This novel is a celebration of diversity--exuberant, witty, splashing emotions all over the place.

Meet Darcy, who adores Brooke, and who in spite of her out-there personality and lifestyle, has a secret life: she gives advice to her fellow teens via anonymous letters deposited in an otherwise unused locker.

The letters are interspersed between chapters in which Darcy is drawn into helping a guy get his ex girlfriend back. Watching that friendship turn into something else is one of the joys of this novel, especially when Darcy begins to realize what's going on, and fears she's losing her queer street cred.

In this deceptively comedic, even wacky style, the novel confronts the hassles bi people get from both straight people and gay people, and sometimes from within. Then there's the whole discussion about secrecy and the power the advice-giver wields, and what their motives might be.

One of the other joys of this novel is Ainsley, Darcy's sister, who always has Darcy's back--and the support both sisters get from home.

Altogether a real roller-coaster ride, full of laughter, tears, insight, bringing our characters into safe harbor. Reading it this time of year, with so much anxiety and hatred and divisiveness in the world was exhilarating.

I loved Only Mostly Devastated by this author. This is another fun book. I love all the diverse characters and how it represents the real world and how it isn't just straight and white characters. It's funny and sweet. A great book.

This was a charming book of friendship and love. Kind of gave me Simon Vs. the Homosapiens Agenda vibes! Very sweet! Lot’s of LGBTQ representation. It was lovely!

Sophie does such a wonderful job creating characters I am quickly invested in. Loved this book a ton. Can’t wait for others to read it! It will definitely be a hit.

Review copy courtesy of NetGalley.

I enjoyed this romcom featuring some LGBTQIA diversity. Darcy (assumed White) is the secret relationship guru behind a locker that dispenses relationship device along with a nominal fee. She’s also a teacher’s kid at a wealthy prep school who happens to be in love with her best friend Brooke (Asian). She’s caught as the locker letter writer by a classmate (white Australian), who blackmails her into helping his relationship drama in real time. The book was breezy and fun, like watching a teen romantic comedy film from the 90s.

I'd like to start off by saying that I am an #ownvoices reviewer and I can confirm that the bi rep is the best bi rep I have read in a novel, ever, and I've read many books with really good bi rep as it is. I appreciated the nuanced conversations the story had about biphobia, especially the constant invalidation of bisexuality when someone bi is in a relationship with someone of the opposite gender. I just...I think I needed this book right now.

Moving on, I really enjoyed the writing (I laughed so many times!), the inventive plot line, and the banter between the two love interests. I appreciated that it wasn't insta-love-y and that we actually got to see them develop their feelings for each other over time amidst misunderstandings. Usually I hate when misunderstandings are used as a plot tool, but here it made sense!

I do think the pacing was a bit off, with what felt like the climax at the 60% mark and then the resolution taking up the next 40%, but I honestly don't have that many qualms about this book. It was cute, sweet, reminded me why my love life is absolute garbage, and validated my sexuality. (We love to see it.)

I would like to note that the reason this isn't a 5 star read isn't so much anything the book did wrong, but more that it didn't illicit a strong enough emotional reaction out of me for a 5 star. Some points were cliché, I definitely knew what was going to happen from the get-go, and ultimately despite all the important conversations it had, it didn't bring anything groundbreaking to the table.

But with that said, of course, I did absolutely adore this and I highly, highly recommend it.

(Although one last note...I could tell immediately that the author doesn't live in California because Disneyland is far too expensive for someone who describes herself as poor to be park-hopping in one day and going whenever the heck she feels like it. And, a girl from LA wouldn't be surprised to hear that Australian students don't have a traditional indoor cafeteria because California students don't either :) )

-Book Hugger

Thank You NetGalley and the publisher for this book!
I recently read Sophie's book Only Mostly Devastated, and I enjoyed it so much! So when I saw this book on NetGalley and I new I had to read it!
I really enjoyed this book! I loved the concept of anonymous person giving love advice through a locker (where was that when I was in High School). It had everything I want in a book love, humor, drama. Loved all of the representation of the queer community. Darcy was a great MC that was so relatable. In the beginning I did not really like Brougham in the beginning but he grew on me in the end. Overall I really enjoyed this book!
Also posted on Goodreads!

This book is everything I wanted. I just finished and honestly can’t stop smiling. It’s genuine good-hearted romance with tons of representation and all of the classic high school hijinks to boot.

