Two years ago, Maya’s ex-boyfriend, Jordy, cheated on her, leaving her heartbroken and wishing the world could see him for who he is, instead of the charming brother of the girl who married the crown prince of a minor European country.

Skye has always guarded her heart, ever since her mom left. But Jordy was the first person she came close to letting in. Until he moved away and never spoke to her again.

Then both girls receive a call to be on a reality TV show, starring Jordy. Each of them, along with several other ex-girlfriends, will have the chance to rekindle their relationship with him.

Maya goes for revenge and to set the record straight on TV.
Skye goes to show Jordy the spark between them was real, and they can get it back.

But Jordy ends up a side character in this enemies-to-lovers story. *insert smirk*.

Once again, Sophie killed it. This story about two girls falling for each other when they’re supposed to be falling for someone else is so fun! I hated Jordy so much, and Maya and Skye were opposites in the most perfect ways. I was rooting for them the whole time! This book was funny and cute, and I can’t wait to read whatever Sophie puts out next.

I've yet to read a Sophie Gonzalez book that I haven't loved, and she delivered yet again. The premise was impeccable: Taylor Swift reference in the title, reality show centered around second chance romance, strong dash of revenge, and two rivals falling for each other instead? Sign me up.

Two years ago, Jordy Miller cheated on Maya. Now that his sister's marrying royalty, he's suddenly in the public eye and looking like a saint. So when the reality show Second Chance Romance asks her to be on, she says yes - in order to get revenge. And she ends up roping Skye, her one-time rival, in on the plan. But the plan never included falling in love... and not with Jordy.

This had the lighthearted fun drama that I was hoping for with a healthy dose of humor. There's all the chaos and messiness you expect from a reality dating show plus lots of tongue-in-cheek references to the way it's all manufactured. I adored the wry sense of humor and genuinely laughed out loud multiple times.

I also appreciate that Sophie Gonzalez explicitly writes bisexual characters! And furthermore, that their identities aren't the main conflict of the book. Reading coming out stories is important, but sometimes you just want some queer representation where the characters get to be queer and it's not a problem - both forms of representation are equally important.

This is YA, so bear that in mind - you're not going to get tons of spice and the characters are going to be a bit silly sometimes. They're 18. And this is taking place in a fictional country with a fictional royal family (that made me think of Genovia). But it's got heart, brought a big smile to my face, and felt utterly satisfying.

Recommended listening: We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (of course) paired with Vigilante Shit... and an honorable mention to Cell Block Tango. He had it coming, y'all.

A lot of drama, a lot of chaos, very bachelor-esque…but with a twist. I received this as an advanced readers copy in return for my opinion from NetGalley.

I personally didn’t love that the characters were so young — so if you don’t like books with teens as the main characters, this one isn’t for you. It follows a guy and mainly 2 of his ex-girlfriends….who in taking down revenge, end up falling in love with each other. Honestly a twist I didn’t see coming!

The writing style was good, story line semi-original? Not my cup of tea, but again, that’s just me.

Because forgiveness is a nice thing to do...right? I loved the set-up and delivery on this one. The characters blew me away.

Bisexual baddies teaming up to destroy their slimy ex on reality tv? Did I die and go to heaven?

This book was truly delightful. It’s been awhile since I started a book and was immediately pulled into the complex characters, the unique plot, and the diabolical machination that were happening. It is a dream come true to find a book that you truly don’t want to set down because you are so engrossed in the story. This book did that for me.

Not only is this book incredibly entertaining but it also carries a lot of weight with it. There’s a lot of he said/she said that goes on and it explores how damaging gaslighting can be for people who are manipulated by others and how easily it is for people to twist a narrative to suit themselves and publicly ostracize others. At times my heart ached for Maya and Skye but not a lot could keep my gals from achieving their goals of domination.

As I stated before this book has excellent and dynamic characters. Each girl in the house has her own unique personality and motivators and I loved that they didn’t fall into complete caricatures or appear flat. Each of them were interesting and played off of each other well. Naturally I was rooting for Skye and Maya to pull off their revenge scheme, but everyone had an important role to play in this story.

I truly enjoyed this story. It made me laugh, it made me gasp, and it made me glad I’m not trying to date any of my exes 😅 (you couldn’t pay me to do that ever again). This book was a perfectly heart warming queer story that was able to hit a lot of emotional notes. This is a perfect closed door romance.

