A review by heyleigh05
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-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

 Alexa play Go Gina by SZA: You Should See Me in a Crown book review

You Should See Me in a Crown is about Liz Lighty, a young Black girl in her senior year of high school who decides to run for prom to win a scholarship. She needs to win prom queen so she can win the scholarship money to attend college. The plot is simple, but this is driven by its characters’ development. This is a novel about self-discovery, friendship, setting boundaries, and asserting yourself. I think the charm of the novel is the characters interacting and growing with each other. Crown does a good job of showing how full and dynamic teenagers’ friendships and familial/romantic relationships are. I like how Leah Johnson, the author, made all of Liz’s relationships important, not just her romantic ones.

Liz is a character that carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. She wants to fix everyone’s problems and if someone she loves is hurt she sees it has a personal failure. Liz’s development is all about putting herself first, setting boundaries, defending herself, and accepting that she can’t control everything. Liz also has anxiety and the novel explores how she deals with that. I liked Liz as our main character. Liz’s acceptance of her sexuality is also a huge part of her development. I think the novel does something important in that it shows that being queer is not just about who you love, but its a part of your identity and self-concept. Liz accepting her attraction to girls is a part of accepting herself, and choosing to live her life out loud rather suppressing parts of herself to make herself small. One message I really appreciate was that Black folks should not make ourselves small or palatable to appease white people. 

Liz was dynamic, multi-faceted, and you could see that she had room to grow. She’s a character that I wish I had in high school 6 years ago (publishing has changed tremendously since I was in high school). I think that “Go Gina” by SZA is an apt song that represents Liz because she has to learn how to let go and enjoy her life and also that she can’t be responsible for other people. I did think there were times when I wanted her to be a little more vocal and assertive, but it’s a gradual process. You know sometimes when you read a dialogue and you're not satisfied with the direction of the conversation? That’s how I felt with a couple of scenes in this novel but that’s just a small critique.

Crown is just a really cute, lighthearted, comforting novel. There were moments when the writing was a little corny and a little unrealistic at times, but I can overlook that because it's an engaging novel with a sweet message. The novel has this sweet sort of comfort like eating a piece of warm pound cake with honey butter; light and airy and endearing. I appreciate that Leah Johnson wrote this book with so much care to depict complex, multi-dimensional Black girls, who experience both stress and elation and sadness and joy and so many other emotions. I really look forward to Leah Johnson’s next book that I think comes out this summer! Any author who writes an ode to Black girls has a lasting fan in me!

P.S. This is a slight tangent that goes beyond this book but I have to talk about it. Publishing’s obsession with interracial relationships is becoming nauseating. A part of me gets a little annoyed when I see a Black character’s love interest is a white person because why can’t they exist independent of white people? I pray for the downfall of the swirl agenda which is part of the reason why I look forward to Leah Johnson’s next book. I think her next novel will have two Black girls as the lead characters and that will be refreshing!