Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Let me be clear, Gwendolyn. I would rather be swallowed up into the bowels of hell and enter an arrangement with the fallen angel Lucifer than date Jordy Miller again.”

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales

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Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listeners copy. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. This was very nearly a five-star book for me, but the third act conflict didn’t really work for me, so it’s a four now. This made me very sad because the rest of the book was so much fun. What we’ve got here is your standard “I dated a first-class prick this one time until he cheated on me and now he wants to date me […]

Tropey reality show YA romance

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales

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This is my first Sophie Gonzales, but when I saw the premise I knew I needed this in my life! And Never Ever Getting Back Together does not disappoint! Two years ago, Maya dated Jordy who suddenly moved to Canada, but they were going to try keeping it going and make things work. Except almost immediately after moving to Canada, Jordy met Skye and started dating her. He convinced everyone, including Skye, that he broke up with Maya before the move but she couldn’t let […]

Yes, Darcy, you are queer!

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

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30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 2 Book 5/30 I haven’t read a really solid, really good bordering on great contemporary YA novel in what feels like a really long time. Actually, I just scrolled back through my GR reading challenges, and the last really good/great YA contemporary I read was Concrete Rose back in January 2021. So it has been a while! Perfect on Paper isn’t life-changing or anything, it’s just a really well done YA novel, a classic of the form. It certainly […]

another gripe: for an advice columnist, our protagonist is really clueless

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

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Four stars for the themes of biphobia, internalized or not, but knock down to three stars for the over-reliance on trope and the underwhelming exploration of said biphobia themes. The main conceit of this novel is the part that somewhat lost me. There’s a locker in school into which high schoolers drop their romantic issues for Darcy Phillips, 16-going-on-17-year old wunderkid, to reply to. Do not worry though–Darcy is clear to tell us that she’s very rigorous about the whole affair and pulls from psychology […]

“We shared cracks in complementary places.”

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

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This book is just so adorable and funny. I’m not sure how I’ve missed this author before, but once I picked this book up I could not put it down! Darcy operates an agony aunt locker at her high school. Students can drop off a letter – and the fee – and get a personalized email response. And things are going great! She has a 95% success rate (based on refunds) and she’s successfully managed to keep it a secret, even from her best friend […]

Not actually LGBTQ Grease, but fun nonetheless

Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales

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I just wish more books about adults were written with the sort of joy that YA authors infuse in their work. Because I am an adult, and I want adult scenarios that have this sort of vibe. There’s a lot in this book that I really enjoyed–Ollie’s relationship with his niece/nephew, his sense of self and confidence, his ability to make the best of a new situation. The book definitely clipped by, and I was happy to see that we avoided the whole “Ollie is […]



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