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Member Reviews

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie Gonzales is one of my auto-buy authors, so I ordered "Never Ever Getting Back Together" as soon as it was announced. And when I saw the ARC on NetGalley, I couldn't resist reading it right away.

This book... Wow! It definitely didn't disappoint! I love both "Only Mostly Devastated" and "Perfect On Paper" by Gonzales, but I think this book was even better!

Where do I even begin...

Characters! Maya and Skye were both amazing and strong women who have challenges and flaws, but face them head-on. It was a pleasure getting to know both of them and see their relationship develop.

The plot was fantastic, too! I don't really care for reality dating shows, but this book balanced being critical of the "reality" of such shows while still just being full of drama and so entertaining.

And omg, this book was hilarious! I've had a difficult week, but reading this book gave me some much needed laugh-medicine. The banter was top-notch, and I especially loved Maya's sense of humour.

Okay, I could go on and on, but I'll just wrap up by saying that I also loved the themes of this book. It touches a lot on feminism and forgiveness, as well as discovering yourself and what is important to you. I love a book that makes you reflect without being cheesy, and "Never Ever Getting Back Together" really nailed it!

I highly recommend this book! Easily one of my fave books of the month and a fave of the year, as well!

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Thank you to Netgalley for this arc.I really enjoyed this book. It was a really fun read. If you like reality tv then you will really love this story. This is such a cute romcom that has bisexual representation. The story felt really realistic, and I loved that, The main character goes on a dating show in order to get revenge on her ex, but ends up sharing a room with the girl that her ex cheated on her with. The relationship and character growth is wonderful. I highly recommend this book.

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Sadly this one missed the mark a little bit for me. I wasn't invested enough in the characters and their journeys and felt the unified hate for the MMC wasn't enough to make for a page turner. I just found I wasn't inclined to continue picking it up, but it could certainly be that I'm not the right audience, and it would resonate much better with a younger reader.

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Thank you NetGalley for the EARC of Never Ever Getting Back Together

It is my first time reading a Sophie Gonzales book, and It not disappoints my expectations.
The book is about Maya, Skye and Jordyn. At first I dont get to like the book because of the miscommunication trope. But along the way I liked it. I love the dual POV of Maya and Skye. I love how they plot to destroy their Ex Jordyn. Because he deserve to be destroyed.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy for review.

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales is a play on The Bachelor/The Bachelorette show.

Maya's ex, Jordy, reaches out to her to appear on a show that will have more of his exes vying for a second chance to be with him and try at love again. However, Maya can't stand Jordy. So she goes on the show to get her revenge instead.

Skye was also asked to come on the show as one of Jordy's exes and she was very reluctant, but agrees to come anyway. Maya is being hostile to her and she honestly doesn't know why, but will soon find out.

This story had a good plot and some fun characters, but overall it fell a little flat to me. I just didn't ever feel that chemistry that should have been so prevalent between the two characters once it got there. If I don't feel it then it's just an okay from me.

I actually enjoyed the side characters a lot more than the main character. It does alternate between the two mains, but one is definitely more the main than the other. Without the side characters this would have gotten less stars because I just didn't like Maya and Skye was a little too passive.

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When Maya gets the phone call to be on a show to win over her ex, she takes the opportunity to expose him to the world. However, it won't be as easy as telling her side of the story, as editors aren't on her side. With the help of Skye, another wronged ex, they devise a plan. Revenge, one bed, and new love...what other tropes could someone want?

Overall, the premise of the book was fun and I was excited to see what Maya and Skye were up to. I enjoyed the banter and relationships amongst all the contestants.

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I enjoyed this author's book If This Gets Out so I was excited to get an ARC of this book. I did not realize it was YA when I requested it and it is about a dating show so I really did not know what to expect, but I really ended up enjoying it. So this is a second chance romance reality show. Jordy is the guy and they get several of his exes to be on the show for a second chance at love. The twist is that two of the women fall for each other instead. I thought it was well done. It was very funny. Once I was about two thirds of the way through I did not want to put it down.

"Writing history is easy. Rewriting it is the tough job."

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I loved the premise of this story, as well as the diversity of the characters. Overall, though, I don't think the story quite worked. The reality dating show backdrop felt like an unrealistic and odd choice for 18-year-old characters, and I felt the characters themselves were underdeveloped. The humor was fantastic, though!

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7/10

Sophie Gonzales writes young adult, queer fiction.

This is the first book I’ve read and, if it’s any indication, she writes books with real characters in unreal situations.

In this book, there is a reality show. A boy, who is now siblings to a royal princess, is the main character of the show and all his ex-girlfriends are the contestants to see if they can rekindle love. Two of the girls are the main characters of the book.

One of them feels cheated and is out for revenge. The other one is on the show to rekindle love. And then, we’ll, it gets complicated.

The book is fairly well written and has a good enough story. I wouldn’t say it’s a stand out but amusing enough to keep me engaged.

#netgalley

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I love me a sapphic rom com! I also love a revenge plot. This was the feminist Bachelor I needed in my life!

The mark of good writing is making you feel things and my skin crawled every time Jordy opened his mouth. So, I think they did the villain perfectly!

My only issue was with the ages of the characters. I feel like it would have made more sense if they were in their twenties. An 18 year old “looking for the one” is just a little weird to me.

