This was SO much fun. I loved the representation, I loved how catty everything was, and I loved how this book felt like something you can read multiple times because the characters are so great. You either love them or love to hate them.

So so entertaining!

FOLKS. Sophie Gonzales did it again. I cannot understate how much I enjoyed Never Ever Getting Back Together. Immediately shot into my top handful of books this year. Now, let me proceed to spend probably too many words singing it’s praises.

It’s been just over 2 years since Maya and Jordy broke up, though “break up” is a pretty forgiving way to describe Jordy cheating in another country for multiple months and then dumping Maya once she found out because she was rightfully upset about it. Cue him telling everyone she’s just a crazy bitch who couldn’t accept that he moved on and that she’s lying about the cheating to make herself look better. Nice one, Jordy.

It’s been almost 2 years since Skye and Jordy broke up. Again, “break up” is a nicer way of saying he ghosted her so she ghosted him back. Notice how similar their breakup timeline is to Maya’s? Yeah, not a coincidence. Skye is the girl Jordy cheated on Maya with. And he told Maya that she knew all about her and went ahead with the relationship while he told Skye the whole “Maya’s a jealous bitch” story. What a standup fella this Jordy is.

Now, Jordy is royal adjacent and the star of a new reality show Second-Chance Romance, where his exes are brought back in a Bachelor style elimination dating show and each girl tries to rekindle their relationship with him. Both Skye and Maya agree to be on as contestants but with different motivations: Maya wants to get back at Jordy from the inside and Skye wants to let down her walls and see if Jordy deserves another shot.

What could possibly go wrong when the two of them are roomies for the multiple months that the show is filming? Will Maya be able to convince everyone that Jordy is /not/ the victim in their story? Will Skye get another chance at romance now that her walls are down? Maybe the answer to each of their quandaries is more similar than they originally think.

“They don’t call it gently cascading for someone. You don’t gracefully descend for someone. You fall. Head over heels, right? And either someone catches you, or they don’t, and you don’t have any control over how badly bruised you are at the bottom of it.”

I would kill for Maya and Skye. It took me a while to get into the story because there’s lots of characters to meet but once the exposition is done I was HOOKED. I would pay an exorbitant amount of money to read their story again for the first time. They grow into each other and the rest of their newfound friends and I thoroughly enjoyed their characterization, especially once Skye joins team “fuck Jordy.” Oh man, speaking of, I hate Jordy so much and am impressed that Sophie can write such a convincing douchebag when the rest of her characters are so easy to love.

Okay and let’s be honest with ourselves. We all know a Jordy. That guy who keeps getting away with being absolute garbage all the time and yet is always the one who comes out of unsavory situations the good guy. And we all hate him and wish him the worst because he is the worst. I would’ve given the book 5 stars alone just for the beautiful Jordy slander.

I do wish the book was categorized as NA instead of YA. All of the characters were adults and I think it would make more sense to be selves as a new adult book instead of a young adult book since there’s lots of drinking and hooking up.

To summarize, screw all the Jordy’s out there, fictional or otherwise, I am a Sophie Gonzales stan, and Maya and Skye are now my OTP. Five huge, beautiful stars for this stellar read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love everything Sophie Gonzales puts out typically. However, I'm not a huge fan of dating show books anyways so I went into this with little expectations. Surprisingly, this was actually bearable in comparison to other dating show books I've read. I think the premise was really interesting but the execution left much to be desired.

I wanted more gay romance and less of the focus on the terrible ex. This had so much promise but it ended up being pretty frustrating and lacked the romantic punch seen portrayed in her other books.

I would recommend to those who like a wrapped up "happy ending" and reality/dating show books. I will definitely keep reading her works, but this one will not go down as a fave unfortunately.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Love this, it is so much fun, love the story behind it that Sophie shared. There’s just a lot of wonderful parts of this book. It was lovely. Recommend!

if you love drama you will love this book!! sophie gonzales is excellent at crafting characters you will want to root for! i adored maya. i hated jordy and his fake british accent. his speeches made my blood boil and the frustration i felt was unmatched. bonus: the taylor swift title 🎶 thank you netgalley for the arc!

I can’t say no to a book with a reality dating show premise. But one that switches things up by making two of the contestants fall for each other instead of the lead? Genius!

