Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Perfect on Paper

This book was so charming. A perfect high school romance, its characters shone. Distinct, complicated, and likeable, all of the main characters were a joy to get to know. I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship advice and I liked that the author wasn’t scared to raise the stakes. Characters messing up really messed up, and the pay off was so cathartic. Sadly, I feel like a conversation between Darcy and Brooke was missing at the end to truly tie everything together. It would have been useful if the final chapter was labelled as an epilogue. Overall, however, this book exceeded my expectations. It was an enjoyable read and I’ll keep an eye out for Gonzales’ other works.

(I also really liked the discussions of bisexuality! They were sensitive and powerful)

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torikate7's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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tinysierra's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The premise was fun! It was a cute queer bisexual centered story. I love the discussions about attachment styles, setting boundaries and communicating needs.

I loved that there was brief but casual asexual rep in the side characters. Darcy gets a letter from an asexual student asking for advice about their relationship. Darcy’s response is spot on. It was really nice to see. There were other queer characters as well.

Along the way we get to see problems/tensions with the main character’s parents relationships and how it affects the children/main characters as well.

If you like this book, I recommend Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See or Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao

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dwoht's review against another edition

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funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

good bisexual representation!

i started reading this thinking it's the typical best friends to lovers story, turns out i was wrong but it's a good kind of wrong because i like the two main characters. they're cute and they complement each other well.

i know darcy will be revealed as the locker 89 but i still dreaded it and when it finally happened i felt so uncomfortable and embarrassed! i closed the book for a few minutes to recover.

darcy was held accountable for her actions of course and she's also self aware and tried to correct her mistakes as best as she can. darcy is relatable as all of the characters combined, but darcy is something. she's endearing. (maybe because i see a bit of myself in her lol)

it also reminds me of sex education's first season where they also do the relationship advice thingy which is cool.

i enjoyed this book despite the second hand embarassments that i felt. it's a great read, can't complain much.

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tuliptohru's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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