I loved every bit of this story! It was cute and fun and took me back to my high school days (Oh the drama!)

The plot was great. It was well developed and kept a great pace. The blend of drama, wittiness, dating advice, and love interests kept me up reading past my bedtime (an indicator of how much I love a book).

The characters were fully developed. I love that the author used this novel to depict LGBT in the school system. As a teacher of our current youth, I see the struggle of students who want to come out but are afraid to do so. This novel portrayed a small reflection of creating safe spaces for kids in schools to find their identity and it made my heart melt.

This is a definite must read for young adults and teens. I feel that they would be able to relate and identify with the plot.

In many ways, Darcy Phillips is your typical high school student. She has dreams, crushes, and tons of embarrassing moments. But Darcy also has a secret. She’s been discreetly (and successfully) running a Dear Abby of sorts, all out of an abandoned school locker.

Her covert operation becomes compromised when her unpleasant classmate, Alexander Brougham, finds out the truth. He promises to keep her secret, under one condition- she advise him on how to win his ex back. The two strike a deal, but p.s.- there’s more to the story.

Perfect on Paper is a sweet novel that flips the script on queer YA. Just when you think it’s going on one direction, the ship changes course. In the first half of the book both Darcy, and even Alexander, seem like somewhat irredeemable characters. But when you keep in mind this is a story about teens still finding their way, their growth makes sense.

This is a solid read I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys a coming of age love story with a bit of a twist. Thanks to @netgalley and @wednesday books for the advanced copy of this novel which comes out next month!

I really enjoyed this quick read about a bisexual advice giving teen. The included letters about relationships really provide a smart way of giving teen readers advice and a way to understand various relationship types. I also appreciated the discussions on queer identities, specifically the one around biphobia. The representation in this book is well done. The friendships that develop in this book were very enjoyable as well.

This is my first novel by Sophie Gonzales. It's one of the cuter YA romance novels I have read. The characters are really diverse and likeable. It followed Darcy, a junior in high school, who runs an anonymous locker where her fellow schoolmates can write and ask for love advice. Darcy happens to be bisexual and has been in love with her best friend, Brooke, for ages. One day, Andrew Brougham catches her pulling letters out of the locker and learns that she's the one giving advice. He says he won't tell anyone if she helps him get his ex-girlfriend back. She becomes his personal love coach. Of course, there are some troubles afoot as we go along in the story, and it's ultimately a grand time.

The characters in this book are really diverse and there is a lot talk about what it means to be queer. I think this is a perfect book for any teenager to read. Great topics are explored. Perfect book for anyone looking for an overall cute good time. I could not put it down and overall I have it 4.5 stars!

Darcy Phillips is a high school relationship guru. She has been giving advice to teens in her schools since freshman year. No one knows who she is, until a schoolmate, Alexander Brougham catches her emptying the locker where notes are left one day. Her cover is blown and he convinces her to help wins his ex-girlfriend back.

Gonzales does an excellent job telling the story of Darcy, Brougham and a cast of characters that are well developed and bring the story to life. This books has a lot of queer representation and it did not feel forced or tokenized. You see characters, including Darcy herself, struggle with their identity. I am sure there will be criticism of Darcy, a bi character ending up with a person of the opposite sex, but it is appropriately discussed the meaning of heterosexual passing and the struggles Darcy even had internally. I struggled at times, based on the relationship advice Darcy gave, with her being a teen, but Gonzales did an excellent job explaining Darcy's research she put into her advice. Some of the scenes that come out of the schools Queer and Questioning club were the best in the novel. They led to a lot of real feelings for me, as the reader.

This book is an excellent read for anyone wanting a cute rom-com book, with cool queer characters, accepting parents, some heavy issues, some fun Disneyland stories, and learning about yourself. I will pick up Gonzales books in the future and enjoyed this read immensely.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.

This novel was definitely well-written and very charming, likely to captivate the attention of young adult queer readers (especially bisexual ones) who are looking for books that will reflect their experience and show them that they, too, deserve beautiful, wonderful, queer love stories.

