A review by spearly
Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

So, maybe I didn’t always get things right, about myself, or about others. And maybe a part of learning my place in the world was about accepting that I wouldn’t always have the answers, and I wouldn’t always be the hero in every scenario, and maybe I wouldn’t win everything I attempted.

But I was pretty sure about a couple of things.

Perfect on Paper follows Darcy Phillips, a bisexual high school student who runs an anonymous relationship advice business out of a vacant locker. When classmate Alexander Brougham catches her collecting letters from the locker, he enlists her to be his personal dating coach and help him get his ex-girlfriend back.

This was a refreshing YA story that artfully wove in themes of sexuality that a lot of young adult novels don't explore outside of some minor side-character. Darcy is bi, and totally in love with her best friend Brooke. And she's used her
anonymity to meddle into Brooke's love life not once, but twice.
  On top of dealing with her feelings toward her best friend, she spends much of the novel as Brougham's personal dating coach. And, in true YA fashion, she starts to realizes he maybe isn't as awful as she thought he was.

I loved that Gonzales including a high school group called Queer & Questioning (or Q&Q for short) to help our characters work through their distinct experiences as queer teenagers. It also allowed the audience a little insight without coming off as preachy or expositional. We saw Darcy dealing with internalized biphobia after
she begins to have feelings for Brougham, a guy
. We see another character join the Q&Q meetings after seeking advice from locker 89 about not wanting to have sex with her boyfriend. After it's revealed
to the school that Darcy is behind the lockers, we have a gay Korean character explain that he never wrote in to Locker 89 because he figured it was some white, straight girl behind the locker (and, as he says, he was "half right"), and
he doesn't need advice from someone who doesn't know the first thing about his life. 

Darcy has a great arc in this novel. Like Gonzales intended, I'm sure, Darcy is very naive in the beginning. She thinks her advice is near full-proof, she thinks it's alright to betray her best friend's trust to "protect her" (when really, she was just jealous), and she doesn't think through the consequences of her actions. It's only when Brougham starts to push back on things that she's able to look at her advice more objectively. 

For all that I enjoyed about this novel, however, it's still middle of the road plot-wise and pacing-wise for me. Specifically, I think the big bad thing that Darcy is trying to keep Brooke from finding out could have been revealed later. I will try to be more lenient with the melodrama since, even though I thought the misunderstandings between all the characters were a bit flimsy, I have to remember these characters are 16. I was a drama queen, too. I misunderstood things, too. I thought I knew everything, too. 

So, a solid read, and a happy addition to my bookshelf!
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