Rainbows and Sunshine
November 30, 2022

Never Ever Getting Back together is a fun read overall. I mean a reality tv dating show where the two women fall for each other instead of the ex??? Yes, please!

Add in getting revenge on the ex, it's perfect for all the drama!!! Maya and Skye were cute together. It was fascinating to watch the behind the scenes of the dating show and I really loved that. Especially refilming reactions, out of context shots etc.

Oh how I hated Jordy!! And I needed the revenge plot! Why couldn't we get both love and revenge.

I do think it would have worked better as an adult novel, because the concept of the show is to find "the one" and as the teen having dated more than 6 people.

Overall it was a fun and entertaining read!

*ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review

Did I initially gravitate towards this book for the Taylor Swift title reference? You bet. However, I was thoroughly pleased with the story inside as much as I was the title!

This was a Sapphic, John Tucker Must Die meets Bachelor story full of chaotic humor, girl power and revenge. I loved the premise of the reality tv show as well as how everything unfolded. I absolutely despised Jordy, but loved the just desserts he is eventually served! I highly recommend for fans of Sapphic romance, revenge and HEA in unexpected places.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher (@wednesdaybooks) for this E-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Sophie’s an auto-buy author, so it pains me a bit to write this review.

I remember being excited about this book when I first heard the premise (and it’s from a favorite author, which made it even better). However, I should’ve realized that the reality of combining teens and a dating show probably wouldn’t mesh as well as I’d hoped.

It’s a fun book if you can manage to make yourself forget that they’re all 18/19 years old and competing on a dating show for a 20 year old guy that they dated when they were anywhere from 14-17. The drama and deep feelings and “the one that got away” of it all makes sense for teenagers because everything does feel that deep at that age, but putting that in a more adult dating show environment didn’t work as well as it might’ve if they were older.

The cliques and melodrama and blindly believing in this guy all make sense for teens/people who were very recently children (even if it made for a very frustrating first few chapters), but putting them in a dating show element didn’t really work for me. Or at least it did until I would be reminded how young they are, and then I’d get a bit uncomfortable (especially when the prizes were a night alone in a suite with Jordy, the weirdness of it is pointed out but it still left me feeling odd). I think Maya and Skye’s ages also kind of made it seem even more insta-love for me too (a trope I don’t really like), especially with the regular reminders that it’s only been a few weeks.

I think the dating show element would’ve worked better if they were all at least a few years older, or the joining forces to get revenge on an ex element would’ve worked better at their ages if it was some other type of competition/environment and not a dating show (or even in school like in John Tucker Must Die).

Don’t get me wrong! I did mostly enjoy myself. I enjoyed the writing and the humor, and Sophie did a good job of making me despise Jordy from the start. I liked Maya and I think the supporting characters like Perrie and Isaac, along with the thing that happens in the epilogue, are what ultimately helped end this book on a better note for me.

Perfect on Paper and If This Gets Out are still some of my favorite books, so I’ll definitely continue reading Sophie’s work even if this didn’t exactly meet my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for an early copy of Never Ever Getting Back Together.

Maya and Skye have the same ex and are invited on a dating show to reconnect with him. Maya wants revenge - Skye wants another chance but together they find something unexpected. Love. They fall in love…with each other.

I am here for the sapphic rep.

This was a genius concept and I adored it. Maya and Skye did not like each other at first so this is a bit of an enemies to lovers trope. One of my favorites! If you like revenge plots, enemies to lovers, and drama filled dating shows then this is THE book for you.

I got an ARC of this book.

As a concept, this book is a 10 out of 10. It is exactly the sort of thoughts I had while I was growing up being forced to watch the dating shows my older sister and mother were into. I needed this book to exist. I also quite like this author. The stuff Gonzales writes that work with me are some of my favorite books. The issue is, the books that don’t work for me just really don’t.

This book didn’t work for me. I almost DNF multiple times. This book had my number one pet peeve for books: a dual narrative where the characters were not distinct. I literally had no clue who was talking at any point. I still can’t tell the characters apart. So I probably lost a lot of the nuance that made this book more enjoyable to others. If this book weren’t in that alternating narrative I would have probably loved it.

The guy was such a gross jerk the whole time. Every time that I thought he couldn’t get worse, he did. I enjoyed him just getting grosser and grosser. It was how the Bachelor always went for me. The guy always felt so fake and skeevy that seeing the main guy actively get worse really did validate my view of the dating shows. So again, concept was amazing. It really just came down to not being able to tell characters apart.

