For 2023 I definitely will be trying my hardest to read these books before they come out. I have been wanting to read this book for so long, and I am so glad I finally was able to finish it. This past year I have had trouble reading books without the audiobook, and the narrators for this book were phenomenal.

I have not been mad at a book in a long time that I was yelling in my car. This is a good thing though because I just wanted the best for Maya and Skye. They have become one of my favorite couples, and they deserve the world. I gave this book a 5/5 stars and I would re-read this book in the future.

Sophie Gonzales cemented herself as a new favorite author of mine with her first two books, "Only Mostly Devastated" and "Perfect on Paper". The idea of this one was my favorite of any of her books so far, but it just fell short for me. There were two main reasons this didn't work for me.

1) The targeted audience.
The concept of this book, a dating show where you try to reconnect with your exes and see if you can find "the one who got away" is so fun, but our main characters are 18/19, and it feels unrealistic that they're on a show like this. It won't be super distracting for alot of people, but I feel like this could've been better as a new adult/adult book.

2) The romantic development
A girl that got cheated on and the girl that unknowingly cheated with the guy teaming up and falling in love while on a reality show?? Amazing. But it felt like it came out of nowhere for me. They had mentioned each other being pretty like once or twice from each perspective, and then as soon a they realized they both liked girls they're attracted to each other. It's even mentioned in the book that it's like they both came out and were wanting to makeout now, and I just felt like this build up missed the mark. I didn't feel much connection at all between them through the book, but people have different tastes in romance and there's always a chance you won't read the romance like I did!

Even though I didn't love everything about this book, there were still things that I enjoyed! I liked the reality show setting, the girls on the show were fun and I liked how they worked through some girl hate they had going on, and I have always liked Sophie's writing style! I will still pick up all of her future books! :)

4 stars

As a high school teacher and sponsor of the Gay Straight Alliance, I think some of my students might get a kick out of this book, What happens when two girls on a reality-TV show, vying for the love of the same boy , fall for each other instead of him?

However, as a Social Studies teacher, the made-up country of Chalonne and its faux cultural traditions and language pulled me out of the story.

Nonetheless, great representation for LGBTQIA+ young adult readers and their allies.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

The Taylor Swift reference caught my eye, and I'm a sucker for Sophia Gonzales and a reality-TV premise. This book does not disappoint.

If the Bachelor is your thing, this book might be too! Its a hilarious, drama-filled adventure - a bit unlikely, but hey, that's fiction!

3.5 stars

In general, this was a fun concept for a story - a reality TV show where a man tries to find love again with some of his ex-girlfriends. This drew me in immediately, and while I did mostly enjoy the book, there were some things that held me back from loving it.

First, it was extremely drama filled which is not necessarily a bad thing - but I found myself getting annoyed over all of the petty drama. If this was an actual reality TV show, I might have enjoyed it a bit more, but to me it just didn't translate as well into the book. Maybe I did not enjoy it as much since I typically don't really watch dating reality TV.

I felt that the characters were all kind of annoying and over-dramatic. I wasn't really attached to any of them at all which was disappointing. I hoped there would be at least one character I was rooting for.

Despite this, I really enjoyed the almost plot twist love interest and queer representation in the book.

This was a fun read, despite how annoyed I was lol, but I would recommend this if you love dating reality TV shows!

This was really good though I do sort of wish it had been written as an adult novel rather than YA. Regardless Sophie is an autobuy author for me.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: November 29, 2022

This is a good blend of trashy reality tv dating shows and an enemies to lovers romance with a twist. A group of girls who share an ex agree to go on a reality dating show for a second chance at love. Two exes seem to hate each other, and while initially they’re to win him back or take him down, they have eyes for each other instead. This started a bit show and immaturely whiny but picked up about a third of the way through. Cheers for bi MCs, but overall underwhelmed by this one…maybe would’ve been more into it if I was in any of the fandoms it sprang from

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review


This was honestly really, really fun! I had a really fun time reading and watching sapphics execute “revenge”…aka falling in love.

Sophie Gonzales does a great job at keeping you interested in the story and hooked. It is overall the type of books that make you enjoy yourself.

My only lower point would perhaps be when the villain is made to be hated, which reduces its nuances so it makes it almost cookie-cutter.

For lovers of reality TV, juicy drama, and cute romcoms !!

4.5⭐️

<b>“I want to kiss you,” Skye says, matter-of-factly. Casual, not earth-shattering. Funny. Those words shatter time and space for me.

“So, kiss me,” I force out.</b>

Maya and Skye are both contacted by their mutual ex-boyfriend, Jordy Miller, to appear on his Bacehlor-esque reality show, <i>Second Chance Romance</i>, to potentially rekindle their love. Maya is out for revenge, and Skye is grateful for the opportunity at a second chance at finding love with Jordy. But Maya dislikes Skye because Jordy cheated on her with her while they were dating long distance, and Skye doesn’t believe Maya. The two are forced to be roommates on the show, and get off to a rough start.

