Not Here to Be Liked

by Michelle Quach

Emergency Contact meets Moxie in this cheeky and searing novel that unpacks just how complicated new love can get…when you fall for your enemy.

Eliza Quan is the perfect candidate for editor in chief of her school paper. That is, until ex-jock Len DiMartile decides on a whim to run against her. Suddenly her vast qualifications mean squat because inexperienced Len—who is tall, handsome, and male—just seems more like a leader.

When Eliza’s frustration spills out in a viral essay, she finds herself inspiring a feminist movement she never meant to start, caught between those who believe she’s a gender equality champion and others who think she’s simply crying misogyny.

Amid this growing tension, the school asks Eliza and Len to work side by side to demonstrate civility. But as they get to know one another, Eliza feels increasingly trapped by a horrifying realization—she just might be falling for the face of the patriarchy himself.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Enemies To Lovers, Fiction, Feminism, Young Adult Romance

384 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2021

About the author

Michelle Quach is a graphic designer and writer living in Los Angeles. She’s Chinese-Vietnamese-American and a graduate of Harvard University, where she studied history and literature. She loves rom-coms, characters who don't always do the right thing, and any dog that kind of looks like her dog.

Her first novel, NOT HERE TO BE LIKED, is available Fall 2021 from Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins in the US and Usborne Books in the UK.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5⭐

“Because feminism, contrary to popular belief, isn’t about hating on guys like me. It’s all about all of us working toward equality, together.”
THIS is what feminism is, not what the main character was trying to do.

I think this is my most controversial review up to date so proceed with caution.

This book had such a good premise, the rep, the feminism, the rivals to lovers... it had the power to be *chef's kiss* but it was a huge letdown.

Let's start with everything I didn't like :)

There was a time in my life when I didn't consider myself a feminist because I had the wrong idea of it. A lot of people have the concept that feminism is about hating on men, women being "superior"... (you get what I'm saying) but it ISNT about that. Sometimes reading this felt like it was.

The whole feminism movement at their school starts when Len (a guy) wins an election for the chief editor or something like that over the mc (a girl).
But guess what? I would've voted Len, too. He gave a better speech!!! She just talked about her accomplishments instead of talking about why she wanted the position, why she likes being part of the paper... She just thought she was entitled to that position because of her accomplishments. Now, I'm not saying that Len was more qualified because he probably wasn't, but at least he isn't rude to everyone there like Eliza. She was disrespectful to everyone and expected them to vote for her?
The worst part? she blamed losing on Len for being a guy.
since when is feminism about blaming men for a woman’s failure? if you lost, accept it, don’t blame it on Len for winning! he wasn't the one who voted against you.

SO BASICALLY, feminism felt superficial. The main character didn't really know what feminism was about and just used the words "feminism", "misogynistic" and "sexism" as protection to do anything she wanted. The purpose of the feminist movement didn't feel like it was to educate others, it was just so Len would resign so she could get the position she so badly wanted.
Other things I hate about Eliza include that she isn't like other girls. reading a book about feminism I thought I wouldn't have to read about a pick-me girl but I was wrong.

“Other girls, including Kim, fuss over their hair all the time. But I don’t”

THIS IS THE BIGGEST "I'M NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS" STATEMENT I'VE EVER READ.
AGH. she just doesn't care about her appearance, she just wears sweaters and doesn't wear makeup. OH MY. aghhh I don't know if you can feel my frustration through the screen.

definition of sexism:
prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex.
“Wait . . . is this ginger ale?”
Len snickers. “What’d you expect?”
“I don’t know. Something bro-ish. Beer?”
doesn't this quote feel like stereotyping and prejudice?

“You heard Winona—Eliza would never be into Len. He stands for everything we’re fighting against." men? Len didn't even do anything wrong!

She antagonized Len for winning an election democratically, fair and square. He had done nothing wrong, he was always nice to everyone including her. And she never apologized to him for the insults she posted online, for treating him badly, or for making him the bad guy.
Them ending together felt wrong.
edit: I read this part again and Eliza DID apologize, but only after Len apologized for posting the insults that she wrote about him :) so still not great.

The good things about this book:
-It showed that men can be feminists too. And I'm saying this because I know a lot of guys that think that feminism is just for women when it's literally about equality for EVERYONE. so I'm glad this book showed that.

-Winona and Len.
I think I would've liked this book a lot more if she was the main character instead of Eliza, I think I would've agreed more with her views. and Len... I liked how he called out Eliza on her bs and how he didn't let Eliza antagonizing him ruin his reputation, but instead joined the cause. I just wish he wouldn't have resigned.

-The rep.
I'm a white woman so I don't think I can judge how good or bad this rep was, but I think it's always appreciated to see characters of different races/ ethnicities/ religions/ sexualities... so I'm glad this focused a lot on the family relations of Asian families and how the main characters (both Asian) talked about their stories.

The book had really good themes on sexism, misogyny, and feminism and I think it gets the message across even if it isn't exactly the idea of feminism I have. Good idea, not so good execution.

"I never said I didn't believe in feminism," she says. "I just don't necessarily agree with you."

[elhyza · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Feminism...it’s about all of us working toward equality, together.”

4.75☆ — oh my god, this was truly so perfect like a dream YA romcom contemporary come true with just a fantastic balance of friendships, stereotypes, a rivalry romance that makes your heart feel all fuzzy, and focus on important topics, mainly feminism that is clear but also internalized misogyny, sexism, and the patriarchal society that's hard to live in. It's 2am and my emotions are riding an all-time high from finishing this beautiful debut, absolutely made me go through so many emotions on top of being a thought-provoking read. I have quite a bit of a review that goes into a tangent so bear with me.

The character development in this book was so clearly outstandingly done with the three characters of Eliza, Winona, and Serena specifically. Eliza as the title tells us, starts off as an unlikeable character whose feminist views along with her best friend Winona's are more foundational with taking the route of never wanting to be involved with a guy and turn their noses at catering towards the male gaze. Which isn't a bad thing but they take it a bit extreme at first that they don't realize their internalized misogyny towards other girls. This brings in Serena, who is everything they stand against, having a popular jock boyfriend and they view Serena as "nice" which to them equivalates to thinking about how others perceive of her. When Eliza's manifesto calling out the sexism in the editor in chief election results is accidentally posted online kicking off a feminist movement discussion in their school, both Eliza and Winona are understandably suspicious of Serena being performative. But we get to see Serena's development and the flaws that make her, what got her to be the person we saw at first, and how she grows genuinely in her feminist ideals especially conversations with Eliza. Those conversations helped not only Serena grow but Eliza sees that there isn't an exact rule book to follow when it comes to being a feminist. And we also see Winona come to terms with the flawed ideals as well, with her filmmaking talent is frustrated with the male-dominated industry yet despite that is defeated that it still means something to be acknowledged by the ones in power. One particular conversation on stereotypes in the beginning with Serena starting out on her journey against the patriarchy, between the three of them Eliza and Serena both east Asian and Winona being Black, stuck out to me:

“Oh, my parents tell me to keep my head down, too,” Serena pipes up. “They especially don’t like the idea of girls making a scene. It’s totally annoying, but they’re all about that ‘good Asian’ thing.”
I cock my head at her. “You mean . . . the model-minority myth?”
“Yeah, exactly!” Serena snaps her fingers in recognition. “But we want to break out of stereotypes, right? Wouldn’t this be a great way to do that?”
Winona takes stock of the crowd in our immediate vicinity, which is entirely Korean besides me, and entirely Asian except for her. “It’s a little different when the stereotype you’re dealing with is ‘angry Black woman,’” she says dryly.
Immediately, I realize I should’ve thought of this earlier—that part of the reason for Winona’s hesitation might have to do with something bigger than her or her dad. Fortunately, Serena, with surprising nimbleness, seems to understand as well.

