2021 is the year of the YA.

I believe that the YA genre has so many poignant and important reads releasing this year, and Perfect on Paper is one of them. While I am not a typical YA fan, this one captured my heart and made me think along the way. That is the sign of a well-rounded novel.

Darcy is keeping a secret. She is the one that collects all the letters placed in a lone locker in the school. These letters are written by students in the school looking for advice, and Darcy gives them what they ask for...but she wants to remain anonymous. Then a popular boy in the grade above her finds her taking the letters and her cover is blown. She will have to leverage helping him with his own problems to keep hers hidden.

I am impressed by how effortless this novel was written where I felt like I was a student at Darcy's school and experiencing the trials of teenagers today. I think that is highlight to this novel that expresses many viewpoints and situations that this age group experiences. There's so much respect and knowledge in this book with a sweet romance wrapped up in the story. Darcy was a pitch perfect main character and her friendships matched the well-written characterization. I will certainly recommend this to all of my YA fans. This story is brave, bold, and beautiful. Well-done.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

THE BI REP. THE POC REP. VIET REP. TRANS REP.

Just the rep in this book is *chef's kiss*.

This was my first Sophie Gonzales novel and now I want to read SO MANY OF HER THINGS. And I want her to write so many stories.

I would recommend this story to those looking for a more grown-up story similar to Simon V. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, pick this up.

A great book for fans of the YA genre (both young and old). This book dropped me right back into my high school years and I loved every bit of it.

* I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This book had so many wonderful things going for it. Darcy was such a fun character to read. Watching her grow through all of the incidents in this book is what kept it so fresh.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is that it covers so many little relationship things like getting closure, knowing how to express yourself, and being open to new experiences. Those are all such important lessons for the target audience to learn. The relationship between Darcy and her sister was also captivating to me. The fact that they were always there for each other and had the hard discussions as well. However, my favorite character was Brougham. I felt that he was such a great person for Darcy to know and grow from. I loved their relationship and felt like it was definitely something that was healthy for both of them.

The storyline was quick and I never felt like it dragged or sped up too quickly. It's definitely one that I will be purchasing for the library, as our students love a good enemies to lovers relationship. I enjoyed this book so much!

This was really disappointing. Considering how fun and well written this author's debut was, her sophomore book had pretty heavy exposition and I did not feel like the characters had unique voices. I don't know. I didn't end up finishing this so maybe it gets better but it didn't pull me in at all.

I personally like Highschool, because it’s a time where you’re not a child but not yet a grown up. You’re like in the middle trying to figure out what you want and who you want to be. This story talks about of young love, having crushes, accepting who you really are, and the emotional and identity struggles of young people. The characters are charming, and the story is entertaining.

I absolutely love this YA rom-com!
Darcy is in high school and anonymously gives love advise to all her classmates thanks to letters and a locker until she gets caught.
It is a lovely book full of representation of the LGBTQ community, diversity and inclusion. It was a nice, refreshing read.
Thanks netgally, st. Martin press and the wonderful author for my ARC. Please make sure to read this amazing book.

Thanks to Wednesday Books and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales.

This was a fun YA rom-com where Darcy a bi-sexual girl gives anonymous love advice to her classmates.
It's full of LGBT+ representation and diversity.

In PERFECT ON PAPER by Sophie Gonzales, Darcy is the local anonymous love guru at her school. Her record is nearly perfect, and her advice is continuously sought after. However, after Darcy is caught by Australian student Brougham, he strikes a deal with her; he will not reveal her identity to the whole school IF she helps him win back his ex. A delightfully queer twist on Pride and Prejudice, PERFECT ON PAPER is perfect for your next read and comes out on March 9th!

I was so charmed by so much of this story. There were moments where I found myself smiling or giggling or otherwise just completely caught up in the adorableness of it. And I adored Brougham. Like, I crazy adored him. He was my type of grumpy hero with the heart of gold. I loved how he opened up over the course of the story and gave glimpses of his inner goofball. I loved his dry humor and his contrary nature. And I loved - loved loved loved - how he cared for Darcy.

