Fadwa's Reviews > You Should See Me in a Crown

I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange of an honest review

CW: anxiety, panic attacks, death of a parent, chronically ill loved one, outing, homophobia.

YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN was such a nice balance between pure sapphic fluff and important discussions of some more or less heavy topics. It delivered exactly what it promised. All the cuteness that comes with a queer girl falling in love for the new girl in school, the coming of age element of her trying new things and growing into herself, realizing that really taking risks and putting yourself out there isn't so bad, while giving the proper space to the discussion of a Black girl growing up poor and fighting for her dreams, how stressful that is and how much of a toll it takes on her and her relationships with the people around her. Especially since it can come with shame and struggling to letting people into your...struggles? no matter how close you are to them or how much you want to let them in.

I really loved that this book explored all kinds of relationships. Not only the blooming romance between two HUGE music nerds who are equally awkward and laugh about it together, but it also showcases amazing family dynamics: Lizzie, the MC, is really close with her younger brother, they respect and tease each other and she also has a good relationship with her grandparents who more or less raised her. Other than that there are also some amazing friendships and girl support in it as well as a reluctant rekindling of a friendship that at the end, turned out amazing, it was one of my favorite parts of the story. If there's one opportunity I found was missed in this book, it's regarding to one of the friendships in it (not going into detail because spoilers) I thought that it could have used a bit more spaced to be explored properly and I would have liked to see more consequences for some actions relating to it.

An element that I also really appreciated from the start is that YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN uses most classic YA tropes and subverts them or puts a unique twist on them, especially when it comes to the school popularity pyramid and the hierarchy and tradition of everything pertaining to it. I was apprehensive the whole prom side of thing wouldn't work for me, as high school centered contemporaries haven't been working for me lately, but I found myself entertained by everything happening. It was just really fun!