Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Falling in love was not the plan

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Falling in love was not the plan by Michelle Quach

45 reviews

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This was an enjoyable YA novel that has a lot to offer readers who are new to feminism and what it means to fight for gender equality. Obviously it's not a gender studies textbook, but I did relate to Eliza's confusion over what feminism is and whether she's betraying her ideals by falling for "the enemy," so to speak. I've grown a lot in my understanding of feminism since high school and this isn't too far off from what I would have thought back then! I also really loved Serena's character and all of the lessons she ended up teaching Eliza about how many ways there are to be a feminist. Eliza's friend Winona was an equally great resource to Eliza in terms of allyship and going beyond white feminism.

Of course, this book was also a romance and I thought Quach balanced the two elements of romance and feminism in a really fun and engaging way. Eliza and Len drew me in and I read this book in just a few days. I know Eliza's character won't be everyone's cup of tea, but like the title says, she's not here to be liked and I ended up liking her a lot!

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moogaloo's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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saadeeyah's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Cute contemporary romance, I didn’t realize that feminism and misogyny would have such big roles in the story but I honestly enjoyed how the author handled both subjects. I thought the parents’ marriages were very realistic and I liked the representation. Overall cute, made me think and I loved the fluff.

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imstephtacular's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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serena_hien's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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lucy_36's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

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dlrosebyh's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

this book is advertised as an academic rivals to lovers slow burn story, so that’s what i expected going in this book— and not here to be liked was definitely not that book.

i do understand why it’s marketed as an academic rivals to lovers. eliza, our protagonist, and len, our love interest, were competing against each other for the better editor. though it seems like an academic rivals to lovers trope, it’s more of an enemies to lovers trope as eliza was pretty much the only one exerting effort to prove herself worthy for that spot.

for the slow burn trope, this book was pretty much instalove. did they get together at around 85% of the book? yes. but only because they barely had interactions. i could barely sense their chemistry, and that sucked because this book was supposed to be a romance book.

i didn’t necessarily like eliza. she was very intolerable, especially her pride. her idea of feminism is not feminism at all, which threw me off.

the only thing i liked about this book was each characters’ development, and that basically was the only element i stayed for.

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bbivnca's review against another edition

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funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

it was okay, i enjoyed it. the book started out very strong and i was immediately gripped. half of the book was the events building up to the walkout, and the romance felt so rushed. it did not even feel like “academic rivals to lovers” because the love interest wasn’t competing against the mc at all. it definitely felt like an instalove (HATE this trope) because of the characters’ lack of interaction, and i was promised a slow burn. i really liked the mc because of her feminist beliefs and how determined she was to succeed, but i feel like she completely lost those qualities as soon as she developed feelings for her “rival.” this is just my personal preference, but i did not like how the love interest was a jock. it turned me off a bit. the east/southeast asian representation was well done though, and i really liked the use of vietnamese and cantonese phrases!

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tatianars's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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blahblahblah123's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Personally i found this book to be very intriguing. I read it during a field trip performance and had a hard time putting it down. Usually I don’t read, but this really got me out of my block. Despite it being very intriguing, there was a lot of frustrating moments.

during about the hookup/relationship between Len and Eliza, I felt like it could’ve been elaborated more. A lot of moments I’m at points where I’m like, “is he playing her?” “should they really be together?”. There is a decent amount of chemistry between them, but I feel like there should be a second book or separate chapters with Len’s point of view. If there was moments of Len acting nervous towards Eliza, then I would’ve rooted for their relationship more. I really appreciate the realistically of the book. Although there are moments where Eliza frustrated me, like, “why are you falling for him?” “why are you doing this” I know that I would also be doing the same thing (I’d fall for Len too if i were in her situation). This goes to Len as well. In my perfect world Len would stick up for her in the midst of all the humiliation in the beginning, and although he didn’t it’s a part of his character, and thats what’s realistic. Same with the other characters, subjects, and plot line. The Asian-American struggles and the family culture. The public reaction of Eliza’s situation, the use of modern technology and terms. The characters and their personalities; especially Serena. I also feel like there should've been another chapter between Len and Eliza, after she got out of detention. I wanted to see more of their relationship develop that lead to their hook-up. When finishing it, during the end I couldn’t but squeal and get butterflies. I’m glad they patched up their relationship and I’m glad Eliza had a happy ending.</spoiler/> Overall, the book was a good read. I’m glad I read it and it’s realistically was great. When I first heard about this book, having: sexism, Asian American struggles, academic enemies to lovers trope, etc. I was extremely excited. Throughout the book, I got disappointed, however upon finishing it and reflecting, I don’t regret it. There definitely could be improvement, but I do not regret.

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