Perfect on Paper

3.75
Spanish & English Opinion

Libro divertido y en muchos aspectos, encantador, cómo en la parte de amar sin género. Me gusta también el aspecto del locker 89 y lo neutro de sus consejos. Efectivamente, el género no influye en la forma en que se puede orientar a una persona acerca de su vida sentimental.

Brougham es lindísimo y Darcy es muy entretenida y me encanta su discurso de dilema moral en el libro. Se me hizo un poco largo y muchas escenas fueron bastante innecesarias pero definitivo es un libro con mucho humor, moraleja linda y personajes entrañables.

El Q&Q club… ¡quiero ir a una sesión! Los asistentes son lo máximo.

A book full of humor and charm in lots of ways. I really enjoyed the “locker 89” situation and the way the writing was so Genderless and inclusive. I agree, love is not about a gender as much as it’s about our emotional experience.

Brougham is the best and Darcy is too much fun. Her moral dilemma is one of the best aspectos of the book. I must confess that at some point I felt the book really long and many things that happened were not necessary but I really love most of the characters. (Brooke I sometimes dislike).

The A&Q club, I want to go too! Absolutely great crowd.

My Rating:
Content Rating: 16+
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance, LGBT
Pages: 304
Date Published: March 9, 2021
Published by: Wednesday Books

Perfect on Paper, written by Sophie Gonzales, is a fun, sweet, bold, sincere, and uniquely fresh and romantic YA book. “And it’s unapologetically, intensely, queer,” according to the author, and I wholeheartedly agree.

Perfect on Paper is the first book by Sophie Gonzales that I have read, and I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed Gonzales’ writing style; it was clear and concise, the characters were well developed, and most importantly, they were all believable. I find that most rom-coms are challenging to make funny and romantic, but Perfect on Paper accomplished both with the addition of tackling the complex subject of bisexuality within the LGBTQ community. As a straight woman, this book helped me appreciate the complex issues regarding bisexuality within the LGBT community I never knew existed.

So, does anyone remember Dear Abby? She wrote an advice column in the newspaper. Perfect on Paper is the modern-day Dear Abby set within a high school setting. Our main character Darcy is an endearing bisexual young woman that thinks she is more intelligent than most of her classmates. She is far from perfect, but that’s what makes her lovely. Darcy starts a cottage industry out of locker 89, giving her classmates anonymous relationship advice.
Darcy makes plenty of mistakes, learns some things about herself that she wasn’t expecting, and is a better person in the end.

“…if you’re having relationship issues and slide a letter through the vents of locker eighty-nine, you will receive an email from an anonymous sender within a week, giving you advice. And if you’re wise enough to follow that advice, your relationship problems will be solved, guaranteed, or your money back.”

An outstanding cast of characters surrounds Darcy. Her best friend is a lesbian who, unfortunately, is in love with someone else. Her sister is in transition, and the hot straight guy she cannot stand has hired her to help get his girlfriend back. You may ask, what could go wrong?

Perfect on Paper is a sweet YA book that will keep you on your toes while having a good laugh. Although Perfect on Paper was a bit predictable, the ride was fun, and I highly recommend this book.

* Please note the quotes in my review are subject to change once the book is published. *

** I kindly received this galley by way of NetGalley. I was not contacted, asked, or required to leave a review. I received no compensation, financial or otherwise. I have voluntarily read this book, and this review is my honest opinion. **

4.5 stars. I absolutely adored this book. I’ll admit, it took me a bit to warm up to, mostly because I wasn’t the hugest fan of Darcy at first, and the friendship with Brooke didn’t feel quite right to me. But slightly after the 50% point I could barely put this down. Watching Darcy untangle her misperceptions and Brougham grow to trust her was just an amazing experience. Also, Ainsley absolutely steals the show and I would kill for a book about her.

The very queer heavy cast, including the casual but deliberate trans and ace rep, was like a warm comfy sweater that every queer teen could use in their life. And as a Biromantic in a straight passing relationship, I really appreciated the discussion of internalized biphobia.

