Never Ever Getting Back Together follows the story of a teenage girl seeking revenge on her ex-boyfriend by going on a dating show, only to find herself competing against the girl he cheated on her with. Drama ensues as Maya and Skye try to expose their manipulative ex, Jordy. However, sparks begin to fly between Maya and Skye as the show progresses, leading to a reluctant alliance between them. While Sophie Gonzales is a favorite author, this book had some misses.
Firstly, the characters of Maya and Skye lacked personality development and felt one-dimensional. Their romance also suffered due to the lack of common ground between them. Additionally, the plot would have made more sense if it was about an older character, considering the number of girls Jordy had dated.
On the other hand, the reality TV show environment was well-executed and provided an interesting backdrop for the story. The behind-the-scenes aspects of the show were intriguing and felt authentic, providing a glimpse into how reality TV shows work. The dry humor was also a highlight, with Maya's sarcastic responses to Jordy's entitled behavior providing a refreshing and comedic break.
Overall, while the book had some lost potential, it was still an entertaining read with a unique premise. It may not have been as passionate as the author's other works, but it's still worth a read for fans of the genre.

Reality tv, a TS reference as a title? Yes. This normally isn’t up my alley but I did enjoy it and loved the queer representation.

This book is an absolute blast, featuring two girls who enter a Bachelor-style reality show with the aim of winning back their ex. Plot twist: they join forces to take him down, and it's every bit as fantastic as it sounds. For anyone craving a reality TV dating show in book form, this is it, with an extra dose of queerness.

Maya and Skye, the main characters, stole my heart. Their journey, filled with fear of letting go and the risk of falling, is beautifully portrayed. Sophie’s knack for capturing messy emotions shines through in this book. Skye and Maya are wonderfully different yet mirror each other in their deepest fears and desires. The dynamic between them, full of push and pull, is incredibly engaging.

What's more, the book skillfully sidesteps toxic femininity, offering a realistic view of the bizarre and high-pressure environment of the show. Each character is thoughtfully crafted, with a depth that adds to the story's richness. This is particularly true for the relationships among the female contestants. And yes, some characters are there to be disliked, but that's part of the fun!

The humor is the cherry on top – a kind of wild, unhinged comedy that I absolutely loved. It felt real, like the kind of jokes I'd make myself. In short, this book is a joyride of emotions, humor, and character development.

I really enjoyed this book! I love any book with dual pov, romance, watching characters become friends and then more, and reality tv elements! This book was right up my alley and I LOVED the bachelor element of it because I’m a fan of the reality show. In the end I love maya and sky and had so much fun reading their story.

A wonderful and funny story of two girls getting revenge on a reality TV show and falling in love along the way.

Every Sophie Gonzales book I have read has just been an absolute joy to read.

I can't give this the full five stars because I felt like the writing was a bit juvenile at times and it was restricted by the unfairly classification of being YA. This should have been marked as an adult, and perhaps been able to push boundaries a bit more.

This was my first Sophie Gonzales book, and it definitely won't be my last! I could not get enough of the characters, the humor, and the terribly interesting plot of the reality show for all of Jordy's ex-girlfriends. I don't want to spoil anything in this review, but I was left stunned by the ending and NEVER saw it coming! Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales.

This title was a bit mature for my student audience but I absolutely loved it! An enjoyable read from start to finish.

It wasn't what I expected, and I almost abandoned it several times. I guess it's good for being contemporary romance, but I think my favorite of Sophie is still Only Mostly Devastated. I think for me it would be a 2.5 but a 3 star is also good.

Sophie has been on a winning streak since her first huge novel "Only Mostly Devastated" and it's not that "Never Ever Getting Back Together" is a loss on this streak, but it definitely stunted me on my upward path for her. This book should have been adult, as the concept doesn't quite work for teenagers. Had it been, I think this easily could have been a great novel for Gonzales. Since it isn't though, it just feels a bit awkward with a pressured relationship. Overall it is okay but not my favorite from the amazing author.

[Mini-Review, as I read this book last year and am just catching up now, so my memory isn't as fresh!]

It is a testament to how much I love Sophie Gonzales that this book, despite being my least-favorite of hers thus far, was still an absolute delight to read. (I will confess, some of this may be attributable to an "it's not you, it's me" phenomenon, as I read this one during the height of some less-than-ideal personal circumstances.) Like all of Sophie's books, this queer romcom was full of snappy banter and voices that sounded very authentically *teenaged*. The plot was full of things I love, including a reality dating show setting (I can't say I love them in real life, but man, do they make for fun reading), rivals-to-lovers, and an excellent subversion of typical love triangle patterns ("forget the guy we're both into, let's fall for each other instead!"). Jordy, the ex-boyfriend, was an absolute scumbag of a human being, and I loved the energy of the two girls taking him down.