When it comes to Eliza, she's possibly one of the best developed mains I've read in contemporary in a while. Though quite frustrating at first, she grows on you and you empathize with her a lot seeing what her home life is like and everything she endures at school from bullying to sexism to misogyny after her manifesto blows up and the whole school turns their eyes her way. Len DiMartile also honestly plays a huge part in her character development. Let me just get out of the way that I adored every single bit of their romance being a sap for romance myself. Their whole rivals forced to work together to lovers dynamic that had a good slow build-up seeing them vulnerable opening up to each other slowly was everything to me. They just had so many moments that made me go absolutely insane and my heart so giddy. With Len being the face of everything Eliza's against she had so many conflicting feelings between her feminist code and her growing feelings for him as they spent time together. The use of a particular trope I didn't see coming at all made sense in the structure of the story and this happening had readers see the extent of how much Len had grown to care for Eliza as well. But it's Len's entrance into her life that makes Eliza come to the realization that rules are meant to be broken and there's nothing wrong with following her heart's desires and also beauty isn't for the male gaze but for herself being comfortable in her own skin. The development in their dynamic was fun to read and satisfying how on page they were with each other before and after the conflict, with their insightful conversations debating against the other but also sharing similar tastes and open to seeing what the other is into. Their boba hangouts had my heart bursting, especially when it got to the point where Len remembered her order. Where can I get a Len DiMartile??
I also enjoyed the representation when it came to Eliza's Chinese-Viet family and Len being half Japanese and how the history of both were talked about especially when it came to the wars and camps with what previous generations had to suffer through. With Eliza's family I feel like there was more potential for deeper meaningful talks with her mom, but I still enjoyed seeing her bond with her sister grow as the story went on. But yeah phew wow, I can't believe this was a debut novel, it's become an instant favorite and comfort that I definitely see myself rereading. I'm very much looking forward to any future works Quach has in store!

“It occurs to me then what a singular moment this is: here I am, inexplicably in solidarity with Serena Hwangbo, the girl whose entire student-council tenure has been based on nothing but marginally considerate behavior and attractive boyfriends. Feminism is a funny thing.”

“Yes, I think, my heart already skipping out the door. I’ll go anywhere when you ask me that way.”

[Lena · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 88% because I really don't give a fuck anymore

True to the title, there wasn't anything to be liked about this book.

So, this book is about Eliza, who desperately wants to be editor-in-chief of the school paper, but then one day before the election Len shows up to run against her. Eventually Len wins and Eliza, who can't believe that he won fair and square since she is more qualified, cries sexism and so accidentally starts a feminist movement.

And there we already have my first problem with this book because honestly?

I would have voted for Len too

because 1) He did give a better speech than Eliza and 2) It's just a school club not the fucking president election so ofc I pick the chill fun guy over the try hard with a nasty personality and 3) I don't care if Eliza is more qualified to do the job, if you constantly belittle others you shouldn't be surprised when no one votes for you.

So yeah, the story was already problematic for me right from the start, but I thought, Hey surely the romance and the feminism movement will be amazing!

Famous last words, since both fucking sucked.

The feminism felt so shallow, like Eliza doesn't know much about feminism to begin with and instead of educating herself about if, she just uses the word as a weapon to reach her goal to have Len resign so that she can become editor-in-chief.

The only thing worse than that was the romance. It was supposed to be enemies to lovers, but I don't get that. At all. They start off not knowing each other and then Eliza keeps antagonizing Len, but not because of his personality, No simply because he has a dick.
And that's somehow a major turn-on, because Len immediately falls in love with her.

The worst thing was that even after hooking up and after Eliza starts feeling bad for making him the evil one, she never apologizes and still treats Len like shit in public. Sure, she gives him a heads-up about the walk out she planned to protest against him, but that's it. No, Sorry everyone hates you because I told them you are a misogynistic ass, which is obviously a lie!

Maybe she'll apologize in the end, as I said I only made it to 88% of this book. I was so sure I could've finished it even if I wasn't enjoying it, but then the last straw for me was when Eliza had this long ass monolog about how she feels disappointed and disgusted with herself for wearing make up to a party.

She even said that she wants people to know her for her brains not for her beauty, because apparently girls can only choose one.
** Oh, you didn't get that memo? Neither did I. **
As a makeup lover I found that incredibly offensive and I mean it's 2021 aren't we over shit like that?

Let me tell you what I think about feminism:

First of all I am not a feminist. Simply because I don't know enough about it and calling myself one would make me fell like a faker ** cough Eliza cough **, but I think feminism is or should be about supporting women without belittle or judge them for wearing make up or looking a certain way. It also should be about finding a way to work with others to create equality for all, without having to antagonize anything male for literally no reason.

So that's it. I really don't care for this book, and now I'll be off watching Legally Blonde for the 100th time, because I will find more feminism there than in this waste of poor trees. Bye.

[ribbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

cue lover by taylor swift, this book was a joy to read. I loved it, our main character is Chinese American and the love interest is wasian aghhhhhhhhh. ALSO KINDA A SPORTS ROMANCE. This is kind of like if to all the boys ive loved before met moxie (a less white version) and created this book. I related to Eliza the main character so much and now I just need to find a Len.

[Em Lost In Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't find anything here to be liked. -_-

[Lyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

─── ⋆⋅3☆⋅⋆ ──

very short review because it’s been so long and I can no longer be bothered…

𐔌 “To be human is hard enough. Don’t make it harder for yourself.” ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ

⋮ ⌗ ┆ᢉ𐭩 I didn’t have high expectations for this book per se, but I wasn’t wowed by it. I enjoyed the plot itself, the writing was pretty good, and the characters are meant to be dislikable. But this is the type of book that 14 year old me would read as a girl who thought demanding equal pay and announcing “women’s rights!!” was peak feminism. It is not. I wonder very genuinely whether or not this is supposed to be a piece that makes us think about how flawed feminism can be for young girls or if it’s intended to be an actual feminist piece. regardless, I wish the feminism was actual feminism. it was so one dimensional and not at all what I wish it was.

the characters were my favorite part of the book I suppose, cause it surely wasn’t the romance. i actually enjoyed that the main character wasn’t meant to be likable, i usually value a book based on how much i love its characters, but i mean.. read the title. she’s supposed to be unlikeable, and her fitting that role of an uptight, self centered, and driven but stubborn character means that the author succeeded. she was wholly unlikeable, and that being said: I kind of enjoyed her. the mmc was alright, but the romance itself seemed like it was kind of lacking unfortunately. It took a long time to have a moment where I was like “okay, I want these two to be together!!” but when that happened, I was definitely rooting for them!!

all in all, this book was okay! I wouldn’t reread it, but I also don’t regret picking it up.

