3.5/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I have some mixed feelings about this book. I did enjoy it but I didn't love it. Darcy was an okay main character. The romance was just okay, Nothing really stuck out to me. It was pretty predictable. My final thoughts are that this was an okay read. There were some cute moments, it has Bi rep ( which I cannot speak to its accuracy/ Representation), the writing was decent, and it was a short and easy read. Overall I would recommend it

I loved all the queer representation in this book, especially bisexual representation. Even the trans representation felt so natural and not forced. It just flowed into the story seamlessly as it should! There's also diversity shown in ethnicity as well as class/wealth. But I struggled a bit with the plot and was actually skimming the relationship advice parts quite a bit. It was a quick read but it didn't really hold my attention. I do think it's a great addition to queer YA books.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC!

Darcy Phillips is a precocious junior in high school running an anonymous advice service from an unused locker at school. Dear Locker 89 has been a steady income for Darcy since her freshman year. Students leave $10 and a letter seeking her help and she replies from an anonymous gmail account. Only her sister, Ainsley, who is in college, knows about the venture. Until a senior, Brougham, catches Darcy emptying the locker one afternoon and insists on her helping him, but in real life. Darcy agrees because she fears Brougham will tell everyone who is behind the locker advice if she doesn't help him.

**Spoilers ahead**

The logistics of Darcy obtaining the locker were ridiculous. Her mom teaches at the school so somehow fourteen year old Darcy manages to obtain the combination to the locker and remove it from the list of lockers without any adult knowing for over two years. As with all YA books the adults in the story are oblivious to what the kids are doing. I'm in my forties, have worked in a school, and I'm a mom to a teen. This would just not happen for that long without an adult noticing or hearing about it. Teens talk a lot. Adults would hear this and investigate. The whole situation does eventually come to their attention, but even then the reaction from Darcy's mom is minimal compared to what would really happen. Even how the school reacts was not how things would really go down. Especially with the student being a staff kid. This was not some silly prank. This could have been a legal nightmare for the school had her advice gone badly.

And let's talk about Darcy's advice. She has not been in a serious relationship. In fact, she's secretly been crushing on her bff, Brooke, for quite some time, but Brooke has no idea. However, Darcy has received letters from Brooke through the locker and also from girls interested in Brooke. You can guess how Darcy handles those. Again, this ends up blowing up in Darcy's face, but again, the fallout feels minimal compared to how things would play out in real life.

I know you're thinking how can I seem to be annoyed with the story, but give the book four stars. Well, Gonzales writes well and the characters are flawed, but that is what makes you like them. There is growth for Darcy. I could identify with her and how she could not see her own flaws. Who hasn't thought they knew everything about something as a teen and then been smacked harshly in the face with the reality they were wrong?

Gonzales also handles Darcy questioning her relationship with the queer community as a person who identifies as bi well. The discussion within the support group at school (overseen by a teacher! So, they do exist and interact with the students!) was enlightening and handled with sensitivity, but also realistic.

I also loved the way Darcy and Brougham's relationship progressed. Complete with Darcy missing her own failures to communicate effectively and seeing how the general relationship advice she's been spouting does not fit everyone. Darcy does consult books, youTube, and other sources to help her with the advice. But having limited real life experience herself she gets caught up in the theoretical side of things. Again, she grows here and Gonzales displays this well in her writing. Complete with true to life teen angsty worrying that helped me remember what it was like to be a teen and worrying about every little interaction. I do not miss those years.

If you can get past the implausibility of the locker situation and you enjoy YA books then you should check Perfect On Paper out when it hits stores on March 9, 2021. This is a great book for any age to gain more understanding of today's youth culture, especially those who identify with the queer community. I truly believe this generation's acceptance of everyone's differences will change this world for the better!

Well this was perfect on paper and in reality for me. I loved everything about this. The characters, the plot, the writing, and the representation. It was such a fabulous read! I stayed up way too late reading it last night because I could not put it down and now I am paying for it at work with exhaustion. It was worth it though! I love getting this excited about a story and I was excited about this one.

