“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!

A revenge against shitty men book is something I will drop everything to pick up because men like Jordy can choke. I'm a little sad because I wanted to love this more than I did but this book was still a whole lot of fun. The characters, the humor, & the conversations between all the characters were what held this together for me - I could have read it allllll day long. But I couldn't help but wonder how in the hell did Jordy have enough women to have a whole ass Bachelor show at the ripe age of a YA book? I would have loved to see the characters aged up just a little more to make it more believable. I also felt like some parts of this were super rushed and others were very cut and dry and there was hardly any emotion behind the writing. And lets be real, if it's a teen version of the Bachelor the emotions and angst are going to be at an all time high.

This was adorable and very original. While the title suggests this is a second-chance romance with a woman going back to an awful boyfriend, that’s not at all what happens here!

What I loved…
- the scheming
- the love story
- the originality and creativity

What I struggled with: Ok, I know this is YA and I’m old, but the whole time I read this I just kept thinking ‘they’re too young for this!’ It’s centered around a reality show that features one person bringing back their exes. Fun on paper- but we are talking about someone barely into their 20’s bringing back recent high school graduates. Like, I can’t take these relationships seriously. 🤣 Not to mention, they’re in Europe so the producers are encouraging them to drink— it just felt icky to me. While those parts bothered me personally I did still
enjoy the ‘love story’ and the character growth here.

Read this if you especially like…
- young love
- love triangles
- queer love stories
- Reality TV

I absolutely adore this so much! The MC and the inevitable love interest were so cute and I was rooting for them from the start. I loved the hint of enemies to lovers, and also greatly enjoyed that it was LGBTQ+!! Highly recommended!

When Maya's now famous cheater ex-boyfriend invites her to participate in a teen reality dating show, she thinks it is the perfect opportunity to take her revenge and tell the world how awful the real Jordy is. But that means rooming with Skye, the girl he cheated on her with. Skye was always cautious with her heart, except with Jordy, who said all of the right things until he suddenly stopped answering her texts. Skye wants a second chance at the sparks she had with Jordy until she meets Maya and realizes they may have more chemistry than they ever had with Jordy. I love sapphic romances and reality tv shows (Bachelor in Paradise is my guilty pleasure show), so I was really looking forward to reading this book! And it was a fun read, but it wasn't what I was expecting and didn't quite live up to my expectations. The idea of two contestants on a reality dating show getting revenge and falling for each other made a fun plot! But the setting and the characters' attitudes seemed to clash because the setting seemed to be about adults on a reality tv set, but then the characters were very YA. I think this book would have made much more sense if the characters were aged up. But overall, the premise was great, and it was a fun read! If you love dating reality tv shows and read a lot of ya romances, then you will enjoy this book!

Never Ever Getting Back Together is the hilarious and unputdownable new book from Sophie Gonzales! Skye and Maya have never met, but have both been recruited to compete on a reality tv show where they will reconnect with Jordy, a mutual ex. However, Maya and Skye have different reasons for being there and a complicated past between them. As they uncover the truth about Jordy, their feelings for each other grow too. When the show ends, Skye and Maya must decide how far they want to take their revenge and if their romance can survive in the real world.

I loved this book! It was so much fun to read and I couldn’t put it down. Maya and Skye are great characters; I appreciated their different reasons for being on the show. The bisexual representation was fantastic and felt realistic. Sophie Gonzales is an extremely witty writer! Her sarcastic banter and dry dialogue is exactly my sense of humor. Maya and Skye have an excellent enemies-to-lovers arc and many adventures along the way! One of my favorite parts was seeing the girls unite vs. Jordy as his true nature is exposed. I can’t wait to read the rest of Sophie Gonzales’ backlist and whatever she writes next! I would highly recommend Never Ever Getting Back Together, especially for fans of Casey McQuiston and Emma Lord.

Thank you so much to Sophie Gonzales, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3⭐️

Never Ever Getting Back Together is a dual-pov novel following Maya and Skye, who agree to go on a teen reality show with their now famous ex-boyfriend. The show, called Second-Chance Romance, is a way for Jordy to explore his relationships with his ex-girlfriends (the ones who loved him before the fame) and to see if there could possibly be a second chance at love.

The synopsis for the book made me really excited for it! In reality, Jordy is a manipulative liar, and we are told that Maya and Skye end up falling for each other instead. To me, that's great revenge, and I was looking forward to a cute love story along with it. Unfortunately, while the idea was there, the book itself fell a bit flat.

While I love the concept for the book, I believe that this idea should have been for a NA novel and not a YA novel. The timelines are not the most sensical to me, and I know some of it is explainable through Jordy cheating, but the ages do not add up. I believe he is 20, and the six girls on the show are all about 18? While it isn't inconceivable for him to have dated that many girls, it is inconceivable that these relationships would have had the depth required for all the emotional displays on the show. It also seemed a bit off that in what is supposed to be a YA novel, the producers would intentionally get the girls drunk for more content.

The characters were also a sore spot with me. I barely know anything about Maya or Skye, and there didn't seem to be a connection between the two. At one point, one of them even mentions how "two girls can both like girls and not kiss", but... that sadly seemed to be the case for them. Also, Skye knew that all Maya wanted going into the show was to get her revenge, but when it comes time for Maya to finally get it, Skye gets upset with her. At the time this was so frustrating, but I did like how it ended and I think Maya chose well.

Pierre was cool! She was the most reasonable person there, although I do wonder what the legal implications would be after all was said and done. Throughout the entire novel, the girls are tip-toeing around what they can and can't do, and at the end, all of a sudden it's a free for all.

Overall this was a quick read, and I think it is honestly similar to reality tv. While you know it might be tacky, you're glued to it anyways! Guys like Jordy can go to hell; all of his comments were downright terrible, and the "MeToo" line made me physically recoil. I did want to find out how the story ended, and was pretty happy with the outcome!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC!

What do you do when you are forced to come face to face with the other woman. Or in the case of Maya and Skye what if you had to come face to face with four of the other women. Maya swore she was done with Jordy. He had broken her heart and the worst part was no matter how much she spoke up about what he had done everyone always believes his side of the story. Skye never really got closure with Jordy. He moved away and they slowly lost touch. So, when Second-Chance Romance reaches out to both young ladies and asks them if they would like a second chance with Jordy to see if sparks could fly again. Will Maya be able to finally get revenge? Is Skye really the person that she thinks she is?
I enjoyed this story. I think it took an interesting turn, but I appreciated that the romance as it built allowed both Skye and Maya to come to terms with different things. From figuring out why they had acted how they did in past relationships, realizing that love is while scary can be a good thing, to coming to terms with Jordy and what he meant to them in the past and currently. I also apricated that both learned how to grow and support the other in the ways that they needed most, and they were able to overcome fears to give that support. The ending was perfect. It was a great way to show that sometimes a goal we think we have is not always the best route once the moment occurs. Overall, this is a lovely book and one I will recommend to patrons.
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.