⋮ ⌗ ┆pre-review⋆˚꩜｡
╰ good but not amazing!! I’d like to dig deeper into the feminism in this book so I’ll be doing a lot of that in my future review.. but as for right now, this was a pretty good read!


⋮ ⌗ ┆pre-read⋆˚꩜｡
╰ time to finish August with a rivalry romance book 🙈 i really like the cover so i have high hopes for this one!

[Lisa (Remarkablylisa) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have known from the title that we would get a "pick-me girl" heroine who thinks she's the only one with original thoughts and everyone around her are vapid and idiotic and anti-feminist for not yelling the loudest about sexism. I'm sorry but our heroine was a HUGE B*TCH. And not in a good way. She was rude to everyone despite them not doing anything. She was judgemental from page one to the end. And I wanted to slap this book across her head because she's so freaking clueless. I hated the conflict. She got angry that a boy got her spot she wanted on the school newspaper team. Yes, it's weird/maybe wrong that only males have been editor in chief for a long time but also, she can't prove that he's not capable of being an editor in chief just because of his male anatomy. NOR can she prove that she fits the role better than other female candidates. Next, she says and does things really childishly and acts out that is inconsiderate of others, the school, and her friends. I could not stand her!!!!

The book itself is advertised as an enemies to lover romance. I think not. I think it's more of special snowflake feminist book with a horrible hero to match. Our hero was bland and didn't do anything right or wrong but got dragged through the mud by our heroine during her "feminist epiphany"

I'm disappointed because it's been a hot minute since I read about a chinese Vietnamese American book where Cantonese was used.

[ness ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★

not here to be liked is a beautifully nuanced, raw and real story that explores timely issues like feminism, race, performative activism and more through the lens of asian-american eliza quan as she re-discovers friendship, love, herself, and what she truly stands for.

i just . i loved this book so much i could talk about it for ages. and...i will.

so. i know the whole point of the book is that the main character is "unlikable" ... well. i liked her. i'm not sure whether she's meant to be unlikable by the other characters or the readers, because i as a reader loved following eliza along and definitely understood and got her narrative. she's one of the most well-written young-adult female protagonists and reading her story and where she came from made absolute sense to me. i loved reading from and about her, and i think questioning her "likability" is very both relevant to the story and highly ironic in a way, considering the themes the book dismantles.

other than eliza, i also found the rest of the characters to be enlighteningly interesting to read about as well as the different discussions brought to light through each dynamic—from eliza's family to her love interest and friends and colleagues and even the boba bros. i loved reading from every single one and having them so distinct from one another but also similar in ways really helped enrichen the story with deep layers and intersectionality. one of my favorite characters (if not the one) is definitely winona, eliza's best friend. not only does her being the only black girl start many things, but winona also seemed to me like the voice of reason most of the time and i anticipated her input whenever she was in a scene.

i liked how every character is flawed in their own way, especially len dimartile whose character surprised me a bit. the romance was cute and i wish we had more depth into that but i'll take what i get! i'm not a big fan of the entire cast though and i believe there was intention behind that from the author; i don't think all readers will agree on who's self-righteous and who's performative or who's there to be there, and that brings us to the heart of the story.

as much as i loved the characters and their dynamics since the story is character-driven and really focuses a lot on their decisions and thought processes, i also appreciated how nuanced the issues described in the book were. it's not your basic guide to feminism for dummies or anything, it didn't dive deep into all the controversies and take down the patriarchy, but it wasn't surface-level either in any way.

the book asks eliza and the characters as well as it asks the reader a lot of seemingly simple questions but ironically not everyone finds them easy. because, what is "feminism," really? is it antagonistic to be a feminist? what draws the line between exclusion and inclusion when it comes to a movement like feminism? what's the real difference between activism and performative activism? is it possible to be a feminist, even if you actively reject the idea?

not only on feminism, but the book also explores a lot of important themes like racism, the "white gaze" and how that hinders poc creativity and growth, expectations for art to be personal being different for men and women and particularly for black women, american feminism having a history of middle-class white women erasing poc voices, having ambition or no ambition and chasing the "american dream" against the backdrop of an immigrant family, internalized misogyny, intersectional feminism, etc etc etc.

saying that, it doesn't mean that the book handles itself too seriously or tries to tackle too much at once. i laughed out loud a handful of times; the character are hilarious, they call themselves out and it's hilarious. the exploration of different themes are written deliberately and with great care and thought. although, some conversations, especially with eliza and her family, felt kind of forced and awkward; like they were placed there to be there and add something to the conversation—which i get. i just wish it could've been a little more natural, but thankfully that didn't really bug my overall enjoyment of the story.

essentially, it's not like by the end of the book eliza is a superhero who shifted how people think and changed the world forever and ever. (i mean, i wish.) in fact, it's interesting how the book is concluded; it's not pessimistic but hopeful and it's exactly what makes this story deeply realistic. it's done extremely well, with excellent execution in my opinion, and i applaud michelle quach for writing this fantastic debut novel. i cannot wait to read more from her!

i highly recommend not here to be liked if you like "unlikable" characters, thought-provoking discussions, rivals-to-lovers romance, and a good time! i thoroughly enjoyed this book and i hope everyone picks it up. ♡

content warnings: racism, slut-shaming, sexism and misogyny, internalized misogyny, consumption of alcohol, public vandalism, bullying.

— digital arc provided by usborne publishing via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seems to be a standard enemies to lovers story, and it is, but it’s also so much more. It’s about feminism, being Asian in the US, and of course love.

I have to admit, I choose this story because the British publisher is Usborne (Hideous Beauty, Ace of Spades, The Outrage, The Guilded Ones). Their choice of books is always spot on. Solid writing, interesting topics, diverse characters.

I prepared myself for Eliza because according to the title and the publisher she’s not very likable. And when I read the first chapter I disliked her in an instant. Correcting drafts with red marks like a teacher. Being intense, cold. Overly critical. Expecting to be the new chief editor. No, I should rephrase myself: knowing to be the new chief editor. And then she suddenly wasn’t ... Out of frustration, Eliza writes her feelings down and mentions Len is chosen because of misogyny. Then her article gets published accidentally.

Although Eliza isn’t very likable at first, I loved reading about her. She’s also fierce and intelligent and a go-getter. The story is full of examples where a girl is treated less than a boy, or things men don’t want to know about women. Girls can’t wear a large sweater, but a boy with a hoodie is normal. Tampons are embarrassing, periods are sooo embarrassing. Stereotypes like needing to keep your head down as an Asian girl and the angry Black woman.

This is a story all teens need to read, if you are a girl, a boy, or gender-queer. It’s a search for the meaning of feminism seen from the Asian (and Black) community.

