2/5 stars! Thank you NetGalley for giving me the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Man this book had a lot of potential and it really fell flat for me. I ended up DNFing at around 60% because I really could not get through it. The main characters had literally ZERO personality traits except that they shared the same ex-boyfriend and mutual dislike for him. THEY WERE SO DRY...like what????

I only read the first half of this book because I underestimated how strongly I dislike dating reality TV. I love Sophie Gonzales, though, and I think this might be one of her best yet.

Highly recommend for anyone who loves Sophie Gonzales or dating reality TV! This one is a keeper.

3 *

Concept:
I thought that the concept was a pretty unique one as far as romance books go. I think I have only read / heard about 3 or 4 other reality TV based dating plots having to do with dating shows. I have however seen and heard of many shows with this premise. I think that having it in the book format takes my love of reality TV to new levels.

Plot:
Who doesn't love a revenge plot. I found it funny that they had the same idea. Jordy was so bad and definitely deserved it.

Characters:
The characters themselves definitely should have been more fleshed out, they felt somewhat flat to me. Some parts were also very frustrating because the characters felt so naive. If they were literally plotting revenge because their ex was such a douche why were they then believing him. It's not enough to get duped once by the guy???

This was a cute read, and a fun take on reality shows. My students keep asking for LGBTQ+ romances, and they have enjoyed this one.

This was fun! I do think it would've done much better as an adult book. It was hard to take any of the previous relationships seriously since the characters were so young. But the premise was a super fun idea, just wish it was written for an older audience.

A dream of a queer YA. Nothing gets me more than the ex's ex trope. Glorious! And Gonzales handles it beautifully, executing with voice, wit, and smarts.

This was a fun quick read. I enjoyed the whole reality show vibe. The author did a really good job on showing the girls and their different personalities. Overall it was good read.

Two years ago Maya’s ex-boyfriend cheated on her and now she’s invited to appear on a new reality show where Jordy dates all of his exes (Bachelor style) to see if any of them were actually the one. Maya joins the show for the opportunity to get revenge on Jordy. There, she meets Skye, another one of Jordy’s exes. Skye joined the show hoping to rekindle her romance with Jordy because she’s still confused as to why he stopped calling her. But in the biggest plot twist of all, Maya and Skye find they are actually attracted to each other.

The premise of this book was so much fun and I found myself flying through it! There was the perfect amount of drama to keep me entertained the entire time and much of the story had me laughing out loud. If you are a fan of teen romances and reality TV this one's for you!

Natalie Naudus is one of my all time favorite audiobook narrators and she along with Barrie Kreinik did a phenomenal job with this one!

Thanks to Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance copies.

SCREAMING. This is reality tv alright. And mind you, I'm not that fond of reality tv shows 😭😂 But the drama? The scripted shenanigans? The ridiculousness of it all? Very spot on.

Also this has the same style and vibe I came to love in a Sophie Gonzales novel. She just knows how to create a story that sucks you right in, characters that stay with you, and plot twists that either hurt you and make you laugh. And I love how everything works out in the end.

Have to say, I did not like girl on girl hate on the first part of the story. But I also understand that this is what the story intended, especially for a "reality tv".

Love Maya and Skye. Though, I wanted to see more chemistry between them. I wish them all the beat tho, wrap them up in a blanket and protect them from the world.

And yes, Jordy fcking Miller is a true as$hole lmaoooo

Exact rating: 3.5

I really thought I'd be the perfect person for this book, what with the Taylor Swift-esque title and the Sapphic bachelor premise, but it just didn't work out between us. I didn't really connect with the characters and the book felt just a little juvenile (which could be because the premise typically works better in adult fiction over YA, but I digress). I'm not a huge fan of the prose as well, but not so much that I wouldn't read another book by Gonzales again. Overall, not my favorite, but definitely okay. (2.5 stars, rounded up).

This may just be one of those books that's not for me, which is surprising because it has a bunch of tropes that I love - I usually love a fake reality dating show - but it all just fell flat. I think the largest issue here is that this should have been an adult book rather than YA. It's hard to feel like any of Jordy's previous relationships are worth anything when they occurred at age 14...

