everything about this book was meh. the plot was cute enough and engaging enough that I finished the book, but honestly the good qualities end there.

none of the characters had any personality. this book is told from 2 POV’s and sometimes it was hard to tell who was speaking because Maya and Skye sound exactly the same. there’s also quite a cast of supporting characters and other than the fact that kim is generally a mean girl, the rest of the girls are carbon copies of each other.

i didn’t think maya and skye had any chemistry. I wouldn’t have even known they were into each other if the author hadn’t come out and told the audience that they were. I just didn’t buy it. like I knew they were supposed to fall for each other but I didn’t see a build up, it just happened.

I didn’t hate reading this book but I definitely had to force myself to read it.

i’m extremely busy at the moment, so i don’t have much time to read arcs but i will come back and edit this with my actual review once i’ve read it! super excited!

I was about 8% into this book when I realized I needed to punch Jordy in the face and I wouldn’t even feel bad about it. Sophie Gonzales did a great job of creating a character that readers will hate while simultaneously showing us how he’s so charismatic that the female characters fell for him and would be willing to go on a dating show for the chance to be with him.

I really enjoyed following Skye and Maya’s journey from being enemies, both blinded by the lies told to them by Jordy, to co-conspirators in a plot for his downfall and then maybe even something more.

If you’re looking for a YA sapphic enemies to lovers romance involving reality dating shows, witty characters, and a plot for revenge, definitely pick up Never Ever Getting Back Together.

This was such a hilarious premise and a fun, light-hearted read. There were some predictable moments and it was prone to fall into a clear direction, but I enjoyed it immensely.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Sophie Gonzales is the queen of fun, pop-culture fueled queer YA romance! I read her nod to the 1D ship, If This Gets Out, previously and found it charming. Her latest title, Never Ever Getting Back Together, which comes out in November is even more fun. Part nightmare ex-boyfriend revenge scheme, part royal-adjacent dating reality show, the plot is a fun flip on the expectations that ex-girlfriends sit around pining for the love that jilted them... they're actually hot for each other from time to time. It's the Sapphic romcom we all deserve this Fall. Thank you to St. Martin's press for the opportunity to review this ARC.

I absolutely loved everything about this book. I’ve read Gonzales in the past, and it’s always been good, but this was fantastic. Her best work by a country mile. I already want to reread this. I want this book in every format. I loved it.

3.5 stars. Cute book, light read- I am not a fan of Bachelor-type shows, but this was a fun twist on that set-up. Some of the characters, including the bachelor, were cartoonish, but the main characters are endearing and you can't help but root for them. Great read for a vacation or weekend away.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Not crazy about it, the premisses were very interesting, but didn’t completely deliver, first off can we just hut Jordy in the face with a Chair, seriously this guys I hate him. And Maya and Skye , I like the falling in love while hating you ex but it felt a bit dry on personality , like I said not crazy about, entertaining but not my favorite.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this free arc.

This was...cute. I love the bi angle, especially that women who go on a reality show to compete for a man end up together — but overall I found the reality show aspect a bit lame, and Maya and Skye's chemistry was off. It could have been a lot more punchy and exciting all around.

Well done to the author though for making Jordy so believably unlikable yet charming at first glance (to others) that's a tough line to navigate!

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales is the first book I've read by this author and I really wanted to like this book. I am a big Bachelor Nation fan, so I loved the premise of someone being on a reality show for the “wrong” reasons (or are they?). The reality show dates, competitions and the girls interacting in the mansion and with the crew were my favorite parts. Maya, Francesca, Isaac and surprisingly Jordy were the characters that stood out to me the most because they had unique personalities. Unfortunately that was about all I liked.

I had a hard time remembering whose POV I was between Skye and Maya. Maya's quippy thoughts during conversations were hilarious but unfortunately Skye didn't appeal to me. I wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be the bombshell or grunge girl of the group. She was cold but people immediately warmed up to her; always having a plan but also indecisive with her feelings. I found myself reading through her sections faster to get to Maya's chapters.

I didn't believe the romance in this book. I thought they were just really good friends and then all of a sudden they were in a deeply committed relationship that also weirdly had no labels. It felt like 0 to 60 in less than 20 pages.

The ending was not satisfying based off the premise it started with. I read through chapters and chapters of Jordy bringing the girls down and I wanted the satisfaction of seeing that come full circle but for me it never did.

Read This if you Love:
Reality Shows
Enemies to Lovers
LGBTQIAP+
Revenge Plots

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales comes out November 29, 2022.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the Digital ARC.

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales is a fun YA romance for lovers of reality TV romance shows. I liked the book and love the premise, but it just fell too short on many different points. Because this is a YA book, the characters are all too young (fresh out of high school) to be taken completely seriously on a reality TV second chance romance series. I wish so badly this book was more woman’s fiction/romance so there could be more depth to the characters relationship history + add believability of the premise. The pace of the book was also slower than I expected, it took me a few weeks to finally sit down and finish because I just wasn’t invested until almost 75% of the way through. Overall, I give it 3.5 stars.