This book is ideal for fans of Becky Albertalli and Jenny Han books! Darcy Philips represents those who are single, but constantly gives advice to those who are in a relationship or those who want to be in one. I love her relationship with Brougham which doesn't start off on a great foot. It's disguised as blackmail but she'll also be getting paid for a job she does anyway at a higher rate than what she's been getting. This is an adorable YA book that YA contemporary fans can indulge in.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Either Sophie Gonzales is a relationship therapist, or she has read every book on the market on relationships. In <u>Perfect on paper,</u> Darcy Phillips is a budding relationship doctor who operates anonymously out of locker 89 in her private high school. She learns the hard way why professionals are bound by so many confidentiality and conflict of interest rules. Darcy is caught in quite a few of those situations when her own love life stirs up trouble.

Darcy is an extremely emotionally intelligent teen, but like most of us, she has trouble distancing herself from her own issues when the spotlight is squarely on her own emotions. She has a huge crush on her best friend Brooke, but an unexpected friendship between a new client, Brougham, brings an interesting wrinkle into her love life.

Darcy's sister, Ainsley, is transitioning. Ainsley started the Queer and Questioning club at their private high school. Darcy is openly bisexual, but has never seriously ventured into the "relationship quagmire" - which is ironic, given her moonlighting job!

The dialogue is often deeply introspective, intelligent and even funny. I enjoyed spending time with Darcy and her gang. There were times when I felt there was too much description of physical settings, but I also gathered that the author felt that each character's physical environment reflected an aspect of their emotional issues. One house was cluttered but cozy; another would be over-the-top pristine and showy. Darcy and Brougham's characters reflected their "homescapes."

I rate this a solid 4 out of 5. (I would have given this one a 5 out of 5 rating, but whenever I encounter distancing vocabulary - "Schadenfreude" being on the top of my list - I start to deduct points. And hey, I know I shouldn't throw any stones! I used to memorize a new word every day in high school, but I realized that when I tried to use these rare gems in conversation, I came across as a "show off." My friends called me on this more than once. It was like speaking another language at the dinner table: very excluding. And here is another big point reducer: I dislike when authors don't translate their foreign dialogue - either in brackets or in a footnote. This is just my own point of view, but my reasoning is that if we are ever going to be an inclusive society, we should try not to leave ANYONE out of the conversation. (Also, the flow of the story gets interrupted whenever you have to pause and Google a translation!) All hail to you polyglots out there - and I myself can speak several languages - but we need to build bridges, not roadblocks, with our words.

This was a very well written, intelligent story. I highly recommend this novel, and am on the waiting list for this author's other books.

If you’re looking for a fun and queer teen romance, this is definitely it. The main character Darcy is openly bisexual and I enjoyed the way the book presented the issue of biphobia and the sometimes uncomfortable place that bisexuality has in the queer community. The romance of the story is filled with little cues and misunderstandings that come off quirky and fun. I did feel that sometimes Darcy went too far into the explanation of her advices and the science behind it all, and found myself skimming through those paragraphs. Despite that, it was fun to see her struggle to follow her own advice and apply those guidelines and exceptions to herself. This was a good quick read.

4,5/5 stars. Perfect on Paper is the bi-rep, Charlie Bartlett (minus the prescription pills) romcom that 2021 needs! I really enjoyed Sophie Gonzales' Only Mostly Devastated, and this story has the same humor, cute queer characters, and engaging dialogue. It follows Darcy Phillips, who runs a secret romance/relationship advice business through locker 89 at her high school. She is discovered by swim hottie Alexander Brougham, who is desperate for advice, and she begrudgingly agrees to help him.

I really enjoyed watching this story develop, including a very cute date scene at Disneyland, all of the nuggets of really good relationship advice that are sprinkled throughout the book (you can learn about attachment styles!), supportive friendships, and a description of a horror movie that would scare my socks off!

The book slows down for me in the last third, and it started to feel bogged down by the consequences of Darcy's actions. This reminded me slightly of Sex Education, although much cleaner and with fewer bad decisions on the part of the teenagers included. I was rooting for these characters all the way through, and it has cemented my interest in reading all future books written by Gonzales. Thanks to NetGalley for the early review copy, all opinions are my own.