Wait a minute? Did I read this one in under 24 hours?!? I just am looking at the date I started and finished... I think I did! Well, if that is not endorsement enough then I do not know what will be. Let me say it again. I. Could. Not. Stop. Reading. It. Was. So. Good.

If you enjoy lovely YA romances full of heart, humor, and joy then this if for you. If you are heartless, well just keep walking by. Obviously, I am just joking. Maybe.

A sweet book about a relationship coach with issues of her own. While some of the book wasn't believable, the easy acceptance of bisexuality and her losing her feelings of being in love with someone, it was still a sweet ride

Only Mostly Devastated was one of my favorite romances of 2020, so when I found out Sophie was releasing a new novel, I know I had to get my hands on it. And I was right - this book was the definition of CUTE.

Perfect on Paper had me squealing with delight and I couldn’t help but smile as I finished. This novel is everything I want in a young adult book - young love, sweet sibling relationships, school drama. The reader gets a taste of the struggles in mother/teenage daughter relationship, the closeness between two sisters, the confusing feelings of love unrequited, and the yearning of a budding new love. Darcy is not perfect (hence the title) yet she gives everything her heart. And as she discovers more about herself, she begins to realize it’s okay to make mistakes, because the people you choose around you are what is important.

“Not everything’s gonna be your place, you know. It’s okay not to always know more than everyone else in the room.”

With a bisexual main character, a straight male love interest, and lesbian, gay, and trans supporting characters, the LGBTQ representation in on point in this novel. And they weren’t added in just for kicks, but to add depth to the discussion of identity for young people. The questions of self and love are addressed internally, but also in the everyday discussion amongst the characters.

"It’s when bisexuals start to believe the biphobia they’re surrounded by. We’re told that our sexuality isn’t real, or that we’re straight if we’re with another gender, and that our feelings don’t count if we’ve never dated a certain gender, that kind of crap. Then we hear it so many times we doubt ourselves.”

I quite enjoyed this meaningful, sweet, comedic (sarcastic) romance. The beginning was a bit slow on the uptake, but once the story picked up I couldn’t put it down. And please go read the review by the author on Goodreads - it gives her perspective on the importance of this #ownvoices novel.

This was such a cute YA contemporary, with amazing representation and banter! I had so much fun reading it!

Perfect on Paper follows Darcy as she tackles her unrequited love for her best friend Brooke and being the resident love mastermind behind Locker 89, where she provides advice to students struggling with relationship problems. Her anonymity is threatened when Brougham catches her collecting letters. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy becomes his dating coach to win back his ex.

The writing was so readable and I flew through the book relatively quickly. As a slowish reader, I consider this a world record. I could definitely see this as a film in the vein of To All the Boys and Love, Simon.

Darcy was a chaotic mess but in the best way possible. She was flawed and although she did annoy me at times with her bad decisions, she was so endearing and relatable. I could not help but root for her happiness. I also loved her relationship with Ainsley. Their bond was so supportive and sweet. It’s refreshing to see a healthy and supportive sibling relationship.

The romance was well-developed. I enjoyed the interactions between Darcy and Brougham and their slow-burn relationship. It was lovely experiencing Darcy’s opinions change over Brougham as the novel progressed, as well as watch Brougham opening up with his struggles to Darcy.

The representation was amazing! Darcy is bisexual and there are so many side characters who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. I appreciated how Gonzales constantly addressed that bisexual people will always be valid, even if they’re in a straight passing relationship, it doesn’t take away from their queer identity. Additionally, internalized biphobia and biphobia were discussed and deftly handled.

Overall, this book was very cute with very important messages that many could take away from it. Perfect on Paper was my first book by Gonzales and it won’t be my last! I will be looking out for more of her works and catching up with her backlist.

3.5 /5 stars

Perfect on Paper is a Young Adult contemporary romance that has a bisexual heroine.

The narrator is 16 year high school Junior Darcy (1st person POV). She has a crush on her female best friend. And she secretly gives relationship advice to her fellow students from locker 89.

She meets senior Brougham (pronounced Bro-uhm). I'm not a fan of the author using such an unusual name. I definitely appreciate her telling us how to pronounce the name. But I had to check and re-check so many times because the name was just too difficult for me to remember.