I went into this book a little blind. After the first chapter, I thought “Ugh, Maya’s going to go on this reality show and fall back in love with her crappy ex-boyfriend. Lame.” But by the end of the first chapter when Skye’s mentioned I knew it would be so so much better than that, and it is! I finished this book in two sittings and I could not put it down. It’s so fun and cute and the absolute best case scenario for a reality show. I wish it were real! Jordy is a total asshat, and I’m so happy he ends up totally miserable in the end.

There were a couple of things I didn’t love, including the 3rd act breakup and that I kept picturing the characters as being older. It seems kind of weird to me that Skye and Maya are only 18 (but then again I don’t watch these sorts of shows in real life so maybe that’s normal?). I also would have loved to see an epilogue that shows a peak into the future, but it still has a sweet ending with all the possibility of the unknown.

<b> I suppose that’s the thing about high risk, high reward.

You fall for someone. Head over heels. And then you take a leap of faith.

Mine is a smile.</b>

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley and the Publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*cue Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" while playing any opening to "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette"*

Enjoy "The Bachelor"? Enjoy the thought of six girls fighting over the same guy? What if the guy wasn't a stranger to the girls? What if the guy happened to be an ex of all six girls? What if not all the relationships ended well? But they all have one shot to revisit their old flame to see if one was the one who got away. 'Never Ever Getting Back Together' is "The Bachelor" but with a twist.

The book is dual perspective from Maya, heartbroken after Jordy cheated on her, and Skye, the girl Jordy cheated on Maya with. Jordy, being the little shit that he is, told Maya that Skye knew the whole time about her and still stayed with Jordy. While Skye was told that Maya was an obsessive stalker that would not leave Jordy alone. Great start, right? When Maya gets the call about being on the show, she basically tells the producer to go to hell. But after a long talk with her mother and best friends, Maya creates a plan to ruin Jordy's golden boy image with the media and the show is the perfect way to do it.

"...But the thing is, I don't know if I even wanna do this if you don't come, Maya." - Chapter 2

Skye, on the other hand, is coming from a healthier mindset. Her and Jordy ended things decently as Jordy moved countries. Skye always thought Jordy might be the one for her and this might be her chance to win Jordy back. But with Jordy whispering in her ear, Skye knows from the beginning Maya is going to be out to get her. She's Jordy's ex stalker so why would she not?

"...They can't do the show without me, so they have to play by my rules and my number one rule is, Skye is off-limits." - Chapter 3

*Are you following where this is going?*

True to "The Bachelor" fashion, each week one girl gets sent home and each week, they have some kind of competition to see who is lucky enough to spend a night alone with Jordy. Don't be like me and start feeling a bit bad for Jordy. He portrays this heartbroken, young man who has been forced into the spotlight thanks to his sister's marriage into royalty when it's quite the opposite. He is about as two faced as it comes. Maya and Skye are forced to bunk together and finally the truth comes out for both of them, thanks to a contraband iPad. Jordy won't get away with it and two heads are better than one and better odds at making it to the end.

I quite enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the build up between Maya and Skye. Their relationship was cute but I think the revenge plot was overdone. But at the same time, I understand it. Maya was dead set on revenge for a long time. When Skye came along, it complicated things but Maya still wanted revenge for what he done to her and Skye. Maya just had to realize that maybe the best revenge is being happy with the life you are living and the ones you are living it with. It's their loss and their fuck up. Though Jordy did get his revenge at the end, I think Maya's determination with revenge was a bit much but at the same time, I can understand it.

If you enjoy "The Bachelor", I do believe you would enjoy this book. If you've ever had a hard time getting over an ex and wonder what might have happened if you were given a second chance with this person, check this book out. It was paced well and had a good plot. Other than a few grammatical errors that should be fixed prior to print, I did enjoy the book. It wasn't my favorite, hence why I could not give it 5-stars. It didn't completely pull me in and there were times I really had to push myself through. But I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it. It's worth the read.

I'm a huge fan of Sophie and her work, but unfortunately, Never Ever Getting Back Together didn't hit for me the way Perfect on Paper did. I love the premise of the reality show contestants falling for each other, but I didn't really feel the conflict at the end. It's an enjoyable read, though, and Sophie continues to be an auto buy author for me!

I really liked Maya and Skye, two messy women—one a chaos gremlin, the other a sorta-order angel—who meet each other on their famous ex-boyfriend's second-chance romance reality tv show. It's enemies to lovers, which is such a lovely trope, followed up with a mash-up of John Tucker Must Die meets The Bachelor.

Cute, with a nice critique of the absolute fakeness of reality tv and the people who go on it (for whatever reasons), along with Jordy Miller, emotionally manipulative serial cheater with a nice set of abs and serial killer charm who is famous-adjacent because his sister is married to royalty.

However, I did think that at 384 pages, this book was way too long. There were parts where this book just dragged, and it shouldn't have! It was still cute though, with a lovely ending that worked just right for the two leads.

