Wow this was delightful!
Sometimes when I consume media there is a love triangle. It is so clear that one of the characters is not great and I wished the other two would get together. Well, this is what happened. I haven't read a book like that before and I'm glad they made Maya bisexual too. It was interesting seeing the reality tv situation and the characters interacting.

This was an interesting read although the writing wasn't keeping me hooked. I felt like it was alright but no quotes/words really stuck out to me. A decent paced rom com with an interesting love triangle twist!

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC for me to review. :)

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for letting me read this in advance
Es una lectura rápida, divertida y super cute. Puedes identificarte con todos los personajes que mencionan, cause let's face it: casi todos hemos pasado una relación o "casi algo" en el que dimos todo y al final a esa persona no le importó tu sentir.

Muchos momentos cute. Go with the flow girl vs. girl who likes to plan dynamic and I really liked how it was portrayed their relationship. A must read if you like drama and a little enemies to lovers.

This was a bit of a miss for me. It was a such a strong concept. The biggest issue is this book is categorized as YA book but it reads more like a New Adult book. Because of this, the characters and choices dont make a ton of sense and are not that believable. The dual point of views often fell flat and I did not feel like the characters were fully realized.

I had to stop reading this book at about 17%. I don't post reviews publicly for books I don't finish but wanted to provide you with feedback directly.

The writing style of this book did not hold my interest. The characters seem very one-dimensional. The dialogue was not natural. The fictitious land felt ridiculous.

But none of this is the main reason I had to stop. I had to stop reading because, based on the information provided, at least one character is a barely legal adult. Maya allegedly dated the lead character Jordy when she was 16, which was two years ago. My math suggests that she is now 18 and heading off to college. Since then, Jordy has dated a string of other women (girls?) whose ages aren't specified but many seem to be several years into independent adulthood. This either means that Jordy and Maya's age gap was large (I don't recall his age being mentioned), making him a potential predator; OR their ages are similar and some of the women he dated after Maya were older than him, making them potential predators. Either way, I am not interested in finding out. Even if the author does backflips to make timeline and ages and everything line up, the damage is done.

When I first read the synopsis of Never Ever Getting Back Together, I was thrilled. This concept is everything I've ever wanted from reality dating shows which are severely lacking in queer representation and inclusion. But sadly this book fell a little flat for me. The enemies to lovers trope used in this book I feel was not executed as well as it could have. This book begins with Maya and Skye having and obvious reason to dislike and not trust the other. However, once that issue is cleared up it felt to me as if it quickly shifted from hate to romance without an explanation of why each character liked the other, other than the fact that they started spending more time together.

This book was fun and I enjoyed watching the different challenges and hoops each character has to jump through to navigate this scripted and ridiculous show, but ultimately I couldn't 100% buy into the romantic relationship.

Have you ever wondered what lengths you would go through to expose a cheating ex boyfriend? How does going on a second chance reality dating show with him, winning, and breaking his heart sound? Because that’s exactly what Maya does to Jordy in Never Ever Getting Back Together. Except things don’t really go according to plan and Maya finds herself falling for the girl he cheated on her with.

I was definitely on board with Maya’s plot for revenge because Jordy had it coming. That man honestly just kept getting worse, every time I thought “this guy can’t be more of a pig” he proved me wrong. It’s no wonder Maya wanted revenge for not only cheating on her but only telling people his narrative. Jordy is a walking red flag. I do wish there had been more pettiness throughout the book from the girls. I am always here for a little drama and definitely would have been happy with a smidge more fighting.

Overall I enjoyed this book, loved the queer rep (Maya and Skye are bi and one of the side characters is gay) and loved the love “triangle”. Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me an arc of this book to read and review.

man if you need a reminder of why men suck.... this book (and jordy miller) is waiting for you. the taylor swift reference in the title is perfect bc jordy deserves an entire album written about how awful of a human being he is!

this was... good. not amazing, but good. the premise intrigued me but i honestly wasn't really a fan of the smaller conflicts between the two main characters (basically--jordy the root of it all). there were some fun lines in here though, and while i'm not a big bachelor/reality dating show fan, it was a fun setting.

this is supposedly marketed as YA but the entire time i was so confused. the characters are like? 18? and they're on a reality dating show... idk, every time i was reminded that they were only 18 I was like--wait what. i would've preferred if the characters were aged up by a few years and this was more new adult instead. i think that'd be the sweet spot!

