This was a really fun YA story! I loved 90s movies where kids made a wish and the next they it was somehow granted, like 30 over night or Big, so this was a really cool idea.
I liked the alternating timelines between now and back when Ivy and Mack were best friends, it gave us a better idea how their fight happened.
Sadly I have to say that when it all came out it was pretty underwhelming for me to be honest. I think Mack was acting unnecessarily mean in the past and also now. I didn’t like her a lot so it was hard to make me root for their romance.
Then it all turned into kind of a horror, with Weston getting all psycho, and the story lost me a bit.
Overall I think this was a fun read, I just kind of expected more of the story.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

Former and current fanfic enthusiasts will surely love this new release from Sophie Gonzales.

First of all, thank you tk Wednesday Books for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for honest review.

This is my third time reading a Sophie Gonzales book and I can confidently say that Sophie is an auto-buy author for me now.

TPGDE is a gift to the fanfic community. In here, we follow Ivy and Mack and how their friendship collapsed over the years only to be rekindled when Ivy accidentally bring to life a fictional character from her favorite TV show. The two must find a way to make sure that their new 'friend' will not be discovered while also navigating the awkward and messy stage after a friendship breakup.

Hands down to Sophie's writing style. Always topnotch and never a dull month. Pair it with that storyline and you'll get an amazing romcom that is comparable to some of the best teen shows to ever exist. In fact, I can see this becoming adapted to a teen series and being a hit.

The characterization is on-point. There's no doubt the author knows the characters that she wrote and the chemistry between the MCs even after their closeness severed was undeniably realistic.

I also enjoyed the fanfic references scattered all over the book.

Definitely a banger and I highly recommend this one if you want to read a book about reality of friendship mixed with fantasy and a bit of magic.

RATINGB 4stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a unique, fun YA! Ivy is home alone for the week while her parents leave town for a work conference. There is a huge thunderstorm and in the morning she wakes up with someone in her bed.....specifically a male who looks exactly like her favourite character from a TV show she is obsessed with. It's not the actor who plays the character, and his super powers don't seem to be functioning, so who is he actually and why is he here?

I loved this one. It was fun and cute. You kind of have to abandon all logic with respect to waking up next to a stranger and not calling the police, instead opting to help him and keep him a secret from everyone. Highly recommended.

The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist starts out pretty cute and funny. Ivy had a break-up with her best friend/crush last year, and has been deeply into her fandom. Her favorite show is H-MAD, a show about magical teenagers, and she’s been writing fan fiction. One night after her parents are gone on a trip….her favorite character appears in bed with her.

With the help of her new best friend Henry, and her old best friend-turned-nemesis Mack, they try to manage the situation and figure out why this fake, magical character has appeared.

For about three-fourths of the story, it was funny and light-hearted, going back and forth between the present and the past. And then….at the climax, nothing happens? Ivy had a deep, heavy discussion with her fan fiction character, Weston, all about her feelings for Mack. But then she and Mack never really discuss what went on with them. It’s a two sentence “I like you,” and “I like you too” then the end.

Overall, I loved the LGBTQ representation, and I’m a fan fiction reader for life, but the one felt like the author lost steam and just quickly wrapped it up.

Thank you to Wednesday books for the review copy.

A quick and fun read -- if you lean into the camp of an actor coming back to life, this book is actually a really sweet coming of age romance. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

A fun, light YA read. I will recommend this to some of my LGBTQ therapy clients. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC

Ivy is 16, and being left alone in the house for a week by her parents going away. Her only plans are to watch her favourite show H-MAD, hang out with her best friend Henry, and avoid Mack her ex-best friend and neighbour. All is going to plan until the night after she was writing some fanfic during a storm she wakes up with a boy in her bed. The boy in question is Weston, the main character of her favourite show, and lead in all her fanfics. He claims to be her boyfriend, and the man of her dreams and she doesn't know what to do. She recruits Henry and Mack to figure out what is going on and how to fix it. Along the way friendships get mended and formed, and Ivy and Mack both finally talk through what happened to them and what they both want in the future between them.