The ending was also a bit too neat for me. There was clear issues with the plan the whole time. I could see it coming from a mile away. I enjoyed the clumsy journey there. Their attraction never really worked for me. I didn’t understand why they were into each other. It again comes down to the characters not being distinct for me. How can I ship the same person in a YA romance that is not sci-fi? Without the motivation for the romance the ending just felt bad. If you ship them, then the ending is a great romance ending. If you don’t, it just can’t measure up.

Overall, concept was amazing. Execution was really off on this one. If you don’t have the same pet peeve as me or you can find distinction between the characters the you should read it. Gonzales really gets those queer stories I need.

Happy day-after-pub-day to Never Ever Getting Back Together. I dare you to read that title without singing Taylor Swift!
This YA sapphic romance involves reality TV show Second-Chance Romance where Jordy, who has recently found fame, has five ex-girlfriends compete for his love. The two main characters, Maya and Skye, are two contestants who previously dated Jordy. There is some confusion about whether Jordy cheated on Maya with Skye or Jordy cheated on Skye with Maya. While clarification might help, Maya and Skye begin the competition as enemies.
My favorite quote: “The opposite of love isn’t hate. Not by a long shot. Hate and love are cousins. Possibly even siblings.”
I switched back and forth between ALC and ARC copies, and I finished it wrapped up in my favorite cozy blanket during a rainy cold afternoon. The audiobook alternates two narrators, both of which are great. Thank you to Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advanced copies in exchange for my honest opinion. This was a fun read, but I read a lot of romance books and, while the premise had a lot of promise, this book isn’t one of my favorites. But I think it might be the right book for someone else, so if it sounds interesting to you, give it a try!

Never Ever Getting Back Together is the reality show turned revenge plot turned sapphic love story that we’ve all been craving. It’s like reading The Bachelor, but is super enjoyable if you hate the Bachelor.
Maya and Skye both deserved better, but they got Jordy. Now, a couple years later, Jordy is now a much beloved royalty-adjacent figure with fans everywhere due to his sister’s own royal love match. Due to his popularity, a film crew has decided to make him the star of Second-Chance Romance, a show where Jordy reunites with his exes in hopes that he can find love with someone who once cared for him before all the fame got in the way (cue gagging sounds).
What the world doesn’t know about Jordy is that he’s a liar and a cheater, and Maya wants nothing to do with the show at first. However, she and her sister realize this may be the perfect chance at revenge—out Jordy as the a-hole he is in front of the entire world by going on the show and letting him have it!
When Maya arrives in Chalonne, not only is she greeted by her nemesis, Jordy, but also Skye, the girl he cheated on Maya with! And now, Maya and Skye discover that they are more than just stuck in this mansion together, they’re also roommates. What Jordy didn’t count on was that they would be able to put aside their differences long enough to compare timelines and Skye finds out that Maya isn’t the crazy ex that Jordy had portrayed her as, and she’s actually a lovely person, if somewhat compulsive in ways that Skye is definitely not.
As Maya and Skye team up against their mutual enemy, they begin to feel like more than just friends, and high fives turn into hand holding and talking into something more intimate. As things progress with their revenge plot, so does their relationship. However, as they near the end of their window of time together, decisions need to be made. Is revenge really worth what may come next? And are they willing to give up what they have gained in pursuit of it?
Thank you to Netgalley, Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Press), and Sophie Gonzales for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was SUCH a fun YA take on a Bachelor-esque reality show!

A few years after their less-than-amicable break-up, Maya receives an invite to join a reality show to re-date her ex, Jordy Miller, for a second chance at love, alongside several of his other exes. Having been cheated on by Jordy and made out to be the villain in their love story, Maya sees this as an opportunity to get back at Jordy and show the world who he truly is under his charming facade. What she doesn’t expect is to be sharing a room with Skye, the woman that Jordy cheated on her with, and that this may be the best thing to happen to both of them.

This whirlwind sapphic revenge against a deplorable man-child is told in dual POV, so you get both Maya’s and Skye’s perspectives throughout the book. Both are unique in their voices, and their relationship falls under enemies to lovers. It is such a cute and fun book, and I laughed out loud so many times at Maya’s dry, sarcastic humor.

