YA books are all starting to seem the same to me. That said, this book had a lot of appeal-- in it's very average, YA way. I really loved Darcy as a character, and I appreciated that she used profanity and displayed insecurity the way a real teenager would. I also liked her relationship with Brougham. Nothing about the book stood out to me as remarkable, but it had it's cute moments.

This book is an incredible book of bi representation and it was one that I enjoyed. I did not enjoy it as much I enjoyed Sophie Gonzales’ debut novel, but I think it’s because I set the bar too high. It is a book I would definitely recommend to friends or someone looking for a book with female bi representation though.

4.5

Thanks to @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for my review copy. WHAT A GREAT BOOK! I’m so so happy that this book is out in the world and that it is available for many young (not just them) people to read.
.
Darcy runs an advice business out of Locker 89 but no one knows she’s the person behind the locker. She is also a member of the Q & Q Club or The Queer and Questioning Club which was founded by her sister. Darcy has a crush on her best friend, Brooke. Her secret about the locker is discovered by Alexander Brougham who recruits her to help him win back his ex. While she spends time with him she slowly sees that there is so much more to his grumpiness.
.
One of the things I loved about this book was the fact that they were high school kids and they acted like it. Darcy definitely makes mistakes throughout the book but it just made her more believable. Darcy is Bisexual and the book talks about something I really didn’t know much about which was Biphobia. Someone mentioned in her review that we should check out the authors statement on GR for this book and I’m so happy that I did. It definitely helps to put things into perspective and makes the book even more special.
.
I’ve been loving my YA books and this is another one that I really enjoyed. I even got emotional and there might have been some tears at some point. 😭. OUT NOW! TW: Biphobia, toxic parents & divorce

This book made me feel all of the good things. It is fun and full of drama but in the best way. So many books play up the whole miss-communication, assume the other person doesn't like you back trope and this book does have some of that but it didn't feel like it was overdone.

This book has a little bit of everything. There's romance, friendship, familial relationships, hilarity, and really great writing. And not to mention the representation!

Darcy is your typical teenager in the sense that she is a little rash and makes some bad decisions but that's what our teenage years are for.

I honestly loved the premise of this. I loved that Darcy has spent the majority of her high school days running an anonymous relationship advice business. DON'T WE WISH WE HAD HAD SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN HIGH SCHOOL.

I loved that Darcy isn't just giving out advice to her peers irresponsibly, her responses are well thought out and researched, she knows what she is doing.

I didn't agree with all of the decisions that Darcy made but that just made her more likable. It made her more relatable and authentic.

It's not often that I like every single character in a book, but this was an exception to the rule. Gonzales' brought us such relatable, real, and well fleshed out characters in this.

I really enjoyed this one!

"You are queer, because you are, and who you fall for or date or kiss does not alter that. No one else can change you."

I adored this one, it's cute and so entertaining. I don't know were to start, it was such a nice surprise!The relationship between Darcy and Brougham feels natural.The characters were so lovable and I like the writing.

We have some amazing relationships in this one, and all the characters are unique, I fall in love with each one!

Have you ever been so off-put by a narrator’s voice, general bad mood, and whining that you considered just tossing the book aside? That’s exactly how I felt after reading the first couple of chapters of Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales. But then, the most amazing thing happened. Darcy’s snark grew on me and I actually began enjoying her rude sarcasm. Go figure.

Darcy is a bisexual girl who has been in love with her best friend, Brooke, forever. Brooke, however, has never considered Darcy as anything but a friend, so Darcy suffers from unrequited love and lots of jealousy. Darcy has a secret though that only her sister knows about. Darcy gives advice to the lovelorn, the teenagers trying to navigate the murky depths of relationships. And, she’s good at it with about 95% success. When Brougham, a hot swimmer, catches her removing the envelopes from the advice locker 89, he seemingly blackmails her into helping him win back his ex-.