And of course there was also Len. I’d have loved to know more about him and if I could have chosen, I’d have included his side of the story as well! But even without his voice, I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

I received an ARC from Usborne and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

i finished this book a few days ago and i had to take some time to reflect cuz this one got me so baffled.

short version: it’s about feminism and has asian rep, so i really wanted to like it, but there were too many things that annoyed me. the characters are so bland and stereotypical that i genuinely can’t tell if this whole book is satire or not since none of them got any character development. the writing style was below bar in my opinion, none of the family drama is sought through and had way more potential, especially Eliza’s mom and sister, and even Len’s mom. the romance was very underwhelming for me too.

what had me baffled was mostly the feminism part, because some quotes are okay like some commentary from Eliza’s sister and mom, but then it’s all centered around Eliza who truly misses the point throughout the whole book. i can explain a little below...

THE ROMANCE

first of all, this book felt like it would give good enemies to lovers banter but the banter was so boring throughout the book, and look... i’m a pretty romantic person. so it’s easy to give me butterflies... but this book was so cliche that i felt bored af. i'm over the public displays of affection like public speeches in school microphones or tv, everyyybody caring about the main character’s EVERY move (this makes the story artificial because everyone knows 100% this does not happen in real life), the miscommunication trope, and neither did i feel the couple had much chemistry.

“The stuff you said in the manifesto, it was all true. I felt like you were the only one who saw through my bullshit. I felt like you really saw... me.” — noooo not the seeing-through-me-when-nobody-else-did

““Look, I’m sorry.” I say. “I don’t know what you want from me.” “I don’t want anything.” He shrugs, as if it’s absurd that I’d think anything I did could possibly bother him. Even though I’m trying to apologize, it pisses me off. “What do you want me to say, Len?” I wave his laptop like I’m about to throw it across the room. “Nothing.” He eyes the computer as it dangles from my hand but he doesn’t break his calm. “Say whatever you want, I don’t care.” — do these people have chemistry cuz this didn’t make me feel a single thing ugh

“"Yeah. Like it’s been soaked in the alcohol from a honey-lemon cough drop.” The specificity of the image, thrown so casually into the conversation, startles me, like he’s just grabbed hold of my hand. I even pull back, as if he’s really touched me, and retreat my fingers into the sleeves of my sweater. “You do have a way with words”, I admit slowly, with a joking admiration. But I mean it.” —— WHAT i thought this was satire —- Eliza im begging you to go read Austen or Woolf or the Bronte sisters cuz honey lemon cough drop is not it!!!!😭😭

“I snort. "What does she think of alternate-universe Len?" "Oh, she likes him." "Does he like her?" "Sure. They get along pretty well." 😫

““She’s obviously flirting with you.”, I argue. “She’s always flirting.” “What’s wrong with that?” He stops to face me when he says this, and I almost fall over his toes. “She knows what she wants, and she lets people know.” He doesn’t seem angry, but the remark is a blow for sure. When I can’t decide how to respond, he starts to turn away.”

the author makes both so scared to show any emotion that they give off exactly that, no emotion. for example, in this last encounter, why not make him angry? let him be frustrated at her, and let her be affected by that. give them emotion! instead, we get this insipid scene.

Eliza does get her fair share of bullying, and Len doesn’t stand up or says anything supportive about or towards her... in an eavesdropped conversation, Len even agrees she's too much to another student... it makes no sense if he loves her that he’s just going to stand there spineless and watch her get absolutely humiliated O.o but then we get hooking up scenes out of literal nowhere. overall, personally, the romance was a big letdown.

EVERYONE AGAINST LEN

the whole point of the book is that Eliza runs against Len to be chief in their school newspaper, and everybody votes for Len, and she blames it on the fact that he’s a boy, and she’s a girl. i’m not saying that doesn’t happen all the time in the real world, but here.... i would’ve voted for Len. he displays better leadership qualities. that’s it. no genders involved.

he had a better speech, showed more interest, care, and understanding. he’s super smart too and knows how to find good angles for the stories, which is numerously recognized in the book, has good cooperation skills. knowing how to lead a team is more than having a lot of awards and papers under your belt. Eliza is known for being overly critical, she is super qualified but also that gives her in her head justification to judge everyone’s papers super harshly. she’s shown to be actually kind of scary to those around her in the paper and Len has a much calmer and serene posture and overall better leadership qualities. if Eliza was a guy, i would still have voted for Len.

i felt like this was so evident that would be for sure later mentioned but nope, we’re supposed to believe Eliza lost just cuz Len is a guy. actually we don't see a single misogynistic action throughout the election, it was so clean that it gives no reason to hate Len, and so it just makes Eliza stand out as super whiny and for no reason. maybe the author should've made Len or her peers misogynistic towards her, but then it would've been super difficult for us to like Len...

i thought a sound plot of the book would be for Eliza to realize she lost not because of Len being a guy, but instead being supportive of him and realizing she can learn how to be a more understanding leader from him... but NOOOOoooo

“You heard Winona - Eliza would never be into Len. He stands for everything we’re fighting against.” 😶 suddenly Len is the “face of the patriarchy”.😶

Eliza is self-involved to a point where she doesn’t even question not once that maybe, just maybe, Len could be a great win for the newspaper. just maybe there might have been another reason that he was voted in. also the whole "having the picture in the wall" makes the win very superficial.

i don’t think it’s okay to call Len “face of the patriarchy” over and over again when he’s so nice to everybody, believes in Eliza from the start, was just friendly competition, and won fair and square.

i felt like Eliza was cruel to him throughout the book, even while beginning to like him, her comments were so backhanded like ' wow i cant believe im liking such a person '.. he's a regular nice guy, he literally never did her wrong not even once...

Eliza launched a campaign to make him look at fault, barely feeling guilty enough to come clean to him but also not enough to even consider not doing it, calling him pretty hurtful things in private without even knowing him, and making it so that the whole solution for the mess is: he has to resign so she can be editor instead ??? like what?? at least hold another election? people didn’t vote for you... and he’s the one who has to apologize and make things better.

THE FEMINISM

“it occurs to me then what a singular moment this is: here i am, inexplicably in solidarity with Serena, the girl whose entire student-council tenure has been based on nothing but marginally considerate behaviour and attractive boyfriends. Feminism is a funny thing.” this is the perfect example... Eliza claims to be a feminist and suffers under the harsh lens that women are under in society, but she herself is judging others all the time, and in this case, demeaning this girl success, and saying it’s solely because she has “attractive boyfriends”. i’m so confused, cuz this is never clarified but this *has* to be satire, right? right??!!

“We’re always making these distinctions, I realize, because we hope they will somehow protect us - just as I once insisted on separating myself from Serena, we’re now desperate to distance ourselves from Vicki. But the harshness we fear, in reality, seeps through to all of us, no matter how many lines we draw.” — what harshness? what is seeping through all of us? i don’t understand but this big realization in Eliza’s mind is literally the bare minimum of feminism so i don’t understand how she is literally throwing a walkout for feminism without understanding that we should respect other women’s choices and lives... lmao... that we should have rights to live our lives the way we want to, and we shouldn’t slut shame?? all the main character does is pit herself against all the other female characters except her best friend: her mom, her sister, Serena, the other girl who liked Len...

