4 stars - Love love loved my first ever Sophie Gonzales novel! Maya and Skye were loveable characters, and I really enjoyed how this wasn’t just a book about women hating on each other - they all grew and evolved so much throughout, which was incredible to read. On the other hand, Jordy is probably the villain of the year!!! He was awful in literally every way❤️

The only thing that I didn’t love about this book was the age of the characters - it is a YA novel, so the characters being 18-19 makes sense, but it just seemed illogical that Jordy could’ve had so many girlfriends in that short period of time. Probably because he’s a jackass, but still!!! It took me out of the story a bit every time I read their ages.

3.5 / 5 stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

This book gives off great the bachelor vibes. I had a great time with the overall story and had a fun time reading the romance, however the romance just wasn't my favorite. I found that sometimes their romance just didn't seem believable. We also don't need to talk about Jordy as I have nothing good to say about him ( which is the point I guess). I love the revenge on an ex vibes also here though, I am absolutely a petty betty so I lived for that aspect. Overall it was an okay book for me but would still recommend giving it a read because it is very entertaining.

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzalez is a fun young adult rom com featuring a bunch of familiar tropes: enemies to lovers, second chance romance, and a little miscommunication.

Maya and Skye are invited to star on a reality dating show to try and win back their ex, Jordy, along with four other girls he’s dated. I loved the whole set up and how ridiculous it was, with everything not being entirely unscripted. Jordy was the typical contestant, looking for exposure more than love and using. the girls as props to make himself look good. Maya and Skye started out being catty to each other after being gaslit by Jordy, but the way their relationship slowly evolved was so sweet and adorable and I loved every minute of it.

I also enjoyed the revenge plot, but hated how it consumed Maya to the point that she almost threw everything away and that made me exasperated with her. But of course, I got the ending I was expecting and then some and it was so very satisfying.

This book is so funny and adorable! I loved the premise. A rom com that takes place on a reality show?! Perfect! The dialogue was witty, the twists were surprising. The characters made me want to cheer. All in all- a very fun time reading!

Maya goes on a reality dating show where all the bachelorettes are former girlfriends of the bachelor. I liked the idea of this twist, but the execution was not great.

While reading this book, I hoped for something- anything unpredictable or interesting to happen. The problem is, what the author thought was a smart twist was so, so predictable and could have been interesting and well done, but it was not.

If you want a good dating reality show book, go read One to Watch, The Charm Offensive, or If the Shoe Fits instead.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I am not a fan of reality TV as I like to escape into other realms but I enjoy the conceit of this. People are well-aware of the artificiality of reality TV now and seeing more of it was fun. The romance between Skye and Maya was very sweet and as expected, everyone has some issues to overcome in life to come together in the end. Jordy is just a bad person but a good character for how manipulative he is and I was loving his comeuppance in the end. A really sweet and enjoyable LGBTQ+ novel that follows the romance formula and executes it very well.

For someone who barely watches television at all and never watches reality TV, this was an interesting book to read. I know this isn't the only "behind the scenes" take on reality shows - fiction or non-fiction. Given how terribly awful they are for the participants and how much is manipulated to entertain the audience, I still don't get the appeal. To each their own. The book was great though! Reality show shenanigans as a backdrop for a sweet sapphic romance was a great setup. Jordy is the perfect jerk ex-boyfriend (amplified!!!) and Maya and Skye are likable, complex characters.

I hate love triangles in books... though this one was more of a love heptagon with a&&hole Jordy and six of his ex-girlfriends. I'm also not a big fan of enemies-to-lovers (we got a twofer here with this book). These plot devices worked nicely in this book without being over the top or groan-worthy. In the end, Maya and Skye fall for each other and manage to open the eyes of the other four girls to what a total dirtbag Jordy is. Will they ever get the ultimate revenge though and expose the real Jordy to the world? Every time they think they have a way, something interferes. Most notably, Jordy's royal connections. His sister married a prince of a small (fictional) European country and they have a lot of power to keep anything that would cast them in a negative light out of the spotlight - including the true nature of Princess Samantha's brother. You'll have to read the book to find out whether or not they succeed and whether or not Maya and Skye find their own happily ever after with each other. This is an entertaining YA romance, especially for fans of reality shows, like The Bachelor.

I honestly wanted to love this book but I just couldn’t. I tried and tried to pick it up and keep reading but I found numerous problems with the story and writing.

1. The characters are just SO unlikeable. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book where I didn’t like any of the main characters. I had such high hopes but I found them emotionally immature and not just because they are young.

2 I found several things just fundamentally unbelievable. I couldn’t get past the made up setting - why not at least anchor to a real country?? The premise of the dating show on top of the country that does t exist was just too much.

