I loved the premise of this book but it really wasn’t executed well. I loved the idea of the dating show and also that two contestants fall in love but it was done so poorly that it was challenging to complete.

The characters were all so cliched and surface level. One of the main issues I found with this book was how each main character was not distinct from the other. It is told from 2 points of view but I often forgot who was narrating because they sounded so similar. In addition, the love story between Skye and Maya wasn’t done well. It seemed like they hated each other and then suddenly they were in love. After reading a few great romances this month, this one fell very flat.

“Never Ever Getting Back Together” is a sweet and genuinely funny YA romcom set in a dating reality show where Jordy Miller re-dates his exes. Skye and Maya, who already hate each other before meeting, end up rooming together (even though the mansion has plenty of space). They quickly realize their miscommunication and discover that they are more interested in each other than Jordy. Aside from him, all the characters, including the producers looking to increase the drama by pitting people against each other, are likable in their own ways. The reality show setting helps keep up the pace of this fun book. I especially enjoyed the evolution of Maya and Skye’s relationship over the course of the book. While there is a romance, the book is also about female friendship and the bonds the contestants form with each other.

Thanks to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE COVER OF THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLE. It matches the vibe of the story and perfectly sets the tone for the adventure of reality tv, dating, and new love. I really enjoyed getting to know the main characters and the supporting characters too. I love a good romcom and this made me feel everything I wanted and needed it to feel. I was instantly enthralled and found it easy to read. I haven't read anymore of Sophie Gonzales but I will now!!!

8/10
thanks to st. martin's press and netgalley for the arc!

i have never read a sophie gonzales book before and am not super into reality tv shows, so i wasn't sure how much i would like this, but it was super good! it's a YA fiction about a new reality show, second-chance romance, about jordy, a really shit boyfriend and person, and all of his ex's living in a mansion together. they explore having second chances together and each week he votes one of them off. it follows the povs of maya, someone jordy dated for around nine months and cheated on the last two when he moved abroad who joins the show in an attempt to show the world who he really is, and skye, the girl who jordy cheated on maya with (although she did not know he was still with someone). in an enemies-friends-lovers style, maya and skye team up on the show to get their revenge and fall in love along the way.

i was living for the drama in this book. the bonding with the other girls about how shitty jordy is, the stunts that are pulled on the show, jordy just being a bitch in general, it was all just fun and engaging to read.

i only have a few issues with this book. i sometimes forgot whose pov it was like halfway through the chapter because they both seemed similar to me, i wish we got to learn anything about jordy's sister, sam, and how she reacts to this all, and i wish this book were not a YA book. it doesn't really make sense for it to be in my opinion, and i wouldn't think to recommend it to younger YA readers off the top of my head.

overall, i really enjoyed reading this book!! it was funny and well written, and i enjoyed how it ended as well. i will definitely be recommending it to anyone interested that comes into the bookstore!

I was so excited to dive into this book because I really enjoyed Perfect on Paper and If This Gets Out by the author, and I have enjoyed other romance stories that feature a Bachelor-esque show. Unfortunately this one didn't live up to my expectations and was a miss for me.

I found that Maya and Skye's perspectives were very similar and had a hard time differentiating which POV each chapter was from. They didn't have many characteristics or personality traits that made them different, and I found I was more invested in some of the other women on the show.

As far as enemies-to-lovers stories go, I thought this moved a little fast and the transition from hating each other to liking each other was a little choppy. I knew this was a romance, but found myself surprised when they suddenly began to like each other. Their connection didn't feel super authentic to me.

I have seen some other reviews mention this, but I also think this perhaps was a story that could have been better told with slightly older characters. A strange feature of watching The Bachelor is how such young contestants are ready to settle down and get married, but the characters in this book were younger than many of the youngest Bachelor contestants. I think that characters in their late twenties might have felt more natural for the plot. Compared to the author's other books, this didn't feel as YA.