ELIZA BEING INSUFFERABLE

finally, i’m going to leave (unfortunately just a few of the) snippets that personally made the me feel like Eliza had few redeemable qualities:

“if you’re trying to argue that it’s not always totally boring, then sure. But I’ve never understood all this devotion.” I gesture around us. “People get so excited when their team does well, and so angry when they don’t. Including you.” Len ruffles the back of his hair, smirking. “That doesn’t seem reasonable to you?” “No, I think it seems like a form of tribalism. It’s one of those things that everyone accepts is normal, but is kind of weird when you think about it. Because what do you or I really get if Willoughby wins this game?” - this was truly the last straw for me because..... enjoying a game is tribalism!?!? let people be happy and enjoy things... it's sports. O.O it gave me such second-hand embarrassment.. also this has absolutely nothing to do with the plot or theme of the book *sigh*

“Len passes me the ball, and, to my surprise, i catch it” - why is catching a ball from across a room at low speed surprising

“i pick up the basketball from the floor and throw it at the hoop, achieving an impressive airball” - so she hates sports and has never played in her life but she’s obviously... a natural?

“Then she brandishes a tube of lipstick. “What is that?” I jerk backward. Serena turns to Winona, confused. “Eliza doens’t do lipstick,” Winona explains.” —— why? why is she so repulsed by a bit of lipstick? it’s never explained and it appears as it makes Eliza special or dare i say superior to everyone else who wears lipsticks. even when later she realizes it’s okay to be smart AND care about your looks, it’s always this middle ground like she can’t quite commit to being “girly” so she just continues wearing //different// sweaters instead of just the same one.

“Other girls, including Kim, fuss over their hair all the time. But I don’t, and now I feel self-conscious about trying. When you look a certain way every day, and people are used to seeing you that way, it feels like drawing too much attention to yourself to change it. The wrong kind of attention. Because a serious, self-respecting girl should want to be noticed for her mind, not her appearance. Right?” — YOU CAN HAVE BOTH!!! YOU CAN WEAR LIPSTICK AND BE SMART!!! why is a bit of color on your lips “bad attention”? i am once again going to assume for my own sanity that this is all satire

““Wait.... is this ginger ale?” Len snickers. “What’d you expect?” “I don’t know. Something bro-ish. Beer?” — PLEASE tell me this is satire cuz i can’t believe Eliza is stereotyping what men drink in a book about stereotypes against women.

“Hunter Pak is the president of Key Club. He’s not quite cool enough to be in student council, but he’s too handsome to be a nerd.” — excuse me??? TOO HANDSOME TO BE A NERD???!?!? PLEASE tell me this is satire once again even though there’s again no clarification i’m begging

“Serena collapses in a fit of giggles, and I can’t help breaking into a goofy smile.” NOT GOOFY

“I fill my chest up with a fortifying breath and hoist my sword again, preparing to continue with my oration.” —- i —... this is in her march in the school. it just leaves a very bad taste in my mouth because it feels like it comes off ridiculing the millions of difficulties that feminists actually had to go through throughout history, like the right to vote, the right to have money under your name. this is just about her fighting for a guy to resign, and it’s just weird to me... ?? how she's explaining it as holding a sword, i can’t explain it

there are so many passages regarding her choice of wardrobe that i can’t make myself look up because i didn't save any of them but do i have to say this once in this review because it's mentioned SO MUCH: oversized sweaters are such a COMMON thing!!! every other girl in the world wears oversized sweaters!!!
she makes it her personality trait because she doesn’t like to care about her looks? but if you look around in the high school population so many kids wear oversized sweaters... i just don’t understand.

at first, i thought Eliza was being insufferable because she was going to have great character development but instead it made the message of the book lose itself completely — at least, what i hope the message of equality was.
it made the main character trash talk for the majority of the book, have realizations that are the BARE minimum and so few that when the book ended she is miles away from realizing how much she actually hurt and wronged the people around her.

however she’s supposed to be unlikeable because she’s a “rule-follower”. it leads me to believe the author wanted us to see that people didn’t vote for Eliza because she’s “bossy” and others don’t like when girls are bossy. but those are her most likable traits.. it’s okay to be assertive and have moral grounds, and i liked seeing her conduct an interview for her newspaper and have moral grounds. a LOT of other characters admired this too, including Len! the supposed “face of the patriarchy”. what we don’t like is her being condescending, rude, and mean to Len, team members, her mom, her sister Kim.

i’m not sure if there’s supposed to be commentary in everyone being walking stereotypes but i don’t see character growth from anybody. i already explained my thoughts on Eliza being so self-involved she didn’t realized Len was a better fit for the position in many others' opinions, and we NEVER SEE HER REALIZE THISSSSS. the ending made me facepalm to the wall.

this is such a mess to me and i feel like the author basically forgot to make her levelheaded and just left us with this main character that is so contradictory that ruins the book, even though she was given so many opportunities!!! i feel like her mother’s story would’ve been the most PERFECT opportunity to make her see clearly things. but that was a kind of side-commentary that didn't change any of Eliza's behavior.

anyways... i’ve ranted about this enough.

if anyone has read this and loved it, i would love to hear your thoughts cuz it just made me sad haha :/

[Rachel L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this book existed when I was a teenager.

Not Here to Be Liked is about Eliza Quan, a straightforward, no nonsense teenage girl who works on the school paper, The Bugle. Eliza is a shoe in for the editor position for the next year, she’s been working on the paper for years and is the most qualified candidate. Until a popular former jock is elected instead of her because he’s more charismatic, despite being unqualified. Eliza pours all her feelings into an essay meant only for herself, until another student posts it on the school website. The school is in an uproar, some people calling for justice, others calling Eliza a sore loser. And as Eliza and Len are asked to work amicably together, Eliza finds herself falling for the unqualified former jock.

I thought this book was utterly fantastic and I kind of am scratching my head at the fact that this book doesn’t seem to be more popular. Grumpy heroine and sunshine hero trope? Enemies to lovers? A student awakening of the misogyny they face every day and didn’t realize? So many great aspects to this book. From the moment I picked it up I couldn’t put it down, binging 200+ pages in just one sitting. I love Eliza as the “unlikable heroine” but I’ve always liked female characters who go against the norm.

I thought the writing was fantastic, and I think this book has a lot that readers will want to discuss and talk about with other people. It makes many great points, has different perspectives, and best of all an imperfect hero who wants to do better with his life. I also liked reading about Eliza’s family dynamic, though I felt that wasn’t ever really concluded or resolved and I would have loved to see something like that even though it’s probably not realistic in the long run.

[vanessa ⋆.☕︎]

‧₊˚ ⛲️ ‧₊𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖🎐 Okay but hear me out… this one already feels like it’s about to make me feel seen and personally attacked in the best way. Ambitious, smart FMC who actually deserves the role? Check. A charming, clueless, golden-boy opponent who keeps winning just by existing? Yeah… that already has my blood pressure rising.

This is giving academic rivals, feminism discourse, messy feelings, and “I hate that I don’t hate you” energy. I’m expecting sharp banter, uncomfortable truths, growth on both sides, and that very specific frustration of being a woman who has to work twice as hard to be taken half as seriously. And falling for the literal embodiment of what you’re fighting against? Oh, that’s deliciously painful.

