This was my first book by this author, but I LOVED this story! The characters and banter were phenomenal. I also loved the reality show aspect.

the storyline is why i picked up the book in the first place! I just wish the book was a bit on the smutty side but other than that a solid book!

2.5 stars

my main dislike with this book was its plot and characters. the whole plot with the characters on a reality dating show felt unrealistic and not entertaining, mixed in with the fact that i found the majority of the characters unlikable, and my experience with this book was not great. i found the main characters, Maya and Skye, uninteresting and petty, and i never totally felt the connection between the two of them.

This fresh and exciting new queer young adult novel takes the familiar trope of reality show romance in adult romance but with a teen twist. The main character, a bisexual girl, is funny, flawed, and bold. Very romantic and a great YA rom-com.

This is such a great send-up of reality TV and the editing behind-the-scenes to create the story the producers concoct and want to tell. Also a really fun romance.

I love everything that Sophie Gonzales writes. This was a super fun concept and I love the twist on the reality show dating premise. There was a little bit of drama that I found annoying but I love the way the characters got to know each other and how their relationship developed.

Thank you, Sophie Gonzales and Wednesday Books, for letting me read this one.
A bachelor-style reality show setting & all the girls are the exes of the bachelor hiping to get a second chance. That's what he thinks anyway. A great villain, great relationships, and supporting characters were amazing. Bi-sexual and gay representations are also included.
I had a great time with this rom-com. The banter and the inner thought monologs were entertaining & there was more com than rom.

Never Ever Getting Back Together follows the story of a teenage girl seeking revenge on her ex-boyfriend by going on a dating show, only to find herself competing against the girl he cheated on her with. Drama ensues as Maya and Skye try to expose their manipulative ex, Jordy. However, sparks begin to fly between Maya and Skye as the show progresses, leading to a reluctant alliance between them. While Sophie Gonzales is a favorite author, this book had some misses.
Firstly, the characters of Maya and Skye lacked personality development and felt one-dimensional. Their romance also suffered due to the lack of common ground between them. Additionally, the plot would have made more sense if it was about an older character, considering the number of girls Jordy had dated.
On the other hand, the reality TV show environment was well-executed and provided an interesting backdrop for the story. The behind-the-scenes aspects of the show were intriguing and felt authentic, providing a glimpse into how reality TV shows work. The dry humor was also a highlight, with Maya's sarcastic responses to Jordy's entitled behavior providing a refreshing and comedic break.
Overall, while the book had some lost potential, it was still an entertaining read with a unique premise. It may not have been as passionate as the author's other works, but it's still worth a read for fans of the genre.

Reality tv, a TS reference as a title? Yes. This normally isn’t up my alley but I did enjoy it and loved the queer representation.

This book is an absolute blast, featuring two girls who enter a Bachelor-style reality show with the aim of winning back their ex. Plot twist: they join forces to take him down, and it's every bit as fantastic as it sounds. For anyone craving a reality TV dating show in book form, this is it, with an extra dose of queerness.

Maya and Skye, the main characters, stole my heart. Their journey, filled with fear of letting go and the risk of falling, is beautifully portrayed. Sophie’s knack for capturing messy emotions shines through in this book. Skye and Maya are wonderfully different yet mirror each other in their deepest fears and desires. The dynamic between them, full of push and pull, is incredibly engaging.

What's more, the book skillfully sidesteps toxic femininity, offering a realistic view of the bizarre and high-pressure environment of the show. Each character is thoughtfully crafted, with a depth that adds to the story's richness. This is particularly true for the relationships among the female contestants. And yes, some characters are there to be disliked, but that's part of the fun!

The humor is the cherry on top – a kind of wild, unhinged comedy that I absolutely loved. It felt real, like the kind of jokes I'd make myself. In short, this book is a joyride of emotions, humor, and character development.

