After enjoying Only Mostly Devastated earlier this year, I was so excited to hear about Sophie Gonzales's new book! And although Perfect on Paper didn't exactly fulfill my expectations, I still had a really fun time reading it and would recommend it if you're looking for a lighthearted read that still discusses important themes.

Perfect on Paper follows Darcy, a bisexual teen who runs a secret relationship advice business. She gives great advice through all the research and information she's collected about relationships over the years. The only catch? She's actually never been in a relationship herself. So when Alexander Brougham discovers her secret, Darcy has to reluctantly agree to help him with his crumbling relationship in fear of her identity being revealed.

It normally takes me quite a few sittings to finish a book, but I think I flew through this one in around two, just because it was so hard to put down. Every time I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading! However, although the writing style was easy to get into, it felt bland and minimal; I feel like we were being told instead of shown what was happening most of the time.

I also thought that Darcy wasn't fleshed out enough as a main character. She felt very 2-dimensional, and I didn't really find myself understanding her motivations. Yes, it was amazing that she was written as a flawed teen and was allowed to make mistakes, but I wish that she went on a more prominent character arc and we got to see how she changed and grew throughout the story.

However, I still enjoyed reading about the cast of characters and their relationships. I adored Darcy's interactions with her sister because their sibling relationship was written so realistically. And the banter was so funny and definitely made me laugh out loud a few times!!

But the most important part of perfect on Paper was undoubtably its discussion on biphobia and how bisexual people aren’t “queer enough” if they’re in a relationship with someone of the opposite gender. Darcy deals with internalized biphobia and biphobia from others, and Sophie Gonzales addresses that and reminds bisexual people through this book that they are, and will always be, queer enough.

Overall, while I had problems with the writing style and couldn't truly connect to the characters of Perfect on Paper as much as I wanted to, it was still a light, enjoyable read that included such important themes!

★★★☆☆ (3 stars)

So this book sounded like a cute realistic fiction/romance that I would enjoy - period. But THEN I read the author's review on Goodreads about how she wanted to write this book because she got backlash for putting a bisexual characters with someone of the opposite gender. Just wow.

This book is so cute. I really enjoyed it. Darcy is a wonderful flawed, but likeable character. It's so realistic how she can truly know a lot about a topic, but be so blind in other ways. The letters and advice were great. It was all stuff I had a basic knowledge of and interesting to see how she applied it. I also loved the overall general theme throughout the books of everyone has different wants and needs - you aren't wrong or bad for that. And people can try to work to meet those, but also you might just not be suited to each other.

The sparks between her and Brougham are excellent. I enjoyed how this book overall had a happy ending, but there were true consequences for her actions and she had to work to get her life and her relationships back. I also appreciated that once she and her mom started talking, her mom was supportive. It's just that Darcy has teenage brain and needs some assistance thinking through all the consequences still.

I'll definitely hand this out for teens and be throwing it on displays!

A lovely and fun book. The story is about Darcy Phillips, a girl who likes to help the people around her. She can provide the solution to any relationship for a small fee. But, she doesn't have the best judgment to help her friend Brooke, who has a crush on someone else. One day, Brougham discovers Darcy, collecting letters from locker 80. Brougham makes a deal with Darcy to be her coach for the romantic dates she wishes to have in exchange for keeping her secret. Darcy, having no other choice, accepts the proposal. I loved Darcy's attitude when answering the requests made to her in locker 89. If I had been at the same school as Darcy, I would have also written questions. Brougham is fascinating because he's the type of guy who likes to get what he wants uniquely. The interaction between Brougham and Darcy is unusual because they both come from different worlds. I love Darcy's challenge to keep her identity a secret but also to help Brougham make it all right. I thank NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

So, this is cute and everything, but what really stands out to me is that Gonzales managed to have queer characters whose entire identity wasn't about being queer. Like, they were humans going around doing human stuff while also being queer. Radical, I know.

* I received thie eArc from NetGalley for my honest review*

I want to start off and say I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did, but it was amazing and very sweet with its angst as well. This book follows Darcy and how she gives love advice to people in her school but sometimes its easier to help other with their love life then saving your own. Darcy learns that really quick when her feeling start mixing with her crush and Brougham who she definitely starts liking as well. But Darcy is also BI girl who thinks that her other queer colleagues will think less of her if she starts dating a boy.