What I liked about the book? The book was so diverse. There were many LGBT characters. Many of the main characters are a part of the Queer and Questioning Club.

I enjoyed the whole Locker 89/relationship advice thing. This was done very well (although I feel like I read another YA book with a similar premise).

The romance was interesting. But there were definitely some slower parts. And at times I was wishing that more would happen. But overall it was a cute YA story.

This book was such a joy to read. Ever since I finished Only Mostly Devastated, I had been looking forward to Sophie Gonzales's next book. I absolutely adore her writing style. This book was such a breath of fresh air. Once I started reading, I could not stop. I found myself so in love with all the characters and the relationships in this book. I fell in love with Darcy, Brougham, and Brooke almost instantly. I loved all the storylines throughout the book and I especially adored Darcy's relationship with her mother throughout the book. This is a book I will definitely recommend to everyone.

I adored YA LQBTQ+ romcom Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzalez so I was really excited to read her new book Perfect on Paper and can’t wait to discuss with @lovearctually .

Darcy has a crush on her best friend Brooke. She’s also the anonymous love expert who answers letters left in locker 89. Giving advice works best if no one knows who she is, but Darcy’s also done a few questionable things in her role as love guru, so when popular senior Brougham catches her in the act of collecting the letters, Darcy has no choice but to give in to his demands. Brougham (actually his last name, but doesn’t want anyone to call him Alexander) wants a personal love coach to help him win back his ex.

There were a lot of moving parts in this tale of secrets and secret identities and I kind of loved them all. Darcy was a flawed heroine that was easy to root for, and I wasn’t always positive who the love interest was in the book, which is a really hard thing to pull off.

The three things I loved most about this one were:

1. LGBTQ+ representation. There were some great conversations about what it means to be bi, a wonderful Queer & Questioning group at school, some really interesting letters Darcy answers, and some offhanded comments that when dissected really changed my perspective.

2. I love the banter between the characters. There’s nothing I love more than actually seeing a couple fall in love. So many romances kind of skip this part, and maybe that’s why I love YA so much. Gonzales gives her characters the time to fall in love which is my favorite part (and for a totally PG book, the kissing scenes were beautifully written and a tad steamy).

3. I loved the friendships. There were so many great ones. Darcy and Brooke. Darcy and her trans sister Ainsley. Darcy and Broughman. Broughman and his best friend. There were hurdles and blow ups and misunderstandings, but I loved the way that people always came through for each other.

Thank you to @netgalley, @wednesdaybooks and @sgonzalesauthor for e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. I’ll definitely be buying a hard copy for my daughter when it comes out March 9!

Thank you so much to the publishers for providing me with an eArc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

All I can truly say is, this book is amazing.

The Bi- rep is on point (especially when it came to addressing biphobic comments and beliefs.)

The use of the agony aunt-esque plot with Locker 89 was so interesting too and I loved how passionate the protagonist, Darcy, was at wanting to help people.

This story had a mix of all different relationships from family, friends and relationships, and it created such a beautiful dynamic through the story.
The humour and pacing of the book was wonderful as well. I loved the relationship that slowly built between Darcy and Brougham. Even other characters like Finn had me smiling and laughing, I genuinely loved reading about all of them.

The was a particular scene in the Q&Q club that actually had me crying because I was just so happy and overwhelmed with how an issue was dealt with. This story is truly out here to represent Bi- people. The rep didn't end there though which I greatly appreciated.

Overall this was such a great book, with fantastic characters.

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Perfect on Paper is a witty, heartfelt story about how sometimes love isn't always as simple, and taking your own advice is easier said than done.

Darcy Phillips runs an advice column out of an abandoned school locker. Her fellow students write their letters and along with a ten-dollar bill, stick them into the school's infamous locker 89. Darcy answers these letters anonymously, using information she's gathered from hours of reading self-help books and watching relationship gurus on youtube. She's great at what she does and she likes doing it, spreading hope and joy to the masses. It's only when she finds herself in the middle of a relationship maelstrom that she realizes relationships are not always so cut and dry.