Darcy was a little more of a tougher sell for me. While I felt like she had a generosity of spirit and a big heart, some of her actions were just...really off-putting. But also? Probably true to her age (and in a couple of places, my inner 16 year old self felt her angst on a cellular level). And in the end, I was happy with the way it was all resolved. And I loved her with Brougham,. There was a sweetness and an honesty to their relationship that felt so heartfelt to me. But I also appreciated the honesty in the inner-conflict/turmoil Darcy felt while sorting through her own feelings for him. In this, I felt like everything was basically perfection.

Overall - this was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It took a bit for me to settle in to the story, and then there were parts that felt like they dragged. I found myself doing a fair amount of skimming, particularly in the first half. I really loved the writing - I found it engaging and relatable (hence, how charmed I was by so much of the story!). But the pacing of the storytelling felt off to me, or maybe it was just that I wasn't as invested in all storylines? In any case, I enjoyed more than I didn't enjoy and as the story went on, I found myself more and more invested in almost all storylines. There's a lot of goodness on these pages, and I think that anyone looking for LGBTQ representation (and diversity in general, honestly) should definitely pick this one up!

This is not bad but I got real annoyed at the 70% mark. I eventually got over it enough to finish but it definitely dampened my over all experience, which wasn't the highest to begin with. I didn't really care about the characters either way. There was some good conversations and I enjoyed the premise in theory but my main issues were from how some of the events played out. It's really not a bad read but its not something I'm going to remember.

4.5 stars for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love the representation. It also read perfectly for high school and the misunderstandings that we make at those ages.

This was a charming story about Darcy who has a crush on her Best friend forever and also secretly gives love advice to her classmates. Her problem comes when she gets caught by one of the popular guys in school. Luckily for her, he doesn’t plan on exposing her, he just wants her help. I fell in love with all of the characters. I loved the diverse representation of POC and the LGBTQ + community. I don’t want to give away too much in this review but this was a well rounded story that talked about family, expectations of others as well as ourselves. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy! This will be out March 9 !!! So stay tuned!!

Thank you to Wednesday Books (via NetGalley) for the ARC!

Darcy Phillips: high school student, relationship advice-giver, bisexual disaster. And ohh my gosh I love her so much. She is one of my favorite contemporary YA protagonists I’ve read in a long time.

Darcy gives advice out of locker 89. People put letters in seeking relationship advice (along with payment, if they can) and Darcy answers via an anonymous email account. Her mom is a teacher at the same school, so Darcy managed to swipe the combination early in her high school career, and has made quite a lucrative business out of giving people advice for their relationship woes. No one knows Darcy’s secret, not even her best friend Brooke. The very same Brooke with whom Darcy has been in love forever. No one, that is, until one day Alexander Brougham, a guy Darcy kind of vaguely knows, catches her taking letters out of locker 89 one day. Brougham needs Darcy’s help to get his girlfriend back, so they make a deal: he’s going to hire Darcy for her services, and in turn, he’ll keep her secret from the rest of the school. However, things start to get really complicated when Darcy does something that Brooke may never forgive her for, and Darcy also starts to realize that maybe she doesn’t want to help Brougham get his girlfriend back. Yikes!

If you have read any of my reviews before, you probably know I am a sucker for contemporary romance (YA or adult. I do not care. Give it ALL to me!). This is my first Sophie Gonzales book, which is definitely my bad because I own her debut Only Mostly Devastated, and it is currently staring at me from my bookshelf. But after reading this delightful book, I am so much more excited to get to that one!

One of my favorite things is how unashamedly Gonzales writes her bisexual characters. She is vocal about how important that is to her on Twitter (I’ve followed her for quite a while, and she talks about it often), and I love how that comes across in this book. Darcy is proudly bisexual, but she is also uncertain sometimes. Which is so accurate! I feel that in my bones! And there is an extremely powerful scene during her school’s Queer & Questioning Club where Darcy, worried that crushing on or dating a straight guy would negate her sexuality, brings up these fears with her friends. She is honest and vulnerable but also unafraid to explain to her friends how biphobia and bi-erasure are hurtful. How she will be seen as straight if she dates a guy. How it’s hurtful that someone tells her, “Well at least you won’t have to deal with homophobia, then.” I have never seen that in a novel, and I am SO EXCITED that this is going to be in a YA book. I am thrilled that young people will get to read this identity-affirming scene because I can tell you, as a full-grown adult, I STILL have thoughts like this where I question if my bisexuality is a valid identity. Internalized biphobia is so insidious, and to have it addressed head-on like this in a contemporary YA romance novel is so amazing to me!

