I loved the concept of this as much as I expected, but sadly the characters fell a little shot. I just didn't think they had as much chemistry together as they pretended to. Part of that, though, was probably also that the age range of 18-20 felt a little out of place in a setting like this. I'd forget half the time they weren't 25. It just seemed like an odd decision to have them be essentially high schoolers in such a grown up setting. Still, the concept of it and Sophie Gonzales' storytelling were enough to bring it all back so I still loved this and made the things that fell flat feel few and far in between.

It's been two years since Jordy cheated on Maya, and yet she still can't seem to escape him. Since his sister is marrying royalty, he's been all over the news. And yet no one seems to know how awful he truly is. On the other side, Jordy is the only person Skye has seriously dated, but since they broke up, she doesn't understand why they keep calling.

When Second-Chance Romance enters the scene, both Skye and Maya are invited to compete to win Jordy back. Skye is skeptical Jordy can win her back, but Maya has other plans: expose Jordy for who he really is. But what they both don't plan on is falling for each other.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced copy of this to review! I'm honestly not really a fan of reality shows, but reading about fictional ones can be really fun. If you love the drama of reality TV, I'm sure you will devour this book in one sitting because it definitely delivers on the reality drama.

The pros: I really enjoyed the characters in this. Gonzales does a good job of making them fully fleshed out, even though there's quite a large cast on the show. They all have uniquer personalities, and when they're all together, there is great chemistry between them. For a reality TV based romance, I think this is super important. Maya and Skye also have great chemistry, and the way their romance develops works well for the setting of the story.

However, I don't think this works super well pitched as YA. It was hard for me to figure out exactly what the ages of the characters were, and setting it as teenagers in a reality show doesn't sit super well with me. Personally, the story would have worked better as an adult romance, with the characters aged up to their early or mid-twenties, think more Bachelor aged. It didn't make a whole ton of sense in a teenager context, so I'm not exactly sure why it's being pitched for a YA audience.

Despite that, there are a lot of people who will have a lot of fun with this premise, especially since Sophie Gonzales has made a name for herself in YA. While I don't think this is her best work, fans of romance will definitely be entertained.

This title immediately had me singing Taylor Swift in my head and I LOVE the cover so I was SO excited when I got approved to read this arc! I went into Never Ever Getting Back Together without reading the description and I was pleasantly surprised. I am a huge fan of reality tv, Love Is Blind Season 3 is my jam right now and The Bachelorette will always be a fav, and this book was that but more fun! I loved the dual POV and the spunkiness and tenderness of the characters. It was also fun to see a behind the scenes look at what potentially goes down on those shows! This book was the perfect escape and had me laughing and saying “awww” at the same time! Definitely a great book if you are looking for something more lighthearted with a unique love twist!

3.85 stars

Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the early copy!

Grab your copy out 11/29

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

This book was everything I needed and more! In this we follow Maya and Skye, who are both exes of Jordy Miller and thrown onto a reality dating show for a second chance with him. Maya and Skye have a troubled beginning due to Jordy, but they soon begin to fall for each other instead!!

This was a delight to read. First of all, the premise is so intriguing and it absolutely delivered throughout the book. I love an enemies to lovers to begin with but make it sapphic, set on a reality show and between girls who share the same ex? Yes!!! I was in a huge slump before picking this up, nothing was clicking with me and this book completely fixed that. The conflict made sense and Skye & Maya were completely swoon worthy!

This was my first book from this author and I definitely plan on checking out more! I really recommend this book to anyone who’s interested!

What an adorable romance. NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER has so many elements that I love in a romance novel. It has two characters who start out antagonistically, it has a slow burn romance, it has witty banter, and it has fun characters that are very easy to root for. I liked both Maya and Skye, and felt that they were both fleshed out and believable in their motivations and the progression of their relationship as they butt heads during filming of a trashy romance reality show starring their garbage ex Jordy. Sometimes you just need some serious brain cheetos, and this book was exactly that, an enjoyable and easy escape during the stress of the Midterm election. I loved both their voices, I loved their relationship, and I loved the girl power camaraderie of it all.

NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER is a really fun sapphic romance. It's a serious hoot.