An enjoyable dual POV tale of two girls who share the same ex—colliding as roommates on a Bachelor-style reality show where the boy's exes all return for a second chance. Ultimately, they must decide what's more important: revenge on their asshole ex, or a new chance at love?

Thank you so much to NetGalley and MacMillan for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ok. So. Anyone else read The Selection at age twelve and desperately wish that America had just decided to give up and run away with Marlee?

Maybe this is too niche. Or maybe I was projecting my longings for Marlee onto America. And, keep in mind, I don't even think I knew girls could kiss back then. But, still, the CHEMISTRY they had. I just wanted America to just say "fuck off" to Maxon and Aspen and whoever else was in that dumb love triangle and run away with the love of their life.

Or, maybe you didn't think that. But maybe you, like me, always preferred The Bachelor to The Bachelorette because of the sheer amount of attractive women. (I didn't fully understand that at the time either, but looking back, adolescent-me's bias was real).

Or maybe you just really like trashy reality TV, despite all your instincts telling you it's, well, trash.

If you relate to ANY of that, this is the book for you. It's not trashy, I'm not saying that, but it IS an adorable romance set in a trashy TV show setting where, basically, the girls on The Bachelor are all exes OF the bachelor, and two of them fall in love.

Onto the actual review now: can I just say, Skye and Maya captured my heart in these few hundred pages!! It was sort of grumpy-sunshine (think Gus and January from Beach Read, maybe), and their slow burn was AMAZING. Watching them fall for each other reminded me yet again why I loved romance. It was slow, it was organic, it was real, it was everything you could hope for.

"In this lighting, her deep brown eyes are more of a toffee color, and her tanned skin looks bright and blurred. Like if you were to run a finger over her cheek, it'd glide across like velvet. No wonder Jordy left me for her. She's actually stunning. That bitch."

Whatever you want to call this development -- rivals to lovers, enemies to lovers, reluctant friends to lovers -- it WORKED. Skye and Maya start off hating eachother because -- surprise, surprise -- the ex-boyfriend's a manipulative asshole, but it doesn't last for long. After they clear the air between each other, they immediately ease into a nice friendship-slash-alliance bent on taking Jordy down on his own TV show.

Gonzales nails the sapphic experience. Nothing hurts worse than falling for a straight girl, and both girls pick up all the hints they could get about each other's sexuality before casually coming out to each other. It wasn't a big deal, but it was nice, in a way. Some books accidentally make coming out feel so forced, and a lot of YA books especially deal a lot with the internalized homophobia or the "oh no, was she straight the whole time?" so this was a nice breath of fresh air. Both the girls were extremely comfortable with their sexuality, and there were no unnecessarily-homophobic scenes that I often find myself bracing for.

God, Jordy was a great villain. I could sort of see why Maya and Skye fell for him at some point; he certainly knew how to put on the charm when he had to. If there was a prequel with them, when both girls were in love with him, I would probably fall for him too. But, God, was he annoying and terrible and manipulative when he wanted to be. I was actively rooting for his downfall. 10/10 experience.

The characterization of the protagonists were amazing as well! This was a first-person dual point of view, which sometimes makes the protagonists blur together, but I never had that problem with Maya and Skye. They both had their dreams, their insecurities, their goals. Even when I would step away from the book for a little bit, I always knew which character point of view I was reading just because of the way their voice shines through the page. Which was amazing!

Finally, the infamous third-act miscommunication trope that shines through in every romance was actually masterfully done. Sometimes I'm like "God, just make up already," but this time I was actively rooting for them to talk it through and figure it out. It didn't seem forced, like the author just threw in some last-minute conflict. In fact, I would argue it was a very much necessarily plot development for Maya and Skye.

Overall, I adored this book!! I devoured it in only a few sittings, and I can't wait to buy the hardcover when it comes out. If you want a fun love story between two disaster bisexuals looking to get revenge on their ex-boyfriend, this is the book for you!

I think I've found a new favorite trope in dating reality TV shows! I don't watch The Bachelor, but Never Ever Getting Back Together is such a cute and refreshing take on dating reality shows. Jordy is every misygonistic man that swears that he's God's gift to women everywhere. The ending that he got was perfect! Skye and Maya were so cute! I was happy that the miscommunication between them got resolved earlier on so that we could see how their friendship and relationship grew throughout the reality show. Perrie was definitely my favorite competitor.