I will give a full review of this book on www.pluckyreader.com, but I cannot say enough good things about PERFECT ON PAPER. The premise is lovely, the storytelling is masterful, the characters are relatable and perfect in their imperfection. This is a book I will definitely recommend to my students and readers at every opportunity. It deals with important conversations, like bi erasure and how complex and complicated sexuality really is. It was a book I had trouble recovering from once it was over.

A very enjoyable read. Darcy is a smart and caring lead character. She never backs down, and she doesn't change herself to make Brougham like her. And she helps him with his issues. I also loved the supportive parents in this book as a support for Darcy, and in opposition to Brougham's very flawed (and realistically so) parents. There's a lot of humor and realistic teen talk in this book. I would recommend to my students.

Relationship advice for the YA set .... impressively compiled and realistically applied. But the LGBTQ+ dialogue was on point! You don't often get to discuss the 'B', but the voice lent to that conversation is needed and appreciated. What starts out as advice on dating for high school students turns into a tale of trusting how a person makes you feel about yourself.

Review won't be available on my blog, The Reading Fairy until March 8th, 2021

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars!

TW: biphoba, blackmail, ableist language, divorce, description of sex, drug use, mention of vomit, cheating, use of alcohol, breakup, doxxing
Rep: Bisexual MC, Queer (Ace/Aro, bi, gay, trans, pansexual, enby) side characters, Black side character

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publicist via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion.

“Love makes people softer”

I’ve been eyeing this book for a little bit, mostly because I adored Only Mostly Devastated and the bisexual representation in the book. This is one of the very few books that I could think about right now, especially with the bisexual representation in it, and how much it tackled.

Probably might be thinking that bisexual rep. is a little common in books? But honestly, this book felt special-mostly because it tackled internalized biphobia from both society and from the queer community. It brought tears to my eyes, because even though I may be a-spec, I still identify as bisexual. And I have thought that I couldn’t be queer if I was attracted to the opposite gender multiple times.

But what also makes this book special, is that it has a m/f relationship in it. Most books that have a bisexual protagonists only do sapphic romances in them.

But also, can we just talk about the queer rep in particularly? We have an a-spec side character in it and it just makes me feel seen. There was was quite a bit of other queer characters in which they created their own space and club where they talk about all things queer and stuff. And the diversity is just chef’s kiss.

This book felt like 3 stars for a while, but after that Disney chapter-I may have gave upped my original rating. It was adorable, and honestly it was such an original idea that I really liked it.

Locker 89 is a locker that sends out advice from the letters they get, and money. And Darcy is behind it, giving advice from friendships, relationships and consent until someone-Alexander Brougham, finds out who the person running Locker 89 is. And now, Darcy is stuck helping him unless he tells everyone who really is behind Locker 89.

It almost reminds me of The Half of It on Netflix, a film I really adore. I got those kinda vibes from it, but those vibes helped me enjoy this book a lot more. It was really good, and how the romance was developed.

I loved it quite a bit. I loved the way Sophie Gonzales wrote Brougham and Darcy. The romance was so believable, and I adored every second of it.

An anonymous love advice locker and two people who run into each other at the exact wrong time, what could go wrong? The story follows Darcy Phillips, a highschooler who runs a side business of giving love advice to anyone for just $10 and it all has to be done anonymously through a letter in a defunct locker. Too bad for Darcy, she gets caught by Alexander Brougham, who is willing to blackmail and pay Darcy to help coach him get his ex back. And so begins one very quirky and very cute love story. Darcy has been in love with her best friend Brooke since forever and can’t seem to ever make it work. Brougham challenges Darcy and she finds herself really looking at what she’s doing and maybe seeing that Brougham isn’t as cold and rude as he seems. I adored the enemies to friends to maybe something else that was between Darcy and Brougham. They had so much chemistry and they had adorable and such sweet bonding moments. Darcy is part of the LGBTAQ club at her school and her feelings and fears on biphobia really touched me. I had so much fun reading this book and watching the bond between Darcy and Brougham grow was just the best! I would highly recommend this for anyone looking for a fun and great romance story!

