Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Wednesday Books this arc in exchange for a review!
I was such a huge fan of Only Mostly Devastated and I was thrilled that I got access to this arc. I think I enjoyed it even more. The story was so heartfelt and genuinely high school, full of all the messy complicated feelings that come with being a teen. The cast of main and supporting characters was wonderfully diverse and felt like my high school friend group. This combined with the adorable unique plot made me rate this book 5/5 stars.
The focus on bisexuality is so important. I felt represented on the page and I can't wait for high school teens to see themselves in a way that's so real and true to themselves.
I think I'll read anything that Sophie Gonzales writes, but this one felt extra special.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect on Paper was adorable. In it, you will meet Darcy and Alex. The way they meet was all kinds of awkward because Darcy kind of had an alter ego (in a way). See there's this locker at her school that doesn't belong to any student or staff. Yet, every once in a while a letter is dropped into it. Somehow they are mysteriously answered and the whole thing remains a mystery.

Well, it did until the day that these two met one another. Again, it was awkward but I had a feeling that something was going to happen to these two after that day. Luckily for me, it was a very cute adventure with some bumps along the way. I mean this book delivered on the drama but a lot of it was pretty predictable. I still enjoyed the heck out the book though.

In the end, I am glad that this didn't go down the love triangle route. Like beyond happy because I despise those. I'm also really happy that everyone was all friendly again towards the end. Plus Alex and Darcy were pretty darn cute. Ugh, loved this book and definitely look forward to my next book by this author.

I loved the representation in this book. It was true to gen z and millennial culture. It was a great romantic light read for these times.

4.5 stars rounded up

I loved this! It has a great plot, with relatable characters and some emotional moments that gave me the feels.

Darcy has a great job, she's the mysterious relationship guru at her school, giving great advice at ten dollars a pop. She takes it seriously and keeps things professional, except when it comes to her best friend and crush Brooke. When she's caught by popular hottie Brougham, she begins helping him get back his ex girlfriend and lets him into her life. I thought Darcy and Brougham's friendship was great, they tease and push each other's buttons, but also feel safe to open up about their insecurities and secrets. I just wanted to push them together and let them be happy.

There's also a theme of friendship and family, which I adored. Darcy has a major crush on Brooke, but it doesn't always bring out the best in her. I couldn't get enough of Darcy's relationship with Ainsley, her transgender sister. They played off each other so well and are sister goals for sure.

Finally, the discussion of bi-phobia and the validity of being queer and part of the LGBTQ community was amazing. Anyone can belong and no one should feel the need to 'prove' they are queer enough.

Loved loved this and I look forward to when it gets released! I highly recommend checking this out.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I really can’t say enough about this book. I absolutely loved ONLY MOSTLY DEVASTATED and this book was no different. Sophie Gonzales is turning into an autobuy for me (except obviously I keep reading her eARCs). BUT! It is fairly rare that I NEED to buy a book after reading an eARC and that keeps happening with Gonzales.

Let me break it down.

The plot: Secret love advice, criss-crossing love triangles(?), messy lies, and more. There is nothing I love more. From the very beginning, I was invested in the story and the characters. It never waned. And once everything went to shit (because of course it did) it was like watching an accident on the highway. I just couldn’t look away. But also, the second-hand embarrassment and other complicated feelings were very real.

Gonzales also has a great way of slipping in really strong subplots. Too often in YA romances, the subplots are super weak, if they’re there at all. She’s an expert, though. Ollie’s aunt’s cancer in OMD was spot on. The subplots here were also pretty strong (though, they didn’t have quite the punch as cancer). Brougham’s family drama, Darcy’s complicated relationship with her mom, her amazing relationship with her sister, and more.

The characters: Darcy was an amazing main character. She was complicated and messy, but also loving and determined. She was the perfect balance of strengths and weaknesses. I love her fascination with relationship counseling (and Youtubers haha); it’s such a unique characteristic. Her advice really is spot on. She takes what she’s given and finds a way to kindly problem-solve her classmates dating lives. A lot of her advice centers around communication (something she does not excel at her own personal life) and deciding what is best for themselves. But there are more “scientific” details to back up her advice, which was just fascinating.

