I'm sitting here in ALL the good feels right now, which is the perfect way to be when a book ends. It was so fun, but also so full of drama and mass bad decisions and it had some incredibly important things to say. After starting this year with falling in love with Only Mostly Devastated, I am a definite Gonzales romcom fan.

I loved the premise of this! Darcy runs an anonymous relationship advice business. No one in the school knows its her answering but she gives actually very good, well-researched advice.....despite never having been in a relationship herself. Part of me was like "duh why wouldn't she tell her best friend she's in love withe her?!" But also it's HARD. I get why she struggled to be brave enough. And I always love with a character is so super smart and insightful...until it's their own problems, and then they're a mess.

It has a bit of annoyed-at-each-other-to-lovers dynamics. So many queer characters, none of which felt stereotyped or cliche! It discusses biphobia too. And Darcy's sister is trans (honestly their relationship was everything!! sister goals). And it talks a bit about vaguely problematic parents and unpacks what love really even is. Also there's some exceptionally epic dialogue and funny moments. I love it when a book makes me feel things and laugh.

Darcy is a total mess, and I loved her for it. She makes huge mistakes, and her flaws made her feel real (also everyone acted like actual teens!!). I also thought the book handled catastrophes really healthily and realistically. Although I was dying softly as Darcy crashed headfirst into BAD ideas omg.

I had such a good time reading this! The romance, the friendships, the sisterly bonds, the hilarious scenes, the easy to absorb writing. A delight. Also nice to see Australian authors making it out in the world!! Darcy was American but Brougham was Australian and omg there were some PEAK Aussie culture references that made me laugh.

Darcy Phillips has a secret. She’s the anonymous advice giver behind Locker 89. Students slip their relationship questions into the locker with $10, and Darcy responds. If her advice doesn’t work? Full refund! But Darcy’s advice mostly works, and refunds are rare.
But Darcy’s knowledge of relationships can only get her so far in her personal life. Her unrequited love for her best friend Brooke has been going on for years, and her sister Ainsley is the only living soul who knows about Locker 89. That is, until Brougham comes along, looking for the writer behind Locker 89’s emails, desperate to win back his ex-girlfriend, Winona.
This was a solid YA contemporary romance, complete with diverse characters, a sweet “love triangle” type plot, and even a trip to Disneyland! I loved how many queer characters there were in this novel. Darcy is a member of her school’s Queer & Questioning group, and her and her friends are a mix of bisexual, gay, ace, transgender and more. Darcy, who is bi, works through internalized biphobia; whether people find her queer enough, whether dating a hetero man will change how people view her, whether she really belongs in the queer community. The novel handles these issues beautifully. I would imagine that this is the kind of novel that could make bi teens really feel seen and heard.
Bonus points for the aunt agony angle of this novel. For some reason I just really love novels that use an advice column as a plot point (I’m looking at you “The Downstairs Girl”!), and Darcy’s advice is pretty solid. She acknowledges that not all people approach relationships the same way, and her advice is super contemporary.
This is a book I would suggest to teen patrons at the library I work at, and I would also recommend it for anyone looking for a light-hearted romance with queer representation.

I’d like to thank netgalley for access to an early copy.
I really enjoyed this story. Darcy, the main character, provides advice to her fellow students on relationships. Sometimes she seems like she’s just reciting back clinical info, but other times it’s pretty good advice. I really liked the representation and family dynamics in this story.
I read this authors other novel and love the LGBT rom com style. I would definitely consider reading more from her in the future. She just hits all the bases for me, I guess.
Overall, I would give this a 4/5 :)

This is the second book I have read from Sophie Gonzales and I loved it even more than the first! When it comes to LGBTQIA+ books I have read, this one is the one I would recommend to everyone who wants to better understand this community and particularly the struggles of teenagers finding their identities. I am a high school teacher who sponsors a Pride club within the school and the club in this book is EVERYTHING I want my students to have! The support, acceptance, love, and friendship are incredible. Darcy does get herself into some trouble, even though she truly meant well, and it is rough to read. As a reader, I got so attached to Darcy that I just wanted to wrap her up and hug her until it all got better, at the same time. I understood a lot of her Mom's points during the whole "what were you thinking talk," ha! I cannot recommend this book enough! Loved it and will push it at anyone and everyone I can. Bravo!