A special thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Wednesday books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

In Perfect on Paper, Darcy loves relationships. She loves studying them and giving advice on them. Darcy is wise beyond her years and well-researched in her quest to help others. But Darcy has a secret. Well, Darcy actually has a lot of secrets and it's getting tough to keep them all to herself. Darcy runs locker 89 and for $10, you can anonymously leave a letter and get relationship advice in return. She's so good, she even has a 95% success rate (money-back guarantee if you're not happy!). Things are going well until Alexander Brougham discovers Darcy's little side hustle and needs some help of his own. Cue the drama and some potential blackmail.

It's nice to see high school hasn't changed much in the 17 years (yikes!) since I've left. So many of the situations definitely brought me back. The author does such an excellent job of immersing you in the high school experience that you are feeling every cringy moment along with the cast of characters. I enjoyed how well-developed each character was and how their relationships intertwined unexpectedly. Each character had so many layers to them that were peeled back throughout. And the relationship advice emails from Darcy were on point! She definitely has a career ahead of her!

This story is an important one to tell, especially for the LBGTQ community. Darcy is confidently bisexual (at times), but still is struggling with identity and how the world will view her decisions when it comes to love. She has a crush on her best friend, but she also finds herself being drawn toward Brougham by surprise. The internal struggle she faces was very eloquent and so real. I honestly didn't know which relationship I was rooting for.

My heart is so happy. A feel good young adult read, that takes the cleverness of Netflix's Sex Education, the sweetness of To All the Boys, and most importantly the importance and beauty of the LGBTQ communities.
Well developed characters bring this coming of age story to life exploring topics of friendships, sexuality, life styles, toxic relationships and the importance of being comfortable within your skin. I loved the realism of story.

Perfect on Paper is important and meaningful in so many beautiful ways. I found myself relating with Darcy, and loved the fact it wasn't some outlandish high school drama. Accepting what effects our choices can bring, and what happens when sometimes we think we're in the right, but we're in way over our heads. Gonzales' ability to create a realistic world of youth had me hooked and loving the story. Acceptance, friendship, forgiveness bring this brilliant book together and I absolutely loved it! Thank you to @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This. Book. 😍😭🤣 Honestly, so many emotions.

Darcy Phillips runs an anonymous advice column of sorts. The kids at school know to leave letters and $10 in locker 89 and they will receive an email the same day with some sound advice from Darcy. Only no one knows it’s her. Until Alexander Brougham catches her in the act and blackmails her into helping him win back his ex.

I can’t get over how much I loved this book. The representation was abundant, and not in a forced, overbearing kind of way. Just some rep examples throughout this book: ace, bi, transgender, gay, lesbian, non-binary.

I loved the relationship Darcy had with her sister Ainsley. I liked how it wasn’t made into a big deal that Ainsley was transgender because it just wasn’t a big deal. Ainsley’s family was loving and accepting and nothing more needed to be said.

I really loved Brougham. I liked that we were kind of made to think he might be a dick at first. But we got to see quickly that he wasn’t just based on his special bond with his best friend, Finn.

Normally, I don’t love when a bi character ends up in a hetero relationship because it oftentimes kind of feels dismissive, but this was done right. Darcy was able to express her fears surrounding biphobia and internalized biphobia.

I’m just really happy that this book exists and I know this is my go-to thing to say with YA books I love, but I NEED THIS TO BE A NETFLIX SERIES.

Perfect on Paper is a queer contemporary romance novel following Darcy, a junior in high school who runs a dating advice locker in her school. It's completely anonymous, you slip $10 and what you need into an empty locker and you receive dating advice from the relationship genie, aka Darcy. But, when Darcy is caught by Alexander Brougham, her anonymity is threatened. He hires her to help him get back together with his ex-girlfriend. Darcy *needs* to save her anonymity, otherwise her best friend (and the girl she loves) Brooke will be lost to her forever...

