I want to start by saying that I absolutely adore Sophie Gonzalez's books, and I can't wait to continue working my way through her catalog. I appreciated The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist, but overall it just wasn't for me. I love YA, but this one skewed on the "young" side, borderline middle grade level. However, I think this book definitely has its audience. The plot revolves around fanfiction, and I know many people will enjoy that aspect of this book. We also love to see queer character representation, especially in the YA world!

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist is a friends to enemies to lovers rom com. Sprinkle in a little bit of fan-fiction with an imaginary character that comes to life and you get a silly but sweet story. Sometime I was like what is happening? And others I was like Awh this is cute, but I did enjoy this story.

How would you feel if your favorite character from your favorite show showed up in your bedroom? For Ivy in The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist, she’s freaked out but glad Weston showed up. Since her best friend (and unrequited love) (and neighbor) stopped talking to her, all her life had revolved around H-MAD, her favorite show and her new best friend who also loves H-MAD. As Ivy soon finds out, fiction isn’t always better than real life. And fanfiction has some consequences when magic comes into play.
As an avid fanfic lover, the idea was so cool to me, in theory. In reality, it fell a little flat. I loved all the tropes but it took Ivy too long to figure shit out.
Sophie Gonzales is one of my favorite queer authors and I will always recommend her and her books, even if they’re not always 5 star reads for me!
The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist got 3 ⭐️ from me and it published yesterday March 26! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

To help her get over the rift with her best friend Mack, Ivy writes fan fiction of her favorite fantasy TV show. Then, the attractive main character, Weston, magically appears in her bedroom, claiming to be her soul mate. Ivy realizes her fanfiction has brought Weston to life, but their connection isn’t as romantic as she imagined. When Mack reenters her life, Ivy questions whether Weston, her “perfect guy,” is truly perfect for her—or if someone else holds that title.

I enjoyed this sapphic YA fantasy romance. Gonzales is a brilliant author, and the emotion in this book is deep. I loved the characters, and the story kept me guessing.

Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This was goofy in the best way possible! Sophie Gonzales never fails to have such a unique, twisty take on otherwise tired tropes in writing and it makes for stories that my students absolutely adore.

"The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist" feels like a love letter to fanfiction and fandom; there are shoutouts to all of the hilariously stereotypical writing tropes, including a few that obviously are much better in theory than in practice. It's obvious Gonzales knows fandom spaces (even some of those darker, more niche corners). And wouldn't we all be thrilled if our teenage fictional crush suddenly came to life as exactly as we had imagined them?

But more than that, this story is about the difference between what we think we want and what is actually meant for us; the dream fictional guy versus the real person who we fit with. It's about the work that is actually required to make relationships survive, and how friendships REQUIRE that work to be put in in order to make it. It's about how we won't all like the same things - and that's okay, too!

3.5 Stars


I’m not typically a YA reader, but I loved this authors previous novel and I jumped at the opportunity to read another of her works. The great thing about young adult novels is they get to get weird with it. If they want to make a whole novel about accidentally bringing a fanfic character to life… well then you know stuff is about to get interesting. And I truly think that’s great because topics and ideas are explored that you don’t always get to see in contemporary novels.

I really loved Ivy and Henry in this book, I felt like they were well thought out and had unique aspects to them that really drew me in as a reader. They had a great friendship, full of support and genuine support for each other. I was immediately drawn into them both as individuals and as a platonic friendship.

Unfortunately I never felt like I connected with Mack, who is a major part of this book. Maybe because I’ve been the Ivy with friends who were dismissive of my more niche interests or have been put down for liking things that are “so uncool” that I couldn’t understand why you would want to spend time with people who literally roll their eyes at the things you love. I know teenage years are hard, and the emotions are constantly running, but I know it’s hard to be around people you find to be dismissive. I definitely felt more for Ivy than I did Mack.