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!~

Never Ever Getting Back Together follows our two main characters, Maya and Skye. One day, Maya gets a call from a TV producer asking her if she'd be willing to participate in a reality tv style dating show featuringggggg DADADADAAAAA - Jordy Miller! Her ex-boyfriend from her teen years that cheated on her and told every one that she was obsessive and didn't realize they were broken up! Does she want to join a handful of other exes of Jordy's and be given a second chance at love? Absolutely not! BUT, after concocting a revenge plan, she decides, why not? Let's destroy Jordy's image! Upon arrival, she realizes that Skye is going to be there. The girl that knew Jordy was in a relationship with Maya and still decided to cheat with him! Skye and Maya end up realizing that things are not quite how Jordy is telling them....

Honestly, I was sorely disappointed when I realized that this was a YA instead of an adult romance book. As a chronic consumer of reality TV shows like The Bachelorette, this seemed like it was going to be a chaos drama book and it was! The spiciness is obviously not there (only bringing this up because I thought it was going to be adult when I requested it), but I wasn't even mad about it! Maya is very much an act first, ask questions later kind of chaos bisexual, and I love that about her. The shenanigans and Jordy's BS words were the stars of the show here. I throughly enjoyed this and found myself cracking up at how some of these challenges went. I also found myself cringing because like all the bisexual women i know, we've ALL dated a Jordy. I loved their cute little romance and that little twist at the ending. I also find it important to mention our gay side character, Issac - this man deserves the world and if you read this book you will find out all of the COUNTLESS reasons why.

Please read this book so I can complain about Jordy to you lol.

I really enjoyed this book! It was fun and sort of girl-power, but not in a girl-power sort of way, if that makes any sense at all.

So, the plot is that Maya is asked to go on a second-chance romance reality TV show to try and win her ex, Jordy, back. However, Maya HATES Jordy, but she decides to go on the show to try and screw him over for lying about her after their breakup. I mean, that already sounds great. Add in 5 of his other exes, each of whom have varying degrees of love for him, and it makes for a thoroughly entertaining story.

Overall, I don't know what else to say, because I don't want to spoil any of it.

Definitely recommend!

This book is more of a 2.5 star but I am rounding it down when compared to books I liked a lot more I gave 3 stars.

I'm not sure that picking up this book was particularly fair considering how disconnected I have felt from contemporary YA fiction in the last couple of years. While I truly believe that their is no upper age limit on any kind of reading and have enjoyed some amazing YA fantasy this year as I have entered my 30s I have found this kind of teen coming of age less relatable and more frustrating.

I definitely felt that way for at least the first third of this book. The pettiness of the ways that Skye and Maia interacted up until about the 40% mark really turned me off their characters. Its hard for me to root for a love story when I don't like the characters and find their motivations to be petty and short sided. While this book did of course find its turning point and the two started working together it definitely put a bad taste in my mouth to start out, and not all the problems were solved in that moment. I think that this book suffers a bit from trying to be about too many things. It is a queer Sapphic romance, while also being about the issues and struggles of teen celebrity. I think the messages about celebrity were muddled as neither of our protagonists were the celebrities or really had to deal with the aftermath of the show they were on. And the love story suffered by feeling rushed as the book tried to do many other things all at once.

There were some very cute moments in this book, and by the end I really enjoyed the personal growth that Maia and Skye experienced. But all of those moments were in the last 15% of the book and that's not nearly enough good to our weigh the bad for me. But what do I know, this isn't my genre any more.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a free E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was cute, but overall I found it a bit too surface-level. Great for teens, which I think is the target audience!

I really wanted to love this one because I loved the concept (which is why I requested it—I mean, sapphic revenge via reality TV? Come on! Sign me up!), but the actual details lost me a bit. I just couldn't really believe that a 20-year-old would have 7+ exes, and 6 of whom were willing to come to be a "contestant" on a reality TV show to "win him back" when they're all just teenagers. If the ages were shifted up, I think I would've found it more believable.

That said, it was still fun! A quick, easy read, just not totally for me.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this. However, I can’t say I recommend this book.

The POVs are confusing because the characters are not very different. They have the same attitude and way of narrating. The side characters also weren’t very flushed out. All around needs more character work.

I appreciated the reality tv bits as much as I would watching reality tv which isn’t a lot but at least it was consistent with what it was going for. That being said the storyline fell short. Just didn’t have a good plot.

Also why would there be a dating show with teenagers? There is a reason that isn’t a thing in real life. How is it the one that got away when they are that young? All around I think the book would have made more sense if they were older.

I thought I wasn't going to like this book but I keep on reading and enjoy it.This book show how sometimes you need to let go of what other people done to you for you to heal.

