Not Here to be Liked by Michelle Quach
Published: 9/14/2021
Genre: YA contemporary, romance
Page number: 384
This book was a slow burn, especially because it was sort of like an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers trope. It reminded me of the movie Moxie because it’s about a teen who also starts a feminist movement. 
Eliza Quan is the only candidate to run for editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, until an ex-baseball player, Len DiMartile, decides to run against her. Her qualifications mean nothing to the rest of the staff because Len is tall, cute, male, and seen as more of a leader. This causes her to write a manifesto, or essay, to basically say the school is sexist and she should’ve won the position. This manifesto gets published without her knowledge and this starts a feminist movement.
Now, Len and Eliza have to start working together to show that they can be civil, and eventually, they’re able to build a friendship, but what happens if she realizes that Len’s more than just an ex-jock? And what if Len is able to see beyond the serious and bossy front Eliza puts up? Even worse, what happens when Eliza realizes that she just might be falling for the boy who caused the patriarchy himself?
I liked how this novel focused on feminism and how the romance didn’t happen until about halfway through the book. Eliza was a closed-off character and didn’t really care if others liked her, so letting Len in suddenly would have been weird for her. She showed how real and confusing it can be while being a feminist, like she didn’t know what exactly made a feminist, and she didn’t want to be a bad role model either or be disrespected for wanting something, so, when she finally did let Len in, the time felt right because she thought it over time and time again. I also liked that Len was able to get her out of her comfort zone to try new things and shake her everyday life up and was blunt about the things he wanted.
TW: sexism, racism