A lot of what I found entertaining about Perfect on Paper was the voice that I initially disparaged. Darcy is a surprising character with a surprising voice. She can be quite egotistical and apt to cut herself slack in instances where she most assuredly should not. She’s self-questioning and definitely one of the more interesting characters I’ve read about in a while. Likewise, Brougham is her equal. They have a snappy rapport to rival some of the best romantic comedy exchanges.

Perfect on Paper speaks matter-of-factly about gender fluidity and the typical teenage worries about fitting in and being accepted and does so without stereotypes. Which brings me to the characters. All of these characters were layered. Even the “mean girl” showed that she was more than a label. They were an enjoyable lot that I would love to read about again.

There were some wonderful scenes in this fast-paced novel, ones that made me laugh and cry (not at the same time). This proved to be the perfect escapism with me reading far longer than I should, but how could I not? I needed to know how things were going to be wrapped up. Loved it!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book will be a definite purchase for our high school library! Thank you so much for allowing me to have access to the digital arc!
PLEASE WRITE MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS ONE!!!

Darcy Phillips is a student hiding behind locker 89, the locker where she receives letters containing relationship problems and an email address; the locker which she uses to give relationship advice anonymously, for a fee. Anonymously, until Brougham the “hot” guy with the Australian accent caught her in the act and hires her to be his dating coach.

I have read a couple of queer books, but this is my first with a focus on a bisexual character. One of the parts that caught my attention and touched my heart is the part where Darcy discussed her struggles as a bisexual person with her club. In comparison with other queer books, those focusing with bisexuals and their struggles are definitely on the lesser part but Perfect On Paper helps us give light to them more.

The characters are loveable, and I wish there were more of them around me in real life!! I love how we got slight peeks at the characters’ personal lives, even those with only a few lines mentioning them. And the letters Locker 89 received!! I loved reading about those and learning about relationships myself as Darcy gives them advice.

The romance was PERFECT. Not perfect like the relationship didn’t have any problems, but it was perfect in the way it was presented with all the butterflies and storms and then butterflies again. I don’t want to say which pairing ends up together because I think that would take the excitement away but let me just say that they fit so well together. The way they brought the best out of each other and loved each other even with their flaws. HOLD MY HEART.

I rarely feel like I don’t want a book to end but I didn’t want Perfect On Paper to end!!! This would definitely be one of those books I will reread a million times.

I was introduced to Sophie Gonzales in 2020 when I read her book Only Mostly Devastated. It was a really enjoyable reading experience and I looked forward to reading more by her. When I read what her next book, Perfect on Paper, was about I was really looking forward to it. And I have report it exceeded my expectations. Perfect on Paper was a solid story with amazing characters and finding the right person for you when you least expect it.

Perfect on Paper is about Darcy Phillips, a girl in high school who has been giving love advice to her classmates. People put letters into an unused locker and Darcy anonymously answers them. She has managed to get away with no one finding out who she is until Alex Brougham catches her and everything changes. Now Darcy is forced into helping Brougham get back together with his ex so she isn’t exposed. And Darcy can’t let her secret out because once she does her best friend Brooke will not only know Darcy is in love with her but will also find out what Darcy once did to ruin Brooke’s chances at love. Too bad Brougham is complicating everything for Darcy, including her feelings.

It is hard to pinpoint exactly what I enjoyed most about Perfect on Paper. I loved Darcy and her relationship with Brougham and her sister. I liked Darcy as a character, flaws and all. She felt real and that made reading her story an enjoyable experience. She perceived Brougham to be a different person but as she got to know him she didn’t stick to what she assumed. She changed and grew and learned. And it made her a better person and friend. I also loved how everything unfolded at the end (without saying too much). It was all handled really well and made the book even better,

All in all, Perfect on Paper was a really good YA that once again reminded me why I still love to read them in my 40s. Darcy added a complexity to the story that I enjoyed fully. Definitely recommend checking out not only this book, but this author.

I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This has not affected my opinions in any way.

I’ve been putting off writing this review for quite some time now, but I guess I need to try and be coherent now. If you follow me like anywhere I’m sure you’ve seen me screaming about this book—it even made it to #5 on my favourites list for 2020—because I absolutely adored it, but actually sitting down and putting that love into words has proven to be difficult. But I’m going to try, so buckle up.