The premise of this one had a lot of potential to be so fun and campy. And while it did accomplish that to an extent I found it lacking. Maybe I was just the wrong demographic for this one as it does read quite young ya, but I just felt everything was so surface level. Fanfiction and fandom have always been part of my life and what brings be joy so this seemed like a book I would really enjoy but it just missed the mark. The writing and plot felt very clunky, and the characters did not feel very complex. The moral of the story was a good one though, and the importance of compromising in friendship, and have interests outside of the other person. Overall it was interesting but just not for me.

Ivy has the house to herself for a week, which is the perfect time to catch up on her favorite fantasy TV show and maybe even write some fanfic. But when Ivy wakes up on the first day and finds Weston, the super good-looking main character of the show in her house she is so confused. Somehow, the fanfic she wrote brought him to life and unfortunately the tropes she envisioned aren’t as romantic in reality as they seemed when she was writing them. With the help of her best friend Henry and former best friend-turned enemy Mack, Ivy has to figure out how to get Weston to disappear before her parents come home.

This book was a wild ride and a fun twist on fanfic. While the book is YA and features high school characters, they didn’t feel immature. I loved the friendships in this story, and while I was rooting for the friendship between Ivy and Mack, I felt there was too much backstory missing for me to be fully invested in the relationship. Overall, this was a sweet and fun read.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

This was such a fascinating and magical take on a queer, coming-of-age novel. Ivy is a high school student who enjoys writing fan fiction about her favorite TV show, Hot, Magical, and Deadly. When her parents leave her home alone for a week, the character of her crush from the TV show, Weston, magically appears in her bedroom. To no one's surprise, the perfect guy is in fact not perfect.

Parts of this book were laugh out loud ridiculous. I especially enjoyed the way in which the author played with common romance and fanfic tropes. And I loved Ivy's friend Henry and his support for her throughout the book.

Other aspects felt a bit over the top. I would recommend this for a younger YA audience and for folks who are deeply immersed in TV fandom.

Rounded up to 4 stars

I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was hilarious. Usually I prefer more romance but the plot was so fun I didn’t mind that this was a slow burn. I do wish we’d gotten more time with them actually together, but I also understand why it’s written the way it is. Also, be aware that this book is full of miscommunication, but as it’s YA, I can give it a bit of grace in that regard, and I felt like the miscommunications and angst were normal, teenager-y stuff that everyone goes through which made it feel more real than a lot of other books that use that trope. It was just fun and humorous and well-written. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book by Sophie Gonzales that I didn’t love.

I want to start by saying that I absolutely adore Sophie Gonzalez's books, and I can't wait to continue working my way through her catalog. I appreciated The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist, but overall it just wasn't for me. I love YA, but this one skewed on the "young" side, borderline middle grade level. However, I think this book definitely has its audience. The plot revolves around fanfiction, and I know many people will enjoy that aspect of this book. We also love to see queer character representation, especially in the YA world!

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist is a friends to enemies to lovers rom com. Sprinkle in a little bit of fan-fiction with an imaginary character that comes to life and you get a silly but sweet story. Sometime I was like what is happening? And others I was like Awh this is cute, but I did enjoy this story.

How would you feel if your favorite character from your favorite show showed up in your bedroom? For Ivy in The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist, she’s freaked out but glad Weston showed up. Since her best friend (and unrequited love) (and neighbor) stopped talking to her, all her life had revolved around H-MAD, her favorite show and her new best friend who also loves H-MAD. As Ivy soon finds out, fiction isn’t always better than real life. And fanfiction has some consequences when magic comes into play.
As an avid fanfic lover, the idea was so cool to me, in theory. In reality, it fell a little flat. I loved all the tropes but it took Ivy too long to figure shit out.
Sophie Gonzales is one of my favorite queer authors and I will always recommend her and her books, even if they’re not always 5 star reads for me!
The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist got 3 ⭐️ from me and it published yesterday March 26! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

To help her get over the rift with her best friend Mack, Ivy writes fan fiction of her favorite fantasy TV show. Then, the attractive main character, Weston, magically appears in her bedroom, claiming to be her soul mate. Ivy realizes her fanfiction has brought Weston to life, but their connection isn’t as romantic as she imagined. When Mack reenters her life, Ivy questions whether Weston, her “perfect guy,” is truly perfect for her—or if someone else holds that title.