Oh wow, I loved this book! I was so invested in the characters and their stories! I will admit that it took a little time for me to get really involved in the story (I would say like 5 chapters or so) but once I was in it, I was IN IT. I was emotionally involved and felt all the things that Darcy was going through as she experienced them (even if I did not agree with the choices that she was making), I laughed out loud multiple times, and that acquaintances-to-friends-to-lovers slow burn was so good!

I had never read anything by this author before so I didn't know what to expect, but the whole relationship coach trope really enticed me. And boy did it deliver! It's not often that I would describe books as "un-put-downable" but I managed to read this book in less than a day because the characters were incredibly inviting and relatable and the vibe between Darcy and Brougham was captivating. I literally could not stop reading until I reached the end and knew what happened. Despite seeming like a light and fluffy read, this novel did touch on some important topics in the LGBTQ community, mainly biphobia, which I personally haven't come across in many books. I think the author did a great job of mixing light-hearted, flirty banter with more serious, thematic undertones. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was so cute and heartwarming! As I finished it, I couldn't stop smiling. It made it to the list of my favorite contemporaries!

I loved absolutely everything about this book! The setting, which made me miss my highschool days, the characters, the drama, the plot, the representation (bisexual MC, lesbian, gay, pansexual, trans and nonbinary side characters). It was such a quick and easy read and so much fun!

I especially loved the emails at the beginning of each chapter and the problems this book deals with, some of which are biphobia and divorce. It also felt really realistic!

2.5 stars, full review on goodreads
Decent characters, enjoyed the family dynamic. Felt the relationship and all the diversity was fi4ced and unrealistic

As the title goes, this book is perfect on paper.

The way Sophie Gonzales captures the reality about teenage life relevant to schooling and dealing with hardships is beyond perfection.

I would have devoured this book in one sitting if I have a physical copy.

RATING: 4stars

This book has excellent queer representation packaged in a cute rom-com style. Darcy, our protagonist, is running a relationship advice service via a convoluted physical locker drop-box for some reason instead of just using email. This, of course, provides a way for her nemesis to discover the secret behind the locker's anonymous advisor and sets us up for hijinks to ensue. The book is quite pleasant to read, but I'm deducting one star because some of Darcy's advice is just too clinical and comes across as a bit too erudite and unrelatable.

I received this book free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh this was what the title says...Perfect!
Everything about it was just a beautiful story and definitely at times emotional... especially some of the scenes with the two main characters 😭 one significant scene near the end too that made my heart glow and my tear ducts Flow 😭😂

I feel this book will be so important for quite a lot of people and the author really handles this book with so much care and love which you can see through the writing and speaking to Sophie Myself.
Everyone PICK THIS ONE UP! When this book releases next year! If you thought OMD was good this is just that little bit better but both are just 😍😍.

Kind of a flip the script with a bisexual character, validating what it means to be queer. Great diversity representation (albeit a check-the-box type).

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC.

4.5 Stars.

I couldn’t put this one down for more than 10 minutes, I loved it!

The story didn’t go how I expected it to but that made me end up loving it even more.

Great representation, funny and such an adorable romance! Enjoyed this one so much.

I absolutely loved this book. As a bisexual female, who was in love with my female best friend, and now dating a straight cismale, I have never related so much to a character.

Darcy Phillips runs an advice service out of one of her school's empty lockers. No one knows it's her, which is naturally how she would prefer it. And then, one day, she's caught by Alexander Brougham. He needs advice on how to get back together with his now ex-girlfriend, and, well Darcy really can't say no, can she?

