While I'm absolutely not the target audience for this book (it reads for younger than your average young adult AND I've never really read fanfic other than 50 Shades that I know of), I found it fun and refreshing with the touch of magical realism that this includes. It did bring me back to my high school years with all the angst that surrounded confused kids, especially confused queer kids. What would you do if your fanfiction came to life? Ivy is not exactly the popular girl and having an over-protective Mom who doesn't let you do much for yourself and a HUGE crush that she can't seem to get over along with all the other teenage stuff being thrown at her begins to weigh down on her. She wishes for something and soon, all her wishes come true. Or do they? I enjoyed all the antics that this story engaged and the personalities that came together. I would definitely read this author again.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read this story for an honest opinion.

While Ivy’s parents are away on a business trip, things go awry after an encounter with her nemesis/former crush. She wakes up to find her perfect man/main character from her Fan-Fic has come alive. She quickly starts to question what it is she thought she wanted.

This book has fantastic representation and characters. Until Weston arrives that is. Weston is the fictional character inspired by a guy who stars in her favourite reality show. With his arrival comes the cringe. Anything that Weston utters is just entirely too cheesy for me and I stopped being invested in the story entirely. I just started praying for the second-hand embarrassment to stop. He says things that are over-the-top and downright weird. I know he’s not really supposed to be grounded in reality but there’s a fine line between being out of his depth and ridiculous and this veered way more towards the latter. Perhaps the over-the-top caricature of a personality might appeal to those in the target demographic but I just wanted this to be over.

Thanks to Wednesday Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so much fun to read. I never read from this author, the plot and the characters were AMAZING. I love fun and funny characters so the humor was spot on when it comes to these teens. We have fan-fiction, LGBTQIA+ representation, we have teens going through a ton of emotions, and also love. I kept forgetting that this is a YA read at times, but Ivy created her perfect person when she started to write Fan-fiction on this show that she loves to watch. And since we are juggling between the present and the past we learn that Ivy is finally finding out her own identity and her relationship with her best friend is slowly growing apart. Ivy is lonely and doesn’t even know how to confront that or how to internalize those feelings so she turns to writing, and when she finally gets everything he ever wanted in a person she starts to realize that the world doesn’t revolve around her feelings and its ok. But this book was just plain hilarious though. I loved it!

I was really excited for this book as I have loved Sophie's previous books, but this one just didn't do it for me. I made it like 25% and have decided to DNF it. It isn't the book for me. I had trouble connecting with the main character and the fantasy element just didn't work for my taste. I know plenty of other will enjoy it though.

The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist by Sophie Gonzales, 304 pages. Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Press), 2024. $20. Lgbtqia worlds of wonder
Language: R (101 swears, 15 “f” + British swears); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Living across the street from her ex-best friend, Mack, is made impossible when Ivy’s parents ask Mack’s family to check in on Ivy while they’re out of town. On her first night alone, a huge storm comes, and all Ivy wants is to not be alone—so she writes a short fanfic about her favorite TV character being with her. And, when she wakes up, he is.
Honestly, the whole situation with the TV character appearing in Ivy’s life is as disorienting for the reader as for Ivy and her friends—maybe more so because they accepted the situation faster than I did. The creativity involved in crafting this story astounds me, and I laughed out loud several times. Furthermore, Gonzales writes about struggling friendships and trying to get a grip on how to life in a way that makes readers happier with imperfect reality.
Ivy is White on the cover, and Mack is Black on the cover. Also, Ivy is bi, Mack is lesbian, and Henry describes himself as “aroace.” The mature content rating is for innuendo and mentions of sex. The violence rating is for assault and for mentions of murder and fantasy violence.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

I will continue supporting Sophie Gonzales, but this wasn’t a favorite of mine. This is mainly because it’s so fanfic centric and very “cutesy” and very teen-forward! For an actual teen, especially one who loves fanfic, you’ll eat this up. As an adult who has never been into that, it didn’t hit home for me. Mack and Ivy were cute, and I liked Henry, but I honestly just got annoyed with the plot. Still an easy read, but it isn’t one I would jump to recommend.

3.5⭐️

This was an interesting read, I’m not really into fan fiction but who hasn’t dreamed of meeting a star and what would happen. Really there are endless possibilities. I enjoyed the main characters in the book Ivy, Weston, Henry, and Mack. Each character bought a little something to the story that just added to the main story line.

Ivy is about to stay home for the first time in forever and somehow magically makes her dream guy “Weston” appear. There is some getting used to having a stranger in the house, but things progress, and she must include her friend Henry with the situation and her old friend Mack. I enjoyed that there were chapters of what happened in the past with Mack and Ivy, this way you understood their friendship or lack there of in the present time.

