The transphobia and representation of Sunny's stereotyped drunken indigenous father put me off so bad this became a DNF. The blurb seemed cute, but the reveal made it unpalatable.

Golden boy, Judd Jackson, had it all. He was a star football player with a college scholarship, the perfect family, tons of friends, and a beautiful girlfriend. He was the most popular guy in town until a family secret being exposed took it all from him. Now, all he has left is his scholarship and he's counting the days until he can leave this town. Sunny Blackfox is alone in the world, but she won't let that stop her from reaching her goals. She didn't have time for relationships. Well, she didn't until she came to the rescue of the guy she's always had a crush on. The odds are stacked against them, but just maybe, they can make it out of town together.

This was a very lighthearted, easy read with well written characters that you can't help but root for. I really found myself wanting them to get out of their little town and find a better life, together. This book handles a lot of sensitive topics like bullying, racism, and more with grace and tenderness. It really handles the concept of going through a family scandal in a small town. I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more books by Sadie Allen.

I received this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. The content of my review and opinions expressed were not affected by this.

A cute YA romance about two teens who fall for each other while everything else is falling apart.

Really enjoyed how this relationship developed and made me smile. It also touched on some touch topics and real-life issues. Some of the book could have flowed better from one scene to another and I also felt that some parts of it felt a little unrealistic but overall a good read.

Maybe Never is one of the stories that felt different for me and I was s intrigued by the synopsis and yes, I really do love Maybe Never. The stories were told in two different POV which is really what it needs to be. How both of them be there by each other side are how the relationship should be work. Overall, was blown away by the story and I could not put down after I start reading the book. It was great and the writing was amazing.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I really enjoyed this book and flew through it to the point where i had no clue what time it was all i knew was i couldn't stop reading. I loved that the story was told in two points of view from both Judd and Sunny. I liked that they both had problems with their families but together they could forget everything and focus on their future. Their friendship turn romance was genuine and I'm so happy that they found and cared for each other and no matter what was thrown at them they overcome it together. I did feel for sunny as she seemed to be the one who had the bad stuff happen to her over again. This book deals with many sensitive topics in our society including: bullying, racism, conservative intolerance and sexual orientation. I really enjoyed the ending and glad tahat the main characters got the peace that they deserved.
I gave this book 5 stars as i loved it!

3 stars — Hmmm… OK. So this book frustrated me. There were parts that really sucked me in and kept me enthralled. But there were also parts that made me feel uncomfortable. And we’re going to start with those and get them out of the way.

Now, I might just be super sensitive, I’m not discounting that fact — but I couldn’t help but feel that there was subtle transphobia sprinkled within this book. Now maybe it was unintentional. Or heck, maybe it was indicative of the authors views, not everyone is on board the “yay trans people” train. But including a side story about a father who is likely transgender does not in fact automatically make this book a good candidate for diversity. The problem lies in that the majority of the small town vilifies Judd’s father when he is “outed”. Which, fine, small Texas town and all that (though *grumble grumble* stereotype). But Judd and his mother also made comments that vilified Judd’s father. They were really subtle, but I noticed. And I was disappointed. I’d have to go back to look for specific examples, but it was along the lines of “why’d he have to do that?” and “how could he?” and such…though even that’s not exactly it. Damn, I should have highlighted. Now, at the very end of the book the author tries to tie it in that Judd was mostly just angry with his father for leaving, but it was a bit too late at that point. I considered DNFing over this, but I really wanted to know if Judd was going to come to understand his father and change his beliefs. He doesn’t really. Heck, in the epilogue he’s still talking about his father’s “lifestyle choices.” *sigh* And the thing is that none of this was overt, which makes it more dangerous. So for that reason I would not recommend this to young adults or anyone looking for trans-positivity. It was really used more as a plot device.

The other reason I read this book was for my diversity reading challenge, whose theme this month is “Native American History Month”. And while I was really happy with Sunny’s character, and how she was portrayed in the book (more to come), that sensitive part of me was disappointed that the only other Native American character in the book was her father, who was of course the town drunk…which inadvertently plays into the harmful stereotypes of Native Americans. *sigh* So that was a bit of a bummer.

OK, enough of all that. Other than those factors, I really liked both Sunny and Judd! They were both struggling with unbelievable hardships, and I loved how they made each other stronger. I loved the perspectives that Sunny shared with Judd about rising above the bullying and living your best life as revenge. I thought she was a great mix of strong, independent, but also vulnerable too. She was not immune to the hurt, she just tried her best. And I loved Judd’s protective side with Sunny. I loved that unlike many heroes in similar situations, he actually in general kept a lid on his temper and didn’t resolve everything with fighting. Sometimes Sunny helped, but even before they became friends he tried to ignore his taunters.

