The premise of this story was a great idea and I was super excited for a dating show setting to have a queer storyline, however, for me this book fell flat. Specifically, I struggled differentiating the two female POVs from one another as their characters were not fleshed out and their narratives sounded very similar. I was really craving more background and detail on who Skye and Maya were outside of being Jordy’s ex-girlfriends. Unfortunately, it seemed as though that part of them was the only information the reader was given which made it hard to connect with the characters as it was difficult to sense their personalities. Additionally, Maya and Skye’s chemistry was just non-existent and I found myself confused during their first romantic scene as it felt neither of the women had really voiced their interest in each other before the initial kiss.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC!

What a fun read! I had a blast, and it gave me Princess Diaries vibes (ok, maybe just because of the fictional royals thing and the fictional country names) meets every exploitative reality dating show where a man gets to choose from a cast full of women--except it's YA and it's not the man we're rooting for. Definitely a fun sapphic romcom where the dude gets what he's owed. Thank, you to the publisher for the eARC!

This book was so good. This reality show setting is something I don't usually enjoy watching on TV, but reading about it is something so different. Seeing behind the scenes of filming and the way things get edited was insightful. Plus, the dual POV lets us see into Maya and Skye's head throughout the process of not only competing against each other, but becoming friends...and possibly even more. From Maya's anger/frustration still showing and Skye's intent not to let most people close, it was great to see these girls balance each other out and help them through some stressful times.

All around, this was a great YA novel with some excellent LGBTQ+ representation. I thoroughly enjoy and recommend!

So he calls me up and he's like "I still love you" and I'm like...I'm just...I mean, this is exhausting, you know? Like we are never getting back together. Like ever.

Never Ever Getting Back Together is another well-done book by Sophie Gonzales. The book is told in alternating POVs between Skye and Maya, two women sent to be part of a reality second-chance dating show. The book reads like a dose of pop culture, playing into and poking fun at reality TV and the people who join the casts. I absolutely love the twist on the trope. Without giving anything away--this is a must-add to any collection.

I was so intrigued by the premise of this book - so much potential for drama, twists and scandals! Plus queer rep as a bonus - how could I not?

A shame that this ended up being a disappointment for me. The girls' personalities are so bland I forgot who's who since they're all written so similarly (and ends up not really mattering if you get them mixed up anyway) - any chemistry just isn't believable and seems forced. The fake country and language ended up being cringey rather than cute - it was fine in the Princess Diaries when reading as a child, but seems so out of place in an adult romance book. And the relations of characters to royalty is needlessly confusing, unless there's a mistake in the book - is he or isn't he a prince?!

I've heard great things about Sophie Gonzales' books and I like her sense of humour, but this one truly wasn't for me.

I loved this one! A bisexual girl enters a dating reality show to get revenge on her ex, but she falls in love with another girl on the show and that's literally it. Maya and Skye were both interesting and very well developed MCs. Their love story was lovely, refreshing and wonderful and it caressed my ass. Whenever Sophie Gonzales writes another book, I want to read it in an instant.I can't express how much I love this sapphic YA-rom-com, how highly recommend it!

This novel literally includes my two favorite things: a wlw storyline and a reality competition tv show. What could be better! I especially loved the fact that the two main characters are bi and it’s not a big deal. While I have nothing against books that feature coming out storylines, sometimes it’s just nice a read a book where the characters are comfortable with being queer and no one around them bats an eye.

My only criticism with this book is that the main characters are only 18/19 years old and it feels like it would have made a bit more sense if they were in their early twenties because it reads more as an adult book than a YA book. That being said, it’s easy to forget the ages of the characters, so it didn’t really impact my enjoyment.

I loved the premise of this book, but unfortunately, I did not love the delivery. Skye and Maya both sounded like the same character, and I often forgot whose POV I was reading. This made it hard to see the chemistry between them, and honestly the scenes with Jordy were the most interesting ones if only because he was such a god awful person it was like when you can’t look away from a car wreck every time he started talking.

SPOILER:
I also felt very uncomfortable with Maya outing Skye on live TV. in some grand gesture to earn her forgiveness. That’s some Jordy-level manipulation in my opinion.

Thank you to Sophie Gonzales, St.Martins Press and NetGalley for giving me an eARC in exchange for a honest review. Never Ever Getting Back Together comes out November 29, 2022.