I really need more of this book because phew boy was it so good!! Honestly I could've used Darcy's romance advice during high school, girlfriend really did her research for her answers. I always love a good high school romance and this book brought up some amazing commentary on biphobia and what it means to be queer in high school. Their Queer and Questioning club was mentioned often in the book and I love reading more and more queer content.

Brougham was my absolute favorite character and I just want to give him a hug. I need him in my life to be quite frank. I found Darcy went too far in her issues with Brooke and it hurt her as a character in my eyes. It seemed to cross just a bit over the line, which is why the point lost a star for me.

If you read Glimpsed, another recent release, and loved it then you will really enjoy this one!

**Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

I went into this story with pretty high expectations: This isn’t Gonzales’s first book, for one, and I’m finding a lot of YA romance to be formulaic, so this was going to have to be different to get my attention… and I’m happy to report I was blown away. From the great cast of characters, to their relationships with the people around them and the great representation depicted in this story, I’ll be sure to be recommending it to my YA-appreciating friends.

I mentioned the characters, and I want to break them down a little bit. Though there is so much more to them than their sexuality or gender identity, but this book focuses closely on a bisexual character, a lesbian, a heterosexual man, a transgendered woman, and has a list of supporting characters who range from hetero and allied to ace. It was so refreshing to see—and it made sense because the community was part of a queer and questioning group, so it wasn’t like there was this LGBTQ group of people who just happened to be diverse, if you know what I mean. And though sexuality definitely played a role in the story, it was secondary to the main plot, which played it off as no big deal, which is exactly how stories should be told nowadays.

Darcy is a well-rounded character with a family history that is rough, but not unbelievable, and with a mother-daughter relationship that I think a lot of young people can relate to in that it’s a little strained, but neither perfect nor catastrophic. She makes some silly decisions that young adults can be forgiven for, of course, but she’s just so relatable that you want to be her friend. Brougham, on the other hand, is a little less realistic. He has a difficult home life, which isn’t as rare as some might think, but I had a hard time believing some of his actions—I just couldn’t see a male varsity athlete being as mature—maybe that’s the wrong word, but definitely caring or… selfless—as he was. Of course, it’s possible things have changed since I was in high school!

If you liked To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before with a little bit of a queer flare, you’ll love Perfect On Paper. I could see this making a great movie or limited TV series, too. There is very minimal sexual content, too (though there is some heavy alcohol use at one point), so it’s actually appropriate for real young adults.

4.5 STARS

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

My review will go live on Feb 23.

Perfect on Paper by Sophia Gonzales was a really enjoyable read geared toward young adult readers. This book features excellent representation and life and relationship themes that would resonate with the YA audience embedded within a fun premise. This book read very quickly for me. I really enjoyed the characters in this novel. I loved that Darcy certainly made some flawed or questionable decisions and I loved her journey toward learning more about herself. The characters in this story actually acted like teenagers - mistakes and all - which was so nice to see! I would highly recommend this one, and I will definitely be checking out the author’s other titles.

I received a copy of this ebook from the publisher via NetGalley, which did not affect the contents of my review. All opinions are honest and my own.

I wish I could go back and re-read this book for the first time again, I have a serious book hangover after this book and LOVED these characters. Gonzales built a world that I want to live in and characters that make you fall in love. READ THIS!

Purchased this YA/middle grade novel for my middle school library. Superb character development, elegant world building, and compelling plotting.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced copy of Perfect on Paper in exchange for my honest opinion.
As a high school teacher, I try to read YA books every once in a while to remind myself what being a teenager is like, especially nowadays - while many things have changed in the last 20+ years, the influences of friends and relationships is still as important to my students as it was to me.
Darcy, the main character, runs an anonymous "help locker" for fellow classmates, both ones she does and doesn't know. Her email replies are cute and well-thought, and students use her services often. Once her crush is involved, it gets messy!
The normalization of queer and questioning students was great, but I kept feeling like I missed key details from previous chapters when small things were revisited that I didn't remember, making this not as smooth of a read for me. I recommend it for anyone who likes YA books, especially YA romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would recommend if you're looking for

-m/f frenemies to lovers
-just a tiny bit of blackmail
-a great cast of secondary characters
-a secret advice column

I adored this book. There was so much representation, the Queer and Questioning group was fun and so welcoming, the body positivity and representation, Darcy's relationship with her sister who had transitioned. This was a glimpse into the real-world and high school and I loved it.