And their friendship turned romance was actually really sweet. I loved seeing them both going through crushes, and I believed when their feelings deepened.

As for secondary characters, I LOVED Sally, she was a spitfire! Molly, on the other hand, was baffling…I’m assuming her side story was a set-up for her own book. At least I hope so. The Sheriff was a delightful surprise for me! Judd’s Mom on the other hand went a bit too mean to be redeemable…though, I still accepted her transformation.

And then we get to the devil twins. I will admit I’m not big on over the top drama/angst, and Asher and Ashley were super over the top. They were honestly evil, and I just didn’t feel it was necessary for them to go that far. I was not a fan of anything they added to the story.

So yeah. This one was a mix of ups and downs. The parts I loved, I really loved. But it wasn’t enough to make up for the parts that just didn’t feel right. Top that off with not great editing (and I actually read the copy I bought, not just the ARC, so I know it’s in the final copy), and I just couldn’t go above a 3 star.

A Native American as one of the main characters in a YA romance? A popular high school athlete with a transgender parent? An unlikely but genuine affection between the two? This book had So. Much. Potential. Unfortunately, it didn't deliver.

The bullies/popular kids were so over the top, the dialogue (especially the put-downs and come-backs) was pretty cliched, the way Sunny's father was portrayed as the incredibly offensive "drunk Indian" stereotype and the way that even Judd thought and talked about his father coming out as transgender was SO cringe-worthy - everything just veered into bad territory real quick and became a big caricature.

Allen clearly has talent for writing, as she describes scenes and emotions well, but there needed to be way more sensitivity, nuance and depth to the story and characters.

This is my first book by this author probably will not be the last. I really liked this book. It is a story about people who do not fit the mold for what is always acceptable in small towns.
Judd is going through a hard time. He has just learned something life changing about his father and no one he knows is handling the situation well. Making him the target of bullying which is further distancing him from the father he thought he knew.
Sunny is not someone to just stand by and watch while someone is being harassed for something they have no control over. She is dealing with more than her share of troubles in this story too. No stranger to name calling and harsh words from her peers because of her heritage and her father who is a violent drunk, Sunny still manages to be kind and a character that you want to succeed.
Sunny and Judd strike an unlikely friendship that turns into more. The storytelling was lovely and I liked the characters.

Good book with strong characters and a back story with enough depth to make it feel like more than fluff. The charade likeable and the connseems real. This book will be enjoyed by upper grade teens and fans of YA. I like that it helps the reader think about looking beneath the facade of perfection.

Honestly, I didn't finish the book. I barely got started. I need a book that can grab my attention relatively quickly either with an interesting plot or relate-able characters. This had neither and I just found that I could not move forward.

A cute story. It's made up of a whole bunch of tropes, and the characters are archetypes more than fleshed out, but it's reasonably well written and an easy read.

I also wasn't fond of the transphobia throughout, especially since it wasn't clear whether the character was a drag queen or trans, but the ending did help it a little.

I loved this book's cover and plot. The cover fits perfectly with the book and I was so grateful to be able to read this book.

I was drawn to Maybe Never because of the truly pretty cover.

What I received was two characters who, unbeknownst to them, would be huge parts of each others lives in just short days. What I received, was, two characters who have difficult lives in the small-minded town where they live.

There are two different points of view within Maybe Never.

The first and the one we read from the most is Judd. Judd is an honestly an all around great guy. I won’t say much more since I don’t want to spoil anything. I’m glad that the majority of the story is told in Judd’s point of view since quite a few YA Romance’s are told in a female’s point of view if the story isn’t a heterosexual romance.

The second point of view that we read from is Sunny. Sunny’s point of view is very much appreciated. Sunny brings a certain light to the story that would otherwise be very dark without. Sunny is such an emotionally strong character. I mean, she has to be, in her situation, otherwise she’d break. Sunny is the kind of girl who’d stand up for someone if no one else does/did.

Both Judd’s and Sunny’s story are complicated. They come from opposite sides of the tracks, and frankly if they didn’t fall in together they could have had VERY different stories. Together, they tell the story of falling in love with each other.

What I liked about Maybe Never was not only their individual stories, and their story together as a whole, but, I love the fact that Judd respected Sunny’s view point on sex and didn’t pressure her at all. I also like the fact that Judd and Sunny’s lives weren’t dumped on us at the beginning. Information about them was more of a slow-release, which kept me interested in the story.

