Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales Published by Wednesday Books on March 9, 2021
Genres: young adult, contemporary
Format: ARC
Source: Macmillan INTL, Wednesday Books, Edelweiss
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In 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?
I received this book for free from Macmillan INTL, Wednesday Books, Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
☂️ TRIGGER WARNINGS:
biphobia, internalised biphobia, toxic parents, divorce, drugs, alcohol, vomiting.☂️ DIVERSITY: bisexual main character and side character, trans, gay, Vietnamese-American lesbian side characters, pan and non-binary side character, ace side character.
There are no spoilers in this review.
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I ENJOYED…
☂️
- I read and really loved Only Mostly Devastated last year, the author’s debut and I was SO excited to get to read Perfect on Paper next. I’m thrilled to say: this book completely met my expectations. In fact, I think I loved it even more than the author’s debut.
- I loved the premise of this book so much. Darcy, the main character, runs an anonymous relationship-advice business at her school. People leave notes in a locker and she gives them advice, anonymously, via email afterwards. It’s all fine and great until Alexander finds out about her business and blackmails her into helping him win his girlfriend back. FUN, right??
- There was so much to love in Perfect on Paper, really. Darcy is such a great main character. She’s smart, but a bit clueless when it comes to helping herself and her own relationships. She’s determined and has this taking-no-shit attitude, but she’s also kind and cares so much for the ones she loves, too. I warmed up to her so quickly and loved seeing her grow through the story.
- This novel has such a complex, lovely and important romantic relationship as well. It’s a sort of hate-to-love thing, where they slowly warm up to each other and create a friendship, too and I LOVED it so much, I immediately rooted for them.
- With this relationship comes important discussions about biphobia, internalized biphobia and the prejudices that comes with being bisexual. The fear of not being queer enough when you’re attracted to or/and are in a relationship with the opposite sex, or want to be. The doubt creeping into your mind making you think you’re not deserving of this label or of being part of the queer community, too. I loved how that was discussed into the story and this is so, so, so very important. I’m so happy this book exists for that.
- Aside from the romance, this book also has wonderful friendships and incredible sisters relationships. I fell for how close and wonderful Darcy and her sister were, their bond and interactions on point were making my heart soar.
I HAD A HARD TIME WITH…
☂️
- I can’t quite pinpoint why it’s not a 5 stars read for me… it’s close, but not quite there. It’s a very personal feeling though!
OVERALL
☂️
If you’re looking for a great young adult contemporary with amazing bisexual representation, characters you’ll love and relationships that will make you smile and win your heart, pick up Perfect on Paper. I promise you won’t regret it.
FINAL RATING : 4,5 drops!
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Did you read Perfect on Paper or do you want to? What’s the latest YA contemporary you read and enjoyed? Let me know in comments!
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Amazing review! I’ll keep this one on my radar ☺️
AHH yay! I hope you’ll love it 😀
Great review! I’m glad you enjoyed this one so much.
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll love that one 🙂
Thanks!
I keep seeing this book. It sound interesting and well written. Great review! I enjoyed A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen.
Ahh thank you! I really enjoyed A Taste of Love as well, such a good read 🙂
Ah, I’m so glad you liked this book so much!! I’m really excited to read it 🙂
I can’t wait for you to read it! I hope you’ll love it 😀
I really enjoyed this one too. I adored the friendship that existed between Sophie and Brougham and am always trash for a great sibling bond.
Ahh yay! I’m so happy you liked it as well 🙂
Great review! In the middle of reading this right now and wasn’t really vibing but gonna give it a chance after your review. The whole discussion of biphobia is something that definitely doesn’t pop up often, especially in books so super keen to read it in this book
Ah I’m so happy to hear that! I hope you’ll end up enjoying it a lot! 🙂
I rarely pick up YA contemporary books these days but would love to give this one a try. Great review Marie.
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll enjoy it 🙂
I’ve been wondering about this book because I’ve seen it in my list of pre-order campaigns. Sounds like it tackles the topic of being bisexual in a compelling way. I’ll have to check it out!
It really does! I hope you’ll give it a try and will love it 🙂
oooh, I had no idea what this book was actually about, despite having seen it around, but now I’m really interested!! i’ll have to check it out! lovely review <3
ahh yay! I hope you’ll enjoy it 🙂
I enjoyed A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen, recently. Great review!
P.S. I recently switched my blog to self-hosted WP site. Just in case you can’t see my posts, here is link- https://booksteacupnreviews.com
Thank you so much! 🙂
ahh, reading the dynamic between darcy and ainsley reminded me of you. i kept thinking: “ah, this is such a great sisters dynamic, i’m sure marie would love this” hahah.
i was also surprised by how darcy’s advice was actually really well thought out. for some reason, i thought she was just going to be “good at advice” in the general way that people say they are. but the fact she researched and actually put a lot of effort into explaining different attachment styles and trying to see the situation from all perspectives? it was so interesting! it made it feel a lot more real and i actually learned quite a lot from it, hahah.
ahhhhhhhhhhh this is the sweetest, thank you Lais 🥺🥺 I so agree that this part was so interesting, too, it was clear the advice came from a rich place and that she researched a lot, I loved that and her passion to help others shone through, too! <3
Great review! I just got my copy so hopefully I’ll get to it soon!
Ahh yay! I hope you’ll love it 🙂
I loved loved LOVED Only Mostly Devastated, so I’m really-really looking forward to reading Perfect on Paper! I’m glad you enjoyed it and had nothing negative to say about it even if it wasn’t a five star read, sometimes it’s like that for me too. 🙂 Great review!
Ahh yay! I hope you’ll love it just as much as you loved the author’s debut! 😀
Any books that you rate 4.5 stars, is definitely a book I have to read! It sounds right up my alley, and so hopefully I’ll get the chance to read it soon! Great post Marie xx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
Ahhh yay! I hope you’ll love it! Thank you so much <3