A fantastic romance from which to teach students about unlikeable and unreliable main characters. Beautifully written!

“Not Here to be Liked” has been one of the funnest books I have read ever. I cannot stress that enough. This book is fun, cute, smart without being cheesy or too repetitive. Michelle Quach presents us the story of Eliza Quan, a strong opinionated and smart young woman who becomes the face of a feminist movement, and the book does a *great* job at presenting the typical YA tropes, enemies-to-lovers in this case, under the feminism light. Not only this book is about gender equality, but is also about race, activism and much more. And this is where Michelle’s talent shines.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I tried with this book, but I found Eliza to be a selfish teen who thinks she is the only one with a difficult teenage life.

I was initially excited for this book but it didn't live up to my expectations. That being said, I still enjoyed the book and would recommend to others. I went into the book expecting a young adult contemporary romance but it was more than that — while I think it has incredibly powerful messages in it, I think it not being the young adult rom-com I was expecting led to a little bit of disappointment.

Eliza is a good main character. She definitely draws the reader in and I love the feminist qualities she possesses. It's something that I would love to see more of in characters of teen books — it shows its young readers that feminism is not a bad aspect to possess.

The overall story was not as lighthearted as I was expecting, which isn't a bad thing, but it did leave me a little disappointed (purely based on my original expectations). That being said, it's a story that is interesting and showcases an intriguing lens on feminism and high school dynamics.

I think the romance was a little underwhelming, for my tastes, but I enjoyed the growth of Eliza and Len's relationship through the course of the book.

One of my favorite YA contemporaries of 2021. Quach manages to juggle romance, feminism, high school newspaper drama, and the complications of family expectations and cultural differences in one perfectly paced, funny, and charming story. I laughed, I cried, I was deeply frustrated (but just with the state of the world, not the characters).

Not Here to Be Liked strikes that rare, perfect balance between thoughtful discussion of social issues (in this case, feminism) and fun, romantic hijincks. The character growth throughout is nuanced and believable, and I was rooting for the enemies-to-lovers romance from chapter one. A thought-provoking, delightful read!

I liked this. The themes of feminism and the diversity of characters was awesome. However, I thought that the romance was just weird and didn’t really seem to work.

Rating: 3*

I really enjoyed this book which took on a big topic and handled it very thoughtfully in a way that would definitely engage high school readers to do some critical thinking, just as the characters in the book did. Life can be messy, and in this story, it definitely is. But working through hard things is important, even if it's not fun. Some things that happened are pretty unlikely on a high school campus, but they were not so outrageous as to harm the story arc. Great choice for all high school collections.

This is a great YA novel! It is a beautiful YA Feminist Contemporary novel. I would have loved to have this novel as a high schooler. It is a very "don't judge a book by its cover" character development. A great learning experience for the reader and the characters.

I adored this book - the characters, the plot, the representation, this was all around one of my favorite YA contemporaries of the year. Highly highly recommend.

What’s that you say? YA is immature, and just for kids? Hahahaha!

The protagonist of Michelle Quatch’s Not Here to Be Liked, Eliza Quan. isn’t sunshiny, but that shouldn’t prevent her from winning the school paper’s election for editor-in-chief, because she’s damn good at her job and has the awards to prove it. Plus, she’s running unopposed. Until, that is, Len DiMartile, a journalistically inexperienced baseball player slumming it in the paper while recovering from Tommy John surgery, spontaneously declares his candidacy. And beats Eliza.

Eliza tries to work out her feelings by writing a manifesto on the misogyny that allowed the charming, attractive, tall Len (who “just looks more like a leader”) to defeat her, but when someone posts the draft she left on the computer, Eliza finds herself at the center of an uproar. Is she a leader for gender equality? A whiner playing the misogyny card? What does it even mean to be a feminist, anyway? Surely, the one thing it means is that she can’t be attracted to Len.

Oh, y’all. This book is SO GOOD.

I’m leery of ‘unlikeable heroines’ because so often, it’s author code for ‘this person is simply a jerk.’ That’s not at all the case with Eliza. Rather than ‘unlikeable’, she’s someone who doesn’t put effort specifically into being liked or appealing. Her charisma is a negative number. Her feedback is blunt. Her clothes are oversized and forgettable. Her makeup is nonexistent. But… why should she have to be attractive to be editor-in-chief of a newspaper?

