I loveeeed this book! It was so cute from start to finish. I am turning into a YA girlie now! Would recommend this to any YA romcom lover, and definitely am looking forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

3.5 stars

This is such a fun read! A witty comedy featuring a bachelor-ish reality show where a semi-wannabe-celebrity dates his ex-girlfriends in the hopes of finding the one who got away. But what if the hero is a douchebag, and two of the contestants end up falling for each other? It’s fantastically entertaining, and my very first f/f romance, and I really enjoyed this one!

Maya is a feisty high school graduate who is unsure what her future holds, and her life takes a strange twist when she receives an invite to appear on the reality show Second Chance Romance. Her ex-boyfriend, Jordy is now semi-famous because his older sister married royalty, and he has become the media’s golden child. Maya knows the real Jordy though, the man who cheated on her and broke her heart. She initially refuses to have anything to do with the show until she realises this is her chance for vengeance – she can show the real world who the true Jordy is, and she’s totally on board.

Skye is quiet and reserved, and she was the next woman in Jordy’s life after Maya. Of course, she has no idea that she was actually ‘the other woman’, and she fell hard for his charms. When she’s offered the chance to appear on the reality show, she sees it as a true second chance with Jordy, and after a heartfelt plea from Jordy himself, she agrees, hoping that she’ll truly get her second chance.

So, the two girls head off to the small European country where Jordy now lives, along with four of Jordy’s other exes. There, they are set up in a mansion for 7 weeks while he dates each of them. Six girls all alone and vying for the same man? Let the games begin!

“Stop looking at me. Why are you always looking at me?”
“Because you’re always there,” she snaps, climbing the bunk bed. “To my unending disappointment.”
“Yeah, well, it’s my…unending disappointment…to be stuck with you, too,” I shoot back.
Nailed it. Devastating blow. She’ll regret verbally sparring with me tomorrow.

Except that Maya isn’t really vying for Jordy, and it turns out she’s not alone. And behind the scenes, things are so different from what is seen on TV. It’s about as staged and unromantic as you can get, and it’s so funny to watch.

“Haven’t you noticed, Maya? Is it really possible you haven’t noticed?”
“Noticed what?” I play along.
He takes my hands across the table. “How you’ve captured me.”
Oh, fucking gag me with a wet rag. “Did you write that line, or did you have help?”

It’s a fun set up with a great mix of characters and one very douchey ex-boyfriend. And after a rocky start, the girls start to bond and they begin to wonder just what exactly they are competing for. But it’s Maya and Skye who eventually form a strong connection, and from both of their perspectives, we get to watch as they slowly, naturally and easy begin to fall for each other.

“I don’t know how to begin defining us.”
“I can kick us off? We’re Maya and Skye. We fit together like we were made that way on purpose. How’s that for a definition?”

It’s really sweet and has the feel of a friends-to-lovers relationship as these two former enemies, now friends, try to figure out what’s between them, all while playing up for the cameras so that they can get their revenge on the man who betrayed them both. It’s a bit of a strange dynamic for them to be stuck in the middle of, trying to figure out how to navigate the show, their revenge plans, and their feelings for each other, and it’s a funny and entertaining ride, with a ending that left me feeling completely satisfied.

If, like me, you’ve never read f/f romance before, this is a fantastic book to start with. It’s a YA/NA book, the love story feels so natural, and it’s steam-free and completely safe for young readers. But it’s really heartfelt, and I thought the romance was beautifully written.

"My body chose her to be my home. It recognizes her as mine … She feels like my safe place. She feels like finding a missing part of my soul that was floating around in space until it finally burst into my orbit, and I latched on to it. I latched on to her."

I really enjoyed this one!

3.5 stars.

After Maya’s royal adjacent, manipulative, cheating ex boyfriend, Jordy, begs her to go on a reality show for a second chance at love all she sees is her only opportunity for revenge. But when Skye, the girl Jordy cheated with and then ghosted, shows up too and they’re forced to be roommates, the girls must filter through Jordy’s lies to expose him for who he really is. As their revenge plans continue to be thwarted at every turn, Skye and Maya grow closer and sparks fly but not with Jordy.

I cannot for the life of me remember why Skye is so guarded. They’re all way too young to be on s show like this. It would be so much more believable if they were all 22-24 and fresh out of college rather than 18-19. No 18 year old guy needs to relive his past romances because they just happened five seconds ago. I thought producer manipulation was not going to be really addressed because there were only tiny hints of it sprinkled throughout but I’m glad the surprise Maya edit was included to show that production is not as kind as many reality celebs would have us all believe. This book was fun overall even though it wasn’t super believable because of the age ranges.

