I have loved every Sophie Gonzales book and this one was also enjoyable, however, my least favorite out of all of them. I always love the character development and plot but the plot of this one was just my vibe, but I still was entertained throughout.

The sudden appearance of Weston, a character from Ivy's favorite show, on a stormy night serves as the main plot point for this contemporary YA romance. It forces Ivy to reconnect with her crush and former best friend Mack. The book jumps back and forth between the present where they try to figure out what to do with Weston and the past events that led to their falling out.

I enjoy Gonzales's novels but this one did not quite hit the spot for me. I usually like when magical realism plays a role, but I would have enjoyed it more without it here. I understood Weston's purpose in the novel and what he stood for. Even then, I wanted the book to delve into Ivy and Mack's relationship without Weston's presence. I wanted something more realistic, which is strange for me to say because I love fantasy and magic. (3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars)

2.5 Rounded Up

I received an advanced copy of The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist by Sophie Gonzales from the publisher St. Martin's Press Wednesday Books is a Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Ivy Winslow has the house to herself for a week while her parents are away. She’s hoping to spend the time watching her favorite TV show, hanging out with her best friend, Henry, and avoid her neighbor Mack who happens to be her former best friend-crush turned enemy. However, plans go awry when she wakes up to her favorite character from her TV show, Weston, telling her she loves him. Ivy quickly realizes that somehow Weston has arrived as a figment from her fanfiction writing and adapted the personality, she gave him, and it turns out that the guy she swoons over in her story and the traits she gave him aren’t so perfect after all.

What I Loved: I really liked Mack and Ivy as a friends to lovers aspect in the flashback aspect of the book. I also liked Henry as a character and his friendship with Ivy.

What I Didn’t Like: This book is an example of YA fiction that reads very young. I found our main character quite annoying and immature to the point it was difficult to cheer for her or support her. I will say that Ivy does grow a bit at the end of the book. The reasons for the friendship break up was annoying. I found this book very goofy to the point it was difficult to finish, I think that if you like fanfiction of this type (I don’t love the inserting a Mary Sue in fanfiction), you might like it more. For me it was very, EH.

Who Should Read It: People who love fanfiction tropes.

Summary: When a character from her fanfiction comes alive, Ivy must figure out how to send him back.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Sophie Gonzales does it again with a fun YA magical realism romcom. This was silly and fun! As previous fangirl, this was humorous and affirming to read. I loved how each incident brought out a new Weston but also brought her closer to a long lost friend.

Thank you Netgalley, Sophie Gonzales, and Wednesday Books for sending me an eARC for my honest review. Also thank you Wednesday Books for sending me a physical ARC. 🥰🫶
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I thought this book had such a fun premise! This book has two parts - the past where MC Ivy and Mack were friends and the present where she and Mack aren’t friends anymore. It switches back and forth and throughout the story, we learn how Ivy and Mack went from being the best of friends to where they are now - ex-friends. Ivy is obsessed with this TV show that features a group of supermodels who get superpowers, her favorite character being Weston, who she writes fanfiction about. Ivy watches this show with her new best friend, Henry. One night she writes a self-insert fanfiction in which she is dating Weston and the next morning, Weston is alive and in her bed! Their first meeting is very comical! Weston believes himself to be real and Ivy’s boyfriend and throughout the book displays different personalities based on the different types of fanfiction Ivy wrote. I thought this was such a fun touch! It was especially funny to see Weston act as a romantic interest in enemies to lovers and a coffee shop AU. Ivy recruits the help of her best friend, Henry, and reluctantly agrees to work with her ex-friend, Mack to sort out the Weston situation. As they deal with Weston, Ivy and Mack become close again and apologize to each other for past mistakes. 🫶
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I really liked how the magic element was handled and how the reasoning behind how a fanfiction character came to life never really got answered. It's just something that happened! It definitely has the COM in rom-com! 😂 Even though this book is very funny, it also has two very important lessons - friends don’t always have to have everything in common and no romantic partner is perfect. Even your ideal perfect person isn't always who you truly want. Ivy had what she believed to be the “perfect partner” in Weston, someone she specifically wrote for herself, and yet given the choice she still chose the very real and imperfect, Mack. 🥹
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I loved reading this nerdy romcom with sapphic friends to ex-friends to sorta friends to lovers. There were so many fun nods to fanfics that anyone who read/writes fanfic will pick up on and it's so fun to see that in a published book!☺️
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🌈Rep: Bisexual MC, Black lesbian LI, main sapphic relationship, AroAce SC

Thank you Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the eARC of The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist! All opinions in this review are my own.

I really like the concept of The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist but I like the story between Ivy and Mack more than Weston coming to life. While his antics are funny at first, eventually it gets a little old when Ivy constantly has to worry about who will watch him. Ivy and Mack healing their friendship made for the much better storyline.

I love everything Sophie Gonzales, but this was not her strongest book. the references to fandom are nice, but it took too long for the MC to realize what's going on considering the reader understands immediately. Slow start that made the ending not as satisfying as it could have been.

3.0

Setting: Pennsylvania
Rep: bisexual protagonist; Black lesbian love interest

I sailed through this in a morning - it's a quick, easy read but it didn't feel like a Sophie Gonzales book to me. The characters felt underdeveloped, as did the plot. It was fine, but nothing more, and it really lacked the heart of her other books.

