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.
A rom com involving diverse characters and a great analysis of what it means to be a female leader? Sign me up!
Not Here to Be Liked is such an interesting book and its got some extremely relevant themes running through it. Of course, I was drawn by the enemies to lovers trope (so sue me, I’m a big sucker for it :D) but I was drawn in by the discussion of feminism. I’m too often turned off these kind of books because they come across to me as preachy but this one hit a sweet spot. It’s a credit to Quach and how well she’s written the story and the characters that it comes across as more of a reflection.
The whole set up around the challenges of women taking up leadership roles was executed really well. What I really liked about Quach’s depiction of the female characters in the book was a lot of them had feelings of always having to try and never really feeling good enough. There are a ton of strong female characters in here and they all go through it. It’s a great representation of imposter syndrome and tied in really well with the feminism talking points in the book.
The book is highly aware of the complexity of feminism, especially in the Asian culture, and it all really resonated with me as an Asian female. Asian women have the image of being passive and submissive but it’s often the women running the show behind the scenes and Quach recognises this. While in the workplace they might not be “leader material” but in the household they are the driving force. The depiction of Asian households and values was woven in well throughout the book and gave the story an extra layer.
Aaand this wouldn’t be a complete review if I didn’t fangirl about the romance. Enemies to lovers PLUS forbidden relationship PLUS just all round good feels in general, I mean come on I couldn’t ask for more! It was great and everything I hoped would happen happened. I would say the best discussion point comes from Eliza and Len’s relationship – can you be a good feminist and still have crushes on boys? Yes, yes we can.
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