3. While I’ve loved other books this author has written, I was just not impressed with the writing in this book. It didn’t pull me in or invest me in the plot. It was easy to walk away from this book.

I appreciate receiving this ARC.

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales is a fun revenge story set against the backdrop of a reality TV competition. It follows two young women, Maya and Skye, both of whom share a now famous ex-boyfriend, Jordy.

Basking in his newfound fame, Jordy has invited Maya, Skye and a host of other former girlfriends to appear on a reality TV show with him. The reality show is called Second Chance Romance and as you can imagine based on that title, the idea is that the young women would compete against each other for a second chance at romance with Jordy.

I'll admit that at first I scoffed at the premise of the show -- I mean, maybe I'm jaded but why would you want to compete to date someone that you had already broken up with once, especially since it sounds like Jordy cheated on half the women he invited to the show. It seemed pretty farfetched. But once it was revealed that Maya's motivation was specifically to seek revenge because Jordy had cheated on her, that juicy plot twist was enough to hook me. I became even more hooked by the story when the ladies arrived on set, and Maya and Skye were told they would be rooming together. Why? Because apparently when Jordy cheated on Maya, it was with Skye. Talk about tension!

I found the competition itself to be a bit weird and I absolutely loathed everything about Jordy, but what kept me reading was the unexpected evolution of the relationship between Maya and Skye as they get to know each other better and have a real heart-to-heart about what happened with Jordy and decide to team up to expose him. I loved their teaming up and I also loved how other contestants also stepped up to support them as they each figured out that Jordy was not the catch he seems to think he is. I also loved that Maya and Skye realize that the two of them have more chemistry with each other than either of them ever had with Jordy. That was such a fun and refreshing twist to the story.

Equal parts drama and humor and filled with characters you'll love and characters you'll love to hate, Never Ever Getting Back Together is sure to please any romance reader who enjoys a good revenge story with a twist.

I had so much fun reading this book!! The drama, the love triangle, and the side characters made this one entertaining read! Maya and Skye were perfect! Their mutual ex was a terrible human and I’m so happy with the ending! Perrie is my favorite side character. This sapphic revenge romance is definitely worth the read. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for a review!

Never Ever Getting Back Together was a fast paced enjoyable romcom that also deals with topics like toxic relationships, fame, and misogyny.
We get two POVs in this book: Maya and Skye.
Maya's ex boyfriend Jordy is on a reality tv show where he reconnects with his exes and Maya is invited to the show. She accepts with the ulterior motives to get revenge on Jordy and show everyone how awful he really is for cheating on her.
Skye is another contestant on the show and is the girl Jordy cheated on Maya with. And they are grouped together as roommates on the show. Drama ensues.
I really liked the humor in the book and it definitely lives up to the comedy part of romcom! The dialogue was easy to read and funny and the characters are distinct and you can really understand why they act the way they do.
The romance is really sweet and I liked seeing Maya work through her initial dislike for Skye and seeing them end up together.
I was rooting for Maya and Skye throughout the book and I think the ending was pretty good at wrapping things up.
I enjoyed this and would recommend if you are looking for a fun sapphic romcom!

Never Ever Getting Back Together will feed anyone’s craving for the reality show trope!

In this hilarious novel by Sophie Gonzalez, Skye and Maya agree to be apart of a second chance romance show, though they did almost completely forget that this means they’ll have to meet their ex’s other former lovers too! Forced to room together to feed some much needed drama, they both work on their plans to leave satisfied- which, surprisingly, are not exactly to end back up with Jordy.

I really really wanted to give this novel more than three stars as I had so much fun reading it! Normally I am one to pick sides quickly, but I couldn’t decide who I liked better, which kept me so entertained. However, the ages of the characters kept pulling me out of the book! It’s hard to imagine anyone this young having a “second chance” romance, or going through a Bachelor experience. Luckily it is easy to forget about ages and just enjoy the story!

If you like shows like the Bachelor and have a love of Princess Diaries or anything with these vibes, I highly recommend picking this one up! It’s still a great time.

I've heard people describe this plot for years, so props to the author for actually writing it.

I'm sure many people will love this, but it wasn't really for me.

The transition from enemies to accomplices / friends to more felt way too rushed. For the first half of the book, they are solidly enemies and the second half of the book they are crushing on each other, and there's this tiny sliver of time in the middle where they are just accomplices with a developing friendship. Given the level of animosity they had towards one another in the first half of the book, it felt like the developing friendship section should have been a bit longer.

Skye and Maya's voices are pretty similar, especially once Skye realizes what a jerk Jordy is and they both hate Jordy equally. I usually couldn't keep track of which POV I was reading unless the other one was referred to in the chapter.