I think the first thing to talk about is how much I adore Sophie Gonzales’ writing. If you like voicey contemporaries, her books are definitely the books for you. She has such a distinctive style, but still manages to differentiate the narrator from one book to another, and honestly what I wouldn’t give to be able to write voice like she does. It’s always a good sign when the protagonist’s internal monologue can make me laugh out loud, and this book had me laughing a lot. Darcy’s narration is just delightful.

And on that note: Darcy. Our protagonist. Darcy Phillips is a hot mess, but in the very best way. If you dislike characters who are messy and selfish and sometimes do things that are less than great . . . Darcy is going to frustrate you big time. If you’re like me and you love messy characters . . . you’re still going to want to yell at Darcy once or twice, but you’ll probably love her too. I think—as much as I wanted to scream at her on occasion—that how messy and flawed she is was what I loved about her the most. She has a lot on her plate, and she’s not exactly handling it the best, but she genuinely does have so much good in her, and she cares so much. Also she’s so freaking smart and I love that for her, like she’s such a nerd and she’s so intelligent about relationships and stuff, and she . . . doesn’t always know how to apply that to her own life, but it made her narration so interesting.

Honestly, I think my favourite part of the book is how it deals with relationships. Darcy has set up a business giving out relationship advice, and seeing her analyze all these different relationships and give this insightful advice was so fascinating. And the way it contrasted with the actual relationships in the book—and how their messiness wasn’t so easy to just fix—really drove home the point that all of this advice she was giving, while generally good advice, was sometimes easier on paper than it was in reality.

Although Darcy’s advice focused on romantic relationships, all the different types of relationships in the book were so well done. I especially loved how messy and complicated the friendships were. Some of them made me really soft, some of them made me want to scream, but all of them were so perfectly written, and I would like to scream a lot because I had feelings. Her friendship with Brooke was definitely not . . . peak healthiness, but that only made it an even more interesting dynamic to explore. Both of them loved each other very much, and they really mattered to each other, but they also had a lot of pent up stuff that they needed to talk about and didn’t, and it hurt to read but ahhh it was written so well. The family relationships were also really nuanced and well done. 10/10 would like to write character dynamics this well please.

Of course, as wonderful as the friendships and family relationships are, this book is ultimately a rom-com, and so that leaves us with the romance left to talk about. And let me tell you, the romance in this is incredible. The tension, the tenderness, the banter . . . all of it is top notch. Darcy and Brougham make such a good couple (and I would do absolutely anything for Brougham, just saying), and I’m just *screams* Seriously they’re so cute omg, I absolutely adore these two dorks. And like if you love banter? You want this book.

(also I just want to note, I was slightly wary of how they were going to get from blackmail to like. a healthy relationship. but I swear it does actually work out in a really respectful way that worked really well!)

Lastly, I want to touch on the queer rep in this book, because it’s such an important part of it. It’s so delightfully queer, and there’s a lot of queer joy in it, but it also addresses biphobia and how that comes from within the community as much as it does from without, and I think it has some very necessary conversations about that. I also really appreciated how the side characters spanned a lot of different identities, and it was nice to see a cast of queer characters that wasn’t all cis and allo.

Anyways in short: go read this book. It’s so fun and sweet and heartfelt and funny

The words use and overall review shouldn’t reflect personally on the author or any other of her series and books.

A no spoiler review

A beautiful story. Love the characters and the plot. Would recommend to my teen nieces and daughter. A beautiful lesson to learn from this book.

At first, Perfect on Paper, by Sophie Gonzales, seems like a typical YA novel, There is a meet-cute, a somewhat improbable premise, and a sweet resolution. But this novel is much better than this description. The characters are an array of LGBTQ+ and straight people, with the main character, Darcy, being Bi. I loved that this book brings up topics of Biphobia among the LGBTQ+ community. Does Darcy need to prove she's Queer enough to be accepted by her LGBTQ+ peers, her parents, and even herself?

