REVIEW: Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Posted on by michelle

**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

perfect on paper cover

Book: Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Release Date: March 9, 2021

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Rep: ownvoices bisexual protagonist and side character, trans girl side character, lesbian Vietnamese-American side character, gay side character

Summary: In Sophie Gonzales’ Perfect on Paper, Leah on the Offbeat meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: a bisexual girl who gives anonymous love advice to her classmates is hired by the hot guy to help him get his ex back

Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off.

Darcy Phillips:

  • Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes―for a fee.
  • Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
  • Really cannot stand Alexander Brougham.
  • Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke…who is in love with someone else.
  • Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

However, when Brougham catches her in the act of collecting letters from locker 89―out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service―that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach―at a generous hourly rate, at least. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Darcy has a good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she’s behind the locker, some things she’s not proud of will come to light, and there’s a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who’s already fallen for him once? What could go wrong?

While I enjoyed Only Mostly Devastated, I was even more excited for this author’s next release because it has a bisexual female protagonist and a lesbian Vietnamese-American side character! The premise was also so intriguing; it’s a take on Cyrano de Bergerac. Perfect on Paper was a fun rom-com that handles relationships, love, and friendship.

Darcy runs a secret relationship advice column out of Locker 89; rather, it’s a secret until Brougham catches her and blackmails her to help him win his girlfriend back. She agrees, desperately wanting to keep this secret under wraps because she has a crush on her best friend Brooke and has sabotaged her relationships through Locker 89.

I liked the plot! I did think Darcy gave way too specialized advice (like, professional-grade when she’s just read a few books and watched a couple of Youtube videos), but this is brought up in the book. She helps Brougham out genuinely, and she puts a lot of thought into her responses.

The characters were great; I especially liked how fleshed out they were by the end of the book. Darcy and Brougham go through a lot of character development. The side characters also added a lot of humor too, particularly Darcy’s sister, Ainsley, and Brougham’s best friend, Finn.

This book handles internalized biphobia very well. There’s some throwaway biphobic comments that are called out also, and I really liked the scene where Darcy is affirmed as not being straight when she has a crush on a guy or a lesbian when she likes a girl. I do want to say that this book isn’t sapphic (not a spoiler; the author states it here); while Darcy spends most of the book having a crush on Brooke, she is not her love interest. However, this doesn’t lessen Darcy’s bisexual identity!

Darcy and Brooke are a part of the Queer and Questioning Club at their school, so other LGBTQ+ characters are mentioned. Some LGBTQ+ characters in this book include: Brooke, a Vietnamese-American lesbian; Ainsley, a trans girl; Finn, who’s gay; Ray, who’s also bisexual; and other characters brought up who are asexual and nonbinary. There’s a side f/f relationship, and I thought it was really nice to read this community at a private school!

I did think the first half of the book was a little stilted, Darcy’s internal narrative and her interactions with Brougham in particular. However, by the second half, I was much more invested in the book. I really liked the romance in the second half!

Overall, Perfect on Paper was a fun rom-com read. You’ll definitely like it if you enjoyed Only Mostly Devastated. I recommend Perfect on Paper if you like Cyrano de Bergerac retellings, books that call out biphobia, or cute romances!

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound

About the Author: Sophie Gonzales writes Young Adult queer rom coms with memorable characters, biting wit and endless heart.

She is the author of THE LAW OF INERTIA and ONLY MOSTLY DEVASTATED. Her latest YA rom-com, PERFECT ON PAPER, is slated for March 2021 with Wednesday Books.

When she isn’t writing, Sophie can be found ice skating, performing in musical theatre, and practicing the piano. She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia where she works as a psychologist.

6 thoughts on “REVIEW: Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales”

  1. I enjoyed the book as well. I particularly liked how it addresses biphobia, and I just wanted to give Darcy a bear hug after the last Q&Q meeting (I think it was the last one at least).

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