Review: Not Here To Be Liked by Michelle Quach

Not Here To Be Liked is a novel that brought me so much joy and lifted me out of a reading slump. It is about a feminist called Eliza Quan who is running for editor-in-chief of her school newspaper which she has a great chance of winning, until out of the blue, ex-baseball player and jock Len DiMartile decides to run against her.

Of course Len wins, and to quote the book, “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.”

I was surprised by how much I loved the feminist aspect of the book and despite being a feminist myself, I was worried it would be too “in your face”. However, it is a topic that fits perfectly into the story without overpowering it.

I love the relationships between the characters, especially Winona and Eliza whose differences really balanced each other out. The relationship between Len and Eliza really kept me on my toes, I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I think that was an excellent representation of the author’s style of writing. I would recommend it to anyone but especially for fans of Jenny Han, Mary H.K. Choi and Emiko Jean.

Medb O’Gorman