This book was truly about friendship and two people finding their way back to one another by realizing what they had in the first place. Also, it’s okay to have additional friends outside of your little circle, sometimes they help you in diverse ways as they see things from the outside.

I would recommend this as q great quick read.

I kind of automatically just request Sophie's books because I love the writing.

However, I'm not fully in love with this one, and that comes solely down to Ivy. She's very juvenile, and I have trouble believing she's 16 and not 11 or 12. How does she not know that you don't have to like the same exact things to have a friend? That you can have other interests? It's odd at her age that she hasn't figured that out.

She's also very self-absorbed, which could be a product of being an only child to some very overbearing, controlling parents.

I had no interest in the fictional show, H-MAD, which doesn't sound all that interesting. This was made further so because Ivy had no other interests other than writing fan fiction about H-MAD and watching it. She was too flat of a character to become invested in her.

So, while this one isn't wholly for me, I'm sure many others will enjoy it.

Ivy Winslow is nerdy and loves her fantasy TV show. This story is told in alternating chapters labeled Present and Past. The Past chapters tell how Ivy and her neighbor and best friend have diverging interests and are no longer friends. The Present story is how Ivy's fan fiction writing brings her fantasy tv character to life. He says he is her soul mate and can grant her every desire, including being popular, wealthy and having her parents be less helicoptering. New best friend Henry joins in trying to control the fantasy character and Mack gets drawn in as well.

I am not a big fantasy reader nor have I ever been into fan fiction. If you enjoy those you’ll probably like this book more than me. I did like the story and was honestly more interested in the past storyline (before the fantasy character arrives). The author works out the ending in a way that fits the book. I didn’t see Ivy as a reliable narrator, as everything is very skewed to her viewpoint. And really not sure how Ivy brought her character to life. I honestly didn’t see Ivy and Mack as a couple likely to have any sort of a lasting relationship. But the story is cute with nice LGBTQ representation and geared towards younger teens and up. It has some language and doesn’t go beyond kissing.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review. (3.5 Stars)

This was very sweet and I loved the fan fiction premise! Fan fiction is such a beautiful part of fandoms and I thought the peek into it from a high school perspective was especially great. It was a quick read with a satisfying happy ending.

With a minor rewrite, this book would make a perfect Tina side-plot in an episode of Bob’s Burgers— in the best way possible.

As a former teenage fanfiction lover and writer, this book called out to me. This story was super fun and unique. The fictional universe and fandom Gonzales created felt so real. Oftentimes I find YA books to be too whiny and immature, but this book did not feel that way. It did feel a touch creepy at times, a little like Coraline. There was the stress of needing to figure out what to do next to resolve everything. I liked that everything wasn’t just easy though.

Do I think the couple in this book belongs together? Heck no. But they’ll go to college and break up, so it’s fine.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist-a standalone

by Sophie Gonzales- I read Never Ever Getting Back Together and gave it 4 ⭐

Rating: 3.5-4/5 ⭐

Publication 3-26-24 Read 3-15-24

Format: eBook 298 pgs.

🏃🏾‍♀️Audiobook Run Time: 9:43

🎧Narrator: Jeremy Carlisle Parker-read all the characters. I believe the voice fit the characters with standouts from Ivy and Weston. Their voices were the most distinct, but I could easily tell the difference between all characters. The reading style brought the story to life and it was fast paced but flowed easily with the story. The narration and the author were in sync and they fit together. The narrator paused and announced every time a new chapter came between the two timelines of the past and present. The book had a table of contents which helped me follow along with the e-book and audio.

Epilogue: yes, a full circle moment

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and ALC💜! I voluntarily give an honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

✔️ YA
✔️ Magical Realism
✔️ Fantasy
✔️BFFs to enemies to lovers
✔️LBGTQ+ rep
✔️dual timelines- the past and present

Summary- In the past, Ivy comes out as bisexual to her BFF and neighbor Mack, who she has a crush on. But in the present they had a falling out and are enemies. Ivy's parents are super overprotective to the point of stifling her from growing up. Ivy and her other BFF Henry are die hard fans of the fantasy TV show, H-MAD (Hot, Magical, and Deadly). It's a show about supermodels who gain supernatural powers and kill demons. Ivy loves the character Weston-real name Chase Mancini- who she writes fanfiction about. While Ivy's parents are away on vacation leaving her alone for the first time, Weston "appears" to Ivy as a real person claiming to be her soulmate. Ivy enlists Henry and a reluctant Mack to figure out how this happened and fix it.

