My friend got me hooked on Sophie Gonzales (and many other amazing Aussie authors) and her latest does not disappoint. I love her queer rep and all the complexities in her character's world.
I loved Darcy. Of course you can give out all the best advice to others but when it comes time to apply it to yourself, you can't come up with anything. And when you get caught doing this thing you love, you'll do anything to protect it, even if it's helping a really annoying guy. But Alex has his redeeming qualities and I loved reading about his and Darcy's time together.
Darcy and her sister were the best, I loved when they were on the page.
And I loved how dimensional Darcy's character was and how empathetic it made her for the reader.
Such a fun and heartfelt story.

Thank you for the ARC NetGalley. I stayed up way too late plowing through this though looking back I'm not sure how much I enjoyed it, but it certainly had addictive properties. Definitely a high drama high school book, nothing wrong with that, but there were an awful lot of conflicts in here. Which is probably pretty representative of a lot of students lives. Tons of queer content in here and a lot of it was very informative to a cis reader, though at times I did feel like I was being instructed on gender and sexuality more than simply reading a novel. This was also my first encounter reading about bisexual experiences and now that gap in literature seems very pronounced so hopefully this book will pave the way for more content. I enjoyed the romance but I was really hoping for more. Certainly a cute read and I will definitely keep watching for this author!

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the plot was very unique in a sense. I also liked how it dealt with sexuality issues but how they didn't take over the whole story, they just were there, like they are in real life. Going along with that all of the characters felt like real people that I could imagine going to high school with and that made me like and connect with them more. Overall a fun and interesting read that also gave me a bunch of relationship advice that I might end up using one day.

Such a fun feel-good book with important representation! I read the first few pages, immediately got hooked and couldn't put it away until I reached the end. I loved so many things about this book: the representation (bi protagonist, lots of queer side characters), the humour, the flawed but genuinely well-meaning protagonist, the premise of the student who's way too young to give advice to other students but does it anyway, which was fun in "Sex Education" and is fun in this book too.
I loved the way Darcy's advice was incorporated in the chapters and how much she really wanted to help her fellow students, spending so much time on research to help solve their problems or nudge them in the right direction - all the while being entirely incapable of solving her own little relationship troubles. The romance was cute, with just the right amount of misunderstandings to cause some trouble and a solid friendship as basis of their later love story. Brougham is a great and loveable love interest, and Gonzales allowed the two of them to actually develop their feelings over a longer time. The side characters were just as loveable and the subject of friendship and its importance is really at the center of this story.
One aspect I really liked was the way this book talks about internalized biphobia and the still rampant notion that bisexual people don't really belong to the queer community unless they are in a relationship with a person of the same gender. Darcy struggles immensely with this as a bisexual girl who used to fall for a lot of girls but now develops feelings for a boy. The scene in which she explains this to her queer friends is honestly amazing and warmed my heart. This is important, and I loved that Gonzales chose to talk about this subject very explicitely.

All in all, "Perfect on Paper" is a fluffy, cute, very funny, really queer feel-good romcom that has a lot to say, full of relatable characters that you can't but love even if they make absolutely catastrophic decisions at times.

3.5 stars. This story had a pretty slow start, but after about 2/3 I was very invested. I felt like beginning dragged on a bit much. But I did love the way the book came together at the end and how much the main character was able to help while doing something she loved. THe characters all came together and there was no major mistreatment of friends.

First of all, one thing you've got to know going into this book is that the banter is top-tear. I was cackling in my room at two a.m. And now that I think about it, another layer of why I appreciated the funny dialogue so much was that it felt realistic. Yes, it was hilarious and over the top at times, but it sounded like real teenagers at the same time. The sarcastic back and forth didn't seem forced at all. I loved that. It truly makes the reader fall in love with each character and their dynamics, from Darcy and Brougham, to her and Brooke, to her and her sister Ainsley, to her and the QandQ club, etc. Besides, a lot of conversations revolved around questioning certain perceptions we people have about relationships, those were really interesting as well.

I wasn't expecting this but the advice Darcy would give to people was actually pretty solid. It was fascinating to read about because those emails we get to see from the pile Darcy sends out in response to her clients were very grounded. It wasn't your typical "this is an adult writing what they think a teenager would say in this situation", it was good researched advice presented in Darcy's charming voice that even got me questioning and understanding a lot of stuff, therefore this story might as well pass as great relationship advice for teenagers, which is amazing.