This whole book was a fun ride from start to finish. The momentum of the story kept me enticed since the beginning pages. Both Maya's and Skye's voices were clear and distinct as well as super enjoyable to read from. I love anything that adapts The Bachelor's premise and puts it into a new context--it's always imaginative and juicy. I love reality shows and this was such a fun way to add to the setting. Also, the love story was everything. It was fluffy and the buildup and chemistry was really entertaining.

Though I really enjoyed many aspects of the book, certain things felt off or a bit underdeveloped for me. I think Skye’s character ultimately fell flat for me by the end of the novel. I also think this book could have been helped with an older cast of characters that could fully deliver on the premise of a second chance The Bachelor.

I had the pleasure of reading If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales earlier this year, and I was so excited when I was given an advanced copy of her newest book. Never Ever Getting Back Together is a fun, exciting and drama-filled novel about being asked to join a reality TV show with your ex and all his exes, and the troubles that it brings.

Contemporary novels aren’t usually my thing, but Sophie Gonzales writes some of my favourites. Never Ever Getting Back Together is easily my favourite novel of the month. The concept is one that I haven’t seen before in a Young Adult novel, and each of the characters are so different and easy to like. And the addition of a fake country was believable, especially with the accents and the foods. I honestly wish I could live there. This is a must for a queer reality TV lover.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and the author for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I really love this book. It’s great and the relationship between Maya e Skye is… wow! First of all, I really love that they really hate each other for the almost first 40% of the book! And not the “oh I hate that girl but I want to f*ck that girl but I hate her” type of hate, they really hate each other. Especially Maya. But after they growth together and they become lover and then they fall in love. SLOW BURN BABIES! I love slow burn!
Jordy is also a great character. He’s shit but he’s well written shit. Love that! And the plot twist finale >>>>>>>>>>>>

However, the side characters are really flat. The girls are cute but not really well characterised. It’s a pity, because each of them had so many potential!

This book promised a ton of drama and it definitely delivered!

The premise for the show that all the characters join is so out there so some reality definitely needed to be suspended. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the “behind the scenes” look at the totally unromantic way that reality dating shows are filmed.

I really enjoyed the cast of characters in this book. All of the show’s contestants added great elements to the story and the whole production team was just evil enough to keep everything interesting.

This book was a little more YA than I’m used to reading but it was a sweet romance that I really enjoyed!

Read this if you:
- Are sick of the predictability of The Bachelor
- Like an unexpected romantic twist
- Are obsessed with getting revenge

3.5*

I ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would in the beginning. It was definitely slow moving for the most part, as we got to know the characters, but towards the middle/end things picked up and I finally became invested in Maya and Skye, and their progressing friendship/relationship.

Although the idea of the second chance reality television show was entertaining, it was odd due to the age of the characters. It's sold as a teen reality show, but I feel like this would have worked much better as New Adult. I know the characters were in the 18-20 year range, which leans towards NA, but they felt younger in many ways, which is why the YA label fits. But it was just a weird combination of things that just didn't work for me 100%.

I did enjoy seeing Maya's growth, and the way her feelings for Skye changed over the course of the "show". Both her and Skye were likeable characters and I was happy with the way things worked out in the end.

Never Getting Back Together is the wlw bachelor-esque romance I NEEDED. I absolutely loved both Maya and Skye and seeing the world from their point of view as they navigate the awkwardness that comes from A. Meeting the girl your boyfriend cheated on you with and B. Meeting all the other exes of the same said boyfriend.

Jordy was the perfect enemy because I and I’m sure everyone else has met a Jordy in their life (just like Isaac says). He was sleazily charming until you got beneath the surface.

All the side characters were excellent especially Perrie. I would gladly read an entire novella just about her.

I did think Skye and Maya’s relationship could have been a little less jarring. I noticed a few clues along the way but a few more would have been appreciated but I did love that Maya didn’t hide the fact that she was bisexual to Perrie and Skye.

Overall an excellent, funny book! Def recommend!

Another win from Sophie Gonzales! This follows Maya and Skye who go on a reality TV show, centered around their famous ex reconnecting with his exes. Maya is intent on getting revenge on her cheating ex, and Skye quickly joins the mission. Obviously, the two girls fall for each other. It’s a sweet and really fun premise. And, as a bonus, this book is so funny.

There’s some really great characterization in this. Maya is clearly the reality TV villain, and Skye is the sweetie pie fan favorite. Their ex, Jordy, is so unlikable it’s funny. Every scene between him and Maya made me giggle, because he really thinks he’s winning her over but her inner monologue says something different. It’s a great dynamic and something I wish I saw on the many seasons of The Bachelor I’ve watched.

My one tiny qualm is that I feel like I got to know Maya more than Skye in this. Maya is so loud and outspoken, and this always comes across. Skye sometimes gets lost in the over the top characters that are Maya and Jordy. Still, I liked her a lot and think the girls have great chemistry.

Overall, this was great. I’m so glad I got to read it. I can’t wait to read more of Sophie Gonzalez’s joyful and honest stories full of bi representation. Other Bachelor-inspired books need to take notes!