Perfect on Paper is the latest release by Sophie Gonzales. Released in March 2021 by Wednesday Books, Perfect on Paper is a YA contemporary/romance featuring LGBTQ characters.
CW/TW: biphobia, alcohol use and abuse, off-page violence.
Synopsis
Darcy Phillips is a high school student who loves to give anonymous relationship advice to her schoolmates. The system is easy; the letters are dropped in an unused locker at the school and Darcy emails advice to the letter writers.
The system works perfectly until one day when Alexander Brougham catches her in the act of retrieving the locker contents. He needs relationship coaching and offers Darcy a handsome fee for her time. To keep her secret safe, she agrees to help him.
She has her own reasons for keeping her identity safe. If people find out, more secrets may surface. And can any high schooler really stand to have the rest of the school know their secret?
Positives
The premise for this story is such a good one. The idea of a secret relationship expert in a high school sounds fun, especially if the expert has issues with her own relationships.
I appreciate how Darcy questions who she is, and friends support her and help her see her true self.
Negatives
I’m not sure I truly buy into the relationship Brooke suddenly develops with someone she didn’t like a moment ago. How do you go from mutual dislike to dating over a weekend? Maybe it’s just been a while since I was in high school, but I have trouble seeing this being realistic.
My Opinions
I truly loved the premise of this story. It is the whole reason I added it to my TBR when I first learned about it. Sadly, I don’t feel as though it lived up to the potential. The ending was easy to predict and seemed as though it was rushed to reach the end. In some ways, it felt as though the author had a word count, or maybe a page count, and she cut some things out.
I know that I am not the target audience of this book, and I’m okay with that. I truly hope it reaches the person who needs to see themselves in the pages.
One thing I do agree with this book about-you are who you are (and you’re perfect), and you love who you love!
Looking for some more books to read? Check out my other book reviews and my monthly reading wrap-ups.