Not Here to Be Liked

who doesn't love a good academic rivals to lovers

DROPPED at 30%
Summary: a pick-me girl (not like other girls, never wears makeup and always wears oversized ugly sweater) who took advantage of “feminism” to win her way
There was some references to Vietnamese American culture which I like, thus 2 stars

What's it about?
Eliza believes she is the perfect candidate to be the next editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. She is running unopposed so if confident she has it in the bag. Unfortunately for her, former jock Len decides to throw his hat in the ring the morning of the election and beats her by a landslide. Eliza decides Len's win is due to misogyny and writes an impassioned manifesto to that effect, however she fails to log out of the computer she pens it on. Someone finds the manifesto, shares it to the school website, and a school controversy is born. In defending her name, Eliza inadvertently sparks a feminist movement among the student body. Meanwhile, Len and Michelle are instructed to work together on an article for the paper, which is more time than they have ever spent together previously.

My thoughts and feelings:

• I wanted to like this book. With the feminist agenda and promised rivals-to-lovers chemistry it really appealed to me. Sadly, I felt it fell flat on both fronts.
• I would have voted for Len too. He gave a good speech, is more charismatic and approachable and works better with others. While she is more technically qualified and has spent more years on the paper, Eliza is hypercritical and mean to others. She clearly thinks she is superior to most of the others at the school, so it's no surprise they don't want her in charge.
• Eliza has a great deal of internalised misogyny. She frequently criticises other girls for caring about their appearance, wearing make-up or fashionable clothes. The concept that a girl can either be pretty or intelligent but not both is expressed more than once and not challenged.
• The concept of feminism that Eliza and the other students have is very shallow and flawed. This would be okay if they were challenged or called on it if we saw their elders or school faculty educating them about the nuances of feminism they are missing... but they are not. In this book, feminism is akin to the bra-burning man-hating caricature radfem.
• There is also no intersectionality in their feminism. In fact, there is a lot of gender essentialism.
• Len is made the face of the patriarchy at the school, with the female students organising a walkout in protest at him being editor and demanding his resignation. The only thing Len did wrong, so far as they know, is a) existing as a male person and b) being better liked by his colleagues.
• The book touches on intergenerational trauma in the experiences of Eliza's mother as a Vietnamese-Chinese immigrant and the experiences of Eliza and her sister's upbringing, but this is not developed. Not saying it had to be, but it felt like a missed opportunity.
• I didn't feel the chemistry between Len and Eliza.