You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson: Book Review

So, the end of this past school season was disrupted for a lot of high school students thanks to COVID-19 (please wear a face mask). A lot of students weren’t able to have prom, graduation, senior night, and all of those events that mark the end of the high school experience.

So, if you are sitting in this place, and are feeling down, this book may be just what you need. This story reads like a high school rom-com, with a fight for prom queen, and teen love.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this book, but I feel like it came at the perfect time. This book is filled with heart and joy, and I really needed some of that in my life. This book allowed me to relive aspects of high school that I never even took part in, like prom. I was honestly smiling through 90% of this book, and that is definitely a sign that I enjoyed it.

The Hunger Games references didn’t hurt either.

This book shows some strong and interesting relationships, more than just romance. There is the romance, of course, do not fear, but there is also sibling love and friendship. I feel like it is rare in YA to show the complexity of friendship, and that was done beautifully in this book. Instead of having bad friends and good friends, there were flawed characters who made mistakes and repaired damaged relationships. It was a wonderful thing to read, and I think a lot of young people will benefit from this.

This story was just so classically high school, and it was a lot of fun to read. Prom, band class, college applications. Everything about it screamed high school, and it was fun to go back into that world for a little bit, even if it was completely different from my experience. This actually made it even more interesting to read. I am glad the main character, Liz, enjoyed band class more than I did.

Also, if you like gossip girls, this book definitely had similar vibes!

The strong sense of the setting of the high school was matched by the strong characterization. Each character in this story had such a unique voice, it was easy for me to care about how the story would turn out. Both Liz and Mack were so different and I enjoyed watching them fit together. I even loved the side characters like Liz’s brother.

The topics of sexuality and gender identity were fantastically handled in this story, especially in relation to being in a small town in middle America. I just want this book to be widely available to high school students because I know it can help a lot of people struggling. Honestly what a time to be a reader, I wish I had access to so many of these books as a kid.

I recommend this book to young people struggling to understand who they are. This book will be so beneficial, and it will help people love themselves and accept others for who they are. This book has an all-around happy ending which is much needed right now. We could all use a little joy in our lives.

Contemporary has been doing me right lately. I know a lot of people are excited to read this book, and the fact that it lived up to the hype I saw made me so happy. I hope this book, and other books like it, might bring joy to readers, especially those who had to miss out on a lot of experiences because of the virus.