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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this is a jily fic in another universe and you cannot convince me otherwise. no i will not be elaborating. i am simply correct
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
“Because everyone loves a girlboss until she tries to tell you what to do.”
According to the title and the publisher, Eliza is supposed to come off as unlikable. Reviewers say she starts off as unlikable and I couldn’t disagree further. I’ve been in the same position as Eliza - feeling that your identity is so closely linked to a club, a club you work tirelessly for that you think everyone around you is going to work just as hard for it but when they don't, you don’t get it. You don’t understand they may not love it as much as you do. Her peers were annoyed that she was so sure that she was going to be the editor-in-chief. The media we’ve been exposed to has always had us pitting for the female MC who’s an underdog - she doesn’t know how beautiful she is, she just isn’t aware of her worth and so every once in a while, when we do get a MC who’s sure of herself and who knows her qualifications make her worthy for a position, it makes everyone uncomfortable. Even us as readers with all our wokeness encompassed by instances of people getting cancelled on twitter will still stop and say, “oh but she is unlikeable”. I politely disagree because I simply don’t see why it makes us uncomfortable to see someone who knows what she wants.
Why are we not uncomfortable at the fact that someone decided to run for the position on the very last day as if it was so inconsequential to them but they can get it? Why are we not questioning ourselves as to why a woman must be well-dressed for a speech but a man can just show up and that’s all it takes? She’s told that “you try too hard which makes you unapproachable, you know what I mean?” at which point, my girl, the icon, says -
“No”, I say, “No, I do not know what you mean.”
The book hit so close to home that most of my annotations are angry mumblings of “fuck you” and “how would you feel if i just kicked you out of the milky way?” - a topic that feels all too familiar can do that to you. The initial misgivings of all those that said she cried wolf and that she should stop looking for attention made me so angry at the students in the moment but when I look back, it’s so reflective of the world we live in today. The newer generation is suitably woke, aided by countless resources and even more “#YouAreOver” trends on twitter, but in all of this, I do think microaggressions get a slip by. Veiled under the guise of dark humor, jokes and misplaced anger as instant as ramen, sexist microaggressions are evident, no matter where you look. We’ve internalised the broader picture of sexism in comparison of which, “one class president being female amongst a constant trend of males in the last decade” seems shining and a step in the right direction. Eliza’s relationship with her appearance was very well-developed. We start off the book with her sticking to a baggy sweatshirt and not putting much effort into her looks and her sister’s overbearing self about the same can get quite annoying but over time, you see how Eliza grows from her own experience of being the new feminist icon and finds herself more comfortable in her own body to be able to try out these things. The experience of finding things to be very black-and-white wherein assuming putting on makeup makes you any less of a feminist and submitting to the patriarchy was very prevalent in the past decade, bringing with itself the “not like other girls trend” - an attempt to create more division in women based on looks and how it correlates to how smart/successful you are, something Eliza suffered from at the start and it was great to see her character growth,
I loved the characters. There’s no question about that. My relationship with most of them was push-and-pull, the setting of Asian households feeling all too adjacent with my own upbringing (minus the internalised sexism, thank you mom). Beyond just Eliza, I really appreciated the depth bought to other characters like Len (my actual sweetheart bunny), Serena (my favorite trope over is mean girl assumed to be an airhead turns out to be an actual human with feelings and the main character bonds with them while feeling shitty about their assumptions) and Amanda (her conflicted feelings on participating in the rally at odds with the stereotypes of her own race and finding herself solitary in the way she felt was so well-done)
Len’s relationship with Eliza deserves its own paragraph. I don’t care, I make the rules of my review. They were adorable and I was positively gushing. Their first visit to the boba tea shop and him taking pictures of her was just cute - just give me wholesome couples is all I ask. This book has one of the tropes I adore which is, “MC reads books to talk about it/better understand their love interest” - it slaps every single time. Len was incredibly understanding and honestly, complemented Eliza so well. I was so happy with the route author chose to took and made Len a feminist icon instead of a sexist ex-jock who had to learn how to respect girls (gag)
recommended for anyone who's looking for a fresh YA romance with feminist themes and lots of drama
According to the title and the publisher, Eliza is supposed to come off as unlikable. Reviewers say she starts off as unlikable and I couldn’t disagree further. I’ve been in the same position as Eliza - feeling that your identity is so closely linked to a club, a club you work tirelessly for that you think everyone around you is going to work just as hard for it but when they don't, you don’t get it. You don’t understand they may not love it as much as you do. Her peers were annoyed that she was so sure that she was going to be the editor-in-chief. The media we’ve been exposed to has always had us pitting for the female MC who’s an underdog - she doesn’t know how beautiful she is, she just isn’t aware of her worth and so every once in a while, when we do get a MC who’s sure of herself and who knows her qualifications make her worthy for a position, it makes everyone uncomfortable. Even us as readers with all our wokeness encompassed by instances of people getting cancelled on twitter will still stop and say, “oh but she is unlikeable”. I politely disagree because I simply don’t see why it makes us uncomfortable to see someone who knows what she wants.
Why are we not uncomfortable at the fact that someone decided to run for the position on the very last day as if it was so inconsequential to them but they can get it? Why are we not questioning ourselves as to why a woman must be well-dressed for a speech but a man can just show up and that’s all it takes? She’s told that “you try too hard which makes you unapproachable, you know what I mean?” at which point, my girl, the icon, says -
“No”, I say, “No, I do not know what you mean.”
