Sophie Gonzales Books in Order

Sophie Gonzales was born and raised in Whyalla, South Australia, a coastal city where the Outback meets the sea. She later studied psychology at the University of Adelaide, but stories had been part of her life long before university.

She started writing at five, after making up a story in the bath and asking her mother to type it. They reportedly had different ideas about the ending: young Sophie wanted everyone to die, while her mother preferred a milkshake.

The writing habit stuck. At eleven, Gonzales began writing fiction at school, and she kept working on novels while completing her psychology degree. After graduating, she spent a gap year writing and seeking an agent, then moved to Melbourne for professional psychology training.

She became a registered psychologist in 2018 and worked in occupational rehabilitation and in primary and high schools. That experience sits alongside the emotional honesty in her books, which often make room for anxiety, identity, friendship, family strain, and the awkward work of figuring out what you want.

Her first published novel, The Law of Inertia, arrived in 2018. It is a darker young adult mystery about loss, foster care, mental health, and a teen trying to understand what happened after his boyfriend's death.

Then came Only Mostly Devastated in 2020, a queer, contemporary nod to Grease. It follows Ollie and Will, who have a lovely summer romance before discovering that school, family pressure, and being out can make the same relationship much harder. Gonzales has said she wanted to put queer joy at the center of a familiar kind of teen love story.

Her later books lean more openly into rom-com setups, while keeping the feelings messy. Perfect on Paper follows Darcy, the anonymous relationship adviser behind a school locker, while If This Gets Out, co-written with Cale Dietrich, puts two boy-band members under the glare of fame and management control.

With Never Ever Getting Back Together, she sends a group of exes onto a reality dating show. The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist turns fanfiction into a very real problem, and Nobody in Particular brings a scholarship student and a princess together at an elite boarding school. Across these books, readers can expect banter, queer romance, complicated friendships, and characters learning that a neat plan rarely survives real life.

Gonzales lives in Adelaide, Australia. Away from the page, she has said she enjoys ice skating, painting, and practicing the piano.