I gave up on this book the first time I tried it, but today it was calling my name. While this was a little bit out my normal comfort zone of surrealism, it was fun to read the story of Ivy & Mack. Gonzales helped the reader feel the teen angst and uncertainty of not knowing if the crush on your best friend is reciprocated or not, and the issues that go along with not feeling seen in high school. It was with the story the whole way up until that third act twist which was just a bit much for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital advanced copy.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an eARC of this title! If Natsu Dragneel came to life and started acting the way I write him in fanfic, I’d probably have a better time than Ivy did with fanon Weston Razorbrook (I only write fluff!) This book had some seriously funny moments and H-MAD sounds exactly like the kind of show that would have had a 16-year old me in an absolute chokehold. This one goes out to all the teenage girls who had a crippling fanfiction phase, and never really grew out of it. I, along with hundreds of other writers, always wondered what would happen if my favorite fictional character came to life. Would they act just like I expected them to or would their behavior be the same as canon? Sophie Gonzales makes these questions reality, proving that it is in fact stranger than fiction. I could have read hundreds of pages just dedicated to Weston’s magical outfit changing physics and daily attitude changes based on Ivy’s different fanfics. Weston leaving in the end felt a little anticlimactic, like he spent so much time convincing Ivy into accepting all the new changes he’d made and just decided to straight up leave? And with no outside intervention! Other than that, I gave this one a 4.1/5 because it was super light-hearted and entertaining, and made me rethink how I write some of my favorite characters the next time I add a new chapter to any of my fics.

"Lifesize" meets Fanfic

Ivy is home alone for an entire week and she's thrilled to binge-watch her favorite show and hang with her best friend Henry. While also avoiding her ex-bff neighbor, Mack, whose parents have made it her mission to keep an eye on Ivy while her parents are out of town. But when a surprise and impossible guest appears on night one her week quickly spirals. Weston is impossible. He is the swoony, real-life version of Ivy's fanfic based on her favorite TV show "H-Mad". Aside from his improbability, Ivy soon realizes the tropes he portrays are not as swoon-worthy in real life. To figure out why he appeared she teams up with Henry and begrudgingly, Mack. Soon she's wondering if her so-called perfect guy is really right for her after all or if maybe, just maybe, the right person has been right there all along.

Honestly, I haven't finished this book yet and it's going to take an embarrassing amount of time because I am just struggling to read right now. But as a new release, I wanted to put something out there, and after reading a little over a quarter of the book I feel like I can do that now. I love this author and will continue soaking up everything she puts out. I really like the pacing of this book, and as soon as I'm in a reading mood I'm going to fly through this book. The characters so far seem interesting, diverse, and dimensional and I can't wait to learn more about Mack and Henry. I am curious to see the importance of the 'past' chapters. It's one of the little reasons I know I will be coming back to this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via Netgalley & Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book did not do it for me. Around halfway, I almost DNF'd because i was simply bored. I wasn't intrigued by the premise of this character coming to life and it just felt like nothing was happening, there wasn't much plot. I ended up pushing through and there were some good moments between Ivy and Mak but it still fell flat for me. I was disappointed because I love Sophie Gonzales but this one wasn't it.

I have enjoyed Sophie’s previous titles, but unfortunately, I found this one really bad. The fanfic Wes coming to life should’ve been endearing but the way he acted was really off putting - even if it was something she wrote herself. I also just found the writing to be not as good as her previous novels.

Her best friend Henry was the only character I liked and I found him the saving grace of these pages.

It was a little far-fetched at times, but overall had a good message and relatable main character. The resolution between her and the best friend was a little too quick/easy in my opinion.

I loved every book buy this author but this one was not for me! I guess there’s always a first. I think younger YA readers would enjoy this - especially if they like fan fic!

"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬, 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮, 𝘴𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭."

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QUESTION: If you could bring ANY "fictional" character to life, who would it be?

Mine have changed throughout the years: Nick Miller from New Girl, Lucifer Morningstar from Lucifer... Killian Jones from Once Upon A Time *swoon*
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This is exactly the case for Ivy, when she accidently brings her favorite character from her favorite show to life... and she quickly finds out just how true the old adage of "Be Careful What You Wish For" is...

And just how powerful wishes and sheer imagination can be!

Will she get the girl? Or will she be forever stuck with the creation of her own fanfiction?

Thank you to @stmartinspress, @wednesdaybooks and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for this review!

And a beautiful job by @jercarparvo on the narration of the audibook 😍
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I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I’ve enjoyed Sophie Gonzales other titles but this one was a little too weird and out there for me to get hooked. I was drawn in by the fan fiction aspect but it’s what kept me from liking the story. I did appreciate the spectrum of lgbtqia representation.

This could not have been more fun! Laugh-out-loud funny, a total page turner that I ate up in one sitting.

Sweet YA book about friends, turned strangers into something more. Everything you want out of YA romance and a beautiful understanding of the queer experience

Ivy's parents go out of town for a week while still going to high school. Her fan-fiction guy appears in her bedroom, she is in disbelief. What seems like a great idea at the beginning, she changes her mind in the end.

This book was not for me. 3⭐️

Many thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book for an honest review.