I loved Darcy, snarky, pining away for her best friend. Able to give everyone else advice, but struggling to apply that in her own life. She wasn't trying to become popular, she loved her life, her friends, she felt secure in who she was. But ultimately we're all still figuring it out. Brougham was the definition of a cinnamon roll, as they both accidentally fell for the other without realizing it.

Darcy's questioning of her bisexuality and what it meant to date a straight boy, this book was so honest, so beautiful I just wanted to reach in and hug all of the characters. A great YA read that I would recommend to any age.

Rating: 5
Steam: 1

CW: family tensions, divorce, alcoholism, homophobia

This was an absolute blast of a book! I really enjoyed the general vibe and everything about this book was just fun! These characters and their issues, the storyline itself was hilarious while also being hard hitting and touched on some great things. Fantastic YA contemporary.

Perfect on Paper, by Sophie Gonzales, tells the story of Darcy Phillips, a high school student who spends her time helping out her classmates by anonymously answering their relationship questions (for a small fee, of course) and pining after her best friend Brooke. When Brougham catches her in the act of running her legally questionable advice service, he agrees to keep her secret as long as Darcy will become his personal dating coach (for a larger fee this time). Brougham is pining himself, trying to get his ex-girlfriend back, and he is convinced that with Darcy's help, he can manage it.

Perfect on Paper is filled with characters who feel like real teenagers. They make mistakes -- lots of them. Darcy especially is a genuinely flawed person, who sometimes acts from a place of selfishness, sometimes assumes the worst intentions of the people around her, sometimes is simply not at her best. The characters all mess up in ways that feel true to their personalities, and their speech patterns are varied, giving the world a feeling of reality. The adults are no exception -- Darcy's parents mess up too, and Darcy's mom especially comes across as a real person with real issues and things to work through. No one in this book is perfect.

Perfect on Paper also has great rep, with characters of various sexual and gender identities, all handled with grace and kindness. One of the main supporting characters is trans, and Gonzales manages to hit a perfect note because this fact being baked into the world, rather than skated past or overlooked, without it becoming the focus of the book. The characters' various identities are important, just as they should be. There are moments when the book can start to slide into Queer 101, but this doesn't feel like a bad thing. An explanation of the differences between being aro and ace, affirmations about how great it is to be queer -- these feel like valuable additions to the text, even if they are sometimes put in slightly separately from the story itself.

Overall, this novel tells a fun story well, with characters that you root for even if their behavior sometimes makes you wince. This would make a wonderful addition to any library, especially for any teenagers who are questioning their sexuality or gender identity.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC!

This is a cute teen book. It was a quick read and kept me wanting to find out what would happen. I absolutely loved the descriptions of Disneyland and California Adventures. I felt like I was there. The last 15% of the book didn’t really seem to fit for me, but I enjoyed the book overall.

Darcy Phillips has been running a clandestine operation where she dispenses love advice to her school mates since her Freshman year. When Alexander Brougham catches her collecting the letters he wants to hire her to be his relationship coach and help him to get back together with his ex-girlfriend. While Darcy doesn't like Brougham, she desperate to keep her secret and agrees to help.

Overall a really great YA romance that dealt with themes of jealousy, family issues, and doing the right thing even when it's really hard. It almost felt like a contemporary mash-up Pride&Predjuce and Emma (with the protagonist's name being Darcy, I imagine the P&P part was intentional). I really appreciated that Gonzales took the time to unpack aspects of biphobia. Lots of curse words, drinking and drug use.