And then there’s Brougham. Oh, Alexander. He seems like your typical douchy, prep school guy, but there’s a lot more to him beneath the surface. He was a caring, lovable, funny counterpart to Darcy. I just love him. Darcy and Brougham’s banter was spot on. And it was so sweet to watch Darcy progress from actual “insulting” banter cause she didn’t like the guy, to cute, “I actually love you” banter.

The side characters were all amazing too! Darcy’s sister Ainsley was the best. Top-notch sibling relationship. Brooke was solid, too. And Finn! Haha I loved him.

LQBTQ+ rep. It was amazing to see this many queer characters all in one place. Darcy is bisexual, her sister is trans, her best friend (and girl she’s crushing on) is a lesbian. There are also other lesbian, gay, aro/ace, and non-binary side characters. I’m probably leaving out someone, too. There were just so many. It was glorious.

Biphobia takedown: One of the best aspects of this book was really Gonzales’ comments on real issues. Darcy struggles with her own “queerness” when she thinks she has real feelings for a guy. Her confronting the idea with her Q&Q club and getting the support she needs was amazing.

Anyway, I could go on and on. The point is: I adored this book. And I will throw this and OMD at anyone who will listen.

I loved this book so much. I loved the representation and I loved the romance between Darcy and Alexander. This book (kinda) had a love triangle since our heroine has been in love with her best friend for a long time but it's clear that she doesn't feel the same for her. It's one-sided and after a while, we see a shift in Darcy. One that she doesn't seem to understand immediately. Because she's starting to really like the boy who paid her for giving her advice on how to get his ex-girlfriend back.

You see, Darcy has a secret. She's the person behind the famous locker 89, the one where you'll receive good romantic advice if you put a letter with your problem inside it. Darcy is afraid it will come out since she did something selfish once and that concerns her best friend.

Overall, this book was pretty fantastic. At the very beginning, I was hoping Brooke would fall in love with Darcy but I quickly changed my mind and I don't regret it. I loved the banter between Alexander and Darcy and when they finally kissed and talked, it was so sweet!

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

TW: biphobia

First of all, I just want to thank the publisher for granting me this book in exchange for an honest review. It is such an amazing experience to be able to read books in advance since I am such an impatient person. And since I am majoring in English Language and Literature, it makes me feel like I am doing something right. Well, anyways I saw this book via someone's Bookstagram stories and I knew that I needed to read it.

I read Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales and to be honest, it is one of my favourite queer books. For me, it is one of those comforts reads that I want to reread constantly. So, reading and loving Only Mostly Devastated so much, I think I had big expectations about this book. Which is why, at first, I thought about DNF’ing this book when I was just a few pages in. In the end, I decided that it was wrong to compare the two books just because they have the same author. I am telling you beforehand, leave all of your expectations aside. It will be a better read then.

When I first started reading this book, I didn’t notice that the main relationship was between two people of different genders. And that fact is actually what sparked my interest. Because, before knowing about it, I was just thinking about bisexual/pansexual people in ‘straight passing’ relationships. I saw a post this specific topic a few days before finding out about this book, which made me question a lot of things. Because I experienced this firsthand. I had a boyfriend, back when I was about 12. I thought I was bisexual at the time, (I later discovered that I was, in fact, panromantic demisexual) and since I was 12 it was that time I was just starting to realize that I wasn’t straight. My boyfriend at that time was the first person I came out to. Because apart from being my boyfriend, he was also my best friend. This year, when I looked back at that moment I realized that he wasn’t as appreciative as I thought. I was full-on crying, afraid that my parents wouldn’t want me, and there he was saying that it wasn’t a big deal and that it wouldn’t matter because I could just fall for a guy and I wouldn’t even have to mention it. Those moments are real. The relationship isn’t straight if one of the people in the relationship isn’t straight. Even if the relationship is between a man and a woman. And being in this kind of relationship doesn’t make that person any less queer. We should all remember that. Because, even within the queer community, we can sometimes see that some people say this kind of queer representation isn’t real representation. By the way, this book had so much representation. Transexual, bisexual and lesbian rep, minor pansexual, ace, non-binary and gay rep. And I just want to say that I love how schools in the USA or the U.K or I don’t know, in the West, in general, have these clubs for queer and questioning people.

