entirely based on my own opinions, but I might still recommend it to you if you feel like giving it a try.
The romance was cute. I didn't think it was swoonworthy, which for me had something to do with the build up and interactions between them prior to them getting together- I wanted more tension, obvious sparks, some pining, a few 'are-they-gonna-kiss-now?' moments.
The friendship between the mc and her male best friend was really nice and sweet (

allthough, the whole discourse was s t u p i d as hell. I mean, I get that the letter got lost and bla bla bla but SERIOUSLY? you are gonna pretend like you didn't have one thousand opportunities to talk to each other and apologise in FOUR YEARS? that makes zero sense to me. It would imply that Jason was a huge coward but all his behaviour from te moment on that he is introduced to us suggests otherwise? Make it make sense.

).
Overall, though? I expected more from this book, these characters, and the relationships between them.
I don't regret reading it, but it is not my cup of tea.

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quasinaut's review

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funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Liz Lighty is wonderful. A delightful story about getting out of your shell and learning who you can rely on when you feel like you don't fit in in an Indiana town where everyone is obsessed with all things prom.

I would have liked to get to know some of the side characters and their stories more -- Liz's grandparents, Britt, Quinn, Emme -- but I'm also glad the story didn't get distracted from Liz and her perspective of the world. There's a lot she misses because she's focused on her problems, which is super realistic for a teenager dealing with some Big Stuff in her life!

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erinaskelley's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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