Honestly though, this was a really fun YA novel. It was filled with fun plot twists, interesting characters, and a storyline that I definitely think will stick out in my mind for a long time coming. Definitely worth the read if queer romances are something you are interested in reading.

Mini synopsis: Ivy’s plain boring life changes when she wakes up to find her fanfic MC has come to life! Will she be able to figure out what’s going on & fix it by the time her parents get home?

This was so fun & silly! The beginning was a little confusing bc I wasn’t quite sure what was going on. But after continuing on, it got so silly & ridiculous! Her fanfic character, Weston, made me laugh with his antics. At the beginning, he did everything to be the perfect guy and then when it changed to the bad boy the change was such a switch that it was giggle worthy! I really liked how it was just trial & error trying to figure out what was going on. A lot of time in YA, it just comes out of no where so this one felt more realistic. What I wasn’t a fan of was the relationship. With the plot, I didn’t really think we needed the underlying romance! But if you like Sophie Gonzales writing style, you’ll definitely like this!

HAPPY PUB DAY!

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist by Sophie Gonzales is another sweet and compelling YA enemies-to-lovers romcom.
She has done it yet again y’all!
Everything about this book was amazing….. the storyline, the characters, the writing.... everything!
I am a big fan of Sophie Gonzales' work and this one did not disappoint at all. I’m obsessed!
She writes the most relatable and realistic stories ever! And never fails to amaze me each and every time.
I honestly couldn’t get enough. I wanted more!!

Thank You NetGalley and Wednesday Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Sorry but I am not enjoying the book, am about half through, so I will not leave a review on Amazon. My bad, I usually enjoy young adult fiction but this one isn't my bag. Note I am not your target audience.

📖 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙂𝙪𝙮 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙀𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙣𝙯𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨

“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.“

💖 This was a quick fun read! It really reminded me of a OG Disney Original Movie. Ivy is going through the motions of being 16 years old. After coming out as bisexual, she realized she was in love with her friend Mack. Unfortunately, they had a falling out and throughout the book you get flashbacks that paint the picture as to where everything went wrong.

Weston’s character was fun! I felt like the plot overall was original. The fact that Ivy writes fan fiction was really cool. All of the different scenarios she set up with Weston in her stories had me cracking up.

The main plot of this story isn’t about this fictional character coming to life. The main plot is about Ivy coming to terms with the problems that existed in her relationship with Mack, and vocalizing her feelings. Mack and Ivy both were in the wrong and I felt like by the end of the story, they realized that! The is a clean young adult LGBT story with only kissing on page.

Tropes:
🏳️‍🌈 LGBT
🫶🏼 Young Adult
✨ Magical Realism

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙂𝙪𝙮 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙀𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩 is out now! Thank you to NetGalley & Wednesday Books for my early copy of this story so that I could share this honest review!

(4.5 stars)

I grew up on fanfics and it’s evident that the author did too. A lot of times when fanfics are brought up in books it’s awkward and obvious that the author did not understand the community, but not here. This is a love letter to the fanfic community.

I loved the alternating timelines as well as the characters but I think Ivy did take too long figuring out what was going on.

All in all this is another perfect book by Sophie Gonzales.

*review based on an Arc Copy*

This book is so good! After reading this, I'll 100% have to check out her other books.

Bonus points for AroAce rep!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist follows teen Ivy who accidentally, magically brings her favorite character from her favorite TV show to live through the power of her fanfic.

This was a cute read! Sophie Gonzales has always been the kind of writer who embraces the camp that comes with fandom of all kinds, and that has never been more clear than it is in this book. Getting to see snippet's of Ivy's cringey, error-ridden, teen fic was everything to me, especially as someone who posted -- and firmly believed in -- her own absolutely god-awful fanfic at that age. The story itself is at times funny, at times cheesy, often a little messy and complicated, and overall just really sweet and lovely. The major escalation of the stakes as we barreled toward the book's conclusion was nothing short of exactly how it feels to read a fanfic, and I ate up every bit of it.

This definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it absolutely was mine!

