A unique storyline of love lost & gained with the unexpected twist that you didn’t know needed to happen. Sophie Gonzales’ Never Ever Getting Back Together had a good story to tell. The start was a bit slow but the ending made it all worth it. Bachelor Nation/Reality TV fans, this one is for you!!!

NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER is the reality show sapphic romcom of your dreams. Sophie Gonzales knows how to tell a good story and always manages to find the humor in the heartache. Her latest book is no exception. The central story is a lot of fun, and I love how the supporting characters fall neatly into stereotypes but reveal layers and build nice relationships throughout the book.

I am a huge Sophie Gonzales fan, so I was very excited to get an ARC of this book and had high expectations. Never Ever Getting Back Together is about two girls, Maya and Skye, who dated the same man and have some unresolved issues with each other because of it. When their ex gets chosen to be the lead on a reality dating show, Second Chance Romance, where all the contestants are his exes, both girls sign on- Maya to get revenge and expose his horribleness in front of the world, and Skye to see what could be. Both girls end up finding more with each other than they do with him...

Like all of Sophie Gonzales's books, this one is easily readable with laugh-out-loud funny banter, while still having many poignant moments, all wrapped up in the world of reality television. Her storytelling ability continues to amaze me and I really enjoyed the plot and concept of this book. I loved Skye and the cast of girls in the show, but I had a hard time connecting with Maya. She was a little too whiny for me, and her vindictive nature rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed really juvenile compared to the characters around her, which made it hard for me to feel fully invested in her part of the story. It did make for a good arc though and she was mostly redeemed for me by the end. There was some good PG-13 level spice in here and a whole lot of fun sexual tension. Overall, this wasn't my favorite of Sophie Gonzales's books, but it was thoroughly enjoyable and I recommend it to anyone who loves trashy reality tv and enemies to lovers.

What a great YA contemporary romance! I loved that the storyline went against the grain with the two main female characters choosing each other over the male love interest!

Maya and Skye both previously dated Jordy, a now celebrity due to this sister becoming a royal through marriage. It turns out Joeyy cheated on Maya for 2 months with Skye when he moved from America to Canada. Which wouldn’t be so terrible, if Jordy didn’t paint Maya to be a crazy jealous ex-girlfriend to the media and has haunted her for the last 2 years.

In a bizarre twist, Jordy is offered a reality tv show where he dates his ex’s once again to see if they can rekindle their romance. Since this is a YA book, I kind of find that aspect a little off but knowing how popular reality dating shows are, it makes for a great concept. While you go into the story waiting for the revenge plot to unfold from, I was so happy to see a romance bud between Skye and Maya after they settled their differences.

It was at times difficult in the beginning to differentiate between the dual POV’s as to whom was actually speaking but by the middle of the story you got a sense for their personalities. Overall, a great story and I’m looking forward to more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio & St Martin's Press for advanced copies in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Sophie Gonzales book and the reviews are in.....I loved this cute book! It was cute. It was fluffy. It was funny! I will also say I went into this fairly blind and so I was very pleasantly surprised most of the book! I kept forgetting that this was a Young Adult book because I kept imaging the girls as older. This book really had everything with a good villain, funny stories, REVENGE, a love story! It was also alternating points of view between the two female main characters which was fun! Also, kinda side note but, can I just say that Jordy was the WORST?!!?! (Props to Sophie Gonzales for writing a character I love to hate!) A solid four and a half read for me!!!


Thank you NetGalley, Sophie Gonzales, St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Honestly, this author is one of my favorites. She writes such incredible characters. I fall in love with the story and just about everything about this book. I laughed so hard and never wanted it to end. I can’t wait for what she writes next

*I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley.