I received an ARC of this book from St. Martins Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

All the feels! This book is hilarious, lively, infuriating, heartwarming…. I couldn’t put it down. I love a good enemies to lovers trope, especially with a twist! I’m a sucker for trashy reality love shows, and this is such a funny behind the scenes telling of one!

(3.5) thank you so much netgalley for sending me an arc of this book!!

lemme tell you, the excitement i had for this book was unmatched. a taylor swift reference in the title, as well as a sapphic take on reality tv shows?? yes please, sign me up right now. i will say, i think my expectations for this book were a little bit high. don’t get me wrong i still loved it, but it’s definitely not all that i thought it would be.

for one, i think this book would do a lot better as an adult book, rather than ya. it just didn’t make sense for me that almost teenagers were on this reality dating show, and i feel the author could’ve covered a lot more topics with a book about adult characters.

speaking of, some of the characters felt a little inconsistent, specifically skye. the author kept trying to tell us her character was one thing, but wouldn’t always show it. i also think the main romance was a little lackluster. i don’t know, i just didn’t feel their chemistry like i normally do in a sophie gonzales novel.

the writing was great as always though, and i really liked how the author handled the end of this book. i thought if it ended the way it did, i would not feel satisfied with the ending, but sophie gonzales made it both satisfying and adorable.

a solid read. i have always held the opinion that sophie gonzales is one of the best ya romance authors, and i still stand by that. this was great, but i think it could’ve been so much more.

Maya and Skye don't seem to have much in common, except that they both dated the same guy; Jordy Miller, sexy, philanthropic, famously related to royalty... and secret cheater? When Jordy goes on a reality show to re-date his exes and hopefully find the one who got away, both Maya and Skye agree to appear. Maya's looking for revenge on Jordy for the way he cheated on her, with Skye, and lied about it. Skye is open to a second chance with the first and only person she could have loved. Of course things don't go the way they expect. I loved the revenge plotline, character growth, and the unexpected romance in Never Ever Getting Back Together.

A book with a dating reality tv show as the premise? Yes please! This book is the perfect light read that doesn't require too much cerebral activity, providing the perfect escape. I loved the BTS feel you get when it came to the dating show because I'm a sucker for reality dating shows 😂. The characters were cute and I loved the ending.

A big thing that didn't line up for me, though, was that these characters are all teenagers. How in the world does a guy have that many exes when they just graduated highschool? If the characters were maybe in their late 20s it would have been more plausible. And while there was some character development for the two main characters, most of the writing left the characters pretty two dimensional.

Overall this was a fun book though, and I think if you go into it knowing it's a very Hallmark movie type book then you'll love it!

"Never Ever Getting Back Together" is a cute, YA romance that centers around a fictitious dating-show, Second- Chance Romance, in which contestants have a chance to rekindle their relationship with a former flame. When Maya gets a call from the show to be a contestant, as a former flame of Jordy, she has no plans of returning. Jordy broke her heart when he went away, leading Maya to believe they were still together, with her later finding out that Jordy was being anything but faithful. Now, Jordy's sister has married into European royalty, and Jordy is beloved and idolized by the world. But Maya concocts a plan to expose Jordy for who he really is on the show, and finally agrees to participate. After she finds herself being whisked away to a mansion in Europe where the show is being filmed, she soon finds herself becoming especially close with one of the other contestants

This was definitely a quick, fun summer read. Its a common plot- girl gets wronged, wants to get revenge on the boy, ends up falling for someone close to him- set within the reality dating show setting which is so common for society to watch nowadays, but it worked, and was no less enjoyable. And the Taylor Swift reference in the title was perfect!
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for providing me with an advanced copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

Great premise, the characters were fun and I loved the reality dating show aspect. My Bachelor loving heart was dancing the whole time. Binge-worthy and fast paced, I honestly couldn’t get enough. I wanted more!!

I’m so ecstatic I was able to read this one early!! I love this authors work!! They surely didn’t disappoint with this gem!!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books for gifting me an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for the preview of this book!