Honestly, I tend to stay away from straight up romances. The genre itself is a mix bag for me, but I am so, so, so glad I read this. There are so many great topics in this book: biphobia, setting boundaries, questioning asexuality and the pressure of having sex. Darcy's advice is something I wish I had when I was in high school (hell, I wish I had it now).

The hardest hitting elements of this book was the discussions of biphobia and the internalized biphobia. Despite having been known I was bisexual since a young age, I have mostly dated straight cismales. Fitting into queer spaces had always felt awkward for me. After all, here I am, saying I love women, and yet I'm dating a man. I haven't had the discrimination against me for "taking the easy way" or for "passing" or for "not being queer enough." but I have heard the stories from friends over the years, and shied away. This topic is so important to discuss and the way this book discussed it had me in actual tears.

Darcy and Alexander are cute together. It's not necessarily an enemies to lovers trope, more of a "severe annoyance/moderate dislike to lovers", but I loved it. I loved the mutual pining and, as I call it, "idiots in love" syndrome where they both are ultimately oblivious to the other's feelings.. The representation in this book is really outstanding,

4 stars of adorable ness for this late YA rom com with a panoply of sexualities and lots of heart. The basic premise of a girl who takes on the role of relationship expert for her school allows the author to throw in some great basic advice on boundaries and respect, but it felt organic to the story. I adored the hero, and enjoyed the friendships as well. A little twee and young for me, but if I were under 25 it might hit five stars for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for this unbiased review.

oh my god i’m shaking!! this was incredible!! the bi representation? the relationship advice? the straight boy that i somehow managed to care about? perfection. cannot wait for the day this book comes out and more people can experience this adorable wonderful story.

one tiny caveat: some random australian terms here and there? did not hinder my reading experience but it was a bit jarring the first couple times

Bi-rep! Disneyland! Hate to love troupe! my god, this book is pure chaos and drama. I loved this ya rom-com. Darcy has a secret! She controls the letters in locker 89! No one knows it's her answering love questions until she gets caught by Brougham! In order to keep her secret, Darcy agrees to help Brougham win his girlfriend back. The tension and banter between these two is hilarious. I was laughing throughout this whole book! I can not wait to get my hands on physical copy of this one! A total gem!

Overview:
This story follows Darcy (I love this name), a bisexual girl who may go unnoticed in the halls of her school, but who hides a big secret. So Darcy goes to this school, but not just to study, because she also runs a "small" business where the students leave letters attached to $10 dollars in an abandoned locker just to get her personal advice. No one knows she is that person, only her older sister. Until now, because Alexander Brougham just discovered her by removing the letters from the locker. So he proposes a deal. He won't say anything about her identity, in exchange for her being his personal dating coach so he can get his ex-girlfriend back. And she accepts it, bc no one can know it's her, especially her best friend, Brooke.

As a YA novel, it highlights the normality with which the characters accept their homosexuality or bisexuality. It has both LGBTQ+ and heterosexual characters. And it deals with issues such as adolescent relationships, gender roles, LGBTQ+ visibility and phobias.

The love component is very important, with an undecided Darcy who is involved in a very particular kind of love triangle, with a girl and a boy. But not just any girl, she's in love with her best friend Brooke. Soooooo exciting.
And about the boy, well... I think I don't have to tell you, it's very obvious who he is. But you are going to love him, he is an idiot, but a very cuuuute idiot.

I loved reading this book, and if you give him a chance, it will be hard for you not to fall in love with some of the characters, the main characters like Darcy, Alexander and Brooke, or his sister Ainsley or his friends like Finn and all the Q&QC.

There are only a few novels where bisexuality is the main character. And Perfect on Paper is one of them.

I loved this book! It has all the fun interactions of a typical high school, but with a fun twist. Lot's of coming of age and relationship fun to appeal to many readers. A little mature for my middle school readers, so not recommending it for below 9th grade. Title is perfect as the main character can give out advise freely, but can't follow her own advise when it comes to her own life and realationships.

ReviewI really enjoyed this YA story of romance, friendship and family. Fun characters and an inclusive storyline that was thoughtfully done.