There were two key things that made this book slightly less enjoyable than Sophie's other books for me. One was the setting. While I got what she was going for, by adding elements of royalty and a fictitious small country (Princess Diaries vibes, much?), it seemed to stretch the believability of what was already a larger-than-life story, and it made the narrative a little less grounded than it could have been. (Yes, I know this is fiction, but it made even the suspension of disbelief feel...off.) And this ties into my other disappointment, which is that this book wasn't as emotionally hard-hitting as some of her other titles. Yes, it had at least one scene near the end that truly had me Feeling Things, complete with heart-twisting anguish, but that emotional thread didn't run as intensely through the whole book.

Tl;dr a fun, funny read, albeit a bit less down-to-earth and hard-hitting than Sophie's usual work. Definitely still recommend it, though!

Sophie Gonzales books are always so delightful! I loved the premise of this one right from the start - it reminds me a bit of The Charm Offensive, but with a YA spin and focused on queer women. Gonzales really nails the intricacies of navigating bisexuality as a teen - and all the awkwardness that comes with it.

omg this was adorable!!

The perfect mix of The Bachelor + revenge + queer bachelor fantasy that we all hope is *actually* happening behind the scenes when the lead is a douche canoe.

this would make excellent television and there is nothing I love more than queering a very straight pop cultural staple (side eye at the title 👀). Hollwood could use a sapphic takeover.

I do wish there had been more personality and character development of the two MCs and that we’d gotten to see them more outside the context of the man they’re dating (barf). But overall it was a fun cute feel good read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was snagged by the Taylor Swift lyrics title + it had the makings of everything I'm a sucker for in a romance with royalty & a reality show, but it was just kind of meh for me. I read it, but wasn't clamoring to get back to it whenever I'd have to pause.

I've tried to read this a few times and it just really wasn't for me. I shouldn't have requested this because how young the main characters are went completely over my head when I was reading the book summary. Knowing how young they are while reading the book just made the story less fun for me. I think this same concept would've gone over better if they were in their thirties. I definitely see the appeal of teenage drama worthy of a reality tv show. There's absolutely an audience. It just wasn't for me.

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales details what it's really like behind the scenes of a teen reality show called "Second Chance Romance" where the now famous Jordy invites his exes to compete for a chance to date him again. But what happens when two of his exes start falling for each other instead?????

18-year-old Maya is out for revenge since Jordy cheated on her with Skye, and Skye genuinely wants a second chance with Jordy. So when Maya and Skye room together on the show, chaos ensues.

If you take any romance recommendation from me this year, let it be this one. It was SOOOO GOOD. I can't stop thinking about how good of a plot this was and how perfect the execution of it all was.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the third act breakup. I feel like it's a cheap way to build some tension before the book ends. HOWEVER!! I think this book did a great job of it. *spoilers ahead* The reason for this third act breakup being that Skye wants Maya to choose between her love for Skye and her revenge plot for Jordy was honestly genius and was a fantastic way for Maya to decide which was more important to her.

5/5 stars, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!

For obvious reasons the sound track for reading this book was heavily influenced by T. Swift, but that did not make the book any less enjoyable. This novel is an enjoyable frothy read that is perfect for a beach read while you're either on winter vacation or hold it until next summer to read.

Three and a half stars. Love the premise! Who hasn’t screamed at their TV during a dating show “Cut your losses and date your costar!” However, I wish they weren’t teenagers. Not sure why they were eighteen, I wish they would have been aged up to early to mid 20s. This book had a ton of promise but it just kind of over promised and underdelivered. Will definitely check out more of this authors books though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I was so excited for this book - after having read another book by Sophie Gonzales, this one was really exciting to get because it was a concept that looked fantastic with diverse characters and all of the Alphabet Army representation. Unfortunately it fell a little flat for me, and I have been trying to figure out why that was considering it has a bunch of things I normally love in books. Switch between two points of view? Fantastic. Have diverse cast with lots of representation? Great. Strong female characters? Sign me up. Parody of reality shows? Yes! Easy to read while still being a decent-length book? Excellent. So what was the issue? For me I think it comes down to the fact that a large part of this book was the "JUST HAVE A CONVERSATION" trope - like a solid part of the book could have been solved if the two leads just TALKED to each other. Also, it felt kinda weird to be supporting someone in a revenge plot? I dunno, this was clearly a me issue and nothing to do with the book. Maybe if I was the same age as the characters when I read this, it wouldn't have sat so weird with me. This book is clearly very good, it just wasn't hitting right for me while I read it - and that is ok. I still think you should read it if you like the concept, it just wasn't for me and what I was hoping for. Still will absolutely pick something up by Sophie again though, that's for sure! 3.5/5

I didn't particularly like this one, so I didn't leave a public review. I loved loved loved the set up, but in the end the characters and story fell flat for me. I just didn't buy into the romance or feel very invested in it. Thank you for the chance!