What I Liked:

Premise:

Darcy, a scholarship student at an elite private school, has a side-business as an anonymous advice giver. Teens leave letters (and ten dollars) in locker 89, which Darcy, as soon as the coast is clear, collects and answers each day. But one day, Darcy is seen by Brougham, another student, who blackmails her into helping him win back his ex-girlfriend. This was a fun way to introduce the reader to all the many characters at this high school, and show some of the tricky situations these teens face.

Characters:

Darcy is a bisexual girl, which she sometimes finds challenging. At the beginning of the novel, there are microaggressions described that come to a head later in the book. I loved how this issue is presented (not something I really thought about before, to be honest). It made me think about some of the prejudices I have held, and will attempt to erase in the future.

Brougham, is the straight boy who Darcy is helping (albeit via blackmail) to win back his girlfriend. He is definitely shaped by his parent's terrible marriage. When his parents argue it's an all out screaming, objects being thrown, fight. It's embarrassing for Brougham to invite people over due to all the drama. And this has caused him to be very reserved with other teens. Darcy hs real empathy for Brougham, as her parents acted similarly before they finally divorced.

LGBTQ Representation:

Besides Darcy, there are several other LGBTQ+ characters. There is her sister, Ainsley, a transgender girl, and Darcy's lesbian friend, Brooke. These were more than superficial characters. I really liked that they were very well fleshed out people, with many good, and not so wonderful, qualities.

Story:

I enjoyed the story so much. Each chapter begins with one of the letters Darcy answers from locker 89. And her advice is actually pretty good! Because Darcy's advice is anonymous (and people often do not say who they are), she is privy to many secrets in and around the school. She also has given anonymous advice to a student she can identify, namely her best friend Brooke. But is the advice she gives to help Brooke, or help Darcy?

Another part of the story which I really loved was about crushes. Darcy (as is often the case in YA books) has a crush on her best friend. In most stories, Darcy would declare her love and Brooke would confess she also was secretly in love with her. But Perfect on Paper is much more realistic.

What I Was Mixed About:

Story:

While I liked the story very much, there was one aspect of the novel I didn't appreciate. While one character really has to pay a steep price for their actions, others did not. I was really glad that there was some accountability in this book, something many books lack. But one of the most annoying characters in the book really gets away with some serious misconduct without any consequences. I found this very frustrating. I was surprised that the other character didn't call them out on it. But I supposed that this is what happens in life.

Darcy has been running an advice service out of an empty locker at school. When Brougham catches her one day, he makes her a deal. He wants her help getting his ex back and he will not tell the school who is behind the advice. At first, Darcy finds him arrogant but as time moves on, feelings change.
Opinion
This was a great book. The characters were superb and I loved the flow of the story. There were some side plots going on that kept it rolling. Add in that it touched on different identities in the LGBTQ+ community and you have a winning, inclusive book.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

5 wonderful stars for Perfect on Paper. It was a refreshing read that had great LGBTQIA representation. I loved that the main character is the anonymous relationship advice giver. Other students drop their letters into Locker 89 and Darcy gives advice, that is until one day Darcy is caught by Alex who is seeking help with winning back her girlfriend.

The writing was perfect and you really feel for these characters. There are so many subjects that are so prevalent with today's generation, they are handled so thoughtfully and realistically. I appreciated that even though the story is predictable it still paced well. I appreciated the romance as well as the relationships Darcy had with her friends. Great representation.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC. This did not influence my review.

Locker 89 is Darcy’s secret side hustle where her peers drop in relationship issues and she responds with advice via an anonymous email. Darcy’s business is threatened with Brougham (a popular jock) catches her emptying the locker one day. Brougham offers to protect Darcy’s identity in return for her help with getting his ex-girlfriend back. Darcy has a lot at stake as she has helped a lot of her classmates and has even used the locker to her own advantage at times. Her crush and best friend, Brooke, would not be impressed if she found out Darcy was the secret advisor so Darcy decides to help Brougham.

