I wanted to like this book so much, but I only made it abut~30% before giving up. The characters, especially Maya, felt so juvenile. I personally couldn’t handle the amped up drama that was being manufactured for the purpose of the reality show. I would still recommend this book to someone who loves reality TV shows, especially the Bachelor. Maybe they would love this book!

Never ever getting back together was a very fun and enjoyable read. I think I would have probably finished this book in about two days if life and work hadn’t been in the equation!

I am not usually someone that likes or watches reality TV but I was intrigued by the blurb about a reality TV show where one ex-girlfriend, Maya, is bent on revenge and exposing the “real” Jordy on live TV and the other ex, Skye, wants to rekindle things and see if Jordy was “the one”. However, things don’t go as they should and Maya and Skye might start falling for each other instead. Through out the book you get to see what the contestant are put through, how Maya and Skye’s relationship develops and who truly is Jordy. This was a fun ride that made me laugh and want to shout at Jordy so many times!
Highly recommend this modern queer twist of a reality dating Tv show, especially if you lived the charm offensive.
Check TW! There is a very manipulative and gaslighting ex

Something about this book just made my brain hurt. Maybe it was the stress I was under when I received this book. I just couldn’t really get into it and the concept just didn’t work for me. Maybe I’ll pick it up again later and try again

I love the concept of this book. Reality TV dating show but where two of the women fall for each other instead of the “bachelor”? Sign me up. Especially when I’ve read and enjoyed work from Sophie Gonzales before. Unfortunately, I did not love this as much as I thought I would.

It had all of the messy drama of reality tv that I expected, especially given how Gonzales wrote Jordy. I liked how the book highlighted his sleaziness in a way that made it sort of understandable why each of the women fell for him yet also showed all of them realizing the truth and coming together in the end. I loved the way all of the girls’ personalities blended in the house, and how even for the contestant that left first, it felt like I knew her. That being said, I think this book would have been better served as a New Adult or Adult title. I had a hard time believing that they would actually put teenagers on a reality dating show and I think knowing that both Maya and Skye’s relationships with Jordy were “short” high school relationships took a lot of the emotion out of their breakups. Maybe I would feel differently if I were still in the target age range, but I think even teenage me would question how much impact those relationships were meant to have had on the individuals.

Overall, I had an enjoyable time reading this, but ultimately I’m not sure there was enough to make it memorable.

If you are a fan of the Bachelor/Bachelorette you will love this book. It has all the drama and romance that you could ask for!

I thought this was a super fun read and I thought that book had such a fun take on a reality dating show. I iked both characters but felt their vocies were too simialr at points. I thought this was great take on the hate to more troupe and loved how that felt out. It was a quick read and loved all the charaters. i will def read more by this author in the future.

Cute rom.com type story about a couple that was on a 'reality' show about getting back together with a former boyfriend. The girls start off as enemies and become united due to the fact they all dated the same guy. They find out the guy really hasn't changed since he broke up with them years (or months before). Each character goes through their own transformation to discover their love in this story. Fun story telling with many adventures similar to "The Bachelor' with less drama.

Full review will be published on January 30th @8:00am EST on Instagram, Storygraph, and Goodreads at @abookwormsgarden

The premise of this book was really interesting. I like the idea of a book about reality tv from a fictional point. unfortunately for me this books did not do it for me. I’m have several issues with this book and honestly all of them stem around the fact that these are supposed to be 18 yr old girls fighting for their ex back on national tv. Add in the dates, the underage drinking, and weird obsession with Jordy this book slowly unraveled for me page after page. I found it extremely hard to believe that 10 teens had any type of real relationship with this man to warrant a reality tv show about “the one that got away”. The two main characters Skye and Maya had zero likable traits, or personalities that set them apart which was disappointing. If it wasn’t for the chapter headers this could have been all told from one person for how similar both povs were told. All of their interactions together centered on talking and obsessing over revenge on Jordy. And then all the sudden they started a relationship with each other over it. Which just didn’t work for me either. Over all the concept was great but the execution was lackluster.

This was funny and not what I expected! I pretty much could not have disliked the male main character more, which is the point. I was a little unsure about the plan for revenge and it turned out as expected, providing that 3rd act tension. I loved the female characters together and enjoyed reading this.

I LOVED this book. it could have fell into the usual tropes of female rivalry and hatred, but instead it flipped those ideas on their heads. what emerged is a sweet sapphic romance and a story of female friendship, and a healthy dose of revenge against boys.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me an arc.

This was the first book I’ve read by this author and I absolutely adored it! The story was so unique and interesting. I found it such a fun read.

Skye was a great character with a lot of complexities. Maya also was a complex character and I loved reading their points of view. Jordy annoyed me the whole time, but that was definitely the point.

Overall I loved the whole premise of this book and can’t wait to read more by this author. It was just so unique and fun. I didn’t even mind the third act conflict haha.