I don’t know if I’m going to love it or want to scream into a pillow, but either way, I’m seated. Low expectations, high curiosity, and here for the tension, the chaos, and the feelings. <𝟑 .ᐟ

[kimberly ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars 🥹 i truly loved this book

[come book]

DNF

[Victoria Pewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

ACADEMIC RIVALS EXCELLENCE

[CW ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my goodness, Not Here to Be Liked is phenomenal, and is - I'm calling it - going to be the 'feminist YA contemporary of the year'. This is a hard-hitting, nuanced, and fun read that will inspire and empower.

- Follows Eliza, a Chinese-Vietnamese-American teen who, upon losing the editor-of-chief role of her school newspaper to an inexperienced new-comer, who accidentally starts a feminist movement in her school - and things get more complicated when she starts to fall for the boy the movement is aimed at.
- What I loved about Not Here to Be Liked is that it explores feminism from an intersectional lens. The story never tries to be a playbook on feminism, but it portrays feminism in its most real: that advocacy and social justice aren't these neat things, but also involve this messy process of learning, unlearning, and figuring out the grey, complicated areas.
- Eliza is a spectacular character. Her narrative is sharp, astute, and she's a little prickly too, which is what I loved about her. Eliza isn't perfect by any means, despite being the unexpected leader of the feminist movement, and she goes through a lot of learning and mistakes too.
- I loved how this story subverted tropes, like girl-girl hate. I also really enjoyed the nuanced, complex, and unexpectedly fuzzy hate-to-mutual-respect-to-love romance between her and Len.
- I also loved the family dynamics in this; complicated, humanising, and so real in their imperfections and, underneath it all, love.

Content warnings: sexism (challenged), racism (challenged)

I received a digital advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Fanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Female characters being 'unlikeable' immediately makes me like them, but when the female character isn't really unlikeable and is, in fact, simply unafraid, I instantly fall for them. You can call her rude, hotheaded, and stubborn; or you can call her confident, determined, and ambitious. The way Eliza's attitude could be labelled as either, and not just the latter, tells a lot about the societal constrictions through which girls are perceived—and this YA contemporary excellently comments on the same.

Eliza, Chinese-Vietnamese-American, is snubbed as the next editor-in-chief of the school paper for Len, white-Japanese former basketball player. Now Eliza is left wondering how a less qualified male peer impressed everyone to win votes for this position: is it his irresistible charm, or him being more likeable, or him benefitting from a sexist school system? She decides to pour her mind out in a rage-filled article on a newsroom computer, covering everything from merit, or the lack thereof, to the institutionalized sexism at her school. When the piece is immediately taken down, Eliza comes under a spotlight and takes the torch to shine a light on feminism, against misogyny, and for herself.

Between leading a feminist reckoning and falling for the boy she's asking to step down, Eliza continues to uphold her imperfectness if being vocal as a woman is one. She knows the acknowledgments she deserves and she isn't shying away from shouting about it, no matter how strongly the patriarchal systems and microaggressions try to suffocate her. In addition to dismantling the repeated criticisms women often receive—'not being too nice'—this story wonderfully targets internalized misogyny, girl on girl hate, gender stereotypes, racism and classism; all the while unravelling the Asian-American experiences of immigrant children, the familial pressure they carry, and the need for achievements when you're a marginalized personality.

The romance is classic through a rivals-to-lovers trope set against a high school backdrop and supported by adorable moments and a relationship gradually building upon cute scenarios, genuine conversations, and wholesome visits to get boba. All in all, this debut stood strong on feminist grounds and gave me the same emotional rush of cheering for a female protagonist who refuses to be complacent or boxed in gentleness that From Twinkle, With Love brought—and, in fact, doubled it up with delight, despite the title saying it's not here to be liked.

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[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

“Everyone loves a girlboss until she tries to tell you what to do.”

Not Here to Be Liked is a fantastic YA book about Eliza, who’s ready for her senior year as editor at her schools paper. That is, until she gets passed over for a jock with much less experience than her. She writes a piece about it, just venting really, and it somehow gets published. Yikes, right?

Eliza has to navigate high school once it’s out there. Her journey is one that goes from being shunned for what she did, to praised. Eliza was not my favorite character at the start, but she did grow on me. I loved the hero of the story and the more I found out about him the more I adored him.

This book seems to have a ton of mixed reviews and I’m so happy to say that it worked for me! I didn’t want to put it down. I loved the growth of the main character, and I thought the sensitive topics were handled well.

Audio book source: Libby
Story Rating: 4 stars
Narrator: Vyvy Nguyen
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary YA
Length: 9h 18m

[Anniek · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I say I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped, it's definitely a me thing and not at the book's fault. It does a lot of great things, and I appreciate it for that. I loved seeing a fairly unlikeable main character at the center of this, and I especially loved how imperfect her feminism was at the start of this book and how much she grew, because she is, of course, a teenager. The reason why I didn't personally enjoy it is mainly because I felt like it didn't really do anything new, it didn't give me any new insights. But the target audience likely will gain new insights from this, so the book is just not written for me, and that's fine. I do, however, wish this book had been more gender inclusive. It talks about "gender equality" in the same line as saying "both boys and girls" and nowhere does it acknowledge trans people or any gender outside of the binary. For a book that strives to be intersectional, that's a shame to me.

[stevie jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is long. I am so sorry. . .

Before I begin, I just want to state that I know the target audience for young adult books is usually teenagers, and I am in no way a teenager anymore, but reading this and thinking of young teenagers also experiencing this book, really disappointed me.

I went into this solely for the representation. The main character and author are both of Chinese Vietnamese American descent. And then there’s the enemies to frenemies to friends to lovers trope. Chef’s kiss. 🤌 The feminism rep. . . not so much.

The views on feminism in Not Here to Be Liked are something that I would expect in a young adult novel from the early 2000’s. Hell, even from within the last ten years I would have expected this. But we live in the world 2023 (this being published in 2021—so we’ll round down to the cursed year of 2020) and we should not be doing this.

Not Here To Be Liked gives feminism the definition of “ONLY women being in power” and “down to all men”.

This movement is started when ex-jock Len DiMartile decides to run against our heroine, Eliza Quan, as editor in chief for the school newspaper. ((First off, I just want to say that I did not even know that campaigning for “editor in chief” was a thing. I am from a small town, though, where such titles were given to the most qualified senior by the teacher in charge so 🤷. I admit that I have no knowledge on the matter. If they were running for student body counselor or whatever, the campaign would have made more sense to me.)) When Len wins the election, Eliza is steamed and writes a rant report (on the school computer, mind you) venting out her feelings and frustrations against Len and her fellow members of the newspaper.

And then, surprise—because she was writing on a school computer and didn’t close out of the document before leaving—her rant gets published into the next morning’s issue of the paper, titled “THE PATRIARCHY LIVES”. Rookie mistake, but I feel like if you’re going to be writing a rant against your fellow classmates, then don’t do it on school grounds, on a school computer, let alone a DESKTOP computer that you can’t physically take with you.

As a result of the article in the school paper, her classmates turn against her. Going as far as calling her a “Femnazi” to stuffing tampons in her locker, Eliza is caught between being in charge of a feminist movement and being called the girl who cried misogyny.