While I was reading the book, I had a complicated love-hate relationship with two major characters. Some of their behaviours pissed me off. But I think the fact that the characters made mistakes and made some questionable choices was what made the story more realistic. And in the end, they grew on me. The story kind of reminded me The Half Of It. Well, of course, it had major differences. So, from the moment I first started reading this book I thought that it could be easily turned into a movie. It felt like a movie while I was reading too. And, honestly, I can only hope that it gets turned into a movie because we all know that we aren’t at a time we have queer movies about just ‘love.’ It’s usually just about the struggles of being queer and while that is valid in every way, I think we also deserve just love stories. Not about coming out, not about being accepted. We need queer stories about love that we can look up to. And of course, this book had some heartbreak. But it was just the right amount and it wasn’t about being queer at all.

I loved seeing the e-mails and the letters Darcy got. I also loved seeing her responses to those emails. I feel like those interactions we got to see were much more meaningful. We get to see Darcy giving the ‘perfect’ advice and failing miserably when it comes to her own love life. So many of her advice felt on point but it was nice to see that life isn’t always what we expect. As long as we don’t invade other people’s privacy and personal space, there isn’t a rulebook we should follow. It usually doesn’t happen that way and we got to see that. Apart from these interactions, there were also some informative undertones to this work. Lately, a few books I’ve read had these undertones which I am so grateful about. There were some great points about the distinction between sexual attraction and romantic attraction. So many people don’t even realize this distinction and they aren’t aware of it. As a negative note, sometimes things felt overly detailed and it made me bored a little bit but that's probably me being depressed.

This was the perfect YA read I didn’t know I needed. I loved the LGBTQ aspects, sad to say I have no read many books with LGBTQ characters. There was so much growth, self realization, and other teenage struggles in the book. The main character, Darcy, irritated me at times but ultimately I loved her and her personal struggles throughout the book felt so relatable and the ending couldn’t have been better, in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an advanced readers copy of this book. All above opinions are my own.

I've been wanting to read Perfect on Paper ever since I read a comment Sophie Gonzales wrote about it on Goodreads, about how writing it was partially pushback against the criticism she'd received over having a bisexual character end up with a person of the opposite sex. As a bisexual teen, I've often been made to feel by people both inside and out of the LGBT+ community that I'm "not queer enough" whenever I express attraction to masculine-presenting human beings. I've even felt pressured, on multiple occasions, to speak negatively about my attraction towards men, as if it is some burden I would rather not carry, in order to feel accepted in queer spaces. I really wish I'd had a character like Darcy to hold on to when I was first struggling with these issues post-coming out. That was one of my favorite things about this book: it isn't a coming out story. Darcy is out and proud and openly discusses her bisexuality with her love interest, but still has niggling doubts about being viewed as not queer enough if she's in a "straight passing" relationship. Reading about Darcy's struggle with this internalized biphobia, and her friends' reassurance that she is queer, was exactly the sort of catharsis I was hoping to get from this story. And that was just one of the many many things I loved about the book!
Other things to love about this book: Awesome relationship advice that acknowledges that romance can be tricky and there's no one right way to approach a conflict. A variety of beautifully queer characters, including Darcy's sister who is a really badass trans YouTuber, High school musical discourse. And flirting at Disneyland! (Seriously this book might as well have been handcrafted for me because it gave me so many things I never even knew I needed from a contemporary. I finished it in a single evening because it made me so freaking happy I just couldn't put it down.