This book is amazing in its representation it has almost every LGBTQ+ member you can think of with their own pronouns, it is such a beautiful and sweet read. The world in this high school is so accepting with everyone and their lives, it really is such a nice and refreshing read i recommend this to any and everyone it has a little bit of something for everyone.

They way Sophie shows the difference in house holds from rich to not so well off or poor, to divorced and happy parents to constantly arguing parents. It really shows realities from all the different sides in a teenagers world and it was very beautifully written.

Darcy Phillips attends an expensive private school where her mom teaches. Active in the Queer and Questioning Club, she anonymously sets up an advice to the lovelorn letter-answering business using a vacant locker as a drop spot. All is going well for Darcy until she is caught by Alexander Brougham who agrees to keep her secret in exchange for her helping him to win back his girlfriend. Darcy becomes Brougham's dating coach and the tale develops from there.

I was interested in this book because I formerly taught at an exclusive private school. I liked that the gay, transgender, and bisexual students appeared to be accepted and respected in the community Gonzales writes about. Darcy's sister appeared to be transgender but that wasn't spelled out clearly enough for me. It interested me that Gonzales definitely wrote about some fluidity of sexual preferences among some of the characters. I does concern me that kids of this age are sometimes taking irreversible medical steps to impact their genders when their still at an age when such preferences might not be written in stone.

Overall I enjoyed this book and feel it would be a good read for anyone who enjoys YA.

I genuinely enjoyed this! I adored the characters and the relationships so much and they were so well-done. Darcy is flawed but you root for her, and I love her character growth and how she seriously considers the consequences of her actions and her preconceptions and actively works to change both of them. I also loved how she cared so deeply about people and would do anything to help them, especially her friends.

Brougham is just a really decent guy and I really liked how his and Darcy's relationship developed!

I also liked the friendships and the side characters, especially Ainsley and Darcy's relationship with her. They're such close sisters and tell each other everything and always support and help each other and Ainsley played a major role in the plot! Brougham, Darcy, and Finn all showing up for each other unquestionably with the sentiment of "of course I would do it. I would always do it." which is my absolute favorite friendship dynamic like,, ever.

I was also super interested in the psychology of relationships throughout and the advice Darcy gave to the letter-writers based on said psychology. I also liked seeing people follow her advice and seeing it work! Along with all sorts of relationship analysis, he book also touched on a lot of topics like (internalized) biphobia, misconceptions about asexuality, and the effects of (arguing) parents on the psyches of their kids, and I thought all of them were treated well and communicated clearly.

There were also parts I laughed so hard I cried, which is always always a bonus.

Honestly, I can't think of anything in here that wasn't done excellently.

I had so much fun reading this book! I couldn`t put it down, and didn`t want it to end. Gosh, this book just gave me all the feels as soon as I started. I loved all the lgbtqia+ characters and the club and how they just were people who didn`t need explaining. It seems like I personally haven`t come across many books with those characters, and when I do, they have to be described as finding their sexuality which is important, but also so important to have this style where they just are. And I loved how Darcy, and Brougham and the rest, were such responsible people in regards to drinking, and helping their friends and being respectful of boundaries and mental health. All around, every topic of today`s culture was touched on in an enjoyable way, nothing preachy, just a good story! I will definitely read this again when it`s published.

I am genuinely surprised by how much I ended up liking this book. I hadn’t read anything else by this author, so I went into it with no real expectations. The plot seemed interesting and I just wanted something light and fun to read. And I definitely think this one delivered.

I found the story and characters really cute. Each character was distinct and despite making many teenage mistakes, I still found myself rolling my eyes affectionately and rooting for them. I also really liked the friendships and even the romance. Honestly there was room for things getting very toxic, but I think in the end everything was handled pretty well.

I also really liked the plot. Although the general premise wasn’t exactly unique, I felt the author did a good job of making the story her own. Even though I could guess what was going to happen, I still didn’t find myself bored and honestly had fun reading it.