Never Ever Getting Back Together stars Maya as she goes on Second Chance Romance, a reality dating show where her cheating ex, Jordy, re-dates her and 5 other ex-girlfriends to see if there is still a spark. One of the other exs, Skye, happens to be the girl that Jordy cheated on Maya with two years ago. Even though their first impressions of each other are poor(which has alot to do with the manipulations of the Jordy), soon both girls start to form a friendship and start to plan how to expose the Jody to the world for the scum bag he is. Over late night scheming and general forced proximity Maya nd Skye start to realize that their friendship is growing into so much more.

I did enjoy reading this book, I like the premise and separately I like both female characters. The only thing that I could say negatively is that I didn't feel the chemistry between both characters. For me it matters that by the end of a romance you truly believe the love interests are going to stick together past the epilogue and I did not get that feeling while reading. Otherwise it was a story filled with humor, friendship and sticking it to the man (okay one man but honestly Jordy was the worst).

This book felt like the shriek inducing moment of an ex getting brought into the villa on Love Island (which I’m a sucker for. Who doesn’t love that drama??)

The banter was fun and I liked the mystery / whodunit angle of what really happened in the relationships, and how it lead to a revenge plot…which then got twisted into a romance. The revenge to romance pipeline is hard to resist!

The cutest love story! I absolutely loved this novel and could not put it down. It will leave you with a smile and feeling like true love definitely does exist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

DNF at 60%

I was really expecting more from this book. The premise sounded like it would be a really good time. I mean, a reality dating show where exes of a terrible person end up falling for each other? Sign me up. And at the beginning of the book, I was really excited to see where the plot would go. As it went on? Not so much. There were a few things about this book that just didn't click for me.

1) This was written in first-person, with multiple POVs, which I find can be engaging if done correctly. However, in this case, it was quite difficult to tell if it was Skye's or Maya's POV. Relatively often, if I put down the book mid-chapter, I would get a little confused because it took me a minute to figure out which POV it was.

2) There wasn't really any chemistry between Maya and Skye. This was the biggest thing for me, since romance is one of the main plot-lines of this book. Of course, I wasn't expecting there to be chemistry right from the get-go, considering how the story was set up; but I was expecting SOMETHING given how far into the book I got. The best I can describe it is that the author seemed to be telling the reader that there was chemistry, there was a spark between them, etc. but didn't actually show there being chemistry. It came across as very emotionally hollow.

3) I was not expecting the degree of mean-girl, middle school drama that this book contained. It was just so off-putting. I know that the characters in the book are still relatively young (but all were 18 or older); however, the drama that was being created seemed like it would be more suited for a school dance involving 13 year-olds. I understand that the premise is a group of girls competing on a reality show to essentially get with a guy, but seeing them all fight and bicker over this mediocre (and that's being generous) man was just very icky. While this aspect did generally improve as the book progressed, I would still roll my eyes when it occasionally made a reappearance later on.

4) I didn't love the writing style (and this one also is kind of related to the point about the POVs being so similar). The flow of the story also didn't work for me in a lot of instances; the characters would talk about doing something or coming up with some plan, and then it seemed like they immediately forgot half of it or it was written like it never occurred in the first place.

The concept behind this book definitely had promise, but the execution just didn't work for me. I kept reading as long as I did because there was just enough that I was expecting it to get better, but what really sealed the deal for me was the lack of chemistry between the two main characters. The other aspects that I didn't like, I could have put up with if the romance portion really grabbed my attention, but it just didn't.

I've seen other reviewers point out how it's kind of an odd concept to have this reality show given how old the characters are, and the more I think about it the more I agree. I think this possibly could have worked a bit better if the characters were aged-up by at least a few years.

I really had high hopes for this one, and wanted to enjoy it, but it just really didn't work for me.

I couldn’t put this book down! Never Ever Getting Back Together was the funny rom-com book I’ve been looking for! The characters are relatable and you can’t help but love some and dislike others (much like in real life!) this is definitely one I’d recommend for a book club when looking for a funny and light change! This was the type of story I couldn’t help but imagine coming to life as a movie. Well done, to Sophie Gonzalez!

3/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

“Never Ever Getting Back Together” by Sophie Gonzalez follows the story of Maya as she joins a reality TV dating show called Second Chance Romance where her ex-boyfriend, Jordy, re-dates all of his ex-girlfriends in order to find his “one”, to expose Jordy for who he is- a cheating, lying, manipulative jerk! Maya reluctantly teams up with her the girl Jordy cheated on her with, Skye, to expose Jordy for who he is. Along the way, the lines get blurry between Skye and Maya and as they spend more time with each other, they realize taking down Jordy is not the only thing they want anymore.