I really enjoyed this book even though I don't usually read queer rom coms. It pulled my attention in from start until finish! It had very few slow parts and kept a nice easy pace throughout. I thought the characters were well written and relatable.

Darcy Phillips has a secret that no one in her high school knows: she’s the mastermind behind Locker 89, where students go to share their relationship woes and get advice. When Alexander Brougham catches her in the act, he enlists her to be his relationship coach in exchange for keeping her secret, and an hourly fee of course. Darcy has a lot of reasons for wanting to keep her after-school activities a secret, from its questionable legality to the fact that she may have used her power to do something terrible to her best friend and secret crush, Brooke. All she has to do is help Brougham get his ex back. How hard could it be? I received an invitation to read a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at St. Martin’s Press. Trigger warnings: alcoholism, divorce, manipulation, bisexual erasure (countered), biphobia/some internalized (countered).

Sophie Gonzales is my new queen of contemporary YA. Only Mostly Devastated and Perfect on Paper are two of my favorite releases this year, and have you read the description for her upcoming Off the Record? Because YES PLEASE. In some ways, I like Perfect on Paper even more. Part of that is how utterly personal it feels to me having a bisexual main character who has both male and female love interests in the story (but no love triangle trope, don’t worry). I’ve read books with bi mc’s before, but never one that so directly addresses bi erasure and not feeling “queer enough” to be in queer spaces if we happen to be dating the opposite sex, like bisexuality is something that vanishes once we’re in relationships. So, thank you, Sophie Gonzales. I feel seen. There’s also a very cute wlw romance, a number of LGBTQ+, nonbinary, and poc side characters, and an absolutely amazing trans character that I love to bits. 10/10 would wear something Ainsley made for me with her mad sewing and fashion skills. I love their awesome sister relationship.

The other part is that Perfect on Paper feels a little more polished and cohesive as a novel. Maybe it was all the humor of Ollie’s perspective in OMD, but the narration in PoP feels slightly more mature, like Gonzales is more comfortable in her narration style. I found it easy to slip into, and the pages flew by because I didn’t want to stop reading. It’s relatively fast-paced, and there was only one point where I felt a little bogged down in the high school drama (but it’s a YA novel and I’m an adult reader, so that happens). I enjoyed the novelty of the relationship advice plot. On the one hand, there are all the many spectacular ways that can go wrong, but on the other, Darcy is always promoting healthy relationships, setting boundaries, and getting needs met on both sides.

If only it were that simple, right? As we can see with Darcy, it’s not as easy as it sounds, and she’s not in a position to make good choices when it comes to her best friend and secret crush, Brooke. While she does some things that aren’t okay, she spends much of the book realizing her mistakes and trying to make up for them. Her relationship with Brougham is more of a slow-burn with a hint of enemies to …? I won’t spoil anything by finishing that sentence. They don’t hit it off, but the more they get to know each other, the more supportive and understanding their friendship becomes. I ship it. Perfect on Paper is as good as its title promises, and it’s not to be missed for readers looking for wider representation in their YA contemporary romances.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Boy times have changed since my day in HS. Ok ok it was over 20 years ago, but still. lol.
However, even in my Gen X old age, I still LOVED everything about this book.
The characters are alive and jump off the pages to you. They are all relatable and just awesome to read about!

After I read this, I gave it to my freshman to read and she was done with the book within a matter of hours she enjoyed it that much. When I asked her why, her response was "Sophie Gonzales just gets it!" which is the highest honor a teen can bestow on someone!

Such an interesting story that I read it all in one sitting! It's rare to see such a diverse cast of characters in any book, much less one for the YA audience. Darcy is a relatable protagonist, and I found myself rooting for her and laughing at her quips.

This was the perfect read for #BiVisibilityDay this year! I loved Perfect on Paper and hope we keep seeing many more fun romcoms with great representation like this (which I wish I'd had when I was in high school, but better late than never).