The fact that I finished this in less than 24 hours should tell you a lot. This was such a trip and honestly so much fun! It’s not perfect and it’s definitely predictable but I had a blast reading it. Truly couldn’t put it down

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was so fun, fast-paced, and engaging that it was so hard for me to slow down and take the notes I usually do when reading a review copy. This is exactly the type of book I’m looking for when I want a YA rom com.

The set up: Maya and Skye are eighteen year-old rival contestants on the new dating show “Second Chance Romance” where they are competing to win back their ex, Jordy, but are they there for the right reasons?!! (*insert studio gasping sound here*)

Skye may be there to actually rekindle the love between her and Jordy, but Maya is there for revenge, and hopes to expose him for the kind of person he is while on the show. With the forced proximity between our two main girls, hijinks ensue, past timelines are compared, and maybe some sparks fly along the way? (wink wink nudge nudge)

I absolutely adored this book and had an absolute blast while reading it. The reality TV bits were delightfully cringy, and the romance was one I could fully believe in and was rooting for by midway through the book.

As with all of her other books that I have read (Only Mostly Devastated, Perfect on Paper, and If This Gets Out), Sophie Gonzales wrote another absolutely wonderful YA queer romance. I look forward to rereading this at some point in the future.

This was so adorable!!

The bachelor take on YA was a bit silly but it worked and I was giggling half the book. Two girls falling in love while taking down their ex all on reality tv. I live for it.

Some parts were a bit too cheesy/young for me but It seemed age appropriate and was adorable.

I with the angst built a bit longer between them but I thought it was cute and I recommend!!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s publishing for the e-arc!

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzalez 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Drama. Pettiness. Revenge. Heartbreak. Sapphic romance. Women bonding over shitty men. I mean, what more can you ask for? Never Ever Getting Back Together has such a fun and unique concept that I absolutely devoured. When a group of women are invited into a reality show to potentially rekindle a relationship with their common ex-boyfriend, almost-royalty, Jordy Miller, there are mixed feelings and emotions. However, they will all eventually want the same thing: revenge. Jordy is your typical, self absorbed asshole ex we all know too well. Maya is bitter and hurt. Skye is reserved and cautious. When they join forces to get their vengeance, something unexpected blooms.

“I thought it was easy to choose not to fall for someone. But it’s not. It’s not something you can control. You don’t jump. You get pushed….You fall. Head over heels, right?”

This romance was so sweet and unexpected. You get to watch as Maya and Skye set out to burn their asshole ex but end up falling in love unexpectedly.

⚠️Possible spoilers ahead⚠️

The beginning of the novel, I was not too keen on the relationship and tension building between Skye and Maya. It did not feel authentic or romantic at all. As a bisexual woman myself, I tend to be very critical of bisexual characters, simply due to my own experiences. It felt like Maya and Skye were sexually attracted to each other but not romantically attracted, if that makes sense. But as the plot continued, it blossomed and definitely proved me wrong. As the reader, you feel just like the MCs did. Their attraction and affection for each other grew slowly & suddenly. It was not intentional. It was not planned. But it happened. & I loved it. My initial concerns were quickly evaporated & replaced with giddiness. Such a sweet story. Round of applause for Gonzalez!

Story: 3.5 ⭐️
Steam: 2 🔥 closed door/YA

I was VERY excited for the premise of this book. I read the description and felt like I NEEDED to read it. I was a disappointed at first but I’m glad I stuck it out to the end! Overall, it’s worth a read if you like YA romance!

Pros:
- I loved the concept, it’s so unique and I thought it was very creative.
- There were a ton of funny bits that made me laugh
- Really cute bonding scenes
- I love getting some bi rep 🙌🏻
- Kept my attention majority of the time

Cons-
- It’s YA (more below)
- Petty teenage drama
- Some of the romantic aspect between our leads felt rushed and like it wasn’t the main focus of the book


About it being YA…

I was a disappointed at the beginning when I realized this was YA and not adult. I guess this is my fault for not checking the genre but when the blurb states ““Wickedly funny [and] searingly sexy.”―Kelly Quindlen, author of She Drives Me Crazy” I expect the book to be, well… searingly sexy 😂 which it was not and my issue wasn’t the lack of smut (though that would have been fun) but with the characters ages making the storyline less believable. Our female leads are about 18 while Jordy (the male lead of the TV show) is only 20. Doing the math we see that Maya and Jordy dated when they were 16/18. I think that if these characters would have been 10 years older, this story would have been way more realistic and the stakes would have felt higher. Why would anyone wanna see 18-21 year olds dating their high school exes?