I LOVED the representation in this book! There were bisexual, trans, lesbian and queer characters. So cool to see a young adult romance with so many marginalized groups as main characters! I also loved how there was a Queer and Questioning Support Group that was depicted several times and that the LGBTQ+ students were so widely accepted in the school. AMAZING. There were very realistic issues and I thought Darcy’s struggles with being a bi person were explored so well. It was a bit long for me but I thought the ending was great. I loved Darcy’s letters and advice to her classmates - they were clearly well researched and full of great content. A special thanks to @wednesdaybooks for sending me an ARC of this one! There should be more young adult novels out there that feature LGBTQ+ people as main characters.

Meet Darcy a bi-sexual high school student who prides herself on being able to help anyone with their relationships woes—for a price.
Having trouble in your relationship similar slip a note in locker 89 with the cash of course and Darcy (anonymously) will help you fix it. Anonymously until Alexander Brougham (the hottest guy in school) catches Darcy at the locker and decides to blackmail her for her help.
Darcy agrees to be his dating coach because if anyone especially her best friend/ crush Brooke finds out that she is the owner of locker 89 and some of the questionable things she has done she will loose her chance with Brooke.
Thank you @netgalley and Wednesday Books for a copy of this book.
I really enjoyed this book. It made me smile & laugh out loud so many times. It was fun but also drama filled and reminded me so much of relationships and life in high school. I feel the author did a great job at showing the internal dialogue on the teenage brain. Darcy is a total mess and I love it and all her bad decision making. It was a really fun read. I have also read many reviews that compliment the what the book handle bi-sexuality and how well it was represented through the characters.

The quality of writing in this book was good. I felt it was a very accessible and easy to follow the plot and characters lines and was well paced. The character development was really well done and you really felt the inter turmoil of Darcy as she struggles through everyday teenage life and trying to find the place for love in her life. The characters all felt very authentic to the high school experience. I felt the plot moved along well with the characters and didn’t feel rushed.
I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to others that enjoy character driven stories.

I received an advanced copy of Perfect on Paper from the publisher so I could share my review with you!

Content Warning: Perfect on Paper contains scenes and discussion of biphobia, internalized biphobia, toxic parents, drugs, and alcohol.

Darcy Phillips is a bit of a relationship expert. Not that she can brag about it, but Darcy has been secretly running a relationship advice service out of one of the lockers at her school. If a student needs help in their love life, they can simply write a letter and slip it into locker number 89 with ten dollars, and they will receive an anonymous email with some tips on how to solve their problems. Darcy’s been studying conflict resolution strategies and relationship advice for years and loves having an outlet to help people. Unfortunately, all the expertise in the world can’t seem to help her in her own romantic endeavors. Darcy has had a desperate crush on her best friend, Brooke, for years, but nothing she does seems to move their relationship anywhere past platonic. But, when a boy she hardly knows catches her taking letters out of locker 89, Darcy finds herself entangled in a scheme to help him get his ex back. This relatively simple goal should be easy to obtain, but Darcy soon realizes that people are more complicated than her relationship theories would have her believe.

You can get your copy of Perfect on Paper today from Wednesday Books!

Last year I reviewed Sophie Gonzales’s novel, Only Mostly Devastated, which was one of my favorite contemporary novels of 2020, so I knew that I was going to need to read Perfect on Paper as soon as possible! When I heard that it was going to feature a bisexual lead, I almost squealed with joy! There are not nearly enough contemporary novels with nuanced bisexual representation, which is an absolute tragedy. Perfect on Paper is a fine example of how powerful inclusive narratives can be when they are published. I easily loved this story as much as Only Mostly Devastated, and I cannot wait to see what Sophie Gonzales will write next!

My Recommendation-
If you love heartwarming rom-coms filled with self-acceptance and queer joy, you need to read Perfect on Paper! This book would be a great pick for fans of Becky Albertalli or Adam Silvera!

This was a fun heartwarming rom-com for me that I enjoyed thoroughly. What a great YA romance.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for fair and honest review.

This might be one of my favorite romance novels ever, never mind a YA romance. And that's even with <i>hating</i> the guy around the beginning: he gets (a lot) better, and I'm really hoping the devil's advocate nonsense is something he grows out of because, you know, he's a teenager and it's understandable, if certainly still annoying, at that age.