And it isn’t just mindless fluff either, the book tackles some pretty deep discussions whilst maintaining an overall fun narrative, which I personally enjoyed.

Overall I think it’s a solid YA contemporary and I enjoyed it.

Review Posted on GoodReads (December 15, 2020)
Review Linked.

4/5 stars!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for sending me an E-ARC of this book for an honest review!

I had heard so many amazing reviews of this book before I was lucky enough to receive an early copy. I read Sophie Gonzales' first book earlier this year and liked it, however, I did not love it as much as I wanted to. So, I was a bit skeptical going into this book. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was so much fun, emotional, and romantic!

This book has so many important conversations in it. It discusses romance, relationships, gender, sexuality, and so much more! I fell in love with all of the characters. This book had such an amazing cast of diverse characters, which I loved. I felt like they were so well thought out, flawed yet lovable—which I love in characters. It makes them more real and human to me. The romance in this book was perfectly paced, and I absolutely LOVED it. One of my favorite things about this book was the side characters! I felt like each side character was really well thought out and had so much character—they all had a purpose to the story, but at the same time, they and all of their relationships felt natural and not forced.

Honestly, this was one of my favorite YA Contemporary Romances that I have read in a really long time. I really recommend this!

Thanks for reading!
Caden

Ya’ll. This is the book we all need right now.
It has everything you want - and everything you didn't know you needed - from a book.
- Relatable family - check
- BFFs - check
- Pensive High-schoolers - check
- Romance - Check
- Humor - Check
- Conflict - Check
- LGBTQ+ Characters - Checkmate

Seriously, this book is adorable and will be such a fun read for older teens and young adults. Especially those that identify as LGBTQ+ and long to see themselves represented in a book.

Can’t wait for this to be released so I can buy it for all my friends teenaged kids.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book early.

This book is all kinds awesome. I haven't read much books on the the LGBTQ and this one blew my mind. The plot is unique to say the least. There is so much going on. While I totally expected a cliche of sort (because lets be honest every YA romance have more less the same formulas that it becomes predictable at some point or other) but this one is way way different and way way better. And tbh I haven't read a YA book this unique or this good in a long long time. It has a lot of information about LGBTQ community and the diversity of the characters gave a lot of new prospective to the readers. Plus the relationship was cute. I finished reading it in one go and highly recommend it too.

I loved this book so much! There is A Lot of really good, age-appropriate information in here about attachment styles, how to address your partner’s needs, strategies for breaking up and getting back together, etc. all without compromising the readability of a great story about a teenager learning to navigate her world and relationships.

I read a lot of Gay YA and Perfect on Paper now rates among my favorites. There’s a trans sister, a lesbian best friend, a bisexual main character who has to deal with her own internalized biphobia when she begins dating someone of the opposite sex and some truly useful information about how brains tend to work in relationships.

This novel is great for queer teens, especially ones who are bi or pan in opposite sex relationships, are dealing with a difficult relationship or break-up, or who just think that the psychology of relationships is interesting. Hopefully this book will be a launch point for some teens into research to help their relationships, but even if it isn’t, it will certainly be good entertainment.

I gotta say, I was expecting this story to go a totally different way and that’s not something one can often say about rom-com, especially one using common, typically formulaic tropes. And it is an even better story for it, in my opinion. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but the discussion of attachment styles, and healthy vs. unhealthy behavior in relationships really fed the psychologist/social worker part of my soul. Also the bi representation and discussion of biphobia and bi-erasure was ridiculously spot on. The characters were flawed but still likable and even when they made (very) bad choices, I found myself still rooting for them.
Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Perfect on Paper is practically perfect! I was hooked from the first page, and never lost interest.

This tells the story of a girl named Darcy Phillips, who runs an anonymous relationship advice service from the mysterious locker 89. All that changes when Alexander Brougham catches her and blackmails her into helping him get his ex-girlfriend back. There's ton of LGBTQ+ rep (trans, lesbian, gay, and bi characters who don't fit into the typical LGBTQ+ boxes). Additionally, the author evidently was inspired to write this because of backlash involving a bi character ending up with a character of the opposite gender; this was her response: a practically perfect rom-com with a potential straight/bi couple at the forefront and discussion of biphopia on the side..

