#AmReading YA

Perfect on Paper
Sophie Gonzales
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

In Sophie Gonzales' Perfect on Paper, Leah on the Offbeat meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before: a bisexual girl who gives anonymous love advice to her classmates is hired by the hot guy to help him get his ex back

Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off.

Darcy Phillips:
• Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes―for a fee.
• Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
• Really cannot stand Alexander Brougham.
• Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke…who is in love with someone else.
• Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

However, when Brougham catches her in the act of collecting letters from locker 89―out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service―that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach―at a generous hourly rate, at least. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Darcy has a good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she’s behind the locker, some things she's not proud of will come to light, and there’s a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who’s already fallen for him once? What could go wrong?

Darcy had anonymously been giving relationship advice to her peers for several years. Nobody knew who was behind locker 89 until Brougham spied her gathering her daily letters. In exchange for keeping her secret, Brougham enlisted Darcy to help him win his ex back. While assisting Brougham with his reunion, she developed an honest friendship with him, which helped her begin to see things in a different light. 

After the success I had with Gonzales' previous work, Only Mostly Devastated, I was excited to read more of her work. The premise of a high school Dear Abby, romantic espionage, and unlikely unions seemed really promising, and as expected, I greatly enjoyed this book. 

Here are five things that stood out for me as I read Perfect on Paper:

1. I loved Darcy! At her core, Darcy was a good human. Her purpose for starting Locker 89 was to help people. She was a stupendous sister and a good friend, but she was also flawed. She made a few poor choices, some born out of rather selfish reasons, but I would say she was more often on the side of right than wrong.
2. Though I am not part of the community, I liked the open and thoughtful discourse regarding bisexuality. Gonzales took on biphobia and some of the biases associated with bisexuality, as well as how it affects someone who shares that identity. 
3. The relationship stuff was really interesting. The letters and Darcy's responses were featured in almost every chapter, and it appeared some serious research about relationships was done. I was fascinated by it all. 
4. The friendship that developed between Darcy and Brougham was really lovely. It was wonderful seeing Brougham slowly change over the course of the book, and it was because of small kindnesses that were shown to him. I loved being reminded that one could do something that seems ordinary and it could have such a big impact on a person. 
5. Gonzales highlighted relationships of all kinds. She explored the sibling bond, parental relationships, parent-child dynamic, friendships, and romantic relationships. This is always a plus for me. 

Lots of rom-com moments and antics made this book tons of fun to read, but it was the characters and their growth that made it so satisfying. Another great one from Gonzales! 

Things That Grow
Meredith Goldstein
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

After her grandmother dies, a girl travels to different gardens to scatter her ashes, learning about life, love, and how to laugh again along the way. From Love Letters advice columnist and podcast host Meredith Goldstein, this emotionally resonant novel is perfect for fans of Robin Benway and Jenna Evans Welch.

When Lori’s Dorothy Parker–loving grandmother dies, Lori’s world is turned upside down. Grandma Sheryl was everything to Lori—and not just because Sheryl raised Lori when Lori’s mom got a job out of town. Now Lori’s mom is insisting on moving her away from her beloved Boston right before senior year. Desperate to stay for as long as possible, Lori insists on honoring her grandmother’s last request before she moves: to scatter Sheryl’s ashes near things that grow.

Along with her uncle Seth and Chris, best friend and love-of-her-life crush, Lori sets off on a road trip to visit her grandmother’s favorite gardens. Dodging forest bathers, scandalized volunteers, and angry homeowners, they come to terms with the shape of life after Grandma Sheryl. Saying goodbye isn’t easy, but Lori might just find a way to move forward surrounded by the people she loves.

Lori finally had some stability in her life since moving in with her Grandma Sheryl. When her grandmother unexpectedly passes away, Lori finds herself scrambling to try and hold onto the life she found with Sheryl. She attempts to figure out her future, while trying to honor Sheryl's last wishes to spread her remains nears things that grow. While searching for the places those places, Lori experiences a tremendous amount of growth in herself and finds a way to accept whatever the outcome of her home situation may be. 

This is my first experience reading Goldstein's work, and I rather enjoyed her style. This was a book about honoring last wishes, death, and grief, yet it was quite amusing. Authors who have the competence to seamlessly blend humor with heavier topics are ones I love to read. The ability to make me laugh and make me cry is one I truly appreciate, and Goldstein did an incredible job man-handling my emotions. 

Grandma Sheryl sent Lori on quite a journey. Goldstein pulled me into all these beautiful gardens and treated me to an amazing tour. The exploration of these lush sites was often accompanied by some introspection and soul searching, and you could see Lori slowly changing with each new place they visited. This was not a journey without challenges though, and some may not agree with all Lori's choices. I felt her mistakes were realistic, though I won't say I was necessarily a fan of every "conflict". 

The standout parts were definitely each garden included in the story. Not only did I get a good visual, but Goldstein added to my enjoyment with colorful characters, unexpected interactions, literary readings, and fantastic bits of history. With each stop on this journey, I found myself more enamored with Sheryl. I felt like she understood how profound her absence would be, and how her family would need some guidance in order to learn how to face a life without her. 

Though the focus of this book may have been saying goodbye to Grandma, there were so many other themes I appreciated. Friendship, family, forgiveness, and romance also factored into this story, and I appreciated the way they all contributed to the whole. It was as if Sheryl's death was a catalyst for change, not just for Lori, but for her whole family. 

Overall: A beautiful story of love, loss, and the many ways we grieve, which was amusing, touching, and hopeful.

**ARCs received in exchange for honest reviews.

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