Sophie Gonzales did not disappoint with Never Ever Getting Back Together. The premise is so fun: a girl goes on a reality television show to get revenge on her famous ex by pretending to be in love with him because he had cheated on her, then pretended she was crazy, but she and the girl he cheated on her with, who is also on the show, end up falling in love. I knew as soon as I read the book description that I was going to love it.

Maya and Skye are both such different people, but I loved them so much, and they're so funny. I was laughing throughout the book and highlighting all the funny bits - so I ended up highlighting a large portion of the book. It was easy to root for both protagonists, and I loved being in their heads.

I've been in a really terrible reading slump the entirety of this year, so it took me forever to actually get to reading this, and then to reviewing it, but I'm so glad I pushed through the slump to read the book and have the chance to review it. It was so fun to read, and it was easy to get sucked into it. It sucked me in, despite the reading slump, which goes to show how good it was. Definitely buy, read, and review it when it comes out!

Honestly heartbreaking how little I enjoyed this. The ending was cute, I'll give it that, but I struggled to care about anyone or anything the entire time. It just wasn't working for me, which is sad because I usually love Sophie Gonzales's books. I think the revenge plotline just didn't work for me. As well, the relationship between Skye and Maya felt underdeveloped, and the stakes didn't feel high enough for them.

I also really struggled with the age of the characters. Like putting 18 year olds on a reality tv dating show feels...wrong? I don't know that the public should be that invested in 18 year olds' lives.

As well, I found it difficult to differentiate between Maya and Skye's chapters. Their voices were too similar to me, and I had to flip back pages often to figure out who was narrating.

Anyway, not a fave, which I'm sad to say.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. I felt like there was alot of anger and deception in the main characters. It wasn’t my favorite.

While I really really loved this book and thought it was hilarious, I cannot get over the fact that it's young adult. Why on earth is this young adult? Why are these characters 18 and 20? Who has that many exes at that age?

I think that this could have been a phenomenal adult romance. Make these characters over 25 at least and it would have been an absolute stunner. Even better if they were in their 30s or older. It just was so ridiculous to see a bachelor's style show with this one dude and all of his ex-girlfriends when he is like a baby still. Maybe that is aging me and I sure as hell feel old at the ripe age of 27, but what the hell?

That being said, Sophie Gonzales knows how to write a book. She knows how to write characters that are witty and funny and entertaining to read about. And while I did like the book, I would have loved it if they were all a decade older.

This book was just everything!!! I loved it. I laughed so much while reading this. It was so fun and entertaining and chaotic and everything you could want!

Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.

Maya once knew love, or she thought she did at least, but then Jordy Miller broke her heart by cheating on her with Skye. To make matters worse Skye even knew according to Jordy - what kind of girl does that to another girl?

But, this is all in the past and after two years Maya is ready to move on with her life. She is going to go to college and prove everyone wrong, that is until she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to seek her revenge against Jordy Miller. What Maya doesn't know is that there is a second main character in this store, and for once it's not Jordy Miller - and she may find that love is still in the cards for her, in the least expected places.

This was a good story! Narrated between the POV of Skye and Maya we follow a journey of anger, hate, mistrust, growth, and love. There is nothing I love more than a book with a bunch of seemingly shallow female characters who develop into actually relatable women. Let's face it- if you read the story you probably absolutely loathed Kim, Frankie, and Lauren since they were ALL THE SAME PERSON until about halfway through the story when the characters started to develop.

One thing that I struggled with and kept me from giving this book 5 stars is my struggle to tell apart Maya and Skye. Personally, for me, they felt like the same character - much the same way as the others girls all felt pretty generic in the beginning. I often found myself rechecking the beginning of the chapter to see whose POV it was. There was also a portion in Chapter 15 where Skye says she can't swim/can't swim very well which is a pivot-able part to an upcoming piece of the plot, but in Chapter 14 she's doing the backstroke in a pool. Naturally, I had to go back to chapter 14 to make sure I had them straight in my head. As someone who cant swim well, I am not going to be backstroking in a pool, more like a doggy paddle.

If they had been more defined as individual characters, with more of a variation in their tone of voice - this would have been a 5-star story hands down. This was a very original plot, and I loved the inclusive F/F relationship building.

Things I loved about this book:
- The idea of two girls on a dating show falling for each other, instead of the man they're supposed to fall for
- The representation
- How much fun I had while reading it

Things I didn't love:
- Some of the writing felt stilted
- The main characters grated on my nerves at times

Overall this was a quick, fun romp with a unique premise and would be a great palate cleanser.