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales, 384 pages. Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Press), 2022. $19. Lgbtqia
Language: R (227 swears, 68 “f” + British swears); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: G
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Jordy (20yo), the famous brother of the new Princess Samantha, is the focus of a new TV show called Second-Chance Romance, allowing him to re-date his exes from before he became famous. Maya (18yo) is adamantly against going on the show until it occurs to her that she could expose Jordy as a jerk and a cheater. But that also means Maya has to face Skye, the girl Jordy cheated on her with.
The first third of the book was nerve-wracking because I was constantly bracing myself for everything to go horribly wrong, resulting in embarrassment for Maya and sympathy-embarrassment for me. Once the lines between enemies and allies were rearranged, the story became more enjoyable because I could finally relax. Our emotions can be difficult to navigate, and I appreciated how Maya struggles with finally getting revenge, figuring out what she really wants, and the idea of letting something go to make space for something better.
Most of the characters are implied White. Jordy, Maya, Perrie, and Lauren are American; Skye is half Scottish; Kim is Indian-English; and Francesca is Irish. The mature content rating is for innuendo, alcohol use, intense make out scenes, and implied sex.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

2.5 rounded up. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I've really had to think about this book and what I was going to rate it, because there were a lot of things I didn't like about it, but at the end of the day, I also think you have to take it as it is, which is a YA romance that's not that great but isn't terrible either, and is an easy read you can fly through and have fun with regardless.

I think my favorite part of the book was the end, truly, as everything came together in a way that made sense and which was enjoyable to read. And the book was truly fun to read too, especially past the 50% mark where more started happening and the side-characters got a smidge more depth and seemed less of a chorus or monolith.

I know other people have said similar things in their reviews, but there was no reason for this to be YA and I think the entire plot and romance would have been MUCH better suited to a New Adult book. The premise of having a bunch of ex-girlfriends coming onto a reality show for their ex-boyfriend just doesn't make a lot of sense when they're all barely 18 or older. I can see the potential for a story like this if it had been New Adult SO much more, and I'm not sure why the author went for another YA book instead.

I also had issues with the two main characters, Skye and Maya, as they sounded IDENTICAL in their voices. Even though the book set up as Sky as super different from Maya, and occasionally tried to tell us that she had a super different personality from her, they sounded the exact same, both in their internal monologues and in their dialogue. What's ironic about this as well though, is that even though they sounded so similar, Skye really grated me and I almost dnf'ed this book a few times due to her chapters. I found it unrealistic and kind of pathetic that Skye goes from believing Jordy's word on everything and being honestly really horrible to Maya because of it, to immediately changing her mind and hating Jordy and having feelings for Maya. And that goes for the side characters too who were cruel to Maya for a lot of the book, but since Skye is the love interest, it boggled my mind that she was so mean and that the book as a whole was pushing this narrative that none of these girls believed Maya until there was 'proof'. And it made me not care that much when Maya and Skye finally got together either.

I really enjoyed this book! There was a lot going on but in the best way. I can’t wait to buy a physical copy and will definitely be recommending it to my students and friends.

Wow! What an amazing book! Definitely one of my top reads of this year!! It’s a must add to ur list.

I really enjoyed reading this. I think at times it maybe seemed a little unbelievable as someone who loved watching the bachelor, but it was a bit of a different game show so I think that was alright. It was a little weird that Skye was just from Canada? Like it’s a large country and there’s a lot of places in Canada that she could have lived? But overall I really loved the story, I think this did such a good job at getting you hooked and wanting to keep reading to find out how things ended. I loved how there was a bit of conflict between the love interests but it always see,Ed to get resolved relatively quickly. Overall such a great read!

I think that the biggest criticism i can levy against the book is that the premise just would have worked better in a book that was properly adult.

Here the characters are technically 18, and they find themselves having the kind of adult conversations you'd expect on a reality dating show... but the premise of bringing together a group of exes just feels weird when the characters have as little life experience as they have here... Like turning in every week to see if someone picks the person they were dating when they were 14 vs the person they dated at 16... it just... it feels a little weird when you're actually forced to confront the premise playing out.

I think that's part of why some of the girls felt a little under developed. Sure, with a premise like this you're bound to have to get rid of characters fairly regularly and so you can't expect them all to get the same level of care. But because of that I think the narrative does a pretty poor job of convincing the reader why Jordy would pick the people he does. At a certain point it really becomes a game of the character we know the best is clearly going to stick around the longest....

I'm not sure that the ending worked all that well for me. Partially because the subplots here felt a little under-baked and some of the explanations given for actions that took place at the tail-end felt almost comically flimsy. Maybe if I hadn't enjoyed <i>Perfect on Paper</i> as much as I did this would have been more of a banger for me. And for the target audience I think they'll get more out of it... but I do wish that the book had leaned more into being a YA book instead of existing in this grey space between categorizations in a way that crossover definitely seems to be the appeal... but if it had really been written for 16/17 year olds it might have felt like I could buy into the premise a little more.

The romance in this book was really cute and very easy to root for. I loved the main female cast and all of the side characters. All of the characters were well-written and rounded. The plot was fun and well-executed. Unfortunately, the main male character in this book sucks so much (by design) that I had a hard time wanting to read it. I was so angry for so much of the book. The ending, however, is perfect and so incredibly satisfying.

Never Ever Getting Back Together is an entertaining young adult romance that, despite an intriguing premise, failed to capture my attention. The writing itself was great, the pacing was good, and the humour was there. Unfortunately, the characters and the romance fell flat for me. It might be the fact that I never really connected with the characters, though Maya was significantly more likeable than Skye, but the romance never felt convincing. However, I did find the book entertaining and I'm sure many will like it. Likewise, I look forward to reading whatever Gonzales writes next!

I was really excited about the concept of this book, and it delivered. I was a little disappointed that the characters were so young, which means the book didn’t get as steamy as I wanted it to, but the characters themselves didn’t seem like teenagers so it was easy to forget they were. Jordy was a confusing character—I think the author was sometimes clever in giving him subtly toxic behaviors that made him feel real, but other times he acted way too villainous and acted in ways that felt unrealistic. I think the story could’ve benefitted from giving the relationships between jordy and each of the girls, and the relationships between the girls, a little bit more nuance. fleshed it out some. but in general, maya and skye were lovable, jordy was hatable, and the romance was believable. and that is a successful read to me!