Have you ever watched the bachelor and thought: wow the lead is SO DUMB but these girls are AMAZING they should date each other! Well, that’s this book. It was so sweet and cute and the perfect fade to black YA romance. This was my first book by this author and won’t be my last!

Also had a little bit of Genovia vibes with a fictional royal family. Loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

First of all, a big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced copy of Never Ever Getting Back Together!! I was so excited to get my first approval and couldn’t be more grateful!

Never Ever Getting Back Together is a YA novel about a reality TV show where 6 teenage girls are given the opportunity to compete for a second chance at romance with their mutual, and now famous, ex boyfriend. Skye is hopeful and believes there may be a chance at rekindling something with Jordy, meanwhile Maya is only participating in the challenge for a chance at revenge against him. And as the title suggests, they may not find true love with Jordy, but they still end up finding their own version of a happily ever after.

I enjoyed this book about as much as I enjoy trash tv. Was it entertaining? Yes. I very much enjoy trash TV. Was it quality? Definitely not. I have two really huge things that bothered me with this book. First, the main characters. They were so bland, boring and without any defining characteristics that I struggled every single chapter to remember which character was narrating in this dual POV book. The voice carried through the exact same with between them both and it made for a struggle to read through. The side characters has more definitive attributes and vibes than either of the main characters.
My second big gripe with this is the writing in general. It’s labeled a YA novel, and written in a way that it screams VERY young YA writing style, with chopped up sentences, poor grammar and slang. Yet, the themes of the book seemed more leaning towards NA. The book started out with a scene in a bar and there was tons of drinking and talk of sex throughout the novel, causing me to be majorly confused about the age of the characters or target audience for this one.

The saving grace for this book was the focus on the LGBTQ+ community. So many diverse characters in that sense and that makes me extremely happy to see. There were also moments that actually me laugh out loud as well so it wasn’t all a loss, but I wouldn’t recommend it to my friends either.

When Mia gets a call from a producer of a realityTV show an asked to date her cheating ex again at first she says no but when she thinks of the great opportunity to get revenge she changes her mind. She knows Jordy is as fake as a polkadotted unicorn and she’s up for the challenge but the last person she thought would be there was sky. Unfortunately she has to share a room and a producer with her. When sky tries to be friends Maya get her the cold shoulder and sky thinks Mia is just as crazy and jealous as Jordy claimed when it’s clear their separate camps for who believes sky and who believes Maya they have new fast and fierce friends it’s when The girls buried the hatchet that the fun really begins. This book went in a direction I didn’t see it going but OMG it was so good I really and thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. If you like a great plan with an unexpected twist you need to read this book and be ready for some LOL moments. I do want to get a douche bag alert though… So be prepared. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Overall this was a great read. The characters are fun, diverse and A group you would want to hang out with. The story kept me wanting more start to finish. While I knew early on how it would go, the author did a great job of giving it a few twists.

I understand this was written and put in the teen and YA genre, but I wish the characters were older. The setting would have worked more for me if they were a few years older.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I thought this was a fantastic book. I loved the chemistry and the fact that these two women fell for each other instead of their lying, cheating ex. Maya and Sky had great chemistry and I loved their banter. Great book!

Sophie Gonzales crafts another riotous, gut-twisting, heartrending gem of a novel with NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER. And yes, I hummed Taylor Swift's song the entire time I read this book, which was in two sittings.
Readers will find Maya's and Skye's narratives compulsively readable, their animosity knife-sharp, and their conjoined quests as believable as they are hilarious.

Never Getting Back Together is for fans of reality dating shows, revenge schemes, reclaiming your identity and sense of self, and of course, queer romance.

Summary:
When their now famous ex-boyfriend asks them to participate in a teen reality show, two eighteen year old girls—one bent on revenge, the other open to rekindling romance—get tangled up in an unexpected twist when they fall for each other instead in Never Ever Getting Back Together by nationally and internationally-bestselling and Indie Next Pick author Sophie Gonzales.

“Wickedly funny [and] searingly sexy.” —Kelly Quindlen, author of She Drives Me Crazy

It’s been two years since Maya's ex-boyfriend cheated on her, and she still can’t escape him: his sister married the crown prince of a minor European country and he captured hearts as her charming younger brother. If the world only knew the real Jordy, the manipulative liar who broke Maya’s heart.