Moreover, this goes in hand with a lot of the book's themes of one's self and identity. You see, throughout the book our main protagonist tries to define who she is (not regarding her sexuality, we'll get on that later), several time tries to answer Who Is Darcy Phillips? and each one of those times she doesn't end up satisfied. Her attempts include character analyses, and the journey she goes through shows a lot of growth. I love how in this story the main protagonist deals with the consequences of her rom-com-esque shenanigans with the locker and what she did to Brooke. I just like that for once, the apology is not shoved under the rug. It was a process that actually ends up being very cute and wholesome. For once, the protagonist isn't just rewarded for the bare minimum.

Finally, another factor that made me love this book was the whole discussion about biphobia. There's this certain scene where Darcy confronts the casual (internalized or from the outside) biphobia she feels from day to day in the Queer and Questioning Club she attends with Brooke (and the most amazing cast of characters ever) that was just… perfect. It had me balling like a baby. Some might find it corny but it was exactly what I needed in my life.

My review will go up on my blog on 14/02 (the fourteenth of february)

It's official...I adore Sophie Gonzales. I will read anything she writes. Perfect on Paper is Dear Abby for Gen Z. Darcy Phillips finds a way to monetize advice giving for her affluent peers through using a locker to collect questions that she then answers.

The whole operation hinges on her anonymity. So, when nemesis Alexander Brougham discovers her secret and seemingly blackmails her for her assistance, she is stuck.

What Darcy doesn't expect is that she'll be torn between two love interests.

It's another captivating queer love story, which YA does so well.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

This book was by no means bad; I just probably should have avoided it. While I really enjoyed the second half, the first book was really rough for me for a variety of reasons that also had me really disliking Darcy.

5-star round-up due to the amazing representation this book has.
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Everyone knows of locker 89, if you leave an anonymous letter asking for help and a tip you'll get advice on how to approach your situation. No one knows who runs locker 89, this quickly changes when Alexander Brougham catches Darcy Phillips red-handed as she gathers letters out of the locker. He won't tell on her...as long as she helps him win his ex-girlfriend back. This creates a chain of events as Darcy's services are hired as she mends the broken relationship. Darcy has no choice but to agree to his terms as she doesn't want anyone knowing she's the person behind locker 89 - she's used it to her advantage in the past and her secret getting out could possibly ruin one of the only friendships she has.

I can't express how much I loved this book, I loved Darcy and the relationship that forms between Brougham, the slight love-triangle that is explored (it is mainly one-sided as Darcy has been in love with her best friend Brooke for the longest time; the feelings aren't reciprocated. This leads to a shift in Darcy as she starts to question how she can be falling for the boy who's hired her to win his ex back, I absolutely loved the scene where all of her fellow club members reassure her that she will not lose her queer credit is she decides to date a boy.

I really was rooting for the relationship between Brooke and Darcy to blossom, but I quickly changed my mind as her connection with Brougham started to get more serious. I just loved him so much as a character, this was a real feel-good story that had a diverse representation of characters that anyone could connect to!
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TW; Biphobia, emotional abuse, toxic relationships, violence, alcoholism, vomit
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I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was absolutely ADORABLE!!! I am so happy I was given the chance to read an ARC of this book. Anyone looking for a quick, cute contemporary YA novel to read should come here! The book sort of reads like a modern Jane Austen novel - in that the two main characters do not initially get along, and are trying to get with other people, and mishaps ensue. Darcy runs a secret relationship advice business and Brougham discovers her identity and pays her to help him win back his ex-girlfriend. The characters were relatable, likeable, and I am thrilled at the LGBTQ+ representation. Must read!!

I won a physical copy to review but thank you for the e-arc! Thank you so much and I wish you and the author all the best. I am excited to get my physical copy won via Goodreads in the mail soon!

3.5 stars

This is a solid YA romance with good LGBTQ+ rep: particularly B and T.

I am hoping for a sequel featuring Ainsley, who is a great character!

The letters are a wonderful touch and allow for the exploration of many topics that teens may face. I really enjoyed this part.

While the love story could have been more compelling for me, there's a lot to like here overall. Recommended for YA romance fans.

This book was so much fun! The cast of characters felt very diverse and I really like that LGBTQ+ issues were discussed the way they were. I feel like my high school experience would’ve been much easier if I had this book. The characters were all loveable and frustrating at time, which tells me they’re real and complex. Would definitely recommend!

