Review: "The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist" by Sophie Gonzales

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist by Sophie Gonzales
Published March 2024 via Wednesday Books
★★★★

Ivy's looking forward to a few things when her parents go out of town—eating all the junk food she wants, watching her favorite show with her best friend...and maybe writing a bit more fanfiction about that same show. What she doesn't expect, though, is to wake up with a lead character from that show in her bed. Not the actor—the character. And it's both exactly what she had imagined and not what she wants at all...

If you were ever big into fanfiction—or if you read the entirety of the Protectors of the Plot Continuum more than once—this one is for you. It's obvious throughout that Gonzales has a lot of love and respect for fanfiction, and I'm here for that, but my favorite thing about the book, hands down, is how unabashedly terrible Ivy's own fanfiction is:

He was so hot! His windswept, ice-blue waves were messy, like they'd been styled by the wind. His beautiful glowing orbs were extraordinarily wide and soulful. His biceps were visible through the thin cotton of his shirt.

"Weston!" Ivy cried, her heart coming to a shuddering halt. "Is it really you?" (loc. 373*)

I've read so many novels about incredibly talented teenagers who are winning contests and scoring book deals and so on and so forth—and it is just deeply refreshing to read about someone who is doing something she loves, mostly getting comments to the tune of 'please work on your spelling and grammar', and carrying on anyway.

Weston scooped her up into a hug, and it was easy for him, like she was a doll he could toss around. But of course, Weston wouldn't do that, because he knew she was a human who needed to be cherished. But he could toss her if he wanted to. But he didn't want to. (loc. 382)

The trouble, Ivy finds, is that what is so romantic and swoon-worthy in her head does not always, ah, translate to real life. I find it hilarious that there's still so much of her manifested Weston that she finds romantic throughout the book—with time and experience and so on, Ivy might turn into a more critical viewer and writer, but for the time being she's a teenager and enjoying herself and that's enough. It makes for an entertaining, tongue-in-cheek read, and I'm here for it.

Thanks to the author and publisher for inviting me to read a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.