I really enjoyed this book! I love any book with dual pov, romance, watching characters become friends and then more, and reality tv elements! This book was right up my alley and I LOVED the bachelor element of it because I’m a fan of the reality show. In the end I love maya and sky and had so much fun reading their story.

A wonderful and funny story of two girls getting revenge on a reality TV show and falling in love along the way.

Every Sophie Gonzales book I have read has just been an absolute joy to read.

I can't give this the full five stars because I felt like the writing was a bit juvenile at times and it was restricted by the unfairly classification of being YA. This should have been marked as an adult, and perhaps been able to push boundaries a bit more.

This was my first Sophie Gonzales book, and it definitely won't be my last! I could not get enough of the characters, the humor, and the terribly interesting plot of the reality show for all of Jordy's ex-girlfriends. I don't want to spoil anything in this review, but I was left stunned by the ending and NEVER saw it coming! Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales.

This title was a bit mature for my student audience but I absolutely loved it! An enjoyable read from start to finish.

It wasn't what I expected, and I almost abandoned it several times. I guess it's good for being contemporary romance, but I think my favorite of Sophie is still Only Mostly Devastated. I think for me it would be a 2.5 but a 3 star is also good.

Sophie has been on a winning streak since her first huge novel "Only Mostly Devastated" and it's not that "Never Ever Getting Back Together" is a loss on this streak, but it definitely stunted me on my upward path for her. This book should have been adult, as the concept doesn't quite work for teenagers. Had it been, I think this easily could have been a great novel for Gonzales. Since it isn't though, it just feels a bit awkward with a pressured relationship. Overall it is okay but not my favorite from the amazing author.

[Mini-Review, as I read this book last year and am just catching up now, so my memory isn't as fresh!]

It is a testament to how much I love Sophie Gonzales that this book, despite being my least-favorite of hers thus far, was still an absolute delight to read. (I will confess, some of this may be attributable to an "it's not you, it's me" phenomenon, as I read this one during the height of some less-than-ideal personal circumstances.) Like all of Sophie's books, this queer romcom was full of snappy banter and voices that sounded very authentically *teenaged*. The plot was full of things I love, including a reality dating show setting (I can't say I love them in real life, but man, do they make for fun reading), rivals-to-lovers, and an excellent subversion of typical love triangle patterns ("forget the guy we're both into, let's fall for each other instead!"). Jordy, the ex-boyfriend, was an absolute scumbag of a human being, and I loved the energy of the two girls taking him down.

There were two key things that made this book slightly less enjoyable than Sophie's other books for me. One was the setting. While I got what she was going for, by adding elements of royalty and a fictitious small country (Princess Diaries vibes, much?), it seemed to stretch the believability of what was already a larger-than-life story, and it made the narrative a little less grounded than it could have been. (Yes, I know this is fiction, but it made even the suspension of disbelief feel...off.) And this ties into my other disappointment, which is that this book wasn't as emotionally hard-hitting as some of her other titles. Yes, it had at least one scene near the end that truly had me Feeling Things, complete with heart-twisting anguish, but that emotional thread didn't run as intensely through the whole book.

Tl;dr a fun, funny read, albeit a bit less down-to-earth and hard-hitting than Sophie's usual work. Definitely still recommend it, though!

Sophie Gonzales books are always so delightful! I loved the premise of this one right from the start - it reminds me a bit of The Charm Offensive, but with a YA spin and focused on queer women. Gonzales really nails the intricacies of navigating bisexuality as a teen - and all the awkwardness that comes with it.

omg this was adorable!!

The perfect mix of The Bachelor + revenge + queer bachelor fantasy that we all hope is *actually* happening behind the scenes when the lead is a douche canoe.

this would make excellent television and there is nothing I love more than queering a very straight pop cultural staple (side eye at the title 👀). Hollwood could use a sapphic takeover.

I do wish there had been more personality and character development of the two MCs and that we’d gotten to see them more outside the context of the man they’re dating (barf). But overall it was a fun cute feel good read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.