This was a really cute, sweet romance. It's predictable, but a little bit of predictable is expected a romance. I loved reading about the relationship progression between the two main characters. I appreciate when characters in a romance spend time together and get to know each other before falling for each other.

WOW! Sophie Gonzales has truly done it again. I did not think there was any way for her to beat out my love of Only Mostly Devastated but BOOM - She did it. I am beyond shook after having read this book.

One thing I loved so dearly about OMD is that we saw a bi character in a m/f relationship and I don’t think we see enough of that. Bi people are still bi no matter who they are dating. In OMD that was very much a side plot but here that is the front and center narrative. Darcy is so beautifully and unabashedly queer, even when she starts to have feelings for Alexander. Her queerness is such an integral part of her identity and it was fantastic to see how Darcy navigated that while within a m/relationship.

Without giving anything away there is a scene at the end of this book in a meeting of the Queer and Questioning club that is so earth shatteringly important. You will know exactly what scene I am talking about when you get to it. I promise. I was a WRECK of emotions.

Everyone needs to read this book. It is so clear the care and love Sophie put into each and every page. Darcy is smart, funny, and such a fantastic mess. Sophie has a way of writing that keeps you engaged every step of the way. There was not a moment of this story that felt slow or rushed. It moved at the exact right pace it needed to move.

Sophie is also so great about building an entire world within her books. We not only have fantastic and multifaceted main characters but the entire world of Perfect on Paper is made up of a whole incredibly diverse ensemble of side characters. There is literally room for everyone to feel represented in this book. This type of book is SO NEEDED in the YA space right now. Sophie Gonzales is a master of the page and I cannot see what she gives us next!!

Also shout out for the first time I have ever seen an author pull out the word Schadenfreude! That is one of my favorite words of all time.

First off, this had excellent and well-rounded queer representation. I love that Darcy was struggling with her bisexuality and how it defined her throughout the book. The relationship between her and Brougham was a lovely friendship that blossomed into something more. I loved the depth of understanding that came from Darcy's attempt at trying to learn the inner-workings of her classmates (and Brougham). I was on edge about how the whole locker 89 secret was going to come out but [I was very happy that Darcy was the one who ended up revealing it to Brooke (hide spoiler)]. Also, Darcy's sister Ainsley was a wonderful comic relief (and a huge support!). Everything tied neatly together and I had been hopeful that [the locker 89 advice would continue after the truth was revealed so I was happy the book ended with that as a potential Brougham/Darcy project (hide spoiler)]!

"Perfect on Paper" is a fun, rom-com - esque YA story centered around Darcy, whose secret relationship advice giving business at school brings her anonymous popularity in the form of Locker 89, and also brings her plenty of headaches and heartaches, because love is complicated and messy. I thought this was such a cute story and I loved the premise of it. Darcy is a great character, and as much as I was rooting for her through the whole book, I appreciated that she was allowed to be incredibly messy and flawed. The other characters are all great, and I loved the wide range of LGBTQ+ identities that were represented in the book. I especially loved the ways in which Darcy navigated the world being bisexual, and the ways in which the book addressed biphobia, especially from the queer community. The scenes that dealt with this were so, so good and so important. The fact that this book got to center around a bi girl who starts falling for a guy and made sure to validate her queerness the entire time was so, so good. There are so few books that handle this at all and "Perfect on Paper" made sure to say loud and clear that people who are bisexual shouldn't have to feel like they're not queer enough, no matter the gender of their partner. Overall, the story was really enjoyable and I loved the slow-burn build up between Darcy and Brougham, along with Darcy's evolving relationships with her friends and family. The characters all got to mess up deeply, but also got the chance to work towards forgiveness, and I appreciated the realness of that. Definitely looking forward to this book being out in the world so more people can read it!

“A love letter to high school relationships, Sophie Gonzales’s Perfect on Paper is perfect and unputdownable.”

Author Becky Albertalli’s praise for Gonzales latest novel, “Perfectly Wonderful” is exactly how I would describe Perfect on Paper. I enjoyed everything about this book and more.