All in all, this book was great. It had awesome characters, a dash of Jane Austen (I refuse to believe a book that has a main character named Darcy and the words "Jane Austen" does not have a bit of Austen in the story), some Australian culture references (that I was as flummoxed as Darcy about lol), and a lot more. This book also contained the elusive somewhat present parents, and explained absent parents, which was a welcome surprise as parents in YA tend to disappear. Darcy's mom and dad were cool, and I may have laughed aloud at how her dad reacted to a certain boy. Also the sister relationship between Darcy and Ainsley was great because they felt like they were siblings. I adored watching Brougham and Darcy bond.

All in all, this book made me so happy! I loved the rom-com feel and the great characters! I am extremely grateful for NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the eARC! I now need to go read more books by Sophie Gonzales because her writing style and humor is awesome.

First of all, thank you to Wednesday Books/St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with an electronic ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

A delightful contemporary YA novel with excellent representation of a wide array of sexual orientations (bi heroine, straight romantic interest, lesbian, gay, and trans secondary characters), a fresh plot, subplots prominently featuring friendship, and an overall good story.

Darcy runs a relationship advice service at school, unbeknownst to everyone in her life. Through it, she meets Brougham, an Australian student (more Aussie love interests, please!) who wants to win his ex-girlfriend back. He's willing to pay handsomely for Darcy's wisdom. She thinks he's a tool, but agrees because she's a scholarship student at a fancy school and could use the money. Plus, she's good at it and likes to help people, even those she dislikes on sight.

As good as she is at the relationship advice stuff, she's hopelessly crushing on her best friend Brooke, who will never see her like that. Darcy has even used the info she receives through her relationship advice locker to thwart Brooke's relationships in the past, of which she isn't proud and she fears telling Brooke about it.

Shenanigans, of course, ensue.

I really loved the exploration of friendship, crushes, family relations and that the teens here were very emotionally mature. Don't get me wrong, they still massively mess up and there are still communication misfires (is it even a YA novel if someone was unaware someone else liked them?) but they talk about their feelings, they're aware of them, in ways that aren't common to see in YA novels.

Bi-visibility was great and the discussion at the kids' Queer and Questioning Club about how bisexual people are indeed still queer even if they're dating the opposite gender was well-handled and much needed.

The big crumbling of the protagonist's life came early enough that we got to see her face the consequences and also make things right, another not too common situation in YA.

To top all this, I'm a sucker for an enemies (or disliked people) to friends to lovers story, and this was very well done here.

The one thing that wasn't great for me was how often the advice letters opened chapters. They didn't always correlate to the chapter so they felt a bit disjointed and took me out of the narrative.

I hadn't read Sophie Gonzales before but I'm happy to see she has several other novels, and I'll be making my way through them next year.

I really liked Perfect on Paper - I read it all in one day. I was (happily!) blown away by the amount of LGBTQIA+ representation in the book, and really excited to read something with ace rep and a really good rough explanation of what aro/ace is. I also really loved that Gonzales addressed internalized biphobia and bi/pan-phobia within the queer community. When I read it I hadn't seen the author's note that she included on Goodreads about it being very intentional, but it was something that stood out to me and had me cheering. I also want to note that this is the first book I may have ever read that has a trans secondary character where the trans person gets to live a generally fulfilled/happy life and where their gender identity isn't a main plot point or positioning them for horrific injustice. I hope I can read more of these books in the future! I also liked the 'hook' -- Darcy being paid to be the school's secret relationship expert. What high school doesn't need that? I also found Darcy to have realistic high school problems, and to navigate them in a way that was true to her age. Sometimes that's missing in YA, but not here!

I also really enjoyed the main ship, I thought Brougham was a fleshed out character who really fit with Darcy. So often I find the (generally male) love interest in these books sort of bland, but I truly loved Brougham. Overall I think this was a really cute book and I really enjoyed the love triangle being a girl choosing between a guy and a girl FOR WHO THEY ARE, and not their gender identity.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting to love this book, but boy was proven wrong! Perfect on Paper had amazing representation throughout the book, and while sexuality and diversity were relevant to the characters' lives, they were not the main plot points of the story for no reason. The love story plot of the book also didn't take over, and instead the novel felt much more like a coming-of-age story that centered around accepting oneself.

