• Inclusive, Fun, High School Hijinks Story
5
Perfect on Paper Book Cover Perfect on Paper
Sophie Gonzales
LGBT Teen and Young Adult Romantic Comedy
Wednesday Books
March 9, 2021
ebook, audiobook, hardcover
352

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?

“Probably needs therapy. Definitely needs a hug.” — Perfect on Paper

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales will give you a smile on your face, as well as a big rush of all the feels due to how invested you’ll become with Darcy, her hijinks involved with running her relationship advice business, and how she comes to terms with her own love life and advice.

Darcy is the kind of storyteller that you immediately connect to, even if you aren’t a teenaged bisexual who runs a successful love advice service. With a whole cast of characters that are equally vibrant, equally soulful, and yet totally down to earth, Perfect on Paper asks the question “How would you handle your love interest asking advice about another person?” and makes it completely relevant for not just teens.

While Darcy is certain she’s been in love with her best friend for years, she ends up befriending her classmate Alexander Brougham. Although, Darcy would claim she’s been blackmailed. Brougham would say he merely took advantage of an opportunity. Either way, the two of them spend time together dissecting Brougham’s love life in a way that leads Darcy to reflect on her own feelings towards friend and crush, Brooke. I found myself sympathetic towards Darcy and Brougham. Even if I didn’t always approve of their respective choices in their lives myself (adulting, am I right?).  It isn’t just the teens in the story who have their share of problems. Watching how the adults in Perfect on Paper go through their own transformation throughout the story was really impressive as well.

I adored how inclusive Perfect on Paper is with the LGBTQ+ community! Between Darcy, her sister, and the Q&Q club that is a safe space and everyone is welcome and that extends to Perfect on Paper as well First of all, how cool is it that this book is like 90% LGBTQ+ characters? Second, I love that this inclusivity is the norm, and not the drama. The inevitable drama is just in the relationships themselves, and honestly, I love how all are resolved within the story. It made sense to me, and I feel like there was some serious thought behind the conclusion.

Can I just say how much of a fan I am now? Sophie Gonzales was a new to me author prior to reading this truly hilarious and heartfelt story. From start to finish, I was entranced and did not want to say goodbye to all of these wonderful characters. Perfect on Paper is available today, so go get your copy now!