The guy is Alexander Brougham, who totally busts our heroine Darcy Phillips as she's retrieving letters from school locker 49, out of which she runs an anonymous relationship advice business. He wants to hire her to help him get his ex-girlfriend back. Afraid that he'll expose her, Darcy reluctantly agrees. It isn't just that she doesn't want their fellow students to know that they've been taking love advice from a high school junior whose own love life is practically nonexistent. She's worried that if the truth ever got out, it would seriously jeopardize her relationship with her best friend and long-term crush, Brooke Nguyen, because she once did something seriously unethical to Brooke under the guise of dispensing advice. She's striven to make up for that ever since, making sure to dole out solid, thoughtful responses to the many people paying her to email them with solutions to their woes.

Darcy is eager to get Brougham, as he prefers to be called, and Winona back together again so she doesn't have to worry about him ratting her out, but Brougham is surprisingly close-mouthed about his relationship issues, given that he hired her to help him in the first place. An exasperated Darcy has to figure out not only how to fix his love life, but also what makes this infuriating weirdo tick. What follows is one of the most delightful takes on so many of the overworked (and in lesser hands, excruciatingly tiresome) tropes in romance today: miscommunications, matchmaker falling in love with her client, dislike-to-love. It's all So Good and So Sweet, with characters who have real problems and who sometimes communicate poorly but never stupidly.

And there is so much representation! Darcy is bisexual and worried that dating a straight guy will jeopardize her ability to be accepted as part of her school's small but close-knit queer community. Her older sister Ainsley is trans, and there's a healthy amount of racial rep among the school's student body and faculty as well. None of it feels forced, and all of it is so loving and accepting and kind that I burst into happy, relieved tears at one point while reading.

This is such a wonderfully compassionate novel, depicting the lives of flawed, lovable characters as they seek to navigate the vagaries of love. It is the Young Adult romance every bisexual person -- and the people who love them -- should read. Smart, funny and deeply touching, it's a wholly lovely book, and one I'll be coming back to whenever I need a fix of realistic sweetness (should there ever be a break in my reading schedule, that is.)

Perfect On Paper by Sophie Gonzales was published today March 9, 2021 by Wednesday Books and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781250769787">Bookshop!</a> Want it now? For the Kindle version, <a href="https://amzn.to/3vb9kFa">click here</a>.

Perfect on Paper was such an entertaining, engaging, and thought-provoking YA story.
I really loved the premise of this story, with Darcy supplying, anonymously of course, her fellow high-schoolers with relationship advice. With a 95% success rating, she’s confident in her abilities, yet when it comes to her own wished-for relationship, not so much. Darcy’s a definite case of “do what I say, not what I do”!

After she’s caught retrieving letters from Locker 89, everything Darcy’s built is threatened, unless she does what Alexander Brougham asks of her. Even though he essentially wants her to continue what she’s been doing with the letters, albeit in person for him, Darcy’s resentful and frustrated. And that’s when the story starts to show its heart.

I really enjoyed the evolution of Darcy and Brougham’s relationship. From sort of/kind of enemies, to a bit of an uneasy truce, to friendship and beyond, things between them developed in such a natural way. That’s one of the things I liked best about this story, how realistic things were. With many YA books, the characters can sometimes tend to feel like caricatures of teen-agers, with everyone too perfect, too rich, too smart. It was nice to see a wide range of characters and issues. While the story’s main focus was Darcy and how she was truly coming into her own, I liked how important the secondary characters were to this story as well- they weren’t just there as background “noise”.

There was so much to like about Perfect on Paper. I loved how diverse it was, with such an inclusive mix of characters. I appreciated how thoughtful the story was, and the way it touched on a lot of your typical high school issues, making me recall just how rough high school could actually be. But also how fun it was, and how important friendships are.


I would be remiss not to mention the first kiss, it gave me all the butterflies! I think I need a new GR shelf just for first kisses, I can't believe I don't have one already!