I do wish that the characters had been aged up just slightly. It felt off to have them all around 18 since, at times, it felt a little too mature to be a YA romance, and other times, it felt too young to be NA, so it lands somewhere in the middle, in my opinion. It also would have been nice if the female characters weren’t so stubbornly dead-set against one another throughout over such a despicable male. Still, it honestly felt fairly true to dating reality shows in the same vein.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Jordy freaking Miller. Sophie Gonzales’s writing of this character was so perfectly executed that every time he was a two-faced, egotistical a****** or called one of his exes an “awesome chick,” I wanted karma to push him off a cliff. You may think that’s a strong emotion towards a fictional man, but trust me, you’ll feel the same, and he wholeheartedly deserves karma to be swift and merciless.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Bachelor-esque reality TV shows, revenge plot romance books, and forced proximity. A solid 4 stars.

A cute, fun, fast-paced read! Any book centered on women seeking revenge against the man who wronged them is always gonna be a win, especially if you throw in a sapphic twist. Skye and Maya were fun characters to root for, and I found their initial antagonism to be incredibly realistic and a great example of how miscommunication plays out and real life and works well in a story. The reality TV elements were great fun for any Bachelor fan (or former Bachelor fan as I am these days), especially when playing into how manufactured it all was (although I refuse to believe any producer worth their salt would let the girls start fighting before any filming began!!)

The largest issue with the book is that the concept does click really well with YA aged characters. I suspended my disbelief plenty fr the premise (which is fine and appropriate!) but in the back of mind I just wished the characters had all been aged up 5 years. A reality TV dating show about 18-20 year olds seems so unrealistic, and making the characters proper young adults rather than just out of high school would have given the story a little more depth (and frankly just made more sense with the premise). I saw the author say the Olivia Rodrigo/Sabrina Carpenter/Josh Bassett situation made her think more about relationships in this age range and how the media interacts and speculates about young kids, which is really neat but ultimately has nothing to do what played out in this book as the characters are only in the public eye properly for the final chapter (kind of) and epilogue.

I love YA and I think it's important to tell distinctly YA stories that don't need to be aged up. Unforunately, certain concepts just won't make as much sense when using teenage characters.

One of the best rom-coms I've read in a while. It has everything, enemies to friends, friends to lovers all set on a reality dating show with the biggest f-boy. A must read for sure and will be recommending to everyone!

This is the perfect book for everyone fancying enemy-to-lovers romances. And as a bonus: it’s all wrapped up in a reality show – complete with behind-the-scenes material. Entertainment is guaranteed, right? So, let’s invite all The Bachelor lovers out there too. I’m sure we can get a very interesting crowd together, just like the characters in the book.

A bunch of completely different young women are locked up together in a mansion for eight weeks, and everyone is trying to win back their shared ex-boyfriend, Jordy. What could possibly go wrong? Everything! With all the contrasting personalities and ultimate love goals, this adventure is full of emotions, just like a real reality show. And drama is inevitable. But that’s exactly the exciting part, isn’t it?

I thought this to be a fun and light read for cold winter nights. It isn’t very deep, but I didn’t expect it to be. What I did expect was that I would feel the chemistry between Maya and Skye more. Unfortunately, I did not. I didn’t sense that flame they tried to hide that ultimately would turn into an explosion at first contact. It was more like a flickering and personally quite disappointing.

After that setback, I just wanted to see how they could get their revenge on Jordy, which kept me going until the end. So that was fine. But definitely not a showrunner in a book meant to be focused on the enemy-to-lovers trope. I still enjoyed it.

In Never Ever Getting Back Together we follow Skye and Maya as they get a invited to go in a reality show to get a second chance at romance with their famous ex but even tho they both accept, the reasons for agreeing to participate are different for each girl. Skye is curious to see if the spark between her and Jordy, the ex in question, is still alive meanwhile Maya plans to take vengeance and expose him to the world after not only he cheated on her but also painted her to be a crazy stalker... What the girls don't expect is to fall for each other instead.
There were a few things I enjoyed about this book, the tension for the vengeance and how much of a bad person Jordy is was top tier. All the anticipation, if Maya would be able to execute her plan or not and to see him get worse every chapter had me biting my nails, I was so nervous. Jordy's chatacter was so well done that I kept feeling the urge to kick him up!
Other things I liked were the friendship between the girls that were participating in the reality and to see all the behinds of the show, as a reality tv enjoyer I loved that!
And then there were things I did not like at all... I don't think they were the majority but they were the most important so that took away a lot from my experience reading this book. What bothered me the most was our two main chatacters, they were bland, they had no personality at all and then they were also kinda insufferable so it was very annoying to read from the POV of two characters that I disliked deeply. The other thing I didn't enjoy at all was the romance, it went from hate to love so quickly that there was no development to that relationship, one day they wanted to fight each other and suddenly the next day they both felt the urge to kiss one another and spend their whole time together, it just made no sense. I never mind a little bit of insta-love as long as the chatacters have some chemistry (and are also well done) but the spark between the girls was nowhere to be seen, this was lacking in everything.
Overall, since the vengeance/Jordy plot was very big on it I enjoyed most of this book but the romance and both MCs left me very disappointed, at times making me want to DNF.
Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC.

