Last Monday, I sat down to read, expecting to feel that all too familiar feeling of reading a
cheesy young adult love story and falling in love alongside the main characters. However, in
Michelle Quach's Not Here to be Liked, I became more and more of a feminist with every flip of
the page. Quach takes on a difficult challenge in her debut novel by discussing the way
feminism looks different for every woman within the context of a young adult love story.
In the novel, we meet Eliza Quan, a young woman whose whole high school career has been
focused on being appointed Editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, The Buegal. Up until the
morning of the election, she’s running unopposed, but reformed jock and newspaper newcomer
Len Dimartel swoops in and beats her for the position. Ultimately, Eliza declares her loss as a
result of blatant misogyny and accidentally starts a feminist revolution at her high school in
Irvine, California.
The general plot is super intriguing and original but ultimately falls into the young adult trap of
having Eliza fall head over heels for the face of the patriarchy, Len. The book is phenomenal in
the way it captures the struggles of the modern feminist, reconciling one’s personal experiences
with misogyny or lack thereof with the experiences of the masses. It doesn’t stray from telling a
story in which most of the women have a completely different view of themselves, their
femininity, and their connection to feminism. An example of this is the side character Serena.
Serena is arguably the greatest and most intense feminist in the novel, but she also slut-shames a
girl who she believes “stole” her boyfriend. Serena is a likable character fighting for what’s right
but uses misogyny to make herself feel better about her own relationships. It’s these complex
relationships with feminism that make Quach's story a unique and important one.
However, it chooses to tell this story under the lens of a heterosexual love story which feels
unnecessary. The choice, honestly, reinforces the misogynistic stereotype that one can only
capture the attention of young female readers by incorporating a dreamy male love interest into
the plot. This could have been reconciled easily by making this story include a same-sex
relationship or omitting a love story altogether because it wouldn’t ask the female reader to
connect one’s relationship with feminism to a male presence.
Despite all my problems with the principle of a love story being included within a feminist
novel, I, in the long run, found the romance between Eliza and Len quite charming. Their
romance is endearing and a profound example of a healthy teen romance. They’re respectful
towards each other and move at each other’s pace, giving straight female readers a healthy
example of the relationships they should strive towards.
I’d highly recommend readers of any gender who love thought-provoking plotlines, humorous
subtext, and cute romances to check out Not Here To Be Liked.
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