I really, really loved this book. I definitely didn't spend all of my free time reading this book today instead of being productive. I just couldn't put it down. Definitely one of my favorite reality show novels. And I do love me a good reality show novel so that's really saying something.
I loved how it was so different than other books in this genre. All the twists and turns, the character development, the relationships between the girls, it was all amazing.
I loved how the author wrote the relationships between the girls especially. The fact that the book started with all of them hating each other, all of the rumors that were spread around, what they thought happened that conflicted with what actually happened. It was all amazing, I'm 100% going to do a reread.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an eARC copy of this novel.

4.25/5 stars

This was an absolute romp of a read. Super funny and had me laughing so much. I do this thing where I go into books knowing very little and this one surprised me! A really unique premise, loved the setting of a reality tv show. Great bisexual rep. Literally tho, the most disgusting man I’ve ever read Jordy - like you want to strangle him this entire book (that's the point tho). Taylor Swift song for this one (besides the obvious) is Vigilante Shit “picture me thick as thieves with your ex wife”

1.5/5 🌶️

Content Warnings: Misogyny, Infidelity, Alcohol, Sexism, and Gaslighting
If you don’t like reading about self centered asshole men, then you might wanna skip this one. This man is… woo yeah 🔪

If you like drama filled TV shows like Love is Blind and the Bachelor then you will seriously love this book. The dual POV of Maya and Skye create an interesting perspective and will have you laughing and feeling all warm and fuzzy throughout the whole thing! I'm also a sucker for the dating show aspect lol

Well, Sophie Gonzales has done it again. She's made me care about an admittedly pretty bland YA contemporary story full of privileged characters simply because she is THAT good of a writer and particularly because she writes bisexual teenagers VERY well.

Eighteen-year-old Maya and Skye go on a brand-new reality TV show called Second Chance Romance, supposedly to win back their ex, Jordy, who is now somewhat famous because his sister married a prince. Skye has fond memories of Jordy and actually thinks this might work. Maya is still furious at Jordy for cheating on her (with Skye, no less) and plans to reject and humiliate him on TV. Nothing goes quite the way anyone expects after Maya and Skye are forced to sleep in the same room and start bonding.

If you enjoy reality TV show stories, sapphics getting revenge on their horrible exes, and well-written bisexual teenagers on the upper end of YA, I definitely recommend this one.

I do wish some of the side characters had been more developed and that Maya and Skye had been given more distinct aesthetics. I'm really sick of how many sapphic couples are two thin feminine cis white women with different hair colors. Sophie Gonzales please write some trans and/or gender nonconforming sapphics!

Content warnings: toxic relationship, gaslighting, cheating, misogyny, biphobia, car accident

Never Ever Getting Back Together follows Maya and Skye, ex-girlfriends of Jordy - a now semi famous guy due to the fact that his sister married a royal. Maya, who dated Jordy for two years, agreed to join with only one thing in mind: revenge. The flaw in her plan? She didn't expect to meet Skye, the girl that Jordy cheated on her with, and to find that not only did Skye not know she was the other woman, but that also - sparks would fly between them when Maya met her. This is a story of love and friendship and how far you're willing to go - or not - for someone you love.

From the perfect Taylor homage in the title to the Bachelor references, I was hooked right from the start. This is a hysterical take on the Bachelor and it me laugh AND pulled at my heartstrings - two things I love to see in a book. This is my favorite of Goncalves' books so far! The love story between Maya and Skye and watching their relationship grow made it impossible to put this one down. I loved the conversations about bisexuality and the Queer rep and I can always trust Goncalves to delve into the subject in a real and honest way.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Maya wasn’t expecting her ex to contact her since they haven’t been together for two years, or that it would be a dating show for a second chance at love.

She plans on going to seek revenge and show the world the kind of cheating womanizer he is. When he orchestrates her to room with the woman he cheated on her with Skye she was angry. However the more they get to know each other the more their feelings start to grow.

The reality show was a fun setting, the antics and dates were hilarious, the cheating ex was a total jerk and deserved so much more revenge, and the relationship with Maya and Skye was sweet.

My only criticism is that the age was a little off for me. Being 18 I just couldn’t believe the romances being that deep especially Maya since she was 16 when they dated. I wish there were more mid 20’s for it to be a bit more believable. Otherwise it was a fun, closed door romance with bi-representation.

This was a fantastic, fun read that I swept right through. I love a good growing up story, and this fits into that category (at least in my mind). A fun read to share with others!

I'm usually not a fan of Sophie Gonzalez, but when I received this ARC, I knew I had to read it. I love the Swift references, and loved the plot, but it wasn't anything special in the rom-com scene. Poor publishing time too, because I feel like there are so many good queer holiday rom-com books coming out recently.

I loved the premise of the story (contestants on a reality dating show falling for each other), but I just found the age of the characters to be implausible. It seems unlikely that a show would cast teenagers for a "second chance romance" show, and their decisions and actions seemed too mature for people just out of high school. It was enjoyable enough, I just had a really hard time getting past that fact.

This was such a cute, fun and refreshing young adult romance.

Maya was humiliated years ago by her high profile ex boyfriend when he cheated on her and then made it appear as if she was a crazy ex girlfriend. She's finally moving forward when she's contacted to participate in a show where her ex, Jordy is meeting many of his former girlfriends to see if he missed something along the way with one of them. Basically it's like The Bachelor only the contestants are former girlfriends. Maya agrees to it because she believes she can prove to the public that Jordy isn't the nice guy everyone believes. What Maya doesn't count on is having to share the show with another of Jordy's girlfriends - - Skye - - the one he cheated on her with. She can't stand Skye at first and then she finds that she's drawn to her.