Right from the start, Perfect on Paper is a veritable fount of queer diversity. The main character, Darcy, is bi. Her best friend, Brook, is a lesbian. Her sister, Ainsley, is trans. She is part of the Queer and Questioning club at school. So many queer books out there are a coming out story and those are extremely valid! But it’s so refreshing to read a story where a character is just queer from the start, no coming out or hiding themselves, and we go from there.

Darcy runs a secret relationship advice service using an unused locker at her school. Students write a letter, put it in Locker 89 with $10 and an email, and get advice in return. Her own relationship history is nearly non-existent but she does her research. Relationship advice YouTubers are her go to for knowledge.

She’s been doing this for two years and no one knew it was her. Until she’s checking the locker and Alexander Brougham catches her in the act. Lucky for her, he doesn’t want the school to know who runs Locker 89. He just wants to know how to get his ex back and he’s willing to pay her handsomely for it. Darcy agrees, reluctantly.

Lucky for us, unlucky for Darcy, this isn’t the only drama in her life. Darcy is in love with her best friend, Brooke. For all that Darcy can dish out relationship advice, she has a hard time applying her knowledge to her own romantic relationships. Then Brooke gets a girlfriend and Darcy does something horrible: she uses private information she learns from Locker 89 to break them up. With this and her budding friendship with Brougham, she’s pretty busy.

I feel like I’ve never read something with such well rounded characters in my life. And I love how Gonzales portrays the families in this story. Darcy’s parents are divorced and have been for a while but she describes how they fought for years before they actually separated. Brougham’s parents also fight all the time. My parents did the same thing. I always felt so alienated when my friends had such (seemingly) normal home lives with parents who loved each other. They didn’t have to deal with constant fighting all the time. They didn’t have to deal with feeling tense around raised voices, or with having to put in headphones to drown out the yelling.

The problems Darcy faces about her sexuality are next level, proceeding far beyond what other books tackle. It’s not just another coming out story. She’s not the only queer character in a sea of straight people. She’s not closeted or isolated. Queer people are not looked down on at her school, they aren’t a novelty. Even so, Perfect on Paper is the first book I’ve seen that addresses internal biphobia and has a productive, positive conversation about it. It deals with problems in the queer community, not just the supposed problem of queer people existing in society at all. It’s so very important to have these stories out there, to broaden the scope of queer literature, especially for young adults who are just beginning to question things themselves. There’s gay, lesbian, and bisexual. But there’s also asexual, aromantic, pansexual, and others that aren’t explicitly mentioned. It’s a stepping stone to a larger conversation but, hey, a single book can’t be expected to delve into the complexities of every single gender and sexuality out there.

It also deals with accountability. The following paragraph is a little spoiler-y. But it’s still very vague!

***Darcy has to make amends for what she does to Brooke. She has to make up for lying to her mom about the locker, and to the other students when everyone finds out. She gets punished, not just by the direct results of her actions. She apologizes and it’s not immediately accepted. She has to go the extra mile to make up for what she did and even then it’s not enough. So she goes further. But she respects Brooke’s boundaries and doesn’t push in where she’s not welcome. There’s even a conversation later, when Darcy is preparing to call Brooke and apologize. Thinking about it, she doesn’t end up calling, instead texting Brooke. She doesn't want to make Brooke feel obligated to pick up the call and listen to an apology she might not be ready to accept. She’s so respectful it makes me want to cry.***

Maybe that’s a little too mature. But Darcy spends all her spare time watching relationship advice videos, likely intended for adults. She’s lived through her parent’s divorce and she has an older sister. Being a little more mature for her age isn’t unheard of. She still does stupid things for her own gain but maybe she’s more aware of the consequences and so feels a million times more guilty for it. Oh the price of maturity.

Unique and innovative, Perfect on Paper is an excellent read and well deserves five stars.

Fans of Sex Education will love this book.

I did not closely read the synopsis for this book before I started it and I'm glad I didn't - it made for a fun surprise! Darcy Phillips runs a relationship advice service for her high school from an abandoned locker. Her customer satisfaction rate is high, and she's used it for her own questionable purposes only a *couple* of times. However, when Alexander Brougham catches her retrieving the letters, her secret might be out unless she personally helps him win his ex-girlfriend back after their recent breakup. Easy enough!

