You Should See Me in a Crown

Basically, I'm too old for these.

I found myself irritated with the irrationality of teenager. sigh But to be fair, Liz was upset because Mack “didn't understand” when how could she? Liz was lying or not telling her the truth about what was going on. I'd get irritated with that even if it wasn't teenagers.

I feel like this just checks all the boxes for what a teen romcom should be. Nerdy girl to prom queen contender. Over-the-top “promposal”. Closeted-ish queer girl suddenly finds everyone loves the gays in her historically not tolerant school/town (except they cannot attend prom together) and best friends all get back together.

I did like how the book brings a little knowledge about sickle cell anemia, a disease you read about in books never. I do wish the book would have been more about Liz bucking typical high school stereotypes (band nerd) to become prom queen, other than the reason being because she was queer, but I am not a teenager right now. I'm sure there are many queer teens out there who could find inspiration and comfort in Liz's story. I don't think teen me would have loved the book either though. It was just too slick and too happy-ending for this goth girl.