Beyond the context issue, I just didn't connect with any of the characters, the romance arc felt rushed and unexplained, and even though it's a small detail, I REALLY hated the fake country this story took place in. It's so jarring for the rest of the world to be true to life, only to have some fake place thrown in. I guess I'm just more jaded than when The Princess Diaries did it...

I hope this book finds its target audience because there are some great ideas in the pages, but unfortunately, they just didn't work for me.

Overall, the book was ok. I like the premise at first of where the two main female characters decided to join forces and get back at their ex. The ending was completely different to what I imagined, I thought it would go through with putting the antagonist in his place. I will be recommending this book to my students, but will not be purchasing it as we are no longer allowed to purchase lgtbq+ books for the school,

I will read (and love) anything and everything Sophie Gonzales writes, and this book is no exception. The dialogue is great, the setting fun and tropey, and I loved the main character's emotional arc from start to finish.

This was such a fun YA read! The bachelor but the spin on it was hilarious! I loved the dual POV and all of the girls working together to BRING him down! It was so fun, and I loved the LGBTQIA+ rep! Also this cover??? 10/10!

Another wonderful read by Sophie Gonzales! I'm seriously never let down by her books and this was no exception. It was so fun! A drama-filled book with lots of love and charm mixed it. Don't miss this one!

I love Stephanie Gonzales. For me, everything she writes hits me in exactly the right spot to break me and lift me back up and put me back together better than before. I also love reality tv so I was so amped for this.

And yet, it didn’t deliver in the way her books usually do, at least for me.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Jordy Miller is every bit as absolutely abhorrent as Maya tries to tell everyone. The Jordys of the world are also so manipulative that it’s believable that Skye would fall for his tricks.

I think for me, I wanted the Maya and Skye relationship to kick off earlier and more clearly. For me, this wasn’t a super enjoyable read. The Jordy of it all really brought it down.

But still, it’s a Sophie Gonzales book so there are parts of it that shine despite the bits that put me off.

3.5 stars rounded up.

So, I was thinking that I've just aged too far out of YA, but then I picked up Never Ever Getting Back Together (finally) and while I think there's a solid argument that this book falls firmly in the New Adult age category that publishers won't acknowledge, this book also gave me hope that I can still read whatever age range I want. But mostly, this book gave me every bit of The Bachelor vibes that I wanted with the most perfect hate to love sapphic relationship where all the women in the house band together.

Essentially, this book follows Canadian Skye and American Maya who both dated the same narcissistic but charming white man whose sister is a Princess. For some unknown reason, some network decided to make him the star of their Bachelor style romance show, but for Second Chance Romances. And evil white man evil white mans and slowly but surely, Maya manages to get the other women to see his true colors. But most importantly, Maya and her roommate Skye begin to see past the issues boring white man created between them and their chemistry keeps heating up.

Y'all, this book had me almost in tears at the end. Like, when I say that I really loved this book, I am not exaggerating. The audiobook narration was truly fantastic. I now really want to own a physical copy for my shelves because it brought me a whole lot of joy!

Absolutely loved this Bachelor show inspired rom com and loved the surprise couple. Loved Maya and Skye, the characters were likeable/grew on you and I felt like I was behind the scenes. Overall a really fun read that played out like a movie in my head. 5 stars, Gonna have to check out the authors other works or future books. 💕💕

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the concept of two women falling in love while teaming up to expose a man on reality tv. It was giving John Tucker Must Die vibes, but the execution just wasn’t there for me to give anything higher than 3 stars. I really think it would have been better and more palatable if the characters were in their 20s, at least. It would have given the characters more depth and life experience to fall back on instead of feeling like you’re listening to over rehearsed reality tv talks where the characters are back tracking and trying to avoid being cancelled by being woke or seeming more emotionally intelligent than they actually are.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Never Ever Getting Back Together is told in alternating chapters by Maya and Skye, two girls who are invited onto a dating show for a second chance romance. Maya is hooked on revenge, while Skye thinks maybe there may be a spark left. They get more than they bargain for. This was a cute romcom that had a sweet twist.