I received an early e-arc of Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this title as it was blurbed by Becky Albertalli and is compared to her novel Leah on the Offbeat, and I wasn't disappointed by this comparison. I think that if you like any of Becky Albertalli's books then you will also like this story.
Perfect on Paper was a fun queer contemporary story about a bisexual girl giving anonymous love and relationship advice to her classmates via Locker 89, she then gets caught opening the locker by a popular guy who then hires her to help him win his ex-girlfriend back.
I liked the addition of the Queer and Questioning club that Darcy and her friends were apart of as well as the conversations that Darcy had by talking about her experience being bisexual and feeling as though this identity was erased based on who she had crushes on/was dating. There were many LGBT+ characters throughout the novel and the Queer and Questioning club provided a safe space for most of the LGBT+ characters.
I also thought Darcy's sister, Ainsley's, YouTube channel, thrift shop hauls and tailoring was an interesting part of the story.
Overall I gave Perfect on Paper 3 out of 5 stars, I would definitely recommend if you liked Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda or any of Becky Albertalli's books.

This book was interesting to read, not at all what I was expecting. I found it to be quite mature, the subject matter and things that were being dealt with, I would not recommend it for a young audience, but the characters were quite immature in how they handled things, so that was confusing to me.

I am apologizing right off because this turned into an essay but:

I'm giving this baby—⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ !

Perfect On Paper by Sophie Gonzales is an unapologetic, queer YA rom-com where the endgame pairing is m/f.

Yes. You heard me RIGHT.

We follow Darcy Phillips, a bisexual high-school girl who is in love with her best friend Brooke, supports the hell out of her trans sister Ainsley—oh, and she has been running an anonymous relationship advice business out of the mysterious Locker 89 for two years now. Normal stuff.

When Darcy is approached (completely out of Locker 89 protocol) by Alexander Brougham, they come to an accord: Darcy will help the aloof, sarcastic, emotionally stunted Brougham win back his ex-girlfriend and Brougham will keep Darcy's secret. A simple case of equivalent exchange.

Of course, love is never simple.

OKAY SO.

This book took me through an absolute slew of emotions. Darcy made me crazy for the first two chapters until I, with utter clarity, realized I was annoyed because I saw myself in her. (You know what they say about being friends with yourself? Yeah.)

She is a loving person. Witty, sarcastic, a hyperactive chaos gremlin. But as a secret advice-giver she struggles with both her ego and the pressure she puts on herself to make sure all of her advice is absolutely 100% perfect. Her love for Brooke makes her completely blind to her own bullshit (and I feel like many of us can relate to that) often mistaken protectiveness for petty jealousy. I vividly remember being in a similar situation in school and wondering where all of these conflicting feelings were coming from. (Hello, bi awakening) But the way she took charge of herself, the growth we see from her—it was fantastic to watch an MC make HUGE mistakes, suffer for them, and make amends FOR the people they hurt and not just for themselves.

Alexander genuinely made me laugh out loud. *Oh* do I know what it's like to fall for a smart-mouthed boy on complete and total accident. He was layered. Every glimpse we got of his personality, his likes/dislikes, how he saw the world, I was a little more charmed and just as annoyed about it as Darcy was. Their communication styles were so entirely different and I was rooting for them SO HARD by act two. The misunderstandings were almost torturous.

INTERVENTION: Ainsley is the best sister ever and no one can tell me otherwise. We need to scream about this beautiful, sweet, completely FERAL girl forever because YES.

Ahem, moving on.

I also need to say that this book made me cry. Darcy struggles, as a bi girl who's queer identity has been such a big part of her, with her crush on a straight boy. She struggles with the internalized bi-phobia that I think many of us have gone through or do go through. It comes down to the question: Are we queer enough if we date the opposite gender? Does falling in love with this person really erase us? Does it exclude us from the community we love and identify with?

And the answer should be a resounding NO. But for many of us who find ourselves in relationships with the opposite-presenting gender (or who haven't been in a relationship at all, or never dated someone of the same gender, etc) this haunts us. Even within the community we are told we are "straight-passing* and maybe we do pass, but that doesn't erase the fact that we are still queer. And Darcy confronting this very real fear, these true anxieties and being supported and loved and reaffirmed in her queer identity—yeah, I cried about it.

I felt seen. I felt heard. I felt understood. And I believe that others will too. This isn't just a love story, this is a love *letter* to all people in the queer community that think they aren't enough. And also an acknowledgment that none of us are perfect, or free from our own bias, but that we can learn and grow and come out better as long as we open ourselves to that change.

I cannot recommend this book enough. When it hits the shelves 09 March 2021 you BET that I will be sliding it in right next to Only Mostly Devastated and going back to it with fondness.