Darcy and Brougham are so wonderful, and feel like entirely independent characters, and all of the supporting characters are strongly their own people as well. Everyone had their flaws in this novel, and the relationships felt very genuine because of this. The realism was the strongest aspect for me because I think a book written in 2020 should portray a more modern picture of high school and relationships.

Long story short, everyone who likes contemporary romance, LGBT+, or high school settings should read this book!

I really enjoyed this book. There were some serious issues dealt with in the book, and they were handled with tact, grace, and even a bit of humor. The characters were likeable when the needed to be, and a serious pain when necessary.

"Perfect on Paper" was a cute and fun story. At its most basic, the story is about relationships and high school romance. However, one thing that sets it apart is that many of the prominent characters are LGBTQ. There is even an asexual/ace character, something rarely seen in literature.

Junior Darcy Phillips is the relationship guru behind Locker 89. Students leave letters seeking relationship advice (and $10) in Locker 89 and they receive an e-mail with advice on how to deal with their situation. Darcy has been interested in relationships since age 12 and is constantly watching relationship coaches on YouTube and reading and researching relationship advice to increase her knowledge base. Other than her older sister, Ainsley, no one knows that Darcy is the person behind Locker 89. That is, until Alexander Brougham, catches her and asks to hire her as a relationship coach to help him get his girlfriend back. Brougham agrees to keep her secret (and he does). While Darcy gives good advice in her e-mails, she is not very good at relationships herself, as she is in love with her best friend Brooke, but Brooke does not seem to reciprocate and on those occasions when Darcy thinks there might be signs of interest, nothing comes of it; Darcy is bisexual and Brooke is a lesbian. The only time she has intentionally given bad advice has been where it involved Brooke, not wanting Brooke to start a relationship with another woman; manipulative and unhealthy behavior. It is obvious that at some point Darcy's secret will be revealed and there will be fallout; the question is how and how bad (really bad when it happens).

Darcy finds Brougham irritating, due in part to various misunderstandings, but they eventually develop a friendship. Brougham is interested in how she determines what advice to give and he challenges her on her methods and assumptions. Darcy claims that a single letter gives her enough information to provide the requested advice, but Brougham pushes back on that assumption, including by pointing out that the people in the relationship might interpret actions or inactions differently, so the advice to follow one particular approach might fail because the other party misreads the person's intentions. As their friendship evolves, Darcy is forced to re-evaluate her assumptions about Brougham and his relationship style and she is forced to re-evaluate herself. Her personal growth is an important aspect of the story.

One of the most powerful moments in the story is when Darcy, during the weekly meeting of the school's Queer and Questioning Club, states that she is scared to have feelings for any guy because being bisexual is a huge part of her identity and she feels that if she dates a guy, she won't properly belong in the group anymore and she will be judged. Several people in the group immediately say that no one will judge her and that the fear is all in her head, being dismissive of her feelings. However, another member of the group, who is bisexual, stands up for Darcy, stating that Darcy is describing internalized biphobia and explaining that society sends the message that people who are bisexual are not "queer" enough to hang with queer groups all the time -- if they date the opposite gender, they must be straight; if they haven't dated a certain gender, their feelings don't count, etc. Another member states that ace and aro (aromantic) people experience the same thing. Darcy comments that she has been told she was "turning straight" or "turning lesbian" depending on which gender she had a crush on. She said she was recently told it was good that she could date guys, because then she won't have to face discrimination. This prompted an extended discussion which culminated in the other members of the group all affirming that Darcy was queer.

Not only was this a powerful moment in the storyline itself, but it is a powerful message for people generally. People, including myself at times, are too willing to categorize people in groups and to decide who should or should not be included in a certain group based on assumptions as to how, depending on the group/situation, members should look, act, think, behave, etc. In addition, I think many people question if they really "qualify" as a member of particular groups because how they think, act, behave, look does not fit the common conception of group membership or their perception of how group members should think, act, behave, or look. I think many of us would benefit from being easier on ourselves and others when it comes to self-identification and acceptance of our identities.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.