I often find the books I read where I take notes are the ones I end up falling head over heals for. Where I map out my reaction of certain passages, noting the deep feelings and emotions they caused and the memorable lines I wanted burned into memory. Where a love sick boy seeks out and hires the main character to be his relationship coach to get his ex-girlfriend back, but possibly falls for the main character instead??? In my notes I wrote: “melt my heart; internally screaming if this actually happens!”

Okay, so the first thing that popped into my head when I was reading Darcy’s letter’s that are scattered throughout the book like stars in an unlit sky, was of the radio show Love Line back in the 1990’s (which apparently is still on air).

My husband said he used to listen to Love Line when he was in high school. He was drawn into the questions people had about relationships and Dr. Drew’s advice. Plus the added bonus of the hilarious dynamic between the hosts, especially Adam Carolla. It was a way to get relationship advice when you didn’t have anyone else to ask.

Now, I know Darcy is not a licensed physician and there are a number of legal and ethical reasons for not running an anonymous relationship advice service through a school, but the advice she does give is helpful. With this in mind, there were many exceptional aspects about this book I adored, including the letters Darcy received and responded to.

What was most profound was how Gonzales explores friendship (both plutonic and romantic). Perfect on Paper dives into the depths of what it means to be a friend. How sometimes the water is dark and murky, unsure of what our friends actually wants versus what we want for them. And as we dive deeper our lungs burning, desperate for oxygen, we see how far we would go for those we care about. Craving the closeness, respect, and acceptance like a diver coming up for air.

It’s how Gonzales shows those layers of friendship that makes this novel perfect. Like pealing back an onion piece by piece, your senses fully aware of each layer being pulled back as the story unfolds. You feel the sting of uncertainty and rejection, your eyes watering with tears. While also tasting the full flavors of the unexpected and the delight that a new found friendship can mean.

The absolute beauty of this novel is the LGBTQ representation. For this reason, I love how Gonzales focuses on friendship. Because that’s what high school is all about. Making those friendships that build on who you surround yourself by and how you see yourself with and without those people in it. It feels personal, relatable. It shows the solidarity of having a safe space for being Queer, with representation across the spectrum. And Gonzales does not shy away from the truth of social discrimination and homophobia, particularly when it comes to being bisexual.

Darcy herself is Bi. And as a bisexual teenager she experiences homophobia in a different way, one that in essence delegitimizes her queerness because her sexual preference is both male and female. As the reader we experience those fears and anxieties first hand. Doubting herself and fearing that the Queer community won’t accept her as Queer if she’s in a relationship with a straight or bisexual boy. But the underlining message is clear by the end of the novel. That everyone, regardless of sexual preference or gender orientation wants one thing: to be accepted.

Perfect on Paper is extraordinary. Gonzales paints real people into her stories with dysfunctional families, complicated relationships, and characters who could be a reflection of ourselves or people we care about and know.

This is a read you won’t want to miss.

Happy Reading ̴ Cece

This is the first book I have read by Sophie Gonzales and I found it to be a pretty good YA rom-com. She unpacks a lot of LGBTQ+ issues and manages to work in all sort of family and relationship advice and analysis into it as well. On one hand I LOVED the book for this. Gonzales is skilled at weaving it all together with humor and your standard rom-com situations that involve lots of misunderstood signals and self discovery. The other edge to that sword is that it is A LOT and sometimes feels a little crammed. I'm unsure whether my high school readers will love that or be put off by it. I'm sure it will depend on the reader. I appreciate the fresh perspective/representation of a bisexual girl that chooses a hetero relationship and doubts her place in the queer community and her bisexual identity if she chooses to go this route. I have seen this situation play out before and it was nice to read a story for teens about this and watch Darcy process it. I happened upon Gonzales' comment on Goodreads about how this story came out of a train of twitter comments she was engaged in and I think she did a wonderful job of building the world and characters from the kernel idea.
Great YA read.