I found this story premise to be so intriguing so I was so excited to be selected for this ARC. There are not enough stories centering sapphic couples, and as a queer WOC, I was pumped to see this one being released! The story itself fell a little flat for me- not due to the writing style or the content, but because I didn’t really feel connected to Skye and Maya much, which made it difficult to fully enjoy their relationship. Their relationship felt slightly forced and I didn’t feel like there was any real spark there. It felt more situational than anything. However, I do love Sophie Gonzalez and did think this was a very fun casual read! The characters were really well-rounded and loved seeing all of the girls form bonds. The author did such a great job of making me hate Jordy & root for all of the girls in the story. Overall, I enjoyed this book and read it within 3 days! I would definitely recommend this book to people who want a quick, fun read to lift the spirits. I’m excited to see what Sophie Gonzalez has to come! :)

The bachelor but featuring exes coming back for revenge? It was in fact as wonderful as it sounds.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC.

With American Royals vibes, this book feels like a twisty version of the Bachelor.

The book was fun with a good pace and solid character development.

Definitely to be recommended for fans of YA books.

Fun and fluffy this is a great read for teens and adults!
Sophie Gonzales manages to incorporate social media and modern technology in a natural and humorous way that some books find difficult but in “Never Ever Getting Back Together” the relationship between the characters and reality tv and social media is a main plot device and helps drive the story along.
Throwing typical “fake dating” tropes on its head, this story finds two girls, Maya and Skye, on a dating show where their mutual ex Jordy is trying to re kindle his past romances and hopefully find true love in an old love.
While Maya and Skye get off to a rocky and some might say hostile start, they find common ground as feelings between them grow instead of towards their “eligible bachelor” Jordy.

Sophie Gonzales could have easily taken a route that pit Jordy’s ex’s against each other in the reality dating show and I was excited and glad to see she did not take that route and instead, with a couple clever storylines, showed women supporting women and banding together.

A fun, light read this romance took an unusual route to a lot of YA romances in a way that will delight and capture readers. Queer representation is normalized and while an integral part of the plot, the characters and story are so much more than that.

Will definitely be recommending and adding to displays!

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!
A sapphic romcom starring two disaster bisexuals in a messed up love triangle on a reality TV show that focuses on all the exes of a guy that is literally scum of the earth? Consider me very intrigued.
First off I think that the idea of this book was great and I think it was executed well in a lot of ways. I also think there were a lot of things that could have been done better?
- I really liked the romance in the later part of the book but I don’t think it was very well developed. Like it kind of materializes out of nowhere somewhat.
- I think Jordy is literally one of the most despicable characters I’ve ever read about and he can get run over by a truck. The entire time I was screaming in my head about how all of these girls could do so much better and it was so beyond frustrating to read them fawning over a guy like Jordy but I guess that was kind of the point.
- The main characters seemed a bit interchangeable to me at first honestly, I couldn’t really tell who was who sometimes at the beginning though this got a lot better throughout the book and I began to enjoy them both individually. Maya frustrated me a lot though because she wouldn’t even consider the fact that Jordy may have lied to Skye as well as her? Like it made very little sense to me. The side characters however were pretty interchangeable throughout the whole thing, excluding Issac and Perrie, I could not tell the difference between the rest of the girls or producers. Though I did really love Issac and Perrie heh.
- I don’t watch all that much reality tv but I did enjoy reading it in this book. However it did seem a little unrealistic to me how they had no cameras set up in the mansion like at all? It just seemed like for them to go through the trouble of putting Maya and Skye in a room together for drama that they would have no way of filming it. Other than that though I thought it made for good plot, drama, and readability so I’m not that upset about it.
- I liked the tropes Sophie Gonzales used and I really enjoyed how fun the writing was. It was super sarcastic and that made it really easy for me to read.
These are my main thoughts but overall I really enjoyed this and it was super quick to read for such a long book. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a cute, dramatic, and fun sapphic read since we all know everything is better when it’s sapphic honestly. After this I am really interested in checking out Sophie Gonzales other works.

I really wanted to enjoy this book I just think that this one wasn’t for me. I wasn’t a fan of the main character which I think what pulled me away from the story. I enjoyed the plot of the book but I was a bit confused as to why they were so young and why it was a young adult novel. I personally feel like it would of been much better as a adult romance book. I felt very disconnected by the book and the characters. I love the idea of two bi girls falling in love but this book didn’t do it for me. I definitely feel like it a personal thing and I’m sure other people will definitely enjoy it. Just not for me.