4.5/5

I don’t know why it took me so long to read a novel by Sophie Gonzales, but boy am I glad I just read Perfect on Paper. There were so many things to love about this book! Not only does it have a romance aspect, but I felt like I learned a lot about what it means to be queer as well, and the majority of the characters are quite loveable. I haven’t read a young adult novel in a while, and I really loved the representation Gonzales included in the story. She takes a deep dive into so many subjects, and this is one of those reads that I wish had been around when I was a teenager. There is the perfect mix of heart, humor, and reflection, and I didn’t want to put the book down. It hooked me from the first page, and the aspect of Darcy giving anonymous relationship advice was so fun. There are so many things packed into this one that I haven’t read before, and I loved every minute of it.

I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Barrie Kreinik, and she was fantastic. She was just the way I would expect Darcy to sound, and she was a pleasure to listen to. The audio is just shy of 9 hours while the book itself is just over 340 pages, but I could have listened to it for hours more. I loved the plot, characters, and Gonzales’ writing so much, and I wanted to stay in the world she created forever. It is also a perfect read for Pride Month, and even though I’ve been trying to read LGBTQIA+ all the time, I haven’t been able to fit in as many as I would like. So I knew I had to pick Perfect on Paper up this month and clearly I am happy I did! Anyone who hasn’t read a book by Gonzales before needs to grab this and put it on their shelf ASAP.

Thank you to the publishers for my advance listening and digital copies. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Darcy’s big secret of running Locker 89 has been successful for about two years, until she’s caught red handed retrieving the letters of her schoolmates. Her secrecy in exchange for helping Alexander get his ex back is priority number one.
I can’t necessarily pinpoint why this wasn’t a rave story for me. I tend to read more YA than others of my acquaintance so I feel confident that it’s not necessarily a genre issue when I say this didn’t quite resonate with me. I believe that a great audience for this book would be someone who loves what I would consider to be a Gossip Girl/Mean Girls mash up. The only things I can think of is that I did not particularly like Darcy’s manipulation that I went back and forth between the e-book and the audio. The narration and my head voice weren’t mashing up well.
Here’s what I did appreciate. I loved the twist on the secret identity/enemies to more/love triangle tropes. I loved that it feels like a book that should resonate with young adults. The representation was just what I was hoping it would be from the outset.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy and MacMillan Audio for the alc. All thoughts in this review are my own.

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!

Since reading Only Mostly Devastated last year, I became a huge Sophie Gonzales fan for an amazing Young Adult read about friendships, love and family.

Perfect on Paper was an absolute favorite read that is simply perfect, charming and a fun read that is a wonderfully inclusive. I found this YA novel to be a fast paced, and I enjoyed the cast of characters and the great world of high school romance, friendships and first loves. I found myself immersed in this read and Sophie Gonzales delivered a fantastic story full of laughs, swoon and a great glimpse of young adult life that you will ache when the story ends.

This story was perfect in every way.

Perfect on Paper was such an entertaining, engaging, and thought-provoking YA story.
I really loved the premise of this story, with Darcy supplying, anonymously of course, her fellow high-schoolers with relationship advice. With a 95% success rating, she’s confident in her abilities, yet when it comes to her own wished-for relationship, not so much. Darcy’s a definite case of “do what I say, not what I do”!

After she’s caught retrieving letters from Locker 89, everything Darcy’s built is threatened, unless she does what Alexander Brougham asks of her. Even though he essentially wants her to continue what she’s been doing with the letters, albeit in person for him, Darcy’s resentful and frustrated. And that’s when the story starts to show its heart.

I really enjoyed the evolution of Darcy and Brougham’s relationship. From sort of/kind of enemies, to a bit of an uneasy truce, to friendship and beyond, things between them developed in such a natural way. That’s one of the things I liked best about this story, how realistic things were. With many YA books, the characters can sometimes tend to feel like caricatures of teen-agers, with everyone too perfect, too rich, too smart. It was nice to see a wide range of characters and issues. While the story’s main focus was Darcy and how she was truly coming into her own, I liked how important the secondary characters were to this story as well- they weren’t just there as background “noise”.

There was so much to like about Perfect on Paper. I loved how diverse it was, with such an inclusive mix of characters. I appreciated how thoughtful the story was, and the way it touched on a lot of your typical high school issues, making me recall just how rough high school could actually be. But also how fun it was, and how important friendships are.