Maya isn't over Jordy. He cheated on her and broke her heart. It doesn't help that his sister married a prince and now he's all over the media as an almost prince. When she gets a call from the producers of Second Chance Romance, a new reality show that is planning their first episode around Jordy and his exes, Maya decides to go on the show in order to get revenge. Of course she ends up rooming with Skye, the one who Jordy cheated on her with. After a rocky first few days, Maya and Skye find out they may have been wrong about some things and that they have a lot more in common than they expected. In the end, Maya has to decide what is more important to her -- revenge on Jordy or being with Skye. Told in alternating perspectives of Maya & Skye, this is a fun read especially for fans of reality dating shows. Recommended for grades 8 & up.

A group of girls go on a second chance dating show to try and rekindle romance with their famous ex. Two girls walk out together and the boy goes home alone. Could you ask for a better concept for a romance book?

Maya and Skye are enemies only because Jordy cheated on them with each other and there’s a lot of misunderstandings about who knew what and did what. He convinces both of them to come on the reality show and the two end up in a room together. Because that will make for some great drama, right? But through the complicated magic of simply communication, the two realize Jordy is a cheating, lying, misogynist and they need to take him down.

Plot: 4/5
The pacing of this plot moved along well with only a few lags. The concept is hilarious and, as a sucker for reality dating shows, I loved it. I was really satisfied with the conclusion because I was worried they were going to forgive and forget, which is unacceptable!

Characters: 4/5
Both our main characters have their flaws, Skye with her trust issues and Maya with her one track mind anger, but they manage to over come these in ways that were really admirable. They are such a funny pair and the dynamic was incredible.

I loved the side characters and the girl gang energy. Perrie is an icon and I feel like she would be a good lead for a companion book.

Given the chance I would kick Jordy in the nuts.

Writing: 4/5
Gonzales’ writing is really solid, she crafts fantastic dialogue that had me laughing out loud.

Overall: 4/5
This was a really fun read! I feel like I, along with everyone else, assumed this was adult for some reason. And while I still thing it would have easily been an adult book because of the setting, it worked well in as a ya.

Main trope trope- enemies/dislike to lovers
Spiciness- one fade to black scene

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales is an adorable YA LGBTQ+ romance about two young women who are supposed to be falling in love with their narcissistic ex, but instead fall in love with each other.

Maya, Skye, and 4 other awesome chicas are invited to a European mansion to compete in a reality show called “Second Chance Romance,” where they are trying to reconnect with an ex-boyfriend. After Maya’s relationship with Jordy ended due to cheating and lying, Maya accepts the show’s invitation to extract revenge. Portrayed from day one as the villain of the show, Maya has to walk a fine line of trying to show everyone Jordy’s true colors while also being friendly enough with Jordy and the other girls so she doesn’t get sent home right away. As the show progresses, Maya and the other girls bond over their shared experiences. But as the end of filming nears, will Maya choose love or revenge?

Cute storyline and fun characters!

I absolutely loved this book. This book made me feel a wide range of emotions: anger, tears, laughter and joy. The two main characters were well written. Jordy got what was coming to him without affecting Maya's and Skye's happy ending. I enjoyed the alternating point of views which allowed me to get to know both Maya and Skye better.

This was the first Sophie Gonzales book I've read and I look forward to reading their other books.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved the premise of ‘Never Ever Getting Back Together’ by Sophie Gonzales, and I’m super happy to say it absolutely lived up to the hype for me. This romcom was super sweet and funny, and it had me hooked from the beginning. Definitely recommend!

What a delight- “Never Ever Getting Back Together” was such an enjoyable read for me! I don’t read much sapphic romance, so this was a great way to dip my toes into this genre (trope?). I loved how sassy the FMC was, though there were times it did feel a little over-the-top.

The premise of this book is gold: two female contestants on a dating show fall for each other while seeking revenge on the man whose heart they are supposed to be fighting over, the ex who betrayed them both. The fun and flirty escapist read I didn't realize I needed!

I do not know where to start! Firs of all the representation was amazing! I could not put this book down!! I read it all in less than a day because the story had me wanting more and more! The story line was so fun and unlike anything I had read lately! The author is 100% going on my must buy list and I can not wait to read more from her in the future!!

3.5 stars

This book was a good easy book to listen to while getting chores done but I did find myself zoning out at times. Some parts felt like it dragged and was repetitive. I enjoyed the 2 POVs, however, because it was one narrator sometimes I didn't remember which girl was which. But I really liked that the story took a completely different turn than I expected!

Thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio & St Martin's Press for advanced copies in exchange for an honest review.