I absolutely loved and adored this book. The way that the author developed her characters *chef's kiss* The second chance show element wasn't exactly my favorite b/c I have a harder time with them. It reminded too much of the bachelor and I can't do that show. But nonetheless still a very cute read. Recommend if you like watching the Bachelor with a little revenge plot to it.

A cute little rom-com. This took a twist I didn't see coming but was so fun! Very likeable characters and a cute story line. This is a perfect read for when you need light and easy book that will leave you in a good mood!

The fact that this book has my fave trope: enemies -to -lovers BUT with a twist is a "YOU need to READ this book" fact!

Thank you so much for Sophie Gonzales, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I love the dynamic between Maya and the other competing girls, then of course with Skye - how they started to loosen up with each other, share secrets, do a secret vendetta against their cheating/lying ex-boyfriend and helping each other to win the competition. The whole concept of the novel is so unique, I loved every moment!

It was witty, funny, the humor was on point, a bit sarcastic and wicked at the right places. It has such strong feminist vibes and the romance-plot is really delicate, not too much, just enough to be enjoyed.

Definitely my FAVE Sophie Gonzales book. ever.

Ever want to date your ex-boyfriend on a televised show that involves all his other exes? Yeah me either, unless it is to get revenge on said ex-boyfriend. That's where Maya comes in, when she agrees to go on a reality dating show involving her ex-boyfriend Jordy, a pseudo-royal thanks to his sister marrying into a royal family. Maya plans revenge on Jordy, looking to expose his cheating ways. This becomes a problem when she realizes that the girl he cheated on her with, Skye, will also be there. What follows is sure to be full of drama, but it is when Skye and Maya fall for each other instead of fall back in love with Jordy that chaos ensues.

I had a hard time with this book. I felt that it was extremely far fetched that Jordy could possible have five ex-girlfriends who would be interested in dating him again simply because of the age range of these characters. We're talking about these girls thinking they were in true love with Jordy when they were 16 and 17? Just could not get behind the age of the characters and making all these important life choices in their late teens. The story is also told in both the point of view of Skye and Maya, but at times I found it extremely difficult to differentiate between the characters because they seemed exactly the same and too similar. Felt like neither of them had a very specific voice. Overall, I don't think I was the demographic audience intended for this book.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I really like the idea of the story and most of the execution, but I never managed to like Maya and Skye simply falls flat as a character.
The plot is centered mainly on Maya wanting to get revenge on a cheating ex who gaslighted her and told everyone that she was just a crazy ex-girlfriend lying about their breakup. He's a pseudo-celebrity who gets a reality TV show in the style of The Bachelor where he'll go on dates and get to reconnect with olf flames. Maya and 5 other of Jordy's exes live together while the show is filmed and she finally has a chance to face off against the girl who Jordy cheated on her with, Skye. Things don't work out like Maya was planning and Skye turns out to be too perfect to be real, forcing Maya to decide between getting revenge for the past or opening up to the future possibilities.
It's a fun premise and there are great little jabs at reality shows in general and dating shows in particular, but never managing to connect with Maya's borderline silly obsession and Skye being a variation of the pixie-dream-girl trope kept me from caring about it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the chance to read!

I love a book that reminds me of Taylor Swift so Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales was a must read. Surprise, surprise, this is another Bachelor-esque read for me. I just can’t stay away from them.
This book centers around a reality show, Second-Chance Romance, where the cast is entirely made up by the lead’s exes. When Maya shows up primarily to get revenge on her cheating ex, Jordy, she just so happens to end up rooming with the girl that Jordy cheated on her with.

I loved the twists and turns in this book, and I’m a sucker for a Happily Ever After. I felt like a reality TV watcher with a big bucket of popcorn watching all the drama unfold.

This book was written for you if:
1) You are a reality TV fan
2) You’re looking for young adult queer contemporary fiction
3) You’re a fan of The Charm Offensive or The Selection

This book is full of chaos and I love it, I don’t watch any reality dating tv shows in real life but this book is just too much. I loved it. Lots of funny moments with heart and romance.

Apologies for the late feedback on this ARC! I had left feedback on every other site but apparently missed it on my Netgalley list!

This book was a quick "have to read this!" for me as a big fan of The Charm Offensive. I don't normally go for contemporary romance books but if they're LGBTQ+ then I will absolutely request them as I love to see a more healthy representation in literature and not just the same old same old being retold.

The plot of this was so clever, two ex's coming together on a second chance reality dating show. One bent on revenge, one hopefully for love.

The red flags off Jordy were immediate but he was written in such a way that if we weren't getting the overview of both girls' perspectives with him we could easily miss them and think he was charming and misunderstood. I think that way of writing him made him such a real character because often the worst guys are the "nice guys" who gaslight and twist reality.

Both girls were so uniquely different and their interactions were really likeable. I found myself rooting for this girl, no this girl, wait this one! It was full of twists and really entertaining. Definitely a fun read!