Oyinda Loves Books

Hi guys, I’m here again with another book tour! This time, for a book I loved so so much, You Should See Me In A Crown. I’m making this post as part of the Hear Our Voices Tour, and I will be making a dream cast and a review of the book!

Dream Cast

For the main character, I picked Amandla Stenberg, one of my forever faves. She bears a resemblance to the cover character, and she’s a queer black actress. Liz is a lesbian, and in an author interview, Leah Johnson stated that she’ll like to have a queer actress play Liz.

For Mack, Liz’s love interest, I picked Fransesca Capaldi. She’s got the looks that fit Mack’s description in the book, especially the fiery red hair.

Finally, for Jordan, I picked Chosen Jacob, cause he just oozes cool boy vibes like Jordan in the book.

Book Review

Title: You Should See Me In A Crown
Author: Leah Johnson
Narrator: Alaska Jackson
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
👑
This was such an amazing book, packed full of so many elements I loved! I haven’t read a YA book that wasn’t fantasy or one that was high school-centric in a while, so I really enjoyed this one. It was so magical and beautiful and there were moments that made me smile so hard, laugh out loud, and just cheer on Liz Lighty. Leah Johnson is an amazing writer and I definitely will be reading her next book.
👑
Set in Campbell County, Indiana, You Should See Me In A Crown focuses on Liz Lighty’s race to win the prom crown in a prom-crazed high school. After losing out on a much-expected scholarship, joining the prom-craze is Liz’s only hope of attending the college of her dreams. She’s from a low-income household, and she’s being raised by her grandparents, who can’t afford to send her to college without selling their home. The author does a great job of exploring some health issues in this book, such as sickle cell disease (Liz’s mom died of a stroke as a result of this, and her brother suffers from it), and anxiety (Liz suffers panic and anxiety attacks, and she has coping mechanisms).
👑
Leah Jackson also explores racism, sexism, transphobia, and homophobia. The school has a lot of antiquated prom rules, and is initially harder on Liz after she’s forcibly outed to the entire school instead of protecting her and finding the culprit. A couple of other issues that the author deals with in this book include friendship, relationships (F/F romance), self-acceptance, and bullying. There are so many high school tropes that I loved reading in this book. The romance was also very cute, and I had the best time reading about Liz and Mac!
👑
The narrator did an amazing job with this book, and I had a great time listening to this audiobook. I highly recommend this to everyone!

Blurb

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?

The Author

Leah Johnson is an editor, educator, and author of books for young adults. Leah is a 2021 Lambda Literary Emerging Writers Fellow whose work has been published in BuzzFeed, Teen Vogue, Refinery29, and Autostraddle among others. Her bestselling debut YA novel, You Should See Me in a Crown was the inaugural Reese’s Book Club YA pick, and was named one of Publishers Weekly and Cosmo’s Best Young Adult Books of 2020. Her sophomore novel, Rise to the Sun is forthcoming from Scholastic in 2021.