Anyway, the plot of this book is so much fun, and the side characters are well-developed. I absolutely LOVE Darcy’s sister Ainsley. She is cooler than I could ever hope to be and is the most supportive big sister. I wholeheartedly recommend this book! It releases March 9th, so go pre-order it, request it at your library or do both!

4.25 Stars

Well, this was a lot funnier than I was expecting! I highlighted a LOT of this book, especially at the beginning where Darcy's humor and character really shine. She is very funny and I enjoyed getting to read her.

This book does a great job of connecting the story along with the letters that Darcy is receiving in locker 89. And you can tell that Sophie really did her research for Darcy's replies. There was actually a lot of really good advice in there.

I enjoyed the couples that we got in this book, there were some definite CUTE moments and I loved reading them.

One thing I really want to touch on and praise in this book is a running plot point about Darcy being bisexual. There's a big conversation toward the end at the Q & Q club about how bisexual people are often misunderstood as either being straight or gay/lesbian depending on if they're dating someone who is their own gender or someone who is a different gender. How if they date someone from a different gender some queer people see them as not being "queer enough". It was a great discussion and had me in tears.

Overall, I didn't LOVE the plot but the story overall was great.

This is a really fun book with great characters. It's a quick read and very heartfelt. Can't wait to read more by Sophie Gonzales!

Wow... I absolutely loved the representation in this book. It was perfectly done with such variety. I imagined how schools are so much more open now with sexuality and identity than when I was in school, and this is a good portrayal of that. The letters and reading the advice responses was a really fun addition. It reminded me a bit of the show Sex Education, but cleaner and for a younger audience. I liked how the friendship between Broughman and Darcy gradually grew, with a lot of sarcasm and banter. It made for some hilarious moments and really kept the momentum going. As an adult, I enjoyed this story, but I feel like young adults would appreciate it even more.

Have you ever wished you had an agony aunt to write to during highschool? This book is for you if so!

Conquering jealousy, mixed feelings, and biphobia (internalised and external), this is one of my new favourite books set in a highschool.

I loved the characters, and I love how Sophie wrote them, and honestly would sell five souls to read this book for the first time again.

Rating: 4.5/5

It took me a little while to get into this book (probably because I had such high expectations after loving Only Mostly Devastated), but I really loved the second half of the book. Brougham was a fantastic character, and he really helped Darcy to develop and become a more likable character. I also thought there was just the right level of "miscommunication causing drama" which is a very tricky balance. Overall I definitely would recommend this to YA romance fans!

First off, thank you Netgalley for granting me this amazing eARC.
Darcy Phillips, a junior, is the girl in charge of locker 89. She runs an anonymous dating advice business and one day comes across a troublesome situation and finds herself stuck in the middle.
The amount of character development shown in this book is amazing. I loved hearing each person's different story regarding their gender, and their feelings.
While I don't have an extensive amount to say on this book, it was well written and was not lacking in any way. I also loved how much LGBTQ+ representation this book had. Nevertheless, it was not for me. The writing style as well as the plot did not keep my interest and it a little felt slow-paced for my taste. (The only reason I will give the book a 3.5/5). I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. This is the type of book that should be turned into a movie.

I received an ARC through net galley.

I honestly can't put into words how good this book is, it's just so good.

The book is very lighthearted and fun but also had very serious moments and topics. I loved when they took the time in the Q&Q club to talk about biphobia, it's very serious and I'm glad that the book addressed it.

Their relationship was just so fun and relatable. She was so scared because she thought she was in love her best friend and she didn't even realize she liked him. They are so cute.