Thank you MacMillan Audio for the Audiobook Arc exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Netgalley for the E-Arc in exchange for an honest review.
DNF @4%
When I first requested this book, I thought the main character was the Black Girl on the cover. Come to find out that the black girl was the best friend/ love interest. Which is nothing wrong with that but the main character is already getting on my nerves already for some reason. So I just go ahead and back out before I get deeper. Also the Narration kind of was getting of my nerves as well. So this is not my cup of tea. I do recommend this for the diversity, LBGTQ rep and people who love fanfictions.

Thank you Wednesday Books for my #gifted copy of The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist! #wednesdaybooks #ThePerfectGuyDoesntExist #SMPInfluencers

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐆𝐮𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐳𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

4★

This book had so many amazing elements and I really loved this romcom by author Sophie Gonzales! This was my first time reading a book by this author, but I’m super excited to go back and read five past books written by Gonzales!

The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist, follows Ivy, who is left home alone for a week while her parents are away. Her only plans for the week are to binge her favorite TV show, H-MAD, and hang out with her friend Henry. But when Ivy wakes up to find Weston, the fictional main character from H-MAD in her bedroom, she realizes that her fanfic writing somehow brought Weston as she imagined him to life. To figure out why Weston is here and what to do about him, she teams up with Henry, and her former best friend turned enemy, Mack. Now, with Mack back in her life, Ivy starts to wonder if Weston really is her perfect guy after all.

🩷Young Adult
🩷Queer Rom-Com
🩷Fan Fiction Gone Wrong
🩷Friends to Enemies to Lovers

Posted on Goodreads on March 25, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
Posted on Instagram - Full Review- March 25, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on March 26, 2024
**-will post on designated date

This is such a funny & sweet story about friendship, and how what we wish for may not be the best in reality.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

💭 overall thoughts:
This book is perfect for the current generation of teens.

I feel like it could really open up so many conversations about friendship, identity, how we treat those around us, how others perceive us, and how to have open and truthful conversations.

It could be supportive in giving teens the words/vocabulary they may need to express themselves, or even just to identify how they’re feeling.

📖 story:
I love stories told in dual timeline - we have the past where we see Ivy (our MC) & Mack as best friends, and what broke them apart.
In the present we have the wild story of Ivy’s fanfic come to life, and how her & Mack rebuild what they had.

🤍side characters:
Weston (Ivy’s fanfic) is hilarious, showing us how odd so many tropes we love to read about would be if they actually happened!

Henry is an integral part of the story too, showing that we can get different needs met from different important people in our lives.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to access this book in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this romance so much it was cute and i couldn’t put it down. I can’t recommend it enough. 😭

I loved every book I’ve read from this author !

The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist really was not for me. I love fandom and fanfic but this was a struggle to get through. I considered not finishing the book and I honestly should have. It was just like kinda ridiculous and not in a way that worked for me.

This is a fun one, y’all. A teenage fanfic writer gets an unexpected surprise guest while her parents are out of town. Said surprise guest believes that he’s hopelessly in love with her, which is kind of unfortunate, seeing as how he appears to be the incarnation of a fictional character and, well, she’s still hung up on her former best friend / now enemy / neighbor.

Told through dual timelines, we see how the friendship fell apart in the past, ultimately due to some believable teenage miscommunication, and how the guest’s presence in the present brings the former friends back together.

It’s a clever setup and an entertaining execution. If you’re a fan of YA novels that ask you to suspend your disbelief a bit, I recommend picking this one up.

I appreciated the queer representation in this one; there are bi, lesbian, and aro-ace characters.

And for any readers out there concerned about spice levels in YA books, this one is kissing only.

I received an advance copy of the ebook from Wednesday Books and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

I’m not sure there’s another author out there that writes such sweet, heartwarming, entertaining YA novels with great LGBT representation like 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐳𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 and this latest release is no exception. It’s a highly entertaining friends-to-enemies-to-lovers tale that comes complete with endearing characters and an amusing storyline.