I found both of the main characters, Maya & Skye to be entertaining, however I had a hard time keeping their stories straight and found myself backtracking to figure out who was who. If you love the bachelor/contestant style trope , then this a book for you, but with a fun twist. The book kept me entertained and was a fast read. Recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC of Never Ever Getting Back Together in exchange for an honest review.

Two years ago, Maya dumped her boyfriend Jordy after she found out that he had been cheating on her with a girl named Skye. Now most people have an ex who did them wrong, but very few have one who then becomes a world-famous heartthrob after their sister marries a European prince. Capitalizing on his fame and public reputation, a new reality show called “Second Chance Romance” is giving Jordy and his many exes a chance to reconnect Bachelor-style to see if Jordy can find “the one that got away.” Maya agrees to go on the show, hoping to make it to the final and publicly humiliate Jordy. What Maya never considered was Skye….

Maya and Skye narrate Never Ever Getting Back Together in alternating first-person chapters. Because of the setup, the reader is well ahead of Maya in realizing that Skye is much more than just the girl Jordy cheated on her with. The story works in large part because they are both fully developed characters—I’m always a sucker for snarky characters like Maya—who are working through something painful in their past. Their evolution from enemies to friends to maybe more is believable and well-written, with little hints that they’re attracted to each other that they don’t seem to notice at first because of their distraction by Jordy. The grand gesture is entirely predictable yet still completely satisfying.

On one level, this book is a nice reminder of the old Confucius saying that “before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves,” because Maya’s plan comes at a cost to herself. But that’s overly dramatic. Never Ever Getting Back Together is a sweet, funny, entertaining closed door romcom. Recommended.

I adored this book. It was fun and funny and GAY. What else could you want? I believe Sophie Gonzales is now on my insta-buy list. Just such a fun book. The characters felt flushed out (sorry let me edit this... the women felt like whole people) and it was great.

There’s something about books with queer people on reality shows that I can’t seem to get enough of, and this book is no exception. Full of ridiculous reality tv shenanigans, an ex boyfriend that can rot in hell, and a sapphic love story that no one expected, the real winners of the first season of Second Chance Romance are the readers.

Reading this book felt like watching a season of reality tv, with drama and, unlike a good deal of reality tv, some genuine heart and passion. Simply put, it was just a fun time. Characters went from the caricatures we’d see on the screen to fully-developed fictional people, ones that you could care about. It would be very easy for this to have just devolved into something anti-Jordy, or some sort of insta love trope, but it instead takes its time, to build and grow a different narrative. Which results in some absolute stellar character growth for Maya and Skye (although I have to admit, Maya’s arc was my favourite).

Though I did enjoy the romance, I really think that my favourite part of this entire book was the whole reality tv element. It’s not bashing the fun reality tv can be, but instead highlighting both the ridiculousness of it, and the ways in which it can be more toxic for individual people involved. To some degree, this almost limited the actual development of a romance. But I like to look at it as a majority of the book setting a platonic basis with attraction and the actual relationship coming from there.

With a fun plot, characters I feel very passionately about, and a certain degree of unputdownable-ness, NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER is the classic kind of YA book that I love to see from Sophie Gonzales. Chock full of queer characters, character growth, an overarching plot driving tension throughout, and a romance you can root for at the end of the day. I would never get back together with Jordy Miller, but I would get back together with this book.

Maya is living her life after a harrowing break up with her ex Celebrity heart throb Jordy. Maya knows he cheated but Jordy refuses to share Maya’s side of the story. Maya then gets a call from the producer of the show Second Chance Romance where Jordy will be the main main and all of his ex’s will compete in order for a second chance. Maya wants absolutely nothing to do with it until she hates a plan to be the final girl and break Jordy’s heart like he did and make every one know what a lying jerk he is. Jordy has told his ex Skye that Maya is a horrible person and a stalker. Now Skye absolutely wants to destroy Maya after they both have quite the encounter. Now they have to room together and it’s about to get crowded. I absolutely enjoyed this bachelor-Esque plot line! I know it’s not for everyone but I’m here for it. I loved the growth of Maya throughout the book and I loved the plot twist that I was very much surprised and shocked by! But loved.