Are we seriously still using the term “Femnazi” to describe angry women?

Unfortunately, the movement was very much just Eliza throwing a temper tantrum because she didn’t get the position that she wanted. In reality, Len is voted for the part because he gave a better speech and impression than Eliza did—which is very close to how the real world works. If you show up for a job interview with all of the qualifications but dress like you just rolled out of bed and half-ass your interview, then guess what—you’re not getting hired at that job.

But anyway, Eliza loses the election and goes on another rant after her essay is published without her permission. She goes live on the school news (like TV news) and once again lets out her frustrations against her classmates being against her, calls out her school for being sexist for not having a female leader, slanders Len again, and dumps the pile of tampons on the news table at the end of her interview.

Instead of being a good sport and accepting the fact that she lost fairly because she wasn’t qualified for the job, she turns into the villain of the story.

Obviously the principal doesn’t like that so he calls her to his office. But no, nothing that her principal says to her inspires the movement. (Which it honestly should have because “tampons not being appropriate for the school video” would have been enough for me.) There was so much potential between the name calling, the tampons, even just the fact that there hadn’t been a girl (or not that many girls (I honestly don’t remember) in charge of their school’s clubs, would have made a better movement than what actually happened. But no, we have all of this great potential, and Eliza and her team want to form a walk-out of their school because of Len. Because everyone liked his speech better and Eliza thought that she deserved that position over him. Because it’s obviously his fault and not the principal or the school’s.

Eliza’s whole personality was the equivalent of a pick-me girl that claimed she “wasn’t like other girls”. Multiple times she comments on how her sister or other girls are always doing their hair and makeup and dressing up, but she doesn’t. Like, I don’t care. So what. Do you want a cookie or something? She even goes as far as calling herself a fake and not really a feminist because she starts having feelings for Len. Liking a boy doesn’t make you any less of a feminist. What? Just because he won over you in a competition makes you think that you can’t like him or something? And then she even battles with herself for wanting to be known for her brains and not her beauty. Why not both? Can pretty women not be smart too? Can smart women not be pretty?

It took me YEARS before I finally understood what the meaning of feminism actually was. I remember, as a teenager and young adult, thinking that it meant a bunch of angry women burning their bras and wanting men to step down from their jobs so that they could take over. It saddens me that we still have media like this in today’s world. And that the possibility of teenagers and young adults reading this book could be confused or question their own views on feminism. Granted, towards the very end of the book, Eliza does question and reevaluate her views on feminism, but this kind of representation is the last thing we need.

Feminism isn’t about women being in power, or hating men. It never has been and anyone that tells you otherwise is not a feminist.

━━━━━━━━━━☽✰☾━━━━━━━━━━

• 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 •
✩✩✩✩✩ definitely a favorite
✩✩✩✩ oki i like it, picasso
✩✩✩ average read
✩✩ i had some feelings/why did i finish reading?
✩ trash/absolutely not/DNF

[lily · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf @ 13%

this book had a lot of potential but i think it just wasn’t really for me. i might try again in the future but it was such a pain for me to read. the main character was just so unlikeable for me and i could only read a few pages at a time before i had to take a break because i was so annoyed by her. she just thought she was better than everyone and accused people of being misogynists for literally just voting for the better candidate? not to mention all of the rude things she wrote about the other candidate (i cant even remember his name HELP) when he was clearly the better option, like girl i get you have to criticize others writing but you were just so rude and scary and for what

[*.゜｡: vy hates you !¡ .゜｡* · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Because feminism, contrary to popular belief, isn’t about hating on guys like me. It’s all about all of us working toward equality, together.”

the themes in itself with talks on feminism, misogyny, sexism where great but the drama was not it for me. i personally would’ve liked a book on winona since i wasn’t really connecting with eliza.

this book had really good rep imo. i really liked the representation of eliza being half viet-chinese and len being half japanese and how they had a conversation on their histories. i kinda wished there was more family dynamic just to kinda get more insight on her personal life

tbh i couldn’t connect with the book mostly because of the drama and how it was executed. personally, it just wasn’t really working and i felt detached with the book too i think i came into this book definitely with the wrong mindset which is my biggest regret

i think some things were also taken a bit extreme? idk im just really sad that i couldnt like this book and connect with it which i guess is more my fault then the book in itself

but what i really liked and that was shown in this book was the stereotypes :

“No, a woman is naturally more caring. You see your dad? He’s a man, so his job is to make money to support you. He loves you, but I’m the one who takes care of you.”

still to this day, my dad says this to me and it both saddens and frustrates me that this is the mindset of many people. that woman have to stay home and take care of their kids while the husband goes and works. even with beauty standards, in this book eliza talks about her sister, kim is the pretty one and she is the smart one and how when kim hit middle school her skin starting getting bad meaning she isn’t pretty anymore??


PLOT ˎˊ˗
so eliza quan and len dimartile both run for editor in chief of bulge, which is her school paper group thing. a feminism movement starts (i don’t wanna say too much because spoilers) but basically things get messy because miss eliza starts falling for the ”enemy”, len.

when they were forced to work together to be ”civil” i kinda wish it showed that more?? it was mostly fast attraction and some drama here and there which plays a part in the whole purpose of the story but a build up would’ve been nicer imo.

the plot, in terms of theme is again really great. i liked the way michelle quach had a character like serena to represent everything against their purpose but the character’s developments were pretty good?? not amazing but good


ROMANCE ˎˊ˗
the academic rivals to lovers couldve been brought out more (yes i know this isn’t solely on romance) since imo it was rushed. there was also drama between them which i thought was very middle school vibes so i didn’t really like that either.

i think some issues that len and eliza had could’ve been written in a way that didn’t make them seem childish but they did have cute moments. i apologise for thinking this had smut lol i really went into this book not really knowing anything about it or reading up on it which is my fault and i am sorry please forgive me sjbfjhsbfe

i did love their boba meet ups. it was really cute and wholesome lmao


CHARACTERS ˎˊ˗

eliza quan :
⤷ annoying but grows on you

eliza definitely annoyed me at first and was a really hard character to like?? idk why but she did get better and grew on me. she is a big over achiever and she’s just a person who plays by the rules so when her and len start hitting it off, she gets hella conflicted.

i wanted to see more of the mum and kinda wished that eliza had a deeper conversation with her mum about feminism?? i really wanted to see the mum’s thoughts more because that would’ve definitely added to this story

n e ways back to eliza, she honestly wasn’t like the greatest mc and her traits at the beginning really throw you off. in all honesty, she reminds me of my sister. cold, smart, intense, super critical but driven. eliza is so driven and works hard which is something i really admired.

one more thing :

“This is a woman who, like many Chinese mothers, views being second best at anything to be a moral failure.”

this was something that really stuck out to me. i know many of my uncles and aunties mindset are like this and it takes a toll on a person constantly being told you have to be the best or you’re not good enough. if you’re not the top; you’re a failure. this book was something i could really relate to in my life jsnejfkesf


len dimartile :
⤷ an ’eh’ love interest

uhhh yeah, he wasn’t that amazing of a character. idk really couldn’t connect with him but i wouldn’t say he was horrible. he was sweet and stuff but there wasn’t really anything that stood out to me

i mean if you want a boba date partner than like hit him up lol

i did like how he played a role in the development of eliza. you also see a growth in him as well but the way they both open up to one another was really nice to see


CONCLUSION ˎˊ˗
a really good book for a debut and touched on great topics. considering this was michelle quach’s first book and she wrote on such strong themes is really amazing. i will have to rr this and give it a second chance in the future but yeah. ok bye <3

[zara · Rating 2 out of 5]

the fmc weaponized feminism to cover up for her incompetence and pettiness and it pisses me off so bad lmaooo wtf is this book 😭 the only accurate thing this book depicts is how pretentious and annoying and stupid high schoolers are especially considering where this book is taking place at

[gauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

check out the full review along with an aesthetic on my blog!