I would recommend this for anyone looking for a cute sapphic contemporary YA romance that doesn't lean to heavily on pop culture references and has a great supporting cast.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I don't like reality shows like the bachelor and the bachelorette but this one intrigued me a lot. A bunch of exes fighting to win back their ex, plus one of the exes is the girl that the guy cheated on her with. Scandal! And on top of that a revenge plot and it's LGBTQ+? Yeah, count me in.

I loved that the book was told from 2 perspectives of Maya and Skye. It was interesting to see how they each felt about the situation, about Jordy and each other, and how their perspectives changed throughout the book. The reality show's challenges and aspects were interesting but what I loved the most was when the girls were just hanging out together, bonding, and letting their relationship blossom. I really enjoyed how the story unfolded.

If you love enemies to lovers or the charm offensive, then you will love this!

content warning: toxic relationship, gaslighting

ME WHEN THEY. I loved this book so much that I read it in one night between the hours of 11p.m. to 1a.m. fully knowing I had to be a passenger in a four hour drive the next day.
Characters galore! I. Loved. Them. All. Except JORDY. All the girls and the non-employees besides Isaac? Immaculate. They weren't one-dimensional, and although a big facet of the story was that many of them thought Maya was horrible at first because they believed Jordy over her, they LEARNED. They UNDERSTOOD. I loved Francesca and Perrie especially, but they were all so fun and amazing, even Kim later on. Jordy didn't have a lot of development, but it's because you could see from day one who he was and who he would be in the future (the same thing).
Maya and Skye are literally perfect!!! I do think they're one of those couples that wouldn't make sense without this connection for some reason, but they're awesome. It's so frustrating seeing Jordy wrong them both, but I loved seeing them love one another amidst all of that. I hate the miscommunication trope, and this was no exception, but again, Skye LISTENED. We love that. There was so much chemistry, even when they were enemies and rivals for Jordy's attention (as if), but I felt like I constantly understood each of them and their relationships to one another.
The plot in this was as good as the rest of it! It flowed smoothly, nothing confused me, and I was never bored, only eager to see what was next. They all thought logically, and the progression made sense because of it. I understood every decision.
I'd definitely recommend this to fans of If This Gets Out, another book by Sophie Gonzales (this one with her as a coauthor), but also anyone who wants their fix of revenge and really cool girls learning things and falling in love. This made me so happy with everything going on in the world.

The description seemed so interesting and I had high hopes. Unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. The switching POV's starting to blend a bit and I felt like I couldn't distinguish the characters from each other. They were both somewhat likable but I couldn't really connect emotionally and struggled with finishing. The pacing of things also felt a bit off at parts. It wasn't the worst book so l'd tentatively recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a super cute YA read about an ex-girlfriend going on a reality dating show to embarrass her ex on public television. He cheated on her, she's pissed and she's going to even the score. What she doesn't anticipate is finding love herself while releasing herself from pent up anger and her past.

This is definitely YA and I wouldn't necessarily consider it a YA/Adult crossover. It's pretty tame and has quick YA humor. It's a fun read and perfect for the summer. I particularly loved the LGBTQIA+ inclusion.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC! 2.5 stars because it just didn’t keep my attention. It was cheesy and not very realistic. I did like the overall premise of the reality show because that seemed legit, but the way the relationship transpired and the “problem” that developed between them didn’t really do it for me. Really happy to see a bisexual couple in a love story, just not super into this one.

I think this book needs to be listed with a directive that it's about very young people, a recent high school graduate about to head to college and a 20 year old.. I think the premise is good and there are many interesting interaction between characters, but it's just hard to forget how young the girl is.

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

Okay, normally, I cannot stand fade to black. This was super well-written and delicious. Maya and Skye are just so well-written and full of life and personality. I fell in love with them falling. The setting was unique and interesting. I really enjoyed this one. All the side characters were full and well-rounded. I am a huge fan.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. As soon as I read the description, I thought, “yeah this is a book I need to read”. I’m a millennial, I watched reality tv literally bloom into what it is now and no matter how fake it proved to be as I got older it stayed one of my top tier guilty pleasures. Gonzales did a great job with weaving reality tv culture into the book, it didn’t feel like this hollow type of bait to get readers to become interested. It was a heavy investment in showing the retakes and the fairness into “reality tv”. The villain story was AMAZING. Always love me a great villain. Also, the banter between both characters were really amazing! I love enemies to lovers. If you want to hear more about this book head over to listen to the latest episode of The Poet and the Reader Podcast ❤️.

