Not Here to Be Liked

By: Michelle Quach

Narrated by: Vyvy Nguyen

“A smart romance with heart and guts and all the intoxicating feelings in between.” —Maureen Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of 13 Little Blue Envelopes

Emergency Contact meets Moxie in this cheeky and searing novel that unpacks just how complicated new love can get…when you fall for your enemy.

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.

New York Times New and Upcoming Young Adult Book to Watch For * A Junior Library Guild Selection * Parents Magazine Best Books of the Year * NPR Best Books of the Year * Kirkus Best Books of the Year * Rise: A Feminist Book Project Book of the Year * A CCBC Choices Pick of the Year *

©2021 Michelle Quach (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Good Story About Prejudice

And the many forms it takes, particularly in high school but really all over our culture. The core story is about the last minute election of an inexperienced male editor over an experienced and qualified young woman. There’s a lot of room for discussion with young readers about why Len suddenly seems more appealing to the high school journalism staff. Many of the prejudgements applied aren’t mentioned in the book.

What’s really interesting is the way the first leap to judgement leads to many others. The rest of the book is an artful unwinding of the MANY different ways we leap to judgement of others when we don’t have the whole story, don’t really care to know the whole story and prefer labels and sound bites to understanding. This is a perfect YA book for interaction in a classroom or parent/teen. It almost completely bypasses race as an issue and gets down to how unfairly we all judge each other. How women are judged is a core theme but there are many others.

It’s pretty ingenious the way the author crafts the plot. It’s all very natural and ideal to a high school setting, but she never drops her core idea.

I rarely read YA novels but this one was very well done and “important” because of the central idea.

Highly recommend.

Great YA book with excellent character development…

… but I am sorry to say the narrator’s voice borders on annoying, especially over such a long time. The narrator sounds perpetually annoyed and talks way too fast. Guess she’s not here to be liked either.

Sassy, intelligent, back to being a teenager

I loved this book. As a 40 something it took me back to being a teenager. I experienced the wit, the sass, the angst, the excitement. I highly recommend!

Really Enjoyable

It only took me this long to finish this book is because I was extremely busy the last month or so, the moment I got to reading the book I finished it in one day, it wast that enjoyable :D
The story is about Eliza who wants to be the chief of her school's newspaper but she is surprised that she lost the position to Lihn, the new guy who knows nothing about journalism, she is so mad that she writes a manifesto but never intends to publish it .. but it did get published and now Eliza is the face of the feminist movement in the school to make Lihn resign his position for her .. but what happen when they like each other ?
this book is the perfect choice for fans of Jenny Han, it's drama free and a really easy light read
The narrator was really nice and I liked her performance

The Plot Twist!

I really liked this book that I finished it in a day. I really liked the themes of feminism, although I do think they were entry level ideas of feminism. I think it was a great read! As a YA and POC, I loved the academic talk and multi-cultural references within the story. Do take a read!!!

Interesting themes, otherwise mediocre

The themes in this book about prejudice were very interesting. It’s a very nuanced subject that people often try to take simple approaches to, which the book captures well. The plot, character, and writing style were all mediocre in my opinion. I wasn’t a fan of the narration, but there was nothing wrong with it. Overall, this wasn’t my favorite, but if it intrigues you, it’s not entirely bad either.