Everyone needs to pick this up on Nov 29. Thanks again St. Martins Press and Netgalley.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a very easy read, the language is very palatable. It's essentially John Tucker Must Die...but make it queer. If you take it at face value as a romance novel, you'll definitely enjoy it. It's not necessarily mind-blowing and genre-defying but overall it was a good, quick read.

The crux of what you need to know is Jordy Miller is TRASH, basura, etc. He is probably one of the more unlikeable characters I've read in a while and the author does a great job at making him so incredibly unredeemable. I did love the girl power feel this book had, despite them all being on a competitive reality show. The author really covered all aspects of the reality show component; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

So, I felt that Maya and Skye's chemistry was rushed; we never really got to see that "aha!" moment between them and their attraction. On the surface, it could be seen as a proximity and the enemy of my enemy convenience pairing. They are very cute as a couple, but it just felt like it went from 0 to 100 in 20 pages and left a lot to be desired.

Out of all the characters, I probably enjoyed Issac the most because he was down-to-earth and actually likeable. Maya could be annoying at times and very one note, but I could definitely appreciate where she was coming for in her mission to come on the show. Unfortunately, Skye's characterization felt like an afterthought until the last 20% of the book, which is a shame because she had incredible potential.

As for the ending; I appreciated it and the message that love triumphs over hate, but the swerve felt too little, too late and wasn't as gratifying as I thought it was going to be.

Overall, it was a fun read and those who are fans of romance and reality TV like The Bachelor/Bachelorette will eat it up,

Have you ever watched the show "Unreal" and wanted it to be gayer, funnier, and less cringe? Well, this book is for you. I was a late convert to the world of reality television and was dragged along by my Bachelor loving wife. My biggest thought throughout all the seasons was always.... okay, but why are these gorgeous, talented, and smart women pining after the same boring guy? And let me tell you, this book scratched that itch thoroughly.

Beyond satisfying my incessant need for things to be gayer, Sophie Gonzalez perfectly captured the essence and magnetism of misguided enemies to lovers. Let's face it, if you have enough chemistry to thoroughly dislike someone.... attraction usually isn't too far off. Add some hilarious side characters, and you've got yourself a top tier read in my books. Isaac and Perrie are the real MVPs.

I will admit that the one thing that threw me were the ages, I had a hard time relating to 18 somethings, but I finished this in a day so really wasn't a huge issue. I mostly wanted to shake Maya throughout the last few chapters and scream at her to go get her girl.

This book was cute! I love a good sapphic romance with a male character we all despise. This was a fade to black love story, great for readers who might not want all the spice. Summary: Maya and Skye join a reality tv show that is similar to The Bachelor, but in this case the bachelor is their Ex trying to get a second chance. Maya and Skye want revenge , to make him fall in love with one of them so that they can then publicly dump him and humiliate him. They become close friends and then more….
I did enjoy reading the book and think it’s worth the pick up.

I loved the concept of this book! A guy brings a bunch of his ex-girlfriends on a reality dating show to try and restart a romance, but Maya is there for revenge not a second chance. Things get even more interesting when Skye, the girl Jordy cheated on Maya with, and Maya start to have feelings for one another. However I never fully connected with the story. The reality show aspect of the book felt under-explained and it didn’t quite make sense for this to be a YA story instead of an adult book.

There were so many side characters with all of the producers and the other girls who were contestants on the show that it became confusing trying to keep all of them straight. Only one or two actually felt developed. Also, this is a dual POV story and sometimes I would get confused as to whether I was reading from Maya or Skye’s POV.

I did really enjoy the chemistry between Maya and Skye. It was cool how they were both already confident in their sexualities and it wasn’t a coming out or queer realization for either of them.

I think if the concept sounds interesting to you then you should give the book a shot. It’s a quick, breezy read even if it isn’t the most amazing sapphic YA out there.