The book hit so close to home that most of my annotations are angry mumblings of “fuck you” and “how would you feel if i just kicked you out of the milky way?” - a topic that feels all too familiar can do that to you. The initial misgivings of all those that said she cried wolf and that she should stop looking for attention made me so angry at the students in the moment but when I look back, it’s so reflective of the world we live in today. The newer generation is suitably woke, aided by countless resources and even more “#YouAreOver” trends on twitter, but in all of this, I do think microaggressions get a slip by. Veiled under the guise of dark humor, jokes and misplaced anger as instant as ramen, sexist microaggressions are evident, no matter where you look. We’ve internalised the broader picture of sexism in comparison of which, “one class president being female amongst a constant trend of males in the last decade” seems shining and a step in the right direction. Eliza’s relationship with her appearance was very well-developed. We start off the book with her sticking to a baggy sweatshirt and not putting much effort into her looks and her sister’s overbearing self about the same can get quite annoying but over time, you see how Eliza grows from her own experience of being the new feminist icon and finds herself more comfortable in her own body to be able to try out these things. The experience of finding things to be very black-and-white wherein assuming putting on makeup makes you any less of a feminist and submitting to the patriarchy was very prevalent in the past decade, bringing with itself the “not like other girls trend” - an attempt to create more division in women based on looks and how it correlates to how smart/successful you are, something Eliza suffered from at the start and it was great to see her character growth,
I loved the characters. There’s no question about that. My relationship with most of them was push-and-pull, the setting of Asian households feeling all too adjacent with my own upbringing (minus the internalised sexism, thank you mom). Beyond just Eliza, I really appreciated the depth bought to other characters like Len (my actual sweetheart bunny), Serena (my favorite trope over is mean girl assumed to be an airhead turns out to be an actual human with feelings and the main character bonds with them while feeling shitty about their assumptions) and Amanda (her conflicted feelings on participating in the rally at odds with the stereotypes of her own race and finding herself solitary in the way she felt was so well-done)
Len’s relationship with Eliza deserves its own paragraph. I don’t care, I make the rules of my review. They were adorable and I was positively gushing. Their first visit to the boba tea shop and him taking pictures of her was just cute - just give me wholesome couples is all I ask. This book has one of the tropes I adore which is, “MC reads books to talk about it/better understand their love interest” - it slaps every single time. Len was incredibly understanding and honestly, complemented Eliza so well. I was so happy with the route author chose to took and made Len a feminist icon instead of a sexist ex-jock who had to learn how to respect girls (gag)
recommended for anyone who's looking for a fresh YA romance with feminist themes and lots of drama
It seems i must read every book by this author. I did not expect this theme and the book plot at all, i was very taken aback by scenes and had to search words a few times. I don’t know how to gather my thoughts after reading the book, it was good and enlightening and covered a really sensitive topic in a beautiful way. I will say that the inner turmoil that the main character suffered was wonderfully portrayed and the character arc for all characters was amazing
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
no sure how to rate this book. it said the main female character was unlikable but i kinda liked her. i know she was a bit of a bitch but it worked out for her. just because a woman likes a boy doesn't make them any less of a feminist. especially if its the enemy.
3.5⭐️- It took me quite a while to get through this book mainly because i was going through a short reading slump period. I will say that i enjoyed a lot of aspects of this book. The feminism was absolutely amazing and the romance subplot was pretty okay. I really liked being transported into the world of this book but i feel like i didn’t connect with the characters.
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In this well-written teen novel, Eliza Quan is the picture of overachievement, so focused on her goal of becoming the editor in chief of her high school newspaper that she has little time for any distractions. To her horror, a popular former athlete, Len, decides to run for the office on a whim and is elected, despite his lack of experience.
Author Quach creates some memorable characters, a salute to feminism and a touch of reluctant romance in this excellent novel. -Louisa A.
Author Quach creates some memorable characters, a salute to feminism and a touch of reluctant romance in this excellent novel. -Louisa A.
3.5 stars rounded up because there was definitely a lot to like about this book. I feel like had I read this several years ago, it would have been 5 stars, but where I’m at now it felt slightly weird tonally - one minute deep and philosophical, and the next like it almost felt the need to dumb things down a bit. There were several moments when it felt as if Eliza’s realisations about the nature of sexism were slightly stating the obvious, but again, I’m a few years older than the target audience of this book and I know that the way the book addresses sexism would have been really important to my younger self. My favourite parts were the ways Eliza interacted with her female contemporaries, and the book’s exploration of what it means to be the child of immigrants. Truthfully, I found all that much more interesting than the relationship with Len, but I tend to be fairly picky about the romances I get invested in. I’m glad we’re getting so many male romantic leads now who are kind and supportive, rather than endless toxic bad boys. My favourite character was Serena Hwangbo (who deserves the world). Anyway, if you like reading about cool feminist teenagers standing up for themselves (especially if you’ve just finished Moxie), I think you’d like this book.
I have to admit that I was a bit scared when I started this, but I'm glad to say that Not Here to Be Liked was actually pretty good! I think my problem was that all feminist YA books I've read in the past ended up being lectures on how to be the right kind of feminist and I thought this would be more of the same, plus the romance had the potential to be a huge disaster, but I think it was very well handled. The relationship with Len is actually more of a vehicle for Eliza to question her commitment to her feminist ideals and ponder what it takes to be a feminist, in a way that leaves it completely up to the reader to make the decision for themselves. Eliza's relationships with her female friends (old and new), classmates, sister and mom are also explored and I found them very interesting, if a bit underdeveloped in the case of her family. There are a few cute moments, but definitely no fluffiness. Totally recommended