Maya's ex-boyfriend (who has a future royal for a sister) cheated on her two years ago, and she hasn't been able to let him go. But then she gets a call from Jordy to be on the reality show about Second Chances. After a long time of trying to convince herself not to do it, she reluctantly agrees. The girl that Jordy cheated on her with ends up on the show too... Skye has no idea why Maya hates her and is prepared by Jordy to be attacked, but Skye's main concern is why he stopped calling her to begin with. When the two are put in the same room and forced to compete for Jordy with four other girls, things are about to be dramatic. But with Maya's plans to get revenge on Jordy, things are about to be surprising and maybe a little more romantic than they thought...

This book was so much fun! If you like The Bachelor or just a good old fashioned revenge story like John Tucker Must Die, you'll be in for a great ride! I loved Skye's character. She was so relatable and definitely felt like someone I'd met before. And the growth that she showed in being able to speak for herself really made her enjoyable. Maya was a character that I felt less compelled to like, but she have most of the growth in the last part of the book, so maybe I just wanted her to mature faster. I enjoyed the romance aspect of the book the most because it was honest and definitely not the insta love that I was expecting. This is a great book for those who love to see girls take down a terrible guy, some girls supporting girls, or just a romance that feels honest and true.

“Never Ever Getting Back Together” by Sophie Gonzales is an enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity YA romance.

Maya is getting ready to go to college when she is invited onto a dating show to possibly rekindle a relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Jordy. Since their breakup, Jordy has become worldwide famous after his sister marries into the royal family. She agrees because she wants revenge and wants to see him fall. Skye is also invited onto the show. She is hoping to find out why Jordy stopped calling her and see if they can have a second chance together. Maya and Skye’s plans go a little sideways when they figure out they have feelings for each other rather than him.

I was all about this concept when I first heard about it. However, I didn’t realize this was YA at the time. With everyone being 18-20 it made it hard to believe that any of the past relationships had an emotional connection or depth that would lend itself to a second chance. I’m a big fan of YA though so I decided to give this a shot and see if I’d still enjoy it.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for me. Maya and Skye spend quite a bit of time together but almost every interaction we see they are talking about Jordy in some way. Whether it’s about their revenge plans or his relationship with the other girls, it’s all about him. This takes place over 7 weeks but we only see about one day a week. There wasn’t anything to develop or build their relationship so it made it difficult to root for them as a couple. Along the same vein, I thought both characters (and the side characters too) were all one dimensional. We don’t get much about them aside from their relationship with Jordy…because like I said, almost every conversation is about him in some way.

Another issue I had was telling the characters apart. It’s told in both Maya and Skye’s point of views but unless a name was mentioned, I never really knew who it was so I was doing a lot of page turning to figure out who was saying what.

Things did get better in the end but it was too late for me. What I did enjoy was the humor. There were several times I would laugh out loud at the situation the girls found themselves in. The producers were also funny with what they would make the girls say or do to make their relationships more dramatic for tv.

This didn’t work for me but I bet it would work for the much younger, targeted audience.

I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This... Why, why is this YA???

I was so excited to try to read another book by Sophie Gonzales after how much I LOVED If This Gets Out, but this was just a big no for me. I had a hard time relating to or caring about these characters. The writing is stilted and not very descriptive.

Right out of the gate, from the summary I know this is a dating reality tv show premise with F/F pairing, instead of M/F like the show is promoting.... So, The Charm Offensive but sapphic? Okay... That was my favorite book last year, I will give this a chance...

This is NOT that.

But then I started reading and realized how very young the characters were... WHY? Why not make this an adult level book? I do not understand.

Also I just should not read YA anymore. I am too old for this immature drama.

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for providing me with an early copy to read and review.

Never Ever Getting Back Together is for the Bachelor fan. It's for the reality tv show fan. It's for me, to be honest. I was thoroughly enjoying every crazy, unbelievable, sarcastic minute, until about 75% of the way through. At some point, the writing turned from sarcastic, to cheesy and immature. I don't know why the change happened and hope it has gone through a few more edits since I downloaded my e-arc, but it did, and I couldn't ignore it.