... I will read anything that has even a vague reference to Tayor Swift in the title. I also enjoy this author so I wasn't surprised that I liked this book. It was a little bit predictable, however the concept was entertaining enough to keep me interested. This is perfect for fans of the Bachelor and queer romance.

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

I’m sucha fan of reality tv shows as this one portrays. I really enjoyed the concept of the book; however I thought some parts did drag out a bit. I still recommend it overall I did enjoy!

- forced proximity
- “enemies” to lovers
- sapphic

I loved the rise of girl power amongst the women in the house the more we continued to dive in to the story. Maya is a bad ass 💕

Sophie Gonzales' latest revolves around a 𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘳-esque reality show called 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, where Jordan, the brother of an American married into a fake European royal family, dates all of his exes to see which one he might want to rekindle a relationship with. The twist comes when Maya and Skye, two contestants vying for his affection, team up to take him down and end up falling for each other.

I enjoyed this book except for one thing - the characters are all pretty much teenagers. I know it's a YA novel, but it seemed weird for a bunch of 18-year-olds (who can drink because it's Europe) to be on this show. How did Jordan have so many relationships at such a young age? And I know (because it's what I do for a living) that people over 18 can sign their own releases to be on TV, but it still seems a little unrealistic that their parents just said, "See ya!" and let them fly off to this random country in Europe for six weeks. The cast could have all been in their early 20s, which would have made more sense.

📺𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆📺
𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 (yup, I'm singing the Taylor song now, too) gets a lot of the behind-the-scenes of reality TV right (hooray for characters actually getting mic'ed up!). My biggest problem was they paired Maya and Skye as roommates for the drama (Jordan cheated on Maya with Skye) but THEY DIDN'T EVER FILM THEM FIGHTING. There's no way there wouldn't have been cameras on those two at all times. They argue when they first move into their room - no cameras. They fight at the pool with the other women - no cameras. The whole point of reality TV is to create and capture drama so this didn't ring true at all.

This is still a fun, fast read, and I would totally watch 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 in real life.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for the copy to review.

I love Sophie’s books so I was sad when I didn’t love this one. The concept is amazing and one that I would love to see happen in real life. Unfortunately the characters felt underdeveloped and too young for this premise. I think this would have benefited from being a new adult novel.

A quick, fun "enemies" to lovers romance. This book shows that there's more sides to every story and that jumping to conclusions doesn't help, especially when dealing with a narcissistic, lying ex-boyfriend. Maya and Skye's relationship starts off a bit off-kilter due to preconceived notions, but they quickly band together once they decide to get revenge on Jordy. Gonzales brings her usual humor to this novel, despite the serious topics of cheating, lying and manipulation.

3.75⭐
G for some YA goodness

Ummm, hi, when are we getting a queer version of the Bachelor with quasi royalty? Never? Well thank goodness Sophie Gonzales wrote this book then because this drama was way better than the ABC show!! Nothing makes me happier than seeing two women take down an awful man and fall in love at the same time.

This book was so much fun and I just loved the revenge journey for these two but also how much they grew as people. The characters all felt one dimensional and I'm still confused why these characters were eighteen vs early to mid twenties. If you love the Bachelor, Six the Musical or the American Royals series, you should definitely pick this up!

Thank you for my advance copy of this title, We are never getting back together is a story following 2 women on a dating show to court their ex boyfriend and possibly reignite the past flame. I was initially intrigued by the title being a huge T Swift fan and knew I needed to give this book a chance. Although I am not a fan of dating shows, I found this book easy to read and the characters well formed throughout the story. I did find the obsession with revenge a bit tiring as it was mentioned frequently but I feel like the story tied up well in the end. Overall I gave the book 4 stars for the likable characters and the witty title.