Sophie Gonzales did an amazing job with this book. Darcy was such a great character and her sarcasm and quick wit drew me in over and over again. She was such a joy to read, even as I was screaming at her to get it together. Her crush on her best friend was almost painful, as Darcy chose sabotage over truth in a misguided bid to win her heart. I enjoyed her interactions with Brougham so much because while he was endearingly clueless, she didn't let that stop her from setting him straight about what her expectations were on how she wanted to be treated, and I think that was a great point to make.

The side characters were all well done, and none of them felt like token representation. They felt natural and were fun to read. Darcy's sister especially was a great show of sisterly affection and love, and while the fact that she's trans is mentioned, it's never a plot point for pain or contention. It's just a fact of the story. Brooke, Darcy's best friend, felt like every best friend I've had. It was interesting to watch Darcy pine after a clueless Brooke and watch how it changes their relationship. Brougham started as the literal worst. Seeing him through Darcy's eyes meant seeing him as the spoiled rich jerk she assumed he was, and he is. But learning about the layers of his past and toxic familial relationships meant giving us insight into why he behaves the way he does, and how he wears his good behavior like a suit of armor.

The LGBTQ rep in this book runs the gamut from bi, gay, ace, trans, pan. etc, most of which we see through the school's Q&Q Club. I especially loved the conversation between the members about being bi. About how Darcy felt like maybe she wasn't queer enough to be able to claim it. What if she likes a boy who's straight and cis? People will assume she's straight and does that mean she can't claim to be queer? It's such a common worry for bisexual people, and I was so glad to see it put into words on-page. There's also a short explanation of asexuality and how it's a spectrum, and though it was but a paragraph, I appreciated the way it was handled since acephobia can run rampant when people don't understand what it is.

Overall, I enjoyed this book so much! Definitely recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and St Marten's Press for the ARC

Perfect on Paper started out really slow for me. During the first few chapters I wasn't sure if I was going to finish, then something magical happened and I fell for this book HARD. The amount of groups represented in this title is amazing. Sophie Gonzales did a fabulous job telling the story through the eyes of 16 year old Darcy Phillips, a bisexual and anonymous relationship advice guru. Darcy goes thru so many growing pains including using a few of the letters for relationship help to her benefit, with the cost of almost losing her best friend. When everything starts to crumble Darcy starts to see that her "success rate" with her relationship help letters and falling for a boy are all part of growing up to be her authentic self.

I read a chapter preview weeks ago and was hooked by the concept! I thought the anonymous locker relationship advice was clever and new.

I loved the bisexual main character. The primary love interest is a cinnamon roll who thinks they could kill you, which is my personal favorite brand of love interest. He’s Australian too, and the way the author incorporated different linguistic differences cracked me up. My favorite scenes were the ones set at Disneyland! As someone who’s also terrified of that ferris wheel, the Disneyland scenes were AMAZING and so much fun to read.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of the drama and the relationship fall out with the main character’s best friend. The whole conflict felt really catty and immature (which, I guess, is fitting for high schoolers, but still). Also, some chunks of the book read pretty slow for me.

This book was:
The smell of Disneyland
The thrill of receiving a hand-written letter
Butterflies in anticipation of a first date.


This book was....perfection. Truly, perfection. It left me with such feel-good vibes that I wanted to hug the book when it was over.

Although this is a YA book, I enjoyed every moments of it. The little nuggets of sage relationship wisdom sorinked throughout the book was incredible and important. I think that the conversation on bisexuality and the stigma associated with it was beautifully incorporated into the story. Such an important topic that so many young people could benefit from normalizing.

It definitely adds to my five-star review that there’s a whole scene in the book that takes place at Disneyland. The descriptions and feelings associated with the characters and places were beautiful. I can’t wait to recommend this book to everyone I know- teenagers and adults alike!

This book was a quick read. I genuinely cared about the narrator and couldn't wait to find out what was happening. This would be a great choice for anyone (teen or adult) who identifies as LBGTQ), cares about someone who does, or simply wants to better understand the issues faced. There is some drinking, drug use, and language that I would consider fit the context of the book so be aware of that for younger readers.