I enjoyed this sapphic YA fantasy romance. Gonzales is a brilliant author, and the emotion in this book is deep. I loved the characters, and the story kept me guessing.

Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This was goofy in the best way possible! Sophie Gonzales never fails to have such a unique, twisty take on otherwise tired tropes in writing and it makes for stories that my students absolutely adore.

"The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist" feels like a love letter to fanfiction and fandom; there are shoutouts to all of the hilariously stereotypical writing tropes, including a few that obviously are much better in theory than in practice. It's obvious Gonzales knows fandom spaces (even some of those darker, more niche corners). And wouldn't we all be thrilled if our teenage fictional crush suddenly came to life as exactly as we had imagined them?

But more than that, this story is about the difference between what we think we want and what is actually meant for us; the dream fictional guy versus the real person who we fit with. It's about the work that is actually required to make relationships survive, and how friendships REQUIRE that work to be put in in order to make it. It's about how we won't all like the same things - and that's okay, too!

3.5 Stars


I’m not typically a YA reader, but I loved this authors previous novel and I jumped at the opportunity to read another of her works. The great thing about young adult novels is they get to get weird with it. If they want to make a whole novel about accidentally bringing a fanfic character to life… well then you know stuff is about to get interesting. And I truly think that’s great because topics and ideas are explored that you don’t always get to see in contemporary novels.

I really loved Ivy and Henry in this book, I felt like they were well thought out and had unique aspects to them that really drew me in as a reader. They had a great friendship, full of support and genuine support for each other. I was immediately drawn into them both as individuals and as a platonic friendship.

Unfortunately I never felt like I connected with Mack, who is a major part of this book. Maybe because I’ve been the Ivy with friends who were dismissive of my more niche interests or have been put down for liking things that are “so uncool” that I couldn’t understand why you would want to spend time with people who literally roll their eyes at the things you love. I know teenage years are hard, and the emotions are constantly running, but I know it’s hard to be around people you find to be dismissive. I definitely felt more for Ivy than I did Mack.

Honestly though, this was a really fun YA novel. It was filled with fun plot twists, interesting characters, and a storyline that I definitely think will stick out in my mind for a long time coming. Definitely worth the read if queer romances are something you are interested in reading.

Mini synopsis: Ivy’s plain boring life changes when she wakes up to find her fanfic MC has come to life! Will she be able to figure out what’s going on & fix it by the time her parents get home?

This was so fun & silly! The beginning was a little confusing bc I wasn’t quite sure what was going on. But after continuing on, it got so silly & ridiculous! Her fanfic character, Weston, made me laugh with his antics. At the beginning, he did everything to be the perfect guy and then when it changed to the bad boy the change was such a switch that it was giggle worthy! I really liked how it was just trial & error trying to figure out what was going on. A lot of time in YA, it just comes out of no where so this one felt more realistic. What I wasn’t a fan of was the relationship. With the plot, I didn’t really think we needed the underlying romance! But if you like Sophie Gonzales writing style, you’ll definitely like this!

HAPPY PUB DAY!

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist by Sophie Gonzales is another sweet and compelling YA enemies-to-lovers romcom.
She has done it yet again y’all!
Everything about this book was amazing….. the storyline, the characters, the writing.... everything!
I am a big fan of Sophie Gonzales' work and this one did not disappoint at all. I’m obsessed!
She writes the most relatable and realistic stories ever! And never fails to amaze me each and every time.
I honestly couldn’t get enough. I wanted more!!

Thank You NetGalley and Wednesday Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Sorry but I am not enjoying the book, am about half through, so I will not leave a review on Amazon. My bad, I usually enjoy young adult fiction but this one isn't my bag. Note I am not your target audience.