Yet just when you think the book is going to simplify into ‘plain, low-maintenance girls good, fancy girls bad’, Eliza finds an unexpected ally in Serena Hwangbo, the immaculately-maintained, never-single queen bee of the junior class. Serena has all the charisma and social smarts Eliza lacks, and persuades Eliza to stage a walk-out protest to demand Len’s resignation. How can Serena be a feminist when she’s an image-conscious flirt? Or is that another way to be?

Given that Len could end all the problems just by stepping down, he really has to deliver to be the hero at the center of this novel – and fortunately, he does. He’s thoughtful and socially conscious but remains a credible teenage boy. He gets that he has privilege, although he has to become more aware of the extent of it. He and Eliza have great chemistry. ‘We can’t get together because it will turn Eliza into a laughingstock and undermine her entire moral standing’ is a legitimate obstacle. Once they recognize their attraction, they negotiate consent and boundaries in a reasonable way.

The one shortcoming here is Eliza’s relationship with her best friend Winona. Often in YA, a best friend exists because the author needs us to know the heroine isn’t a pariah, but the action is entirely driven by the new people in her life. That is the case here. The other characters – Serena, Len, Serena’s boyfriend Jason, Eliza’s parents, Eliza’s sister – play into the larger themes of love and (or versus) feminism. Yes, Eliza’s activism takes time and energy away from her friendship with Winona and her assistance on Winona’s filmmaking project, but the feminism/friendship angle isn’t developed like the feminism/love-and-sexuality one.

I have long argued that while there are behaviors which make sense for teen protagonists and not for adults, YA as a genre doesn’t need to be held to a different standard. YA books can have rich and nuanced examination of social issues, compelling characters, complex relationships, and deeply satisfying endings. If anyone says differently, give them a copy of Not Here to Be Liked.

I really really liked this book. Not only was the representation good, but the ultimate meaning of the entire story really stuck with me. I thought it portrayed modern feminism to a tee, and I was so happy to see an independent female protagonist that learned that it is okay to like guys and care about your appearance and still be feminist. This book was one of my most anticipated reads, and it absolutely lived up.

Not Here to Be Liked is likely to be the contemporary-feminist novel of the year. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, which surprised me, because I sometimes have a hard time connecting with high school characters, but Quach knocked it out of the park with this one. I can't think of a single thing I disliked about this book. Bravo, Michelle! Bravo!

This book was great. At first, it took me a while to get into, partially because I realized that the main character rubbed me the wrong way, but the more I read and the more I thought about it, I realized that wasn't a detriment to the character or the novel, it was a conscious choice. A great book for high schoolers worrying about the intersectionality of feminism and attraction, wondering what makes a feminist and how to be true to your ideals.

Not Here to Be Liked is a feminist contemporary that is absolutely everything Moxie wanted to be.

When Eliza Quan loses senior editing chief of her schools newspaper, a position she has been gunning for for years, to an under qualified jock just looking for something to bulk his college applications after being injured, she writes a feminist manifesto rant... just for herself. When that rant somehow gets published in the school newspaper, she experiences an onslaught of misogyny from the people at her school who believe she's being dramatic and victimizing herself in the name of political correctness.

This book handles intersectional feminism in all the ways Moxie failed to. This is not to bag on Moxie, but it was severely lacking in that perspective, as the main character was a white girl despite the side characters of color all having more interesting character arcs than her. In this way, Not Here to be Liked excels, and will be at the top of my list when asked for feminist book recommendations.

I loved how the book analyzed how we as a society criticize women for everything they do, from slut shaming to gaslighting to being the "other woman." Even the girls who think they're super feminist have unconscious biases against certain things that girls do, such as calling the girl your boyfriend cheated on you with a "slut" and "trashy." I've never seen a fictional YA book tackle such complicated feminist issues from that to Lady Macbeth in such a nuanced, graceful way.

I also loved the romance of this book. As Eliza starts falling for Len, the jock she lost the election against, she wonders if she herself is a good feminist for falling for the "face of the patriarchy." Their romance was sweet, and very comparable to Paxton and Devi from Never Have I Ever.