Overall, the YA rom com was cute but very PG. It had a little angst with Ivy, Henry, and Mack's friendship, but the Weston stuff was a little cheesy. My recommendation is to read the audiobook because it's a quick read.. I read the e-Book and audio together and liked both.

as a fanfic writer and young person who needed more queer representation in my peak YA reading years, this book was ripe with genuine and loveable representation!!

i felt a bit too old to be reading this, but that’s okay!! it was cute but not my cup of tea. it did touch the part of me that was so screamingly teenaged, rambling and yearning for my fandoms.

I sat down yesterday afternoon and wound up reading this in one sitting! It's simply an adorable, queer romcom that I thoroughly enjoyed. Add in that it's friends to enemies to lovers, and that's basically all I need ya'll!!! It's a fun and light read, perfect for a day off!

Out March 26, 2024!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Fanfiction raised me. From the time I was old enough to use the computer I was reading fanfiction. Different anime’s and television shows I enjoyed. Seeing different perspectives and different worlds that people wanted to live in. The fact there are books embracing fanfiction now and there are about fanfic and books that actually were fanfic just makes my heart soar. I love it so stinkin much. This is an adorable romcom about figuring out that reality can be better than fiction. I love that idea so much! I haven’t read anything else from this author but I’m sure I will now!

The premise of The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist immediately intrigued me. I mean, what teenager wouldn’t want the chance to get to meet their favorite television character? It is just as fun as I hoped.

The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist is not just a run of the mill romance novel. One might expect it to go the way of Between the Lines by Jodie Picoult and have Ivy fall in love with a fictional character. Instead, Ivy is unsettled by Weston’s presence almost immediately. Gonzales sets up from the beginning that the real romance is between Ivy and her friend, Mack. The book opens with Ivy thinking about her crush on Mack. It is in this relationship where the reader will find the romance novel tropes – friends to enemies to lovers for example.

Gonzales does a great job creating the world of H-MAD. Of course, the television show doesn’t actually exist, but the reader gets enough detail to have a strong sense of the characters and major plot lines. Gonzales even brings in some typical fan debates into the story like whether Weston’s show girlfriend, Vanessa, is a worthwhile character. (Ivy is convinced she’s useless).

The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist has a very clear narrative voice, which I love. It is told in the first person from Ivy’s perspective and always feels like a teenager is speaking. The reader is fully in Ivy’s head, which makes it easy to empathize with her, even in the extraordinary circumstances. Ivy is dealing with such typical teenage problems – social drama, lies to her parents, romantic confusion. It feels so genuine and left me smiling.

I also appreciated the different kinds of LGBTQ+ representation present in this book. The main character is bisexual, and in fact, opens the book by saying that. Mack identifies herself as a lesbian. Henry, Ivy’s newer best friend, identifies as aromantic and asexual. There is certainly not enough aro or ace representation in books, and I was glad to see it here. Each of them has a totally different coming out experiences, which also feels very important to see represented.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Perfect Guy doesn’t exist, and I encourage you to check it out when it is published on March 26. I will also add that I loved Perfect on Paper by Gonzales as well and recommend you checking out her other work.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an electronic advanced readers copy of this book.

This wasn't what I was expecting when I started reading this - I came into it without reading any description of the book. It starts out normal, 2 high school best friends toe the line between being "just friends" and being more. But then a fight happens, and life goes on. Ivy, the main character of the novel, is a little worried about being alone while her parents are on vacation and still heartsick over the distance between her and her friend Mack. She is obsessed with a teenagers with power TV show, H-Mad, and starts to write fan fiction about it. When her parents are gone, she wishes she wasn't alone - and then she gets her wish! Only it's not a real person, it's one of the main characters of the TV show.

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist is a unique take on friends to enemies to whatever. It's fun and a fast read. Ivy gets more and more wrapped up to keeping things under control when it becomes clear to the reader that it's anything but. I enjoyed it.

This was cute and fun and full of queer rep in the way I have come to expect from Sophie Gonzales and I absolutely loved it.
Imagine if your favorite fictional character came to life and played out all of your fanfic fantasies??? So good.

What I liked:
-Henry was an awesome best friend and was always very supportive of Ivy, like a best friend should be.
-Weston coming to life and following the fan fic storylines that Ivy wrote
-What Ivy learned about friendship

What I didn't like:
-Mack was the most unlikeable character and was not worthy of Ivy's time. Instead of listening to Ivy talk about her favorite show, Mack treated it as a chore and didn't even pretend to care. When Mack talked about volleyball and Ivy wasn't super interested, Ivy still listened because that's what best friends do.
-I wish Ivy had been more confident in herself

DNF at 21%. I don't think I am the target audience for this story anymore. I thought it sounded so cute, but the characters fell flat, and I got a little bored. I won't be widely reviewing this book because it wasn't a bad story; it just wasn't for me.