Skye Kaplan was always cautious with her heart until Jordy said all the right things and earned her trust. Now his face is all over the media and Skye is still wondering why he stopped calling.

When Maya and Skye are invited to star on the reality dating show Second-Chance Romance, they’re whisked away to a beautiful mansion—along with four more of Jordy’s exes— to compete for his affections while the whole world watches. Skye wonders if she and Jordy can recapture the spark she knows they had, but Maya has other plans: exposing Jordy and getting revenge. As they navigate the competition, Skye and Maya discover that their real happily ever after is nothing they could have scripted.

For someone that doesn't watch many reality dating shows, I sure do love books about them. This one was super fun and had a unique take on it. I really enjoyed the audio and would totally watch this if it were a show. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

When their now famous ex-boyfriend asks them to participate in a teen reality show, two eighteen year old girls—one bent on revenge, the other open to rekindling romance—get tangled up in an unexpected twist.

I used to be a fan of reality TV dating shows, but they all seem to be the same kind of drama with a different cast of people. I felt that a little bit with this book. However, I did appreciate the humor in this one and the LGBTQ+ representation. I was also left feeling satisfied with the ending! Anxious to read more from this author.

Never Ever Getting Back Together had a really fun setting, but it fell flat and felt like it was missing something. The premise is something that hooked me right away but I think the problem here is the YA audience and it blocking this novel from going where it really needs to - I do believe this would have been better in the New Adult category, but still was pretty fun and lighthearted if you overlook what's missing. I could have forgiven the previous issues, but it also felt the only fleshed out characters were the two mains and that the ex boyfriend was there just to play the role of the jerk. I just wanted more from this story.

E-ARC generously granted to me by St Martin's via Netgalley Invitation. Thank you so much!

4.5 stars. Never Ever Getting Back Together, just like the Taylor Swift song it’s named after, is pure unadulterated seretonin shot straight to the veins.

This isn't the usual genre I hang out in, but I was in the mood for something light, and I'd read other books by this author (Only Mostly Devastated and If This Gets Out) that I really enjoyed. But this wasn't the book for me. Other than Survivor, I don't watch reality shows, so this novel didn't appeal to me like it would to someone who watches The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. The majority of reviews have been positive, so I know the reality TV fans are enjoying it. Just because I wasn't the audience for this book won't sway me from reading this author in the future.

This premise had so much potential, yet I found myself mostly disappointed. I think this would have been much more effective had the characters been 5+ years older - I had to suspend my disbelief a lot, particularly regarding how teenagers were affording international trips etc. I'm usually comfortable suspending my disbelief a little bit but this required me to ignore...any sort of reality. The pacing of this also felt really off to me.

Also f Jordy, he is legit one of the worst characters I've ever had to read about! I'm glad he got served karma in the end but MAN did he suck.

Like I said, the premise of this is delightful - girls go on a reality dating show to win back their ex-boyfriend, only to fall for each other?? FABULOUS. I wish it had lived up to the premise.

Thank you to Netgalley and SMP for the eARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.

Included as a top pick in bimonthly November New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

It's becoming a little secret interest of mine to read books with reality TV shows in them. I love how meta it feels to read a fictional book about the lines between fiction and reality all played out on a TV screen. Not only that, but it's a central theme in Never Ever Getting Back Together where we examine perception. What we think we know about someone, the lies that are told to our faces, and the secrets spread behind our backs. I instantly loved Maya - but then again I'm a fan of a woman scorned bent on revenge - I have a type!

So it physically hurt my heart to see the others, especially Skye, not believing her. To believe the lies of heart breakers, to fall into the trap of believing the media spin. Honeyed lies and truths we don't want to face. At the same time, Skye was such a believable character for me as someone who was in a relationship where everything was twisted into unrecognizable shapes and perception was spun.

Sophie Gonzales is an auto read for me. If she has written a book, I'm going to read it. I loved Never Ever Getting Back Together. It was a perfect feel good rom com

This book was wonderful! I love Sophie Gonzales and her writing. She writes so beautifully. The characters were funny and charming. I highly recommend this!

When I read the blurb of this book, I knew i had to read it! And it did not disappoint. This made me laugh out loud and I think may be one of my favorite books of the year.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my digital ARC!