Everyone at school knows about locker 89. The process is simple: write a letter confessing your relationship woes, pay a small fee of $10, and wait patiently for the solution to appear in your inbox. Darcy Phillips enjoys her life under the radar; it allows her to run the operations of locker 89 in anonymous bliss. Despite never having been in a relationship herself, Darcy has read all the books and watched all the videos, and there is no teen romance drama that can stump her.

Enter Alexander Brougham, the tall, popular swimmer who has never given Darcy as much as a ‘hello’ in the hallway, and who catches her in the act of collecting letters from locker 89. Darcy has good reasons to keep her identity as the brains behind locker 89 a secret, and so accepts Brougham’s request for relationship counselling in exchange for his silence. However, Brougham’s mission to win back his ex presents problems that no amount of research can solve.

Perfect on Paper is a wonderfully fresh take on the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope. Darcy identifies as bisexual and is a member of the Queer and Questioning club at her school, and Sophie Gonzales manages to weave thoughtful and necessary conversations surrounding bisexuality and biphobia among the shenanigans of Darcy’s adventures. Gonzales is a master of YA romance that is as fun and light-hearted as it is thoughtful, and Perfect on Paper will appeal to fans of Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and anyone who enjoyed Netflix’s Sex Education. For ages 14+.

Kealy Siryj works as a bookseller at Readings Kids.