There are many twists and turns as Maya tries to salvage her image along the way. She makes friends and enemies. It's a fun storyline and an easy read.

AUDIOBOOK: The narration was wonderful. I thought it lent itself to the story and made it even more enjoyable for me. Some stories work better in audio that others. This one definitely works well. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Thanks NetGalley!

I was really excited for this book, i loved the cover and the story was great though it could have been more developed. Overall an enjoyable read.

Rounded up from 3.5-3.75 stars

I love books that have a dating show premise and the premise of this one is one that I would absolutely watch! Exes coming on a show to date their ex for a second chance romance, but they fall in love with one another instead!

Maya and Skye were great MCs and I did enjoy seeing their respective arcs. The rest of the girls were great, but I wish we got to know them more outside of being Jordy's exes. But Jordy was the perfect villain throughout. And I wish we would have gotten a bit more at the end with the fallout Jordy had to face and more of Maya and Skye figuring things out.

I want to preface this by saying that I love YA but it was hard to envision the characters barely being 18+ and wish they would have been even just a few years older.

This was an absolutely delightful take on the reality-TV dating show. I love a good Hallmark-movie style faux-European country too. I think all of the female characters had distinct personalities and I enjoyed that they weren't "perfect". Perfect for rom-com fans, and anyone who has ever binge-watched "The Bachelor".

Never Ever Getting Back Together was wonderful read with an awesome spin on a classic trope. It was a feel good, classic romcom, and it super worked for me. Sophie Gonzales even created a TV show that I would LOVE to watch! Perfect for the Love is Blind era.

Whenever Sophie Gonzales writes another book, I will want to read it ASAP.

I received an ARC copy from St Martins Press and Wednesday books. Thank you! All thought are my own.

This book right here sucked me in. I was half way through the book in a day. Maya and Skye are the main characters that have a point of view in this book. Maya and Skye are both ex's to the Jordy Miller. Who has become popular due to his sister dating royalty. A realty tv series called Second-Chance Romance which is essentially like the bachelor only the "bachelor" has like 6 of their ex's come on the show and they try to rekindle the love they once had. Maya decides she is only going on the show to get revenge. She knows that Jordy cheated on her with Skye (another contestant). They both are enemies at the beginning because each of them believe the other is in the wrong. However, just as men sometimes do...they forget that women talk. They were able to understand where their miscommunication was at, now they just want to bring revenge on Jordy. Will they succeed? Will someone still find love? This is must read for those who love the realty tv drama. I mostly just loved the girl power.

Read if you enjoy:
Enemies to lovers
LGBTQ+ Representation
Girl Power
The Bachelor/bachelorette

Content: heavy profanity, heavy make outs, gaslighting, cheating, lies

4 stars - Love love loved my first ever Sophie Gonzales novel! Maya and Skye were loveable characters, and I really enjoyed how this wasn’t just a book about women hating on each other - they all grew and evolved so much throughout, which was incredible to read. On the other hand, Jordy is probably the villain of the year!!! He was awful in literally every way❤️

The only thing that I didn’t love about this book was the age of the characters - it is a YA novel, so the characters being 18-19 makes sense, but it just seemed illogical that Jordy could’ve had so many girlfriends in that short period of time. Probably because he’s a jackass, but still!!! It took me out of the story a bit every time I read their ages.

3.5 / 5 stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

This book gives off great the bachelor vibes. I had a great time with the overall story and had a fun time reading the romance, however the romance just wasn't my favorite. I found that sometimes their romance just didn't seem believable. We also don't need to talk about Jordy as I have nothing good to say about him ( which is the point I guess). I love the revenge on an ex vibes also here though, I am absolutely a petty betty so I lived for that aspect. Overall it was an okay book for me but would still recommend giving it a read because it is very entertaining.

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzalez is a fun young adult rom com featuring a bunch of familiar tropes: enemies to lovers, second chance romance, and a little miscommunication.

Maya and Skye are invited to star on a reality dating show to try and win back their ex, Jordy, along with four other girls he’s dated. I loved the whole set up and how ridiculous it was, with everything not being entirely unscripted. Jordy was the typical contestant, looking for exposure more than love and using. the girls as props to make himself look good. Maya and Skye started out being catty to each other after being gaslit by Jordy, but the way their relationship slowly evolved was so sweet and adorable and I loved every minute of it.

I also enjoyed the revenge plot, but hated how it consumed Maya to the point that she almost threw everything away and that made me exasperated with her. But of course, I got the ending I was expecting and then some and it was so very satisfying.

This book is so funny and adorable! I loved the premise. A rom com that takes place on a reality show?! Perfect! The dialogue was witty, the twists were surprising. The characters made me want to cheer. All in all- a very fun time reading!

Maya goes on a reality dating show where all the bachelorettes are former girlfriends of the bachelor. I liked the idea of this twist, but the execution was not great.

While reading this book, I hoped for something- anything unpredictable or interesting to happen. The problem is, what the author thought was a smart twist was so, so predictable and could have been interesting and well done, but it was not.

If you want a good dating reality show book, go read One to Watch, The Charm Offensive, or If the Shoe Fits instead.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.