Hello! Today I have a review for a book that I am very excited to review, and it’s one that I loved reading! Perfect on Paper is an amazing book, with a great plot and great diversity, and I’m really happy to be able to share my thoughts on it!

Perfect on Paper follows bisexual teen Darcy Philips, who runs an anonymous love advice business out of an empty locker at her high school. Her love advice is spot on, but her own love life? Not so perfect.

Darcy wasn’t always the most lovable main character, and didn’t always make the best decisions, but her character was written very well. Darcy is bisexual, and for once, that wasn’t her big issue, or the thing making her life harder. She’s bisexual. She has problems going on in her life. Those two things were not related.

Darcy is in love with her best friend, Brooke, who is in love with another girl. Brooke was a really interesting character, and really fun to read about. However, we didn’t learn that much about Brooke’s past, and I wished that we had. I think that it would have added to the book to just learn even a little more about Brooke’s life. She does have a very unique personality in the book, and her character is very well written in the book.

Darcy’s older sister Ainsley was one of my favorite characters. Ainsley is trans, and founded the Q & Q (Queer and Questioning) club at their high school. She is in college, but living at home, and is a big part of the book. She is a really fun character, and I loved all of the parts of the book with her! I really love her and Darcy’s relationship, and how close they are.

Brougham is a fascinating character, and is very well developed. He has a distinct personality, and throughout the book, we continuously learn more and more about his life and about his past in a really interesting way.

One of the best parts of the book were the many distinct and memorable side characters, like Finn, one of Brougham’s best friends and a member of the Q & Q club, and Jaz, another member of the Q & Q club.

The writing was also excellent. There were emotional moments, and sad moments and funny moments, and reading the book, I really felt immersed in the story.

The plot was entertaining, unique, and overall just fun. There was never a boring moment in the book, and the story wasn’t at all predictable.

I loved the whole story with locker 89, the locker that Darcy uses for her love advice business. Students drop in letters with their emails and some money, and Darcy picks them up, responds to them, and gives them relationship advice.

At first, I was a little wary of the reality of how that all could work, and how Darcy could remain anonymous, but as the book went on, and the details were revealed, it made perfect sense.

Sophie Gonzales was born and raised in Whyalla, South Australia, where the Outback Meets the Sea. She now lives in Melbourne, where there’s no outback in sight, but slightly better shopping opportunities. Sophie loves punk music, frilly pink skirts, and juxtapositions.

Sophie has been writing since the age of five, when her mother decided to help her type out one of the stories she had come up with in the bathtub. They ran into artistic differences when five-year-old Sophie insisted that everybody die in the end, while her mother wanted the characters to simply go out for a milkshake.

Since then, Sophie has been completing her novels without a transcriptionist.

Website | Goodreads

Perfect on Paper is an incredible book. The plot is fast-paced and fun, the characters are memorable, and the writing is amazing. The LQBTQ+ representation is done extremely well, and all in all, this is a book that everyone should read.

My rating:

Have you read Perfect on Paper? What are some of your favorite YA contemporaries? Chat with me in the comments below!