This book expertly talked about so many necessary topics - bi erasure, LGBT issues overall, privacy, friendship... it was amazing. The way it depicted complicated family and teenager/parent relationships was wonderfully accurate, and how mistakes or fights were depicted was realistic, raw, and helpful for the reader to perhaps apply to their own life! I also thought it wasn't predictable at all which I struggle with in the YA genre at times.

Thank you to Wednesday Books of St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review! I was a big fan!

perfect on paper is about a teenage girl, darcy phillips, who anonymously runs a relationship advice service through a locker at her school. i didn't know anything going in, and that's honestly a fun way to read it.

there's so much lgbt rep!!! the mc is bi, her sister is trans, best friend is a lesbian, she's part of the "queer and questioning club" at school!! everything was so. normalized. it was great.

there are some preachy moments, but i didn't actually mind them. i skimmed a lot of the actual relationship advice, but i could definitely see me, at age 16, LOVING it.

the youtube thing was a bit. cringe. but like. i'm 22 about to graduate college so who knows what resonates with teenagers. not me.

if you liked bromance book club, you might like this. if you DIDNT like bromance book club, you might like this. make with that what you will.

This book has been hailed as a Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda, Leah on the Offbeat meets Sex Education (as far as the advice part goes) and I’d say that it is, but it’s also very much it’s own thing and I adored it!

There’s definitely representation in this book, the main character, Darcy, is bisexual and this is the first book I’ve ever read that covers biphobia and what some people who are bi have to deal with every day. There are gay, lesbian, and trans characters and a lot of identities. Was a nice change for a story that takes place with high school-aged characters.

The characters are likable, and Darcy, our main character is lovely and owns her mistakes and faults in a very mature way.

Was a very refreshing read. Thanks NetGalley!

Utterly delightful and perfectly bi! A highly recommended purchase for public YA and high school fiction collections, particularly those needing more diverse offerings.

Darcy has been answering relationship questions anonymously through Locker 89 for years now. She's not planning to change that until she gets caught red-handed by Brougham, who uses his newfound information to get Darcy to act as his official relationship coach. It's Darcy's job to win Brougham's ex-girlfriend back... unless that's not what either of them want after all.

Full of heart, PERFECT ON PAPER addresses teen sexuality and high school drama with a light, funny voice and a developed cast of characters. I thought the second half of the book was especially strong once Brougham's character came out of his shell. I especially loved Darcy's confrontation of biphobia, something that I found incredibly relatable.

Overall, this is a delightful, well-written read. I can't wait to see what Gonzales comes up with next!

Adorable. A spot on YA RomCom.

Darcy, child of divorced parents, is an anonymous relationship advice coach for her fellow high school students through the abandoned Locker 89. Students drop a letter and 10 bucks in the locker and get relationship advice in return. Darcy is actually quite good at what she does (and, if I may say so, models excellent research skills by regularly searching out experts in her field and incorporating their advice). Surprise, surprise: Darcy is not good at seeing herself or her relationships. Desperately in unrequited love with her best friend, she... well, I don’t want to spoil it for you. But let’s just say she doesn’t always use her powers for good. And then the 💩 hits the fan.

I love how the story explores Darcy’s bisexuality. I felt totally validated by the section interrogating her internalized biphobia. I also love the way her side hustle as a relationship coach is used to sneak in some seriously sound relationship and life advice, particularly about defining boundaries and communication.

Other things I love:
Male friendships that are wholesome, healthy and completely non toxic, even when they’re dealing with drugs and drinking.

Family relationships that are bruised and sometimes broken but have the potential to be better.

The secondary characters
- Darcy’s mom is a teacher and Darcy talks wonderfully about what it’s like to be the teachers kid.
- Ainsley, her sister, is a talented seamstress/fashion designer in her first year of University and living at home to (emotionally) support her sister and mom post divorce. She’s also trans, and this is introduced with no trauma. Wonderful. Her trans identity is definitely part of her, but doesn’t define her.
- Brougham, the stranger/friend/eventual love interest, sounds like a hottie.
- Her friend Brooke, her LGBTQ club member/friend Finn, Ray her kind of nemesis: they’re all developed enough to be more than just props for Darcy’s development.

I liked how diverse it was in terms of sex/gender identity. I believe Brooke is Asian and Brougham is Aussie, but I don’t remember any characters other than them being described as anything other than white, in terms of racial/ethnic diversity. Lots of rich kids.

This is a good book. I’d buy it for a high school library. The sexy bits are sexy... but not so sexy that you need to choose carefully who you give it to. It would make a great teen movie.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.