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A review by laelyn
Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales
5.0
Such a fun feel-good book with important representation! I read the first few pages, immediately got hooked and couldn't put it away until I reached the end. I loved so many things about this book: the representation (bi protagonist, lots of queer side characters), the humour, the flawed but genuinely well-meaning protagonist, the premise of the student who's way too young to give advice to other students but does it anyway, which was fun in "Sex Education" and is fun in this book too.
I loved the way Darcy's advice was incorporated in the chapters and how much she really wanted to help her fellow students, spending so much time on research to help solve their problems or nudge them in the right direction - all the while being entirely incapable of solving her own little relationship troubles. The romance was cute, with just the right amount of misunderstandings to cause some trouble and a solid friendship as basis of their later love story. Brougham is a great and loveable love interest, and Gonzales allowed the two of them to actually develop their feelings over a longer time. The side characters were just as loveable and the subject of friendship and its importance is really at the center of this story.
One aspect I really liked was the way this book talks about internalized biphobia and the still rampant notion that bisexual people don't really belong to the queer community unless they are in a relationship with a person of the same gender. Darcy struggles immensely with this as a bisexual girl who used to fall for a lot of girls but now develops feelings for a boy. The scene in which she explains this to her queer friends is honestly amazing and warmed my heart. This is important, and I loved that Gonzales chose to talk about this subject very explicitely.
All in all, "Perfect on Paper" is a fluffy, cute, very funny, really queer feel-good romcom that has a lot to say, full of relatable characters that you can't but love even if they make absolutely catastrophic decisions at times.
I loved the way Darcy's advice was incorporated in the chapters and how much she really wanted to help her fellow students, spending so much time on research to help solve their problems or nudge them in the right direction - all the while being entirely incapable of solving her own little relationship troubles. The romance was cute, with just the right amount of misunderstandings to cause some trouble and a solid friendship as basis of their later love story. Brougham is a great and loveable love interest, and Gonzales allowed the two of them to actually develop their feelings over a longer time. The side characters were just as loveable and the subject of friendship and its importance is really at the center of this story.
One aspect I really liked was the way this book talks about internalized biphobia and the still rampant notion that bisexual people don't really belong to the queer community unless they are in a relationship with a person of the same gender. Darcy struggles immensely with this as a bisexual girl who used to fall for a lot of girls but now develops feelings for a boy. The scene in which she explains this to her queer friends is honestly amazing and warmed my heart. This is important, and I loved that Gonzales chose to talk about this subject very explicitely.
All in all, "Perfect on Paper" is a fluffy, cute, very funny, really queer feel-good romcom that has a lot to say, full of relatable characters that you can't but love even if they make absolutely catastrophic decisions at times.