Darcy had anonymously been giving relationship advice to her peers for several years. Nobody knew who was behind locker 89 until Brougham spied her gathering her daily letters. In exchange for keeping her secret, Brougham enlisted Darcy to help him win his ex back. While helping Brougham with his reunion, she developed an honest friendship with him, which helped her begin to see things in a different light.

After the success I had with Gonzales' previous book, Only Mostly Devastated, I was excited to read more of her work. The premise of a high school Dear Abby, romantic espionage, and unlikely unions seemed really promising, and as expected, I greatly enjoyed this book.

Here are five things that stood out for me as I read Perfect on Paper:

1. I loved Darcy! At her core, Darcy was a good human. Her purpose when starting Locker 89 was to help people. She was a stupendous sister and a good friend, but she was also flawed. She made a few poor choices, some born out of rather selfish reasons, but I would say she was more often on the side of right than wrong.

2. Though I am not part of the community, I liked the open and thoughtful discourse regarding bisexuality. Gonzales took on biphobia and some of the biases associated with bisexuality, as well as how it affects someone who shares that identity.

3. The relationship stuff was really interesting. The letters and Darcy's responses are featured in almost every chapter, and it appears some serious research about relationships was done. I was fascinated by it all.

4. The friendship that developed between Darcy and Brougham was really lovely. It was wonderful seeing Brougham slowly change over the course of the book, and it was because of small kindnesses that were shown to him. I loved the idea that one could do something that seems ordinary and it could have such a big impact on a person.

5. Gonzales highlighted relationships of all kinds. She explored the sibling bond, parental relationships, parent-child dynamic, friendships, and romantic relationships. This is always a plus for me.

Lots of rom-com moments and antics made this book lots of fun to read, but it was the characters and their growth that made it so satisfying. Another great one from Gonzales!

“WHY IS LOVE DEAD?”
A bit dramatic, but that’s Darcy 🤣

Can I just start by saying that I appreciated the bi rep in this book so hard. I know not everyone is going to feel that way, but I am excited for it and I’m glad that someone will read this book and feel validated and seen by it.

ANYWAY, Darcy is our main character, and I honestly enjoyed her so much. She’s relatable for me in so many ways and the fact that she screws up and makes some selfish decisions, but then learns from them... yes, we love a personal growth plot.

Darcy secretly runs a sort of “Dear Abby” style love advice system through locker 89 of her high school. She’s not a professional by any means, but she has a 95% success rate. That being said, her own love life is pretty much nonexistent. She’s in love with her best friend, Brooke, but can’t pull the trigger on telling her. It doesn’t help that her friend starts dating someone else. Someone Darcy doesn’t like.

When she’s caught by Alexander Brougham pulling love advice requests out of locker 89, he essentially blackmails her into helping him win back his ex-girlfriend. Yes, he’s paying her for her help, but she’s still annoyed he caught her and even more so that he’s forcing her to help him. She thinks Brougham is an aloof jerk, a spoiled rich boy who feels entitled to her help, but spending more time with him she realizes he’s more than what she assumed and what he presents to everyone in the halls of their high school. They form an unlikely friendship that started with blackmail, but ends with feelings Darcy is confused about. She’s been in love with Brooke for so long, and hasn’t had feelings for a guy since she joined her schools Queer and Questioning club. All worries about being judged by her friends for falling for a guy aside, things with the locker go left, like way left and she’s in big trouble.

I don’t want to spoil too much, but yeah I just loved this read. I think that it represents a side of being bisexual that is often considered a co-opt when it comes to writing a queer story about a bisexual character, but I think it’s important that someone who falls in love with a person not a sex is represented fully. I do wish some of the relationships were fleshed out a little more, but I realize this story was more about Darcy figuring things out. I love that there is a variety of LGBTQ+ representation, and that it was easy to fall in love with even the side characters.

All in all this was a great read. At first you’re going to want to shake Darcy a little bit, but she’s a good character that you will fall for. At least I did.

I feel like I could write an entire love letter to this book and it still wouldn’t be enough. Was this book perfect? Not necessarily. But did it perfectly pair some of my favorite things together? Absolutely.

Darcy was a flawed but lovable main character. Even though we learn throughout the story that she hasn’t always had the best judgement, we see that she has mostly tried to have good intentions. I loved the little moments before chapters when we got to read her relationship advice—I even learned something about myself in like the second chapter!?