This YA enemies to lovers, dual POV, behind the scenes take on a dating show where the douche-bro lead dates his exes in a Bachelor-esque setting was an all around super fun read. It hooked me from the first page and never let me go. (And the hilarious inner monologue and deadpan sarcasm only made it more enjoyable.) Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This isn't my first book by this author and it definitely won't be my last. She continues to write great romcoms that draw me in, make me laugh out loud, and have me swooning by the end.

Is Jordy a jersey? Yes! Do understand why Maya did what she did? Yes, I think we've all encountered a Jordy. 🤢 Will this make you think about revenge and if it's worth it? Definitely yes!

I didn’t love this one as much as I thought I would. It was definitely cute but I felt it was drawn out at times. Still worth the read!

Overall this book didn't hit it for me - even though I am a sucker for a queer YA romance (they didn't exist when I was a young'un!) I enjoyed one of Sophie Gonzalez's previous books, Perfect on Paper, a lot so this was disappointing to me.

I thought there was a lot of fun humour in the book - but it didn't seem to ever quite decide if it was a parody or not, at times taking itself somewhat seriously, and at other times full blown ridiculousness. The made-up kingdom of Chalonne and its made up language and weirdly described foods also seemed VERY unnecessary to me - not sure if it was so outlandish to be a parody, or if it was trying to set the scene in a fictional land for further suspension of disbelief. Didn't work for me.

The characters make or break it for me, and here, I did not find much to relate to in any of the characters. They were all pretty flat and I didn't feel Maya and Skye had defining characteristics or real personalities of their own. I struggled in telling their voices apart when the narration switched. Who were these women and what were there motivations? It was all very surface-level .A lot of the book is dialogue-driven, and it was all a bit too much. Just no depth.

The premise could have been fun, but why were these people all 20-ish? Who has 6 exes by 20 and goes on a Bachelor-like show at that age? I feel it would have been better if everyone was aged up a bit, which would take this out of YA territory but maybe seemed more plausible.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to review this ARC.

A book that took me by surprise! I typically don’t like books about younger characters and this book felt closer to YA than I would prefer, but I thought it was extremely enjoyable. I love reality shows and the set up of “Second-Chance Romance” was a perfect base for the romance between the two leads. Maya and Skye both felt secure in their characterization and I loved getting both of their perspectives throughout the book. The writing was clear cut without any additional weight, making a few of the love metaphors fall flat but probably appropriate for an 18 year old. It felt like reading their internal monologues without being over-dramatic or cartoonish. Sophie Gonzales is very good at getting her point across without needing a ton of words and it made the story fly by. As the villain ex-boyfriend, I thought Jordy felt grounded as a real person, easy to hate but not exaggerated enough to take away from the story. The conflict between them at the end felt surprisingly realistic, even if the ending was easy to see, the path to get there felt surprising and fitting. The background characters were entertaining and I loved their specific roles to move the story further, without the feeling that they existed solely to support Maya and Skye. From Perrie, another contestant open about being on the show primarily for followers, to Isaac, their producer, to their families back home, everyone felt real and complicated. The book was genuinely funny and I loved almost everything about it. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Never ever Getting Back Together is a clever twist on what's becoming one of my favorite new romance tropes the Reality Show contestants. Sophie Gonzales created the perfect suitor to love/hate on. Jordy Miller is a wealthy charmer, a reader to orphans and the famous brother to a princess. He has the unfortunate burden of women throwing themselves at his feet, yet how can he tell if they are sincere.

Thanks to an eager new reality show Jordy has a second chance to revisit his past loves. The loves he knew before he was famous. Many of these past relationships tragically ending due to moving. Who wouldn't want a second chance at the one that got away, especially when he's handsome and charming Jordy Miller.

One lost love Maya, that's who. The one he left scorned, the one he didn't break up with before moving onto the next, the one he lied to then about. Maya has no intention of answering the producers call. Why on earth would she give this man a moment of her time. But the her sister insists she goes to help protect these other innocent girls.

This is the set up for a wonderful book full of sweet revenge. It is full of twists and turns and ends with a heaping pile of come uppings. This book is a winner in the HEA category although the HEA is one you could not predict from the beginning.