Every single aspect of this book was fantastic. I'm obsessed, and I will be recommending to EVERYONE.

You may think this is just your run of the mill enemies to lovers story, and while it is that at its most basic level, it is SO MUCH MORE.
It is feminism.
It is own voices.
It is about being 1/2 Chinese and 1/2 American and not knowing quite where you fit in.
It is finding a balance between your beliefs and you heart.
.
I adored this story. It was easy not not be Eliza’s biggest fan in the beginning as the title state’s she’s Not Here To Be Liked, and boy…. She means it.
She is cold, critical, and gives zero shots about anyone else’s opinion of her.
Enter Len, the laid back ex baseball star pitcher to ruffle every feather on Eliza’s head.
.
You get a bit of animosity, a bit of flirtation, and a LOT of confusion from both parties it seems.
What a great story.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.3

Okay, this title is SO. CUTE.

I honestly sped through the first 60 pages in a night. And then the next 200 the next night. Before I knew it, it was done.

Quach's prose is lyrical and captivating; I was hooked into Eliza's intelligent, sassy, no-nonsense point of view from the very first page. Each and every character is so multifaceted, and the intricacies of a high school paper, played out throughout the chapters? Coming from a former high school (and college) newspaper masthead member, it was SPOT ON. I found myself reliving the, uh, *glory days* -- in the BEST way.

And the FEMINISM. Oh, my goodness. We NEED more books like this in mainstream publishing. We need to bring sexist micro-aggressions and biases to light. We need to show girls that they are powerful -- and that they do not need to step aside because a man is drowning out their light. Eliza (and many of the other strong female characters -- including one at the end who really surprised me!) were the epitome of the "strong woman" -- not because they were a Mary Sue, as many seem to type-cast us as, but because they were authentic, passionate, and would not back down from what they believe in.

I need to be a little more like Eliza. ALL of us girls need to be a little more like Eliza. And, so, I will no doubt be screaming about this title from the rooftops for a long, long time to come.

Oh, and Michelle Quach -- I needed this story. Thank you for writing it. Thank you for bringing this story into the world. I cannot WAIT to see what you do next!

** I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

Eliza is the best candidate for becoming editor in chief of the Bugle. Until Len, former baseball star, runs against her. The rest of students on the paper feels that he is a "natural leader." In a moment of pure anger, Eliza writes a manifesto calling out her school for being anti feminist. This letter goes viral around her school kickstarting a feminist movement that gains a lot of attention. After being forced to work with "the patriarchy," Eliza and Len begin working on articles and class projects alike. Eliza may or may not be interested in Len.

Eliza is not always a likable character. I enjoyed that about her because there are so many times that girls just want to fit in. Eliza is driven and wants things done a certain way. She isn't concerned with the way others view her looks or her ambition. It is such a breath of fresh air. The other female characters show how multifaceted being a girl is. Serena is concerned with how others see her, but also shares her doubts and her passions. Winona is a powerhouse herself in being a filmmaker. She wants things to be perfect and will push until they are. These are three female characters that I know readers can find themselves in.

The story moves along at a perfect pace that gives you introspection into Eliza's movements and her doubts for the feminist movement she begins. I loved that she struggles with what it is to be feminist while also being able to fall in like with a boy. Eliza gets many different perspectives in this possibility and learns along the way what true feminism is. I liked that difficulty that was brought into the story.

Not Here to Be Liked is a great story for girls to find themselves, understand what it is to have gender equality, and how to fight to be ourselves and understand how to be a force for good. I recommend this to anyone looking for these stories.

I loved that Eliza and basically most female characters in this book show the spectrum of what it means to be a bad feminist. She literally is just doing her best to learn and grow as a female in the world, and I love how the author illustrates that. There's the girls who judge and the girls who think there's an ideal feminism and the girls who know their feminist history. I especially love that characters apologize in this book when they realize that they may have been wrong about a stance they'd previously had. I also love the burns she doles out to the boys being jerks in the story, too.

I LOVED this book, it was a fantastic read and I WISH it had been around when I was a teen. It's an excellent exploration of feminism, especially as it means for HS purposes.