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A review by magicalreads
Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach
5.0
4.75 stars
read on my blog
rep: Chinese-Vietnamese-American protagonist, biracial (Japanese, white) love interest, Black side character, Korean-American side characters; (Chinese-Vietnamese-American author)
Despite being so hyped for this book, I was a little apprehensive, mostly because I’ve had a string of anticipated releases be disappointing. Luckily, though, there was no need because I loved this book! A powerful story, Not Here to Be Liked balances complex immigrant family dynamics, a budding romance, and what being a feminist means as a teenager.
Eliza Quan‘s guaranteed the editor-in-chief position for her senior year, not only because she’s the most qualified but also because she’s running unopposed. That is, until Len DiMartile, an ex-jock who’s only on the newspaper after lack of a better thing to do after being injured, decides to run too. And then promptly wins after giving a half-baked speech. Upset, Eliza writes an impassioned essay on the misogyny of the situation; she doesn’t intend to post it, but someone does it for her. An uproar goes up across the school, with Eliza suddenly the face of feminism. She struggles with the attention and the weight of this, especially as she realizes Len might not be so bad after all.
I suppose I should begin this review by talking about why I was a little apprehensive about this book at first. As much as I was so intrigued by the summary and everyone’s praise, I also dislike books that are entirely about feminism, mostly because they tend to lose sight of much more important things. Mainly, I worried about the “girlboss”-iness of it all. A strange lens to put on a book I hadn’t read, I know, but that definitely says something about the books I’ve been reading lately.
However, that’s not the case here: I found the feminism to be very balanced with the other aspects of the story, and I’m glad for it. In fact, the divide in the school surrounding this feminist issue blows up on its own accord and becomes bigger than just Eliza’s initial letter. Also, thankfully, “girlboss” was not a reoccurring word. Eliza has to grapple with what being a “true feminist,” or as much as one can be, is. I also liked how her views were tempered by her mom’s views, which are put into perspective of her knowledge of her mom’s hardships. Eliza can’t change her mom’s beliefs, but she also doesn’t have to take them to heart.
original review:
omggg I loved this so so so much!! so much that I'm actually going to write a review (wow)
read on my blog
rep: Chinese-Vietnamese-American protagonist, biracial (Japanese, white) love interest, Black side character, Korean-American side characters; (Chinese-Vietnamese-American author)
Despite being so hyped for this book, I was a little apprehensive, mostly because I’ve had a string of anticipated releases be disappointing. Luckily, though, there was no need because I loved this book! A powerful story, Not Here to Be Liked balances complex immigrant family dynamics, a budding romance, and what being a feminist means as a teenager.
Eliza Quan‘s guaranteed the editor-in-chief position for her senior year, not only because she’s the most qualified but also because she’s running unopposed. That is, until Len DiMartile, an ex-jock who’s only on the newspaper after lack of a better thing to do after being injured, decides to run too. And then promptly wins after giving a half-baked speech. Upset, Eliza writes an impassioned essay on the misogyny of the situation; she doesn’t intend to post it, but someone does it for her. An uproar goes up across the school, with Eliza suddenly the face of feminism. She struggles with the attention and the weight of this, especially as she realizes Len might not be so bad after all.
I suppose I should begin this review by talking about why I was a little apprehensive about this book at first. As much as I was so intrigued by the summary and everyone’s praise, I also dislike books that are entirely about feminism, mostly because they tend to lose sight of much more important things. Mainly, I worried about the “girlboss”-iness of it all. A strange lens to put on a book I hadn’t read, I know, but that definitely says something about the books I’ve been reading lately.
However, that’s not the case here: I found the feminism to be very balanced with the other aspects of the story, and I’m glad for it. In fact, the divide in the school surrounding this feminist issue blows up on its own accord and becomes bigger than just Eliza’s initial letter. Also, thankfully, “girlboss” was not a reoccurring word. Eliza has to grapple with what being a “true feminist,” or as much as one can be, is. I also liked how her views were tempered by her mom’s views, which are put into perspective of her knowledge of her mom’s hardships. Eliza can’t change her mom’s beliefs, but she also doesn’t have to take them to heart.
read my full review here
original review:
omggg I loved this so so so much!! so much that I'm actually going to write a review (wow)