I was given an ARC of this book from NetGalley on behalf of the author and Wednesday Books. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Sophie Gonzales keeps creating stories that are beautifully written and captivating. I loved everything I read from the beginning to the end.

Maya is just starting to move on after being cheated on and dumped by Jordy, a Royal-adjacent jerk face, when a new reality tv show invites her on as a contestant. The premise of the show is to give her and all of Jordy’s exes a second chance to find true love with him. She absolutely doesn’t want to end up with Jordy, but it seems like the perfect opportunity to get some very public revenge. Her new roommate on set? Skye, the girl that Jordy had cheated with, who is intent on being part of Jordy’s future.

Read if you:
Love (or love to hate) reality TV 🌹
Wish you could read The Charm Offensive again 🎥
Need more YA, queer roms in your life 🏳️‍🌈
Are a sucker for enemies to lovers ❤️

This book was lots of fun. It reminded me of a teen version of The Charm Offensive, which I couldn’t get enough of. I didn’t love Maya at first because she seemed to want to fight all the other contestants, but once they’d all hashed it out, I loved the fem camaraderie. After reading this and watching some of the Bachelor, all I know is I really don’t want to be on reality tv, thanks!

Never Ever Getting Back Together

4/5 Stars

Never Ever Getting Back Together follows the story of two main characters, Maya, and Skye. They’ve never met, they’ve never spoken to each other, but Maya hates Skye with everything she has because of their mutual ex-boyfriend Jordy. Jordy and Maya dated when they were 16, became long distance due to Jordy’s lifestyle at the time, and then ended dramatically when it came out to Maya that Jordy was cheating on her with – you guessed it – Skye.
When Maya gets a sudden call from a reality television producer for a new show “Second Chance Romance”, she turns it down immediately. Why would she want to be in a house with all the people her ex had dated, and try to win him back? But when Jordy calls her personally, she agrees, if only to get revenge by outing him after he put it out there that she was the crazy ex-girlfriend who was obsessed with him and lied about him cheating. But as she lives “off the grid” in a fancy country, in a gorgeous house, with 5 other girls, she can’t wait for revenge. Until at least, she falls in love with the person she might hate just as much as Jordy.

All the characters in this book are fairly one dimensional. Once outside Skye and Maya, there’s no real character development for anyone. It’s the two girls against the world – or the 4 other girls that are competing for Jordy’s affections once again. But honestly, even within Maya and Skye, there’s the revenge they’re trying to inflict, and their very basic love story that has the third act breakup.

Maya is only there for revenge, and the moment it’s done, she’ll be going to college to be a doctor – which she doesn’t even want to do and just wants her parent’s approval for it.

Skye is on a break between school, travelling solo, terrified of settling down by herself or with anyone so she’s always on the move.

Jordy is an asshole and stays an asshole. There’s no redemption for him, with an epilogue of the revenge ruining his life after the show ends perfectly for him.

The development in this book is fairly quick between Skye and Maya, from enemies, to friends, to lovers, back to barely-friends is the fastest thing in this book. The side characters are all fairly fun but have no real character development, while Jordy has almost – somehow – a development into being worse than he was at the beginning of the book. The reality part of the show resembled almost a hunger games vibe with their respective leaders and tossing them into events to win one prize. The games they had to play and the events they had to participate in are perfect for anyone who loves a little bit of the Bachelor drama.

The ending where Maya picks revenge over Skye, but along with all the miscommunication was a bit frustrating, but it came to a satisfying close in the epilogue.

Some frustrations I had with this book are as stated, how one dimensional everything is. It’s just a quick sapphic romcom that feels like it could have been a badly done Netflix special.

