Reviews with content warning for Violence - Perfect on Paper

Un grand merci aux éditions Slalom pour l'envoi de ce livre !

Ce livre me fait de l'œil depuis des mois et des mois (probablement depuis sa sortie VO en fait), donc j'avais très hâte de me plonger dedans.
Je l'avoue, j'ai eu un peu de mal à rentrer dans l'histoire. J'ai trouvé que l'intrigue a mis un peu de temps à se mettre en place, ce que je trouve dommage. Et comme les chapitres font tous environs 20 pages, ça n'a pas aidé non plus.
Je n'ai aussi clairement plus l'habitude de lire des traductions, donc je pense que j'ai été un peu déstabilisé.e au début.

Néanmoins, ça ne m'a pas empêché d'apprécier ma lecture. Darcy est un personnage est tellement attachant, et je me suis beaucoup retrouvé en elle, notamment dans les passages où elle parle de sa sexualité.
Maintenant, j'aurai aimé qu'il y est un peu plus de "show" et moins de "tell". Je m'explique : on nous dit très rapidement dans le livre que Darcy est amoureuse de Brooke, sa meilleure amie. Et même si c'est très clairement un crush à sens unique, je n'ai pas vraiment ressenti les sentiment qu'elle éprouve pour Brooke au cours de ma lecture. On nous le dit plus qu'on nous le montre.
D'ailleurs on ne peut pas dire que j'ai porté Brooke dans mon cœur. Je n'ai pas trouvé qu'elle était une bonne amie envers Darcy, qui est quand même censée être sa MEILLEURE amie. Bref, passons.

J'ai adoré le personnage de Brougham. C'est vraiment le genre de personne incomprise, aux premiers abords ils semble hautain et hyper sûr de lui, alors qu'il s'est simplement érigé une barrière pour se protéger des autres, principalement à cause de ses parents.
J'ai tellement aimé sa relation avec Darcy. Elle ne démarre pas sur un bon pied, certes (vive le chantage), mais ils apprennent petit à petit à se connaître, et j'ai trouvé que leur amitié était l'une des plus belles relations du livre (en plus de celle que Darcy entretien avec sa sœur).

Est-ce que j'aurai aimé une intrigue légèrement différente ? Oui. Mais en même temps, j'ai aimé la direction que l'autrice a pris ici (surtout que je n'ai pas vraiment apprécié le personnage de Brooke).

Perfect on Paper est une lecture toute douce, qui m'a néanmoins donné la larme à l'œil à certains passages (la discussion sur la biphobie internalisée m'a détruite). C'est exactement le genre de roman que j'aurai adoré lire à l'âge des personnages, et punaise je ne peux que vous conseiller de le lire.

Content Warnings

dododenise's review against another edition

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emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.0

I went into this book with very little expectations, just hearing that it was great by a lot of queer people who’s opinions I trust. And they could be trusted again. This book was really enjoyable and touched many important things.
I haven’t seen biphobia handled like this before and it was so refreshing. Such an important bi main character that I feel like can be important to so many bi people out there. Even to me, a panromantic person, this felt like a warm hug.
It was very obvious in this book that Sophie is a psychologist. I saw a lot of views/facts in this book that I recognise as a newbie psychology student. Loved that those psych aspects were integrated and it made me connect even more with the story.
Sometimes the teen drama got a bit too much for me though, which just weighted heavy on my chest. I feel too much and those stupid teens do too, and then they make stupid decisions and I’m just sad alongside with them. So yeah, that took me down a bit sometimes. But I ended up loving most of the characters anyway, especially Brougham. He’s such a sweetie, please be my friend.

Content Warnings

dommie's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

4.75

Content Warnings

babsi_222's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book has me chuckling and screaming of adorement. It’s so cute (in the end mostly)

I didn’t think that Darcy‘s gonna be with Alex but I immediately recognised all the signs that pointed to them liking each other and in the end getting together.
I still don’t forgive Brooke for what she did and I don’t like her an Ray tbh. She was such a cool character but went so downhill (my opinion)

Darcy is such a vibe tbh and I really like the Self-/Character Analysis that she does. I wanna do that too.
The whole thing with the Locker is a super cool concept and I’m really glad of how it ends (in the book) too because she seems so happy!

Darcy was 100% in the right in the argument with her mom where she said that her mom doesn’t really „know“ her and doesn’t listen/pay attention to her.
But i love how they grow from that and how their relationship gets better and more open

My fav scenes:

Finn on drugs, the whole Alex-is-super-wasted-and-gone-and-Ainsley-and-Darcy-have-to-rescue-him Scene, the pool scene in the end ;) and the „You’re queer“ scene (especially this one!!!!)

Ainsley is such a vibe tbh and she’s in general so cool and her hobbys to ykkk ahhhrh
Many important topics being talked about in this book>>>>

Content Warnings

nicole_zx's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

pucksandpaperbacks's review against another edition

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fast-paced

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

CW: underage drinking, alcohol consumption, vomiting, mention of divorce, scenes of parents fighting, biphobia

A stellar YA that tackles the subject of biphobia and bi-erasure. I loved this a lot and think it'll resonate with a lot of queer teens. I loved how realistic it was and how much the characters were brutally honest and learned from their mistakes. Though there is some miscommunication, it makes so much sense for 16 and 17-year-olds to act this way. Brougham is such a good character, he's complex but a great friend. He was definitely one of my favorite characters aside from Ainsley and Finn, a die-hard Chad and Ryan [HSM] fan.

I also loved how Sophie Gonzales added South Australian culture into the book. She writes the American school system and teens so well. This was such an addictive book yet an important read for queer lit. I'll be shouting about it for quite a while.

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bubbly_lara's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS!!! What a wholesome story. This gave me major classic 2000's teen movie vibes, and I'm living for it! Highly recommend for a fun, fluffy read that will give you major throwback vibes.

Content Warnings

annsfictworld's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-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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