Book Review: Not Here to Be Liked

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Romance

*3.5

I have been planning on reading this for a while, and this was quite different from what I was thinking. I was thinking this was going to be an enemies-to-lovers/academic-rivals romance book, but I don’t think this book should be labeled as such, it’s kind of misleading since the actual enemies-to-lovers part wasn’t even what the focus of the book was. Feminism and similar societal issues were more of the focus, which is not a bad thing at all, but really I believe that should’ve been emphasized more in the summary since the romance seemed more like the sub-plot 😅.

Continue reading for more details.

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

I believe that Eliza’s character started off on the wrong foot in multiple ways, but I don’t necessarily believe that was a bad thing. She came off as a pick-me by saying how there was no point in putting any thought into fashion, makeup, hair, etc but I think the author was trying to make her seem more like she was only focused on her academics. She also wrote a hate article about Len because she believed she didn’t get chosen for editor in chief due to Len being a handsome male. A total assumption she made without anything really backing her up, but she releases her anger through a paper she writes claiming all of the newspaper staff are sexist. Somehow, this article spurs into a feminist movement? I think this made a good foundation for character development to occur, which I did notice by the end of the book.

“Why couldn't Lady Justice just wear jeans and a T-shirt?' I complain. 'I mean, if she had a choice.'
'Good question,' says Winona.
'Because,' says Serena, swiping on the lipstick in two expert strokes. She grabs my arm and shepherds me over to the full-length mirror. 'Maybe she liked the way she looked in a dress.”

It’s not that I dislike feminism and like stereotyping and don’t call out misogyny (for either gender), it’s quite the opposite. The problem was Eliza and Serena, the one who got most of the school to support the feminist movement technically, didn’t feel like actual feminists multiple times throughout the book. Like, at the beginning it’s fine because a character can learn and improve, but even towards the end of the book both of these girls would say things that I don’t think abide to feminism. The whole movement itself was great! The ideas presented I believe should be supported and the author showed us a lot of different perspectives on this issue which is important, though the characters didn’t truly embrace feminism which was disappointing. I do believe Eliza’s character did improve slightly by allowing herself to “act more like a girl” by dressing up and wearing makeup, but I wanted more from her and the rest of the characters.

Len was a solid character, though. He knew the truth and, most of the time, would embrace it and wouldn’t try to deny it. Like he admitted that Eliza was more qualified than him and did seem to support feminism. I liked his demeanor and the way he interacted with Eliza as well. They had their good moments where it truly felt like enemies-to-lovers, especially during the first half of the book and it did give me Ann Liang vibes, but that didn’t last too long. her and the rest of the characters. Like I previously mentioned, this was definitely more focused on feminism than enemies-to-lovers, which is totally okay, if the author emphasized this more. Even the enemies-to-lovers connected back to feminism (lol).

“Because feminism, contrary to popular belief, isn’t about hating on guys like me. It’s all about all of us working toward equality, together.”

The plot was well paced and didn’t really feel slow at any point of time. Things continued to play out keeping things moving and interesting. I didn’t have any problems with the things that happened as they all did lead to good lessons and things that we can keep in mind.

Also, I loved Winona! Her character was like a breath of fresh air. Whenever she showed up, I knew she was going to be the logical one saying things that make complete sense.

I also want to expand on Serena’s character a bit more. She also experienced good development as at first, she also didn’t seem to be the best feminist ever, but after a series of events we can see that she is trying and learning what being a feminist means. She was doing pretty good, in my opinion, until the party scene where she kind of was bringing a girl down which I really disliked (so did Eliza and she said as much which made me happy). Then it happened again. So I felt like that was kind of just going back to the start which I didn’t love. Though, by the end, it got better again.

I do think everyone should read this book for the discussion of sexism, feminism, stereotyping, etc because I do believe the author presented these ideas very well even if the characters weren’t always acting like the best feminists.

“Because everyone loves a girlboss until she tries to tell you what to do.”

Overall,

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