Not Here To Be Liked

Product Information

This book was truly a masterpiece and I learned so much from this read. The enemies to lovers trope mixed in with the fight for feminism and to understand what it means to be a woman in the modern world was excellently executed and written in a way easy for anyone to understand and relate to. 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 The fact this nuanced exploration of sexism, feminism, classism and racism is done from an Asian lens just made the book even better. I admire how this was written, the imperfections that were shown, the human nature, and the unsureness and uncertainty at times that Eliza displayed. I think this will help some teens understand feminism a little better and provoke them into discovering more about themselves and what their own views are. But on voting day, former baseball star Len DiMartile decides to throw his hat in the ring for editor at the last minute. He’s got a pretty lax attitude about most things school related, including the paper, but he gives a charming speech and WHADDAYA know, the staff chooses Len as editor over Eliza.

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.

Synopsis

But it’s weird to have Dr. Guinn tell me how embarrassing periods are. The man has never had one in his life—why does he get to have an opinion about it? A fresh voiced debut, perfect for anyone who has ever felt unlikable. Not Here To Be Liked is a sharply intelligent read with a touch of painful reality that will leave a mark on your heart." Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series I not only loved that we got to know more about an Asian family, it also felt like a realistic portrayal because no family is actually perfect. We usually get dead parents trope (no offence meant here) to show a dysfunctional family in YA but a complete family also has it’s fair share of arguments and fights.

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 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 I had to wonder, though, was it sexism or was it that Len was more popular? Should being popular be necessary to get ahead? Why is it that the top positions in their school remain so unequivocally male dominated? One of my favourite characters was Dr Guinn, the member of staff that both Eliza and Len manage to successfully talk around to get each other out of detentions. Dr Guinn understands how Eliza is feeling but points out that life isn't always fair. He sets out to get the two working together and as they do, Eliza starts falling for Len. The very last person she should fall for in light of her campaign. I SHARE A BEDROOM WITH MY OLDER SISTER KIM, which wouldn’t be a problem except she has this habit of making a face whenever I walk in.As a makeup lover I found that incredibly offensive and I mean it's 2021 aren't we over shit like that? 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.” 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!

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. 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. Michelle Quan handles such an important topic beautifully and rises all the right questions. Also, the rep in this is great. Bottomline: add this to your TBR and thank me later!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?