Most of all, what I liked about this novel was that there were verbal admissions of being wrong, that there was talk about consent. That there were multiple times where the “bad guys” could have won, but the characters took control of themselves and didn’t let what happened to them affect their relationship.

A great thing about Maybe Never is that out of the one prediction I had made, only part of it came true.

Overall, I genuinely loved this book. I’m very happy with how Judd and Sunny’s stories have turned out!

Maybe Never is a book with some very heavy adult themes - alcoholism, abuse, bullying, abandonment - that deserves a better, more adult writing style. This is a Netgalley preview so I am hoping that there is still time for editing, but if I saw another "therefore" or "however" to transition I would have given up. And I rarely give up on a book.
The premise was interesting - our hero, Judd Jackson (who comes off as a poor man's Tim Riggins) is ostracized, demoted from hometown football hero to zero after his father's secret comes out. The mean girls and boys come off as cartoonish and stereotypical, but stereotypes do come from somewhere. Judd is pretty good at ignoring their barbs until he hooks up with Sunny, daughter of the town drunk. Once she is in the crosshairs of the town's twin terrors, Judd feels the need to protect her and everything goes south.
I liked the depiction of Sunny - she was tough and a survivor - but it did not make up for the mediocre writing or obvious ending. I very much wanted to love this one but it did not wow me - thank you Netgalley for this preview.

A sweet love story about a high school jock and the girl he never noticed until he needed someone.

There is a lot that's good about this story and it's very well written but there is nothing original going on.

Maybe Never by Sadie Allen is a young adult romance, but it was also emotional and was even shocking at times. Judd Jackson was a popular all star athletic, until his father's secret is exposed making him an out cast. His former best friend and his former girlfriend, twins, are the ones who treat him the worst. Sunny Blackfox, a native American girl who keeps to herself is the first one to stand up for Judd. Judd and Sunny become friends and bond over their incompetent parents. Wow is all I can say about this book, especially where Sunny is concerned. I found this book to be a fast read that kept me thinking about it for days. I strongly recommend this book for a unique read

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

First of all, I love how mature this YA book is. Sunny is an incredibly strong heroine and Judd as well. Sadie Allen also doesn't shy away to address sensitive topics such as bullying and alcoholism and she handles them well.

What I didn't like, though, was the way too high amount of drama in this book. Some of it even felt forced to get the plot running and also, it was all so predictable and clichéd.

And what the hell is going on with Molly? I want that answered!

Alright I will just jump into this and pour my feelings about this book.

Let me tell you, I really did enjoy this, but there was that something that felt short and lacking about the story and I cannot quite put my finger on it...

I loved the diversity, we had a strong female character that stood her ground and was mature for her age. A native American (of half native America was not very clear), a transgender father, a ''pretty boy'' that struggles to survive his high school and his degrading relationship with his alcoholic mother. Extreme bullying and of course love story.

The story could have been much better if some of the topics in it were more developed and not just superficially placed there just to make the plot running. It had potential that for me was not used at its best.

Towards the end of the book was the downhill for me, everything felt rushed, Judd and Sunny at some point started to act out of character, and it made me really annoyed because I was left with the impression that they both were mature and then BAM! there goes your maturity.. I do not want to spoil anything, therefore cannot talk much in details, but why did we focused more on Sunny's daddy issues instead of Judd's? I wanted to get to know him better know his past, his pain from his dad abandoning them especially after knowing that he is transgender, this is not a spoiler you get to know about this at the first chapter of the book.

Also the fact that there were some grammatical errors just drove me nuts (I am not a native English speaker and by no means I claim to be a good one, but there were mistakes that a toddler would have noticed) and then the repetition of one phrase made me facepalm more than once: ''I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding.'' mm yep I will have this phrase lingering on my mind for a bit now...

Another thing that bothered me a lot and made me give it 3 stars instead of 3.5 was the hospital scene and what follower afterwards was just a mess and chaos for me. I felt let down and rushed and a bit disappointed.

Overall I still recommend it, I just wished it was executed a little bit better and more in depth.

I really enjoyed the plot and found myself racing through it over 2 days. I love a great YA novel and enjoyed the characters and relationship.

Will recommend!

I absolutely loved this story between Sunny and Judd! I was mesmerized by the first page! I didn't really know what to except when I started it, but then I couldn't put it down. It was beautifully written. I would recommend this book for an amazing story of opposites attracting. I received an ARC of this book for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.