I loved reading this so so much.

Not Here To Be Liked is the YA contemporary I needed! It follows Eliza Quan the hard-working managing director of her school’s newspaper running for the post of editor-in-chief. And she’s the perfect choice, until Len, the ex baseball star runs against her and wins. What follows is the start of a feminist movement in her school, questioning the sexist behaviour prevalent.

As the title suggests, Eliza is not here to be liked. She doesn’t care what others think of her, one quality I desperately wish I had, she’s driven, she knows what she’s worth and she wants to be acknowledged for it. I grinned so wide at her girlboss moments. She isn’t perfect by any means, Not Here To Be Liked very aptly incorporates the process of learning and unlearning, realising in a teen’s life through conversations with people around her. She has her uncertainties , she makes mistakes. I really admire Michelle Quach for including all the patriarchal ideas and microaggressions in an easy flowing writing style.

Despite the warning of “this book contains an unlikeable female character” I loved following Eliza’s journey in addressing the school’s sexist history head on and how she questions what it really means to be a feminist. Only to realise that there’s no specific textbook definition for it. I loved her attitude, originality and her growth.

I loved the discussions of double standards, of the internalised misogyny—slut shaming, how a girl and guy can wear the same clothing but get judged for it differently, girl-girl hate—of the stigma and stereotypes existing in our society. The entire story starts off with Len, an inexperienced candidate being voted for the position of the editor-in-chief, simply because he seemed more like a leader from his speech. All the while Eliza, very qualified and experienced, was criticised for “not being too nice”, for “trying too hard” or “being overly critical” when she was just doing her job as a journalist and editor and even being just as intense, critical and with high standards as her male coworkers.

The fact this nuanced exploration of sexism, feminism, classism and racism is done from an Asian lens just made the book even better.

“So first it’s because I don’t try, and now it’s because I try too hard? Which is it?”
The exhale from James is weary. “You know what I mean, Eliza.”
“No,” I say. “No, I do not know what you mean.”

Okay hear me out: you bash an ex-jock who stole your position as an editor-in-chief in a manifesto which surprisingly got published and now there’s a feminist movement growing in your school. But turns out… you’re falling for the very same jock, the face of the patriarchy and that leaves you wondering if you’re really a feminist when you have feelings for the boy you’re against. It was lovely to see Eliza come to terms with her feelings as well as staying true to her feminist ideas. I love me a good romance, Eliza and Len are the perfect definition of rivals. Their interactions are so adorably entertaining and their dialogues are wonderful. I loved the slow build up into being friends, bonding over boba, baseball and reading and eventually into something more.

Not Here To Be Liked, set in an Asian majority area, sheds light on the lives of immigrant children and their relationship with parents and the pressure imposed on them to be ambitious and make their place in the foreign country. The relationship between Eliza and her sister, Eliza and her parents and her observation of the relationship between her parents and of course her friends Serene and Wiona were lovely to read about. From their conversations, we even see the feminist views of Eliza's mom, which was an interesting addition. I love that Quach included the POC diversity and showed their struggles too — Wiona for example, worried about a demonstration project at school as she doesn’t want to be the “angry black woman” or Serena wanting to be liked by people. I’m really glad they all came to understand each other and enjoy the company!

Not Here To Be Liked is a wonderful contemporary, a mix of light romance and important discussions. This is definitely debut to not be missed!

thank you usborne & netgalley for the arc!

[maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 i fucking loved that

raised my rating bc i cant stop thinking about them help

rr 07/23/22: i understand eliza quan on a spiritual level this book was written for ME

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read! As someone in college, I wish I could have read this book when I was Eliza’s age. Fantastic!

[jazmin ✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a fun read! i liked the characters and the feminist journey that they went on, i just wish that some of the topics and even character relationships had been more fleshed out.

*3.75

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

my carrd ❦

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

just found a new book to not shut up about, watch out everyone <3

this book has nudged its way into my list of favorites for sure. i started it less than 24 hours ago and amidst all the homework i had to get done this weekend, i absolutely sped through it.

despite the disclaimers that eliza was an "unlikable character", i absolutely loved her. yes, she is a bit prickly, but she reminded me a lot of myself at times and i really appreciated her growth throughout the novel. although she retains her sharp, headstrong nature, she embraces the aspects of her life that are changing and breaks down some of the walls she built up around herself without sacrificing her inner morals. she is unapologetically herself during this whole story and i think that's what makes it so authentic.

this book has very important discussions on feminism, sexism, and intersectionality. it tackles stereotypes head-on. it challenges views on what a feminist should and shouldn't be, and crafts this broader view of what a feminist is, not boxing in all feminists into one image. the book also discusses the model minority myth and feminism when it comes to immigrant families, and i thought it was very insightful.

i appreciate the commentary provided on some of the ways sexism has ingrained itself deeply in our society. the book remarks, “because everyone loves a girlboss until she tells you what to do” and i think that's very much true. even in the book, characters pointed out how for something as simple as clothing, a guy and a girl can wear the same thing and one is praised, one is shamed. a girl taking a stand is "bossy" but a guy doing the same is applauded for his leadership.

i saw myself a lot in this book, and it just made me love it even more.

now let's please take a second to acknowledge this book for the academic rivals to lovers masterpiece it is. SWOON. actually so cute. eliza & len's relationship (especially their text banter) reminded me a lot of rowan & neil from today tonight tomorrow, especially because we were fully aware from that start that len was a simp for eliza and eliza alone. down terrible, this man.

i really liked how their relationship developed and the conversations that resulted from that about being a feminist but also being in a relationship with a man.

Thank you to Epic Reads for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

CW: sexism, racism (both challenged), vomit, alcohol

[dezzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

the way i basically (almost) finished this book in one sitting on a flight,, if we ignore the intermission i had between my plane landing and then finishing it after i got home LOL

aahhh this was such an easy, fun, and lighthearted read !! very predictable as well lol (i predicted basically the entire plot slkdfjs). i really enjoyed how much Chinese and Vietnamese culture was infused throughout the book, as well as the bits of Cantonese dialogue that Eliza's mom said HAHA - she reminded me of my own mom and how she talks to me :) always love when i get to experience my own culture & language in a book, it feels so familiar and fun <3

the romance was so cute ahhhh my heart is warm 🥺 i wish there had been more focus and development on the side characters though - especially Winona and Serena! their characters had so much potential