The major problem I had with this book was the ages of the MCs. They're 18/19 which makes the whole "dating my celebrity ex on reality tv" plot unbelievable. If they were even 21/22 I could suspend my disbelief, but 18/19 was just too young. The plot points which probably made the author want them to be younger could've been aged up no problem in my opinion. Because of their ages, their immaturity was believable, but I didn't want them to be immature. That's just a personal preference I guess. XD

All in all, this was a wildly fun read. I appreciated the sapphic rep and thought the plot was hilarious. However, I think the story did itself a disservice by being so unbelievably cheesy in the end.

Final rating: 3.5 stars

I was given an e-arc by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

One of my most anticipated after reading Perfect on Paper & loving it. And lucky for me this one doesn’t disappoint! 💕

Mini synopsis: would you go on a dating show where Jordy, the hunky bachelor, is your ex? An ex that publicly cheated on you & called you crazy after he was called out? No of course not. Maya’s answer is yes, but for the revenge! Skye’s answer is also yes but she’s thinks maybe her & Jordy can work. Along with 4 other exes, the girls all go for his affection but find something they weren’t expecting along the way.

What I loved most about this is the found family. Of course we know going in Jordy isn’t a good guy, he’s a jerk & the show isn’t gonna make him look back. The girls all start out wanting him back, for what reason idk but 🤷🏻‍♀️ however after cruel eliminations & a comedy of challenges to win a “date” with Jordy, the girls ban together. Let me tell ya, the end scenes are the good for her energy I needed!!

The relationship 🥰 Maya & Skye start out as enemies (the classic “other woman”) but as they spend more time together, forced to room together (bc of course) they turn into friends and maybe more? I love a good mutual pining & this one came with only a very tiiiiiny bit of miscommunication so I can live with it!

If you’re looking for a book with Dove Cameron’s Boyfriend vibes, the “I don’t want you, I want you gf”, with a splash of Never Getting Back Together like everrrr then this is for you!!

Love it!! Maya Bailey is on a mission to take down her cheating ex on national tv! Along the way she finds friendship, love, and heartache. If you like the bachelor or any mtv dating show you will enjoy this book!
I received an ARC from netgalley

I'm never gonna not enjoy a Sophie Gonzales book! Never Ever Getting Back Together is a behind-the-scenes look at a second-chance dating show, on which Maya and Skye are contestants. All the contestants are former girlfriends of Jordy Miller, a guy who doesn't even deserve the time of day. But not all of the contestants know that...to them, he's a guy that knows just what to say to make them feel special. Except for Maya. Jordy cheated on Maya (with Skye) and she is coming on the show for revenge. But she didn't expect that Skye might have been an unwitting participant, and that Skye might actually be...great?

Anyway, it's a really fun, really dramatic story, and the way it played out was well-done. I got a kick out of Perrie, another contestant, the most, and loved her honest interactions with everybody. I also wished we had even more of Isaac, Maya's and Skye's handler on the show. Maya and Skye themselves were fine, I just wasn't as drawn to them as I was to some of the side characters. They did have character growth and an interesting story, but I still wanted more out of them. Hard to put a finger on how I felt about them! Loved their ending though!

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the e-ARC!

5 Stars!

The last thing Maya wants to do is be a contestant on Second Chance Romance, a reality TV show where a handsome bachelor dates all of his exes again to see if he should give someone a second chance. Maya’s ex, Jordy, cheated on her with the beautiful Skye and then twisted the story to make Maya out to be a crazy ex not willing to accept the end of their relationship. However, Maya realizes being on the show can be her chance to taste some sweet, sweet revenge. She comes onto the show confident, until she realizes she’s been forced to bunk with Skye. Maya finds it hard to control her feelings of anger, until she learns Skye was just as hurt from Jordy’s cheating as she was. The girls bond over their common enemy and team up, but as they grow closer together they have to ask themselves which is more important: love or hate?

