* 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.

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.

4/5 Stars . Thank you to netgalley and wednesday books for sending me this arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Perfect on paper is a cute fast read perfect for fans of To all the boys i’ve loved before. Darcey Phillips is the school’s secret relationship consultant.. She helps people with emotional and sexual problems with their relationships. Of course keeping her identity a secret.

The guy who annoys her of all time finds out her secret and in return for his silence, Darcey must help him earn back his ex girlfriend. It sounds like an easy task but she slowly starts to get attracted to him and her best friend Brooke learning her secret could end everything for her and their friendship.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I usually don’t go for these types of books but I enjoyed it a lot and it was an easy and fast read. The climax was kind of cliche and predictable but other than that I think the book was still enjoyable.

I received this arc from Netgalley and Wednesday books/St. Martins press in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book so much!

Darcy Phillips is her school's secret fairy godmother. No, she doesn't give her peers pretty dresses that last until midnight, but she does give them advice on how to deal with their relationships. She's also dealing with her crush on her best friend and a boy has just hired her to help him get back together with his girlfriend.

As the synopsis says, this book is <i>To All the Boys I've Loved Before</i> meets <i>Leah On the Offbeat</i>, but I was about 73% into the book when I realized that it also meets the Netflix show <i>Sex Education</i> (minus the sex, mom). The advice that Darcy gives to the people who come to locker 89 (where they leave their letters) is researched, thought about and backed up by theory. It is also mature and aware of boundaries relationships must have, they were truly refreshing to read. In this sense, something that I really liked about this book was how people were overall very respectful of each other and really seemed to use logic when solving their problems. Obviously, no one has the perfect answers, but they also learned from their mistakes and were able to reflect on their actions.
In addition, the rep was so important! As our mc is bisexual and is in a Qlub (i got u finn) for the Queer and Questioning, founded by her sister, we get to see some different identities supporting each other, especially when Darcy has a moment of self-doubt. All very powerful and then cute and corny in a way that still touches your heart.

The one (not serious) complaint I have is that I wanted more fluff! Don't get me wrong, I got the butterflies several times, and even some of Darcy's serious conversations with her love interest got me all dreamy, but personally I think I deserved more…

Finally, I would LOVE to read a book about Darcy's sister Ainsley!!! She is amazing and I think it would be so fun.

Darcy enjoys giving relationship advice. She runs a service at school, follow her advice and better your relationship or your money back. Although, nobody knows who she is, until Alexander Brougham catches her and asks her to help him get back his ex. There were times I wasn't too sure about Brougham, but he seemed to listen and learn from spending time with Darcy. They had a good friendship, which I enjoyed seeing. Darcy felt very real to me, especially when she was discussing her internalized biphobia and fear that if she dates a boy she won't be as accepted in the community as she would be if she was dating a girl. Which is something that I feel as a bisexual woman, that never-ending fear that if I end up with a man people will say that I was pretending to be LGBTQ+ and I won't be accepted into the community. I really liked the fact that this book touched on that. Because bisexual is bisexual, it's not straight when you're in a male/female relationship and gay when you're not. I also liked that Darcy didn't get off easy for her mistakes, because what she did was really shitty of her and an abuse of her power. I felt satisfied with the ending although I wouldn't say no to a book in Ray's point of view.
Thank you again for this book, I really enjoyed it :)

Great story telling that's heartfelt and feels real. I appreciate when sexuality is written as just one aspect of identity, not THE aspect of identity at the forefront -- people are intersectional and this book helps to underline that. Good chance for younger readers to grapple with issues of ethics, as well!

I received a copy of PERFECT ON PAPER by SOPHIE GONZALES. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

FIVE Stars and here’s why:

Five stars are simply not enough – this is a fantastic LGBTQIA book with authentic representation. It’s the perfect YA story for any age. Darcy is a high school junior muddling avoiding her own issues with relationships by focusing on other folks' dating problems. She runs a relationship advice business out of an empty locker at school, for a fee. Alexander discovers her secret and threatens to expose her unless Darcy helps him win back his ex. The plot and character development are infused with humor and heartwarming moments that keep you turning the pages to see what happens next.

Highly recommend.