Darcy is bisexual and has two love interests, Brooke and Brougham, throughout the book. Despite there being two LIs, it comes off not being love triangley at all. Instead of focusing on the drama of who to choose, the book takes an important look at Darcy’s complicated feelings about being a bi girl and what the gender she chooses to be in a relationship would mean.

I really appreciated this discussion of biphobia, both internalized and from other members of the LGBT+ community. When Darcy starts to realize she might have feelings for Brougham, she fears that the others in her Queer & Questioning Club at school might not accept her for being in a straight-passing relationship. I thought it was a fantastic addition to the story because biphobia is a problem in the queer community and with this book being targeted at a Young Adult audience, I feel that it’s important for teens to understand these issues early on in order to prevent these attitudes from continuing.

Speaking of the Queer & Questioning Club— I loved that the LGBT+ identities in this book were spelled out for you. Darcy says from the start, “Have known I was bisexual since I was twelve.” So many books lately seem to try to be including queer rep without actually telling you the character’s sexuality. And in some cases, of course, that’s fine because sexuality is fluid and not all of us always know. But it just felt so nice and refreshing that there were so many LGBT+ identities actually written out on the page. It just made the representation feel more genuine.

Ultimately, there were very few things I disliked about this book. Darcy was a bi disaster but I loved her anyway. The way she cared about and protected her friends and her sister were so relatable. Plus, I just couldn’t get enough of her and Brougham’s relationship. Their witty banter and hesitant flirting was so endearing, and was part of what made this book just so amazing.

Representation:
– bi MC; MC’s sister is trans; bi, lesbian, gay, ace, pan & nonbinary side characters
– POC side characters
– MC’s mom is briefly mentioned as being plus sized

Content Warnings: alcoholism; abusive/toxic parents; biphobia

I Would Recommend This To:
– Bi (or pan!) readers who want to feel understood and validated for who they choose to date.
– Anyone who enjoys the psychology of relationships, both platonic & romantic.
– Readers who like first person POV that’s written almost like a confidential blog.

My Rating: ★★★★★

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to #partner @NetGalley and @wednesdaybooks for the digital ARC of Sophie Gonzales’s Perfect on Paper in exchange for an honest review. I’m also thrilled to have read this as part of a buddy read with @lovearctually! The book will be published on Tuesday, March 9.

Darcy Phillips, the protagonist of Sophie Gonzales’s Perfect on Paper, is a more-mature-than-usual high school junior . . . but she’s still a teenager. She uses her need to stay late after school with her teacher mom as a way to manage her thriving advice letter business: people put their questions into Locker 89, Darcy does some research, and she emails her well-informed advice. Her business is top secret: only her sister, Ainsley, knows about it. And then, one day, Alexander Brougham, leaving swim practice, catches Darcy retrieving letters from the locker. It turns out that Brougham wants advice in resurrecting his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, and he’s willing to blackmail Darcy into helping him.

In addition to Locker 89, Darcy has a lot going on: she has a long-term crush on her best friend, Brooke; she’s invested in keeping strong the Queer and Questioning Club that her trans sister Ainsley started; and now she not only has to answer the Locker 89 letters but also deal with Brougham’s issue so that she can keep her identity a secret.

Darcy has to navigate SO many issues in this book: she’s keeping secrets from almost everybody, has made decisions she regrets, and—when she starts to have feelings for a boy—worries about what it means for her bisexual identity. Her mom is incredibly busy, so Darcy doesn’t feel as if she can bother her with her problems, and Ainsley is supportive but also in college, so she’s a bit removed from the high school scene.

Gonzales incorporates all of these details into her narrative with grace, weaving them seamlessly into the narrative. Darcy is a great character—fun and funny and flawed, but also vulnerable. I love the way that the author also put Darcy’s relationships at the forefront of the story: her sibling relationship with Ainsley, her friendship with Brooke, as well as (of course) her romantic relationships.

Perfect on Paper is an excellent YA novel that balances romance with all of the other concerns teenagers have to deal with. Gonzales handles all of this while crafting a beautiful, moving, and quite funny story.