This book was nothing but fun. From the moment I picked it up I did not want to set it down. I felt angry, I giggled, I gasped - I felt all the emotions! The characters feel so real and flawed and I was right there with the girls. I finished the book feeling like I watched this show and was friends with all the contestants. Was it a perfect book? No. But my experience reading it was amazing and it was exactly the kind of book I was wanting. I’m also a sucker for trash reality TV, so I already knew this was right up my alley. If you share in my guilty pleasure… PICK. THIS. UP.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! Such great humor, I loved Skye and Maya, and the cast of secondary characters (minus Jordy) were fantastic.

All the girls were distinct and played off each other so well. Isaac I enjoyed a lot too. The humor was on point - the kind that’s worked in to conversations and the internal monologue of characters, rather than feeling tacked on and try hard. I especially loved all of the Maya thoughts early on.

Honestly, even Jordy was a good character. He was balanced to being fun to hate, without dragging the story down with extreme toxicity. The conversations between him and the girls were hysterical, especially the hot tub one with Maya. Absolutely comical.

I liked the personal growth arc for the MCs a lot - both of them really grew as people, in a believable way for their age. A lot of focus on finding themselves, evaluating priorities, and deciding what really matters. They also had some lovely communication about feelings and what matters, which is so nice to see.

I also have to say I love that the girls all banded together in their anti-Jordyness by the end. So satisfying. A+ revenge times.

The one thing I struggled with, and decided to pretend not to see, is that the plot set up for a reality tv show about dating exes when everyone is like…18. A little young for that to have much impact. Oh well. The character arcs and their motivations and behavior did fit in with YA age group though, so I just rolled with it. I’ve pretended not to see much more ridiculous plot lines before, so this was barely a footnote.

Overall, this was downright adorable. A really fun set up with the reality tv show (and it used this premise so well!) plus revenge and a sweet romance.

I believe this was my first YA rom com and I really enjoyed this! Maya and Skye were fabulous MCs and the dual POVs worked well. I blew through this because I couldn’t put it down and wanted to see how Maya ended up doing. The behind the scenes of the show was to die for - any reality fan will love this one. The dynamic between the contestants was super catty and fun. This is my first Sophie Gonzales book but won’t be my last!

This one was a really fun premise, and as always with Sophie Gonzales's work, full of emotionally complex characters and thoughtful story arcs. I think a lot of readers will enjoy this one for sure, especially if you enjoy books that get into the behind-the-scenes part of reality tv shows, which I always find to be fun. Overall, it's a really solid story.
I will say, I did kind of wish this one wasn't a YA book. Since the characters were only 18/19 years old, most of their relationships with Jordy had literally been when they were 15/16/17 and it was hard to feel invested in the show's premise of a "second-chance romance" when it was all about rekindling really fleeting hs romances ??? The stakes were just not very high to begin with and I got why the characters were so emotionally invested but I just also didn't see any point to it. But maybe that's just me! Definitely had the energy of an early 2000s MTV kind of reality show.
Anyway, this is a cute one and if you're looking for a fun YA romance, this is a great one to check out.

*Many thanks to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!!

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and NetGalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I really loved it! It was so good.

Eighteen-year-old Maya goes on a reality show to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend Jordy. Little does she know she'll be sharing a room with Skye, the woman he cheated on her with. When Skye and Maya compare notes, they realize they've both been duped. In their quest to make Jordy pay, will they fall in love—with each other?

I don't remember the last time a book made me smile so much. It hits all the beats and has all the feels. Maya is pretty intense in the beginning, but Skye's natural sweetness helps Maya mature and learn what really matters.

I highly recommend this book—it's easily one of my top 5 favorites of the year.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Never Ever Getting Back Together is the fanfic we all want and need. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I’ve watched a reality dating show and thought, “these amazing women are all competing for that guy??? The most boring mediocre man around??”

Never Ever gives us what we want - two female contestants on a hetero dating show decide to forget about the mediocre man they’re supposed to be competing for and instead start pursuing each other. Honestly, we love to see it!

There are a bunch of twists and turns along the way and a behind-the-scenes look at how these shows are made. It took me a bit to get into it but I stuck with it because I loved the premise and I’m glad I did. If you’re a reality tv fan, this is a fun read for the off-season!