I would be remiss not to mention the first kiss, it gave me all the butterflies! I think I need a new GR shelf just for first kisses, I can’t believe I don’t have one already!

Darcy is the anonymous dating guru of her high school. Her classmates slip their relationship questions into Locker 89 to get her advice. When Brougham, the popular hot jock, discovers Darcy is behind Locker 89, he hires her to help him get his ex back. To protect her secret, Darcy agrees. What could go wrong?

Of course, almost everything goes wrong! Darcy is a hot mess in the best way; she gives great advice but doesn’t apply her wisdom to her own life. She has good intentions but is flawed in her execution. She does her best to correct her mistakes, though. I also enjoyed seeing her navigate her crush on her best friend and move on to find a rewarding relationship with someone else.

There’s so much to love in Perfect on Paper, but here are a few of my highlights:
— The sibling relationship between Darcy & Ainsley
— Brougham! He seems like a jerk at first, but he’s a genuinely good guy
— Sassy banter between all of the characters
— Good relationship advice in Darcy’s responses to her classmates (e.g., setting boundaries, the importance of communication, managing different relationship styles, etc.)
— Likable characters

I really enjoyed Perfect on Paper. It is such a fun read because the characters and events are so realistic. Plus, I loved the LGBTQ+ representation. The author handles the topics of sexuality and identity thoughtfully and insightfully. I hope you enjoy this delightful story of identity, acceptance, relationships, and friendship as much as I did!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a digital copy to read and enjoy. This voluntary review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Darcy Phillips has a secret: For the last two years she’s been the person behind “Locker 89”, a space where her fellow students can leave letters with their relationship questions and Darcy answers under cover of anonymity. With what she would say is a 95% success rate, she feels pretty confident in her advice skills and judgement, except when it comes to her best friend / crush Brooke who is in love with someone else.

When her secret is threatened by Alexander Brougham, who happens upon her retrieving the letters from the locker. He agrees to keep her secret if she helps him with his own relationship woes: getting his ex-girlfriend back. She has no other option but to help him, seeing as how if her secret ever got out, there would be some other things that could come to light as well, things that Darcy is not proud of.

Darcy just doesn’t know what to think about Brougham. He’s popular, entitled, brash. Or at least that’s what she’s always thought about him. As they work together to win his ex-girlfriend back, Darcy realizes she has no idea who Brougham really is, but quite possibly, she’d like to find out.

I was immediately interested in this story for the bi representation. I read a statement by the author on Goodreads and agreed 100% that there is currently not enough bi rep where the character ends up attracted to someone of the opposite sex and also deal with the inherent biphobia within society.

Thing is…I wanted the story itself to deal with these topics with more focus. Don’t get me wrong, they are definitely issues that are brought up, they are talked about and discussed, but it is not all the story is about. It’s a part of who Darcy is as a character for sure and it also lends itself to her insecurities and vulnerabilities, and then the insecurities and vulnerabilities when she starts to feel something for Brougham more than friendship, but I wanted more centered focused on the issue.

Beyond that, Perfect on Paper was the kind of sweet romance I like. This opposites attract story. I loved the build up of the relationship between Darcy and Brougham which goes from frenemies to genuine friends who could be more.

I do like that Darcy is a flawed character. I like that she owns up to those flaws and genuinely wants to do the right thing and fix her mistakes. Reading the various pieces of advice Darcy gives you have to hand it to her, she really has a knack for it, but it’s also one of those things where it’s hard to follow your own advice. That’s how Brougham and Darcy help one another. They point out those things that they each are maybe willfully ignoring about themselves. For Darcy, the fact that her friend Brooke may never feel the same way about Darcy as Darcy does for her, but that Brooke still deserves her own happiness. And that there was a reason Brougham’s girlfriend broke up with him in the first place, so a reconciliation might not be for the best.

It’s in these moments that Darcy and Brougham are so great together because even when pointing out the other’s mistakes or flaws they still unabashedly support one another and don’t use those flaws against the other.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. It was a quick read with wonderful moments of representation and support and acceptance. It’s certainly not one to be missed.