Almost two years after dumping Jordy for cheating on her, Maya has the opportunity to re-date her almost-famous ex boyfriend on a reality dating show. Maya wants nothing to do with her lying, cheating ex…except maybe to get revenge. Agreeing to do the show, Maya finds herself stuck rooming with Skye, the girl Jordy cheated on her with. As if things couldn’t get worse, most of the other girls take Skye’s side and think she’s jealous. Neither girl expects to hatch a plan with the other to take Jordy down or to catch feelings for each other in the process.

I enjoyed Maya and Skye’s alternating narratives. It was great to see into each of their lives and understand how they were each individually processing their situation. While I enjoyed the plot, I do wish that Maya and Skye were a few years older. I don’t know how realistic it would be for an 18 year old to fly to another continent for 7 weeks with no family contact.

4.5

This was very cute and so much fun! I'm a huge fan of competition show/reality show romances, reluctant allies to lovers, and sweet sweet revenge, so this was a ride I truly enjoyed. This book is also not afraid of tropes, and not afraid to refit and remake tropes into unique. This really hit everything I was looking for, and if you enjoy the tropes mentioned then you most likely will agree.

The connection between Maya and Skye was uncertain and a bit wobbly at first, but as the hooks of love and revenge find their ways in, it becomes unstoppable and impossible to pull you eyes away from Gonzales really works the tension and the newfound connection between the character. There is a lot of passion and big feeling, with some wires occasionally getting crossed, and it was so much fun to see the fires stoked and watch as their relationship progressed.

Which was a fun progression by itself, because it comes out of the casual/fwb to lovers trope dynamic. The focus here is on the revenge plot, and it's heavily acknowledged that this is a temporary situation to the point where they don't actually know how much time they're going to have together. So the start of their "not-relationship" made a lot of sense, and getting to see them move past the physical and casual into truly caring for each other and communicating that was perfect.

And the communication was all I could have asked for. This is a story of hurdles to jump, tension, and manipulation (of sorts), but it is not a story of miscommunication. Skye and Maya communicate flawlessly once they actually come together as friends and allies! There were so many moments were Gonzales could have let them fall into a bad and/or unnecessary scenario due to simply not talking to each other, but it's avoided each and every time. It also helped make their budding relationship feel that much more organic, lasting, and healthy.

I also enjoyed the characterization of our antagonist, Jordy. Jordy is a terrible person in real life, 2022, standard, and that is inarguable. We get a lot of evidence of him being horrible, both through anecdotes and through scenes we're shown on page. And yet Jordy never feels like the over the top villain no one could root for and no one would love. He's more insidious, and far more realistic, making him a character you can see an unassuming world cheer for, and also making the story feel down to earth even in a heightened, media-soaked setting.

Finally, I worried about the ending. The lead up looked as if it may let me down, and I think I could've enjoyed the book regardless, but I was pre-let down by drama of the end. However! I had to take that back as I was proven wrong. The ending is definitely earned and incredibly satisfying for the characters and for the readers cheering them on.

The things that kept me from 100% falling for this book, were mostly to do with depth and time. The characters are interesting in theory, but none of them are very fleshed out. Maya and Skye both have background issues that come into their relationship(s), but beyond those specific moments of context, they don't have that much going for them. I still cared about them because I cared about the revenge and the romance, but as individuals, they fell flat. And they were doing about a hundred times better than the supporting cast. I liked the cast in theory, but the lack of distinction made the actual cast feel a lot smaller.
I also do think, as I previously stated, that Jordy is well characterized, but I don't think that his relationships were. And had there been some more depth for everyone, and perhaps some more looks at his pasts with theses characters, everyone would have felt more well rounded and had better reasons to care about each other.

I also felt like the romantic arc's pacing was just a little off. Had everything taken just a little longer, maybe I wouldn't have this complaint, because the start of their relationship does technically make sense, I just would've loved a little more of a base connection personally. But the progression into real feelings felt more like a given than actual exploration.

I had a really good time with this book! This was a fun reality show romance with a heavy dose of revenge plans, and I recommend it to everyone who's ever wanted two dating show contestants to just date each other instead of competing.