Sophie Gonzales is a writer whom I’ve followed a little bit since 2021. I haven’t gone back to read her back catalogue, but I’ve requested anything new since then. She writes YA, which is a genre that I’m not sure is quite for me anymore (except maybe in the fantasy realm), but I’m going to see where this book takes me. I like that Gonzales writes characters that are diverse and relatable and I think she’s a great writer for queer young people. And based on the synopsis, The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist is no exception.

Ivy Winslow has the house to herself for a week while her parents are away. She’s planning to use this newfound freedom to binge-watch her favourite fantasy TV show, H-MAD, and hang out with her best friend, Henry. She’ll also have to avoid her former best friend-turned-enemy (and neighbour), Mack. But things quickly go awry when Ivy wakes up to find Weston, the gorgeous, very fictional main character of H-MAD in her bedroom, claiming to be her soul mate.

Ivy realizes that her fanfic writing has somehow brought Weston as she’s imagined him to life. But it turns out that the tropes she swoons over in her stories are slightly less romantic in reality, and her not-so-fictional crush is causing some real-world problems. To figure out why Weston is here and what to do with him, Ivy decides to team up with Henry and (against her better judgment) Mack. But with Mack back in her life, Ivy starts to wonder if Weston, her “perfect guy,” is the one who’s truly perfect for her…or if that was someone else all along.

When I read Perfect On Paper by Sophie Gonzales back in 2021, I thought for sure that I would read everything by the author from then on. The characters were so well developed and it felt like true YA that adults could still enjoy. The next one I read, Never Ever Getting Back Together, wasn’t as strong, but the premise was awesome, so I was fully invested. Now I’m on my third, and I’m not sure I’ll be back. I think maybe I’m just too old for these now—and that’s perfectly okay. Teens and younger adults will probably be able to relate better than me.

What didn’t work for me

Most of the characters: It’s funny because I said that Gonzales’s character development really made me love her writing, but these teens are cringy. They make silly choices that can’t really be explained by their personalities because we’re not sure who they are. I know literally nothing about Henry other than his sexuality and that he is Ivy’s friend, and then Weston is ridiculous, though I understand he’s supposed to be.

The plot: As I mentioned above, I think I’m too old for this story. And that’s perfectly okay because it wasn’t written for me. I just kept thinking about how Ivy’s parents left her alone when she clearly wasn’t comfortable with the idea and just couldn’t get into the world. But I think this is all on me.

What I liked

The dual timeline: I really liked how we were getting bits and pieces of Ivy and Mack’s backstory as we progressed in the plot. It made me really wonder what the big blow-up was that happened between them and whether they were going to be able to make up. I was a little disappointed by their fight (it didn’t seem friendship-breaking, in my opinion), but I liked the structure of it. The moral of the story in the end is also a good one—and I think the target audience will appreciate it.

The fan fiction: I am not a person who’s ever written any fan fiction, but I totally get it. I liked how Ivy was unapologetically super into what she loved, and she wasn’t willing to change to fit in with anyone. Fan fiction should have more of a platform than it currently does and I love that Gonzales gave it a spotlight here.

2.5 STARS

“No matter what that world looks like—no matter how fine-tuned we could get it—it wouldn’t be real. And that’s the thing, isn’t it?” —Sophie Gonzales, The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.