If you’re looking for enemies to friends to lovers, characters that don’t know what they’re doing, revenge, forced proximity, miscommunication, and toxic men that get what they deserve, this is the book for you.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a super fast read that had a super satisfying ending and relationship. I didn’t hate the characters despite the miscommunication, and the reality setting was really fun to read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First off, I want to say thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
Never Ever Getting Back Together is a dual POV story about two girls (Maya and Skye) who go on a reality show centered around their shared ex. Their ex has a sister who married a prince, which means he’s gained some fame and is now one of the most eligible bachelors. He’s gained so much popularity that now he has a show based on him trying to find love again with one of his exes. Considering he cheated on Maya with Skye (who had no idea), it makes sense why someone would question why she’d want to join this show. He cheated on her, broke her heart, and made her out to be a jealous ex. However, while she was unsure about joining at first, she decides to go on this show with one mission: get revenge on Jordy..
I’ve never read a reality TV centered book, so after seeing this a couple times on my For You page, I requested it on NetGalley. After reading it, I have to say that Sophie Gonzales did an amazing job at writing the most unlikable character in this story: Jordy. I could not stand that man, which was the point. Sadly, there are actual Jordys out there who manipulate people so easily that it’s scary.
Moving past the antagonist, I really like how Gonzales wrote the two main characters: Maya and Skye. Skye had no idea that Maya and Jordy were still together when she started dating him. Eventually, the truth does get out, and we start to see the two become closer and really start to care about each other. Apart from realizing they have a common enemy, they talk about their own lives. Skye has trust issues because of something that happened in the past, causing her to have very few people who really know her. Before getting on this show, she’d been traveling and having her own adventure, which is something she plans to get back to once the show is done. A part of Maya wonders what it would be like to do the same. Right now, she’s planning on going to university in the fall. We do get an idea of each of their home lives, but we barely get to see them interact with their families since they aren’t allowed to have their phones.
Maya is driven by her hatred for Jordy, letting it consume her. He made her out to be this crazy ex who couldn’t handle him dumping her. It took her a little while to realize how that was affecting her relationship with Skye, and I thought she’d realize it sooner, but she was blinded by her anger towards him. What I loved is the ending for both the show and the book. I had a feeling of where it was going to go, and I was afraid that I wasn’t going to be completely satisfied. After all, who doesn’t want to see the jerk ex-boyfriend exposed? But Gonzales definitely gave readers an ending they’d be happy with!
Even though I liked this book overall, it was a little hard to get into it at first. What was really frustrating was how the majority of the girls on this show were either somewhat or completely under Jordy’s spell. There was drama that they didn’t have to fake for the cameras since sides were taken on who was right about the Maya-Skye-Jordy situation. I was glad that they all eventually figured out who he really is, but I did feel bad for how he treated them on the show. We did get to know each of them a little better, and they definitely deserve better than a guy like him. I also liked that they were each there for their own reasons. It felt more realistic since it’s not like every person who goes on a reality show is necessarily “looking for love”. Some people want the fame that comes along with being on a reality show. Although, of course, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any broken hearts.
Overall, I give it four stars! A cute romance, some very well-deserved revenge, and reality TV show drama make this a very interesting read!

This is not appropriate for middle grades, but is a great YA novel! I will be recommending to my high school colleagues.

This book was probably one of my favorite reads of this year, I really liked how the story went and could relate to a lot of the issues the MC went through. I definitely recommend giving this book a read, you will not be disappointed! Sophie really hit it out of the park with this book and I did not see a lot of things coming, you will be surprised by the ending and how it all worked out for Maya!

This book was so good, I loved everything about it. I usually hate the third-act breakup in books but I felt like this one made sense for the plot. I was a bit frustrated when Skye was so mad at Maya for wanting revenge when Maya went through so much because of Jordy.

Take the Bachelor, make it about re-kindling romance with ex's, then throw in extra drama, and sapphic love and you have this amazing little book! I am a Sophie Gonzales fan so I knew I was likely going to love this book anyways, and it definitely didn't disappoint!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the story was told in dual perspective, but definitely not upset about it! It really allowed us to get to know Maya and Skye as individuals first, their experience with Jordy first-hand, and eventually their feelings for each other and the struggles that came with hiding those. Both girls were so loveable, head-strong, and fun. The rest of the girls in the cast just add to the drama and the ultimate downfall of Jordy.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Gonzales' writing, but also any lover of reality TV shows. This book really hit all the spots for me and I wish I could read it again for the first time all over again :)

My initial thoughts were "meh" but I ended up really enjoying this one!

I started this book thinking these kids were wayyyy too young for this "second chance" dating reality show and I stand behind that! But as soon as I realized this was going to be queer and the contestants were going to fall for each other, I was sold!