To absolutely no one's surprise i adored this book! This book has literally everything you could ever want. There is a bachelor style premise, female friends, girls standing up for other girls, a saphic romance, enemies to lovers! I literally couldn't ask for a single other thing. I adored this and I know everyone else who reads it too!
Bonus points for Taylor Swift references!

I loved the concept of this as much as I expected, but sadly the characters fell a little shot. I just didn't think they had as much chemistry together as they pretended to. Part of that, though, was probably also that the age range of 18-20 felt a little out of place in a setting like this. I'd forget half the time they weren't 25. It just seemed like an odd decision to have them be essentially high schoolers in such a grown up setting. Still, the concept of it and Sophie Gonzales' storytelling were enough to bring it all back so I still loved this and made the things that fell flat feel few and far in between.

It's been two years since Jordy cheated on Maya, and yet she still can't seem to escape him. Since his sister is marrying royalty, he's been all over the news. And yet no one seems to know how awful he truly is. On the other side, Jordy is the only person Skye has seriously dated, but since they broke up, she doesn't understand why they keep calling.

When Second-Chance Romance enters the scene, both Skye and Maya are invited to compete to win Jordy back. Skye is skeptical Jordy can win her back, but Maya has other plans: expose Jordy for who he really is. But what they both don't plan on is falling for each other.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced copy of this to review! I'm honestly not really a fan of reality shows, but reading about fictional ones can be really fun. If you love the drama of reality TV, I'm sure you will devour this book in one sitting because it definitely delivers on the reality drama.

The pros: I really enjoyed the characters in this. Gonzales does a good job of making them fully fleshed out, even though there's quite a large cast on the show. They all have uniquer personalities, and when they're all together, there is great chemistry between them. For a reality TV based romance, I think this is super important. Maya and Skye also have great chemistry, and the way their romance develops works well for the setting of the story.

However, I don't think this works super well pitched as YA. It was hard for me to figure out exactly what the ages of the characters were, and setting it as teenagers in a reality show doesn't sit super well with me. Personally, the story would have worked better as an adult romance, with the characters aged up to their early or mid-twenties, think more Bachelor aged. It didn't make a whole ton of sense in a teenager context, so I'm not exactly sure why it's being pitched for a YA audience.

Despite that, there are a lot of people who will have a lot of fun with this premise, especially since Sophie Gonzales has made a name for herself in YA. While I don't think this is her best work, fans of romance will definitely be entertained.

This title immediately had me singing Taylor Swift in my head and I LOVE the cover so I was SO excited when I got approved to read this arc! I went into Never Ever Getting Back Together without reading the description and I was pleasantly surprised. I am a huge fan of reality tv, Love Is Blind Season 3 is my jam right now and The Bachelorette will always be a fav, and this book was that but more fun! I loved the dual POV and the spunkiness and tenderness of the characters. It was also fun to see a behind the scenes look at what potentially goes down on those shows! This book was the perfect escape and had me laughing and saying “awww” at the same time! Definitely a great book if you are looking for something more lighthearted with a unique love twist!

3.85 stars

Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the early copy!

Grab your copy out 11/29

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

This book was everything I needed and more! In this we follow Maya and Skye, who are both exes of Jordy Miller and thrown onto a reality dating show for a second chance with him. Maya and Skye have a troubled beginning due to Jordy, but they soon begin to fall for each other instead!!

This was a delight to read. First of all, the premise is so intriguing and it absolutely delivered throughout the book. I love an enemies to lovers to begin with but make it sapphic, set on a reality show and between girls who share the same ex? Yes!!! I was in a huge slump before picking this up, nothing was clicking with me and this book completely fixed that. The conflict made sense and Skye & Maya were completely swoon worthy!

This was my first book from this author and I definitely plan on checking out more! I really recommend this book to anyone who’s interested!

What an adorable romance. NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER has so many elements that I love in a romance novel. It has two characters who start out antagonistically, it has a slow burn romance, it has witty banter, and it has fun characters that are very easy to root for. I liked both Maya and Skye, and felt that they were both fleshed out and believable in their motivations and the progression of their relationship as they butt heads during filming of a trashy romance reality show starring their garbage ex Jordy. Sometimes you just need some serious brain cheetos, and this book was exactly that, an enjoyable and easy escape during the stress of the Midterm election. I loved both their voices, I loved their relationship, and I loved the girl power camaraderie of it all.

NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER is a really fun sapphic romance. It's a serious hoot.

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!~

Never Ever Getting Back Together follows our two main characters, Maya and Skye. One day, Maya gets a call from a TV producer asking her if she'd be willing to participate in a reality tv style dating show featuringggggg DADADADAAAAA - Jordy Miller! Her ex-boyfriend from her teen years that cheated on her and told every one that she was obsessive and didn't realize they were broken up! Does she want to join a handful of other exes of Jordy's and be given a second chance at love? Absolutely not! BUT, after concocting a revenge plan, she decides, why not? Let's destroy Jordy's image! Upon arrival, she realizes that Skye is going to be there. The girl that knew Jordy was in a relationship with Maya and still decided to cheat with him! Skye and Maya end up realizing that things are not quite how Jordy is telling them....

Honestly, I was sorely disappointed when I realized that this was a YA instead of an adult romance book. As a chronic consumer of reality TV shows like The Bachelorette, this seemed like it was going to be a chaos drama book and it was! The spiciness is obviously not there (only bringing this up because I thought it was going to be adult when I requested it), but I wasn't even mad about it! Maya is very much an act first, ask questions later kind of chaos bisexual, and I love that about her. The shenanigans and Jordy's BS words were the stars of the show here. I throughly enjoyed this and found myself cracking up at how some of these challenges went. I also found myself cringing because like all the bisexual women i know, we've ALL dated a Jordy. I loved their cute little romance and that little twist at the ending. I also find it important to mention our gay side character, Issac - this man deserves the world and if you read this book you will find out all of the COUNTLESS reasons why.

Please read this book so I can complain about Jordy to you lol.

I really enjoyed this book! It was fun and sort of girl-power, but not in a girl-power sort of way, if that makes any sense at all.

So, the plot is that Maya is asked to go on a second-chance romance reality TV show to try and win her ex, Jordy, back. However, Maya HATES Jordy, but she decides to go on the show to try and screw him over for lying about her after their breakup. I mean, that already sounds great. Add in 5 of his other exes, each of whom have varying degrees of love for him, and it makes for a thoroughly entertaining story.

Overall, I don't know what else to say, because I don't want to spoil any of it.

Definitely recommend!

This book is more of a 2.5 star but I am rounding it down when compared to books I liked a lot more I gave 3 stars.

I'm not sure that picking up this book was particularly fair considering how disconnected I have felt from contemporary YA fiction in the last couple of years. While I truly believe that their is no upper age limit on any kind of reading and have enjoyed some amazing YA fantasy this year as I have entered my 30s I have found this kind of teen coming of age less relatable and more frustrating.

I definitely felt that way for at least the first third of this book. The pettiness of the ways that Skye and Maia interacted up until about the 40% mark really turned me off their characters. Its hard for me to root for a love story when I don't like the characters and find their motivations to be petty and short sided. While this book did of course find its turning point and the two started working together it definitely put a bad taste in my mouth to start out, and not all the problems were solved in that moment. I think that this book suffers a bit from trying to be about too many things. It is a queer Sapphic romance, while also being about the issues and struggles of teen celebrity. I think the messages about celebrity were muddled as neither of our protagonists were the celebrities or really had to deal with the aftermath of the show they were on. And the love story suffered by feeling rushed as the book tried to do many other things all at once.

There were some very cute moments in this book, and by the end I really enjoyed the personal growth that Maia and Skye experienced. But all of those moments were in the last 15% of the book and that's not nearly enough good to our weigh the bad for me. But what do I know, this isn't my genre any more.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a free E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was cute, but overall I found it a bit too surface-level. Great for teens, which I think is the target audience!

I really wanted to love this one because I loved the concept (which is why I requested it—I mean, sapphic revenge via reality TV? Come on! Sign me up!), but the actual details lost me a bit. I just couldn't really believe that a 20-year-old would have 7+ exes, and 6 of whom were willing to come to be a "contestant" on a reality TV show to "win him back" when they're all just teenagers. If the ages were shifted up, I think I would've found it more believable.

That said, it was still fun! A quick, easy read, just not totally for me.