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This was adorable! It’s definitely YA but I love the LGBT representation and especially of bi-women. I loved the setting and the hilarious take on reality TV dating. The contestants were fun and I loved the relationship between Skye and Maya. I loved that this was even more about friendships than romantic relationships. The duel POV was done well and it made for a great story. This one was super cute and I breezed through it quickly. My only complaint is it was hard to believe the ages of the characters. I felt like they all should’ve been older. Otherwise it was great!

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The premise of contestants falling in love on a Bachelor-esque show is such an amusing and fun trope.

However with this story I couldn’t get drawn into the setting and the characters. It felt as if Skye and Maya were more so involved in exposing their ex and bonding over that. I know that’s their initial goal but I would’ve liked to see more development in their relationship instead.

I also wasn’t aware that this was a YA book so it did throw me off a little bit.

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3.75/// I thought this book was such a fun, entertaining read. It definitely had me gasping at some parts. However, I feel as though some parts of the plot were rushed, though it gets straight to the point and cuts out all the unimportant information, it does help set the vibe and helps with immersion. I also appreciated that it was closed door because it’s hard to find romance books without cringy explicit text sometimes. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun romance with drama.

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loved the idea of two girls who fall in love on a show of a man looking for love. I think this happened once on the bachelor and I've been thinking about it ever since.

Unfortunately these two girls seem to have little to no traits or personalities besides hating the guy so I can't see why they fell for each other. Real shame since I love this author SO much!

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What is better than revenge? Oh, maybe falling in love with your revenge partner!
4.5-4.75 STARS

After all the dating shows I have watched, I have always wanted an act of revenge for the women wronged by the guy, and this book was it! So I shouldn't be surprised that Sophie Gonzales wrote this masterpiece, especially after I loved their other books: Perfect on Paper & If This Gets Out. All I can say is, Sophie, you are doing the best work for Bisexuals like me, BLESS YOU!

Skye and Maya are brought on the dating show 'Second-Chance Romance' to win their ex back, but they don't want him, not after both realizing that he cheated on them with each other and is using them plus the other exes for fame and promotion.
So to get revenge, they join forces to make sure he falls for one of them, all to break his heart live on television because all is fair in love and war. But, a small problem arises.... both girls are falling for each other, and in a show that wants the drama to increase and put them against each other, the real question comes; what is worth more revenge or this shot of love?

I could not put this book down! I downloaded my arc and finished it within a few hours because Maya & Skye are just two amazing girls made for each other. Their friendship blossoming and the feelings growing so genuinely is SCREAM-in-pillow cute worthy!
Also, I loved how honest the other exes were; Perrie was there for content and followers, Francesa was there for a laugh, and some were there for love. They were honest initially, and I adored that behind the fictional show scene. Also, even though it was a little shitty, we can understand the teams being built, Team Skye & Team Maya, it was all just because of lies, and they were all trying to help each girl.
This book is perfect for the LGBTQ community, romance readers, and reality dating show lovers, I think this is the ideal book for every reader, and I highly recommend it! IT'S JUST A FUN BOOK!

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I'm sorry but I can't finish this. The writing is just not for me. I don't think I knew it was YA when I requested the ARC and it definitely reads like it's written for teens. Maybe even younger teens. The dialogue was so cringy and all of the characters actions were cartoonish. This is such a great idea and I'm glad we're seeing more bi rep in YA lit but this didn't do anything I wanted and I just can't continue. It's not written for me though so I won't rate it and I hope I'm not discouraging anyone who enjoys YA contemporary from picking this up.

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I really wanted to like this book. I just did not like any of the characters. I think had I liked them I would have enjoyed the book a lot.

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Ahhh!! This book was simply the sweetest thing in the world. I absolutely loved the characters, loved their voices, loved their dynamics! I also laughed so many times reading this I couldn't contain myself and made a fool of myself in public. So, there's that!

However I had a really hard time with the pacing, thought the couple got together (kissed) too early, that it could've been planned better. I also just find myself not being the *biggest* fan of Sophie's writing? I think someone who's loved her writing in the past and has no problem with insta-lovey situations wouldn't have a problem with this book at all! It wasn't the first time her writing disappointed me, though, so I was just "eh" about that. But that's totally subjective to me.

Overall, great story, really cute, so much fun! I can't wait to sell this title at work and see what's next for Sophie. I'll keep reading her even with everything I said :)

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley!

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A huge thank you to St Martins and Macmillan Publisher for providing me an e-ARC.

Maya and Jordy broke up because he cheated on her and now she was invited to a reality show called Second Chance Romance. Where Maya, Jordy and other four more of Jordy’s ex will be together in a mansion for the show. When the show email her about what will happen at the reality show she really doesn’t want to join but then her sister Rosie said that maybe it’s good that she join so that Maya can expose what Jordy really is. So it was more on a revenge.

I know for sure that Sky was a victim too. I get it if she’s a little bitch to Maya because Jordy keep feeding her lies. When Maya finally telling her side and giving her proofs to Sky, she starts to open her mind and let everything sink in and now she finally gets it. After they shared their moments with Jordy they finally start to think that Jordy was really an asshole, not only to Maya but to all of his exes.

Overall, I loved this book. It was an interesting story. It will be amazing if they make this book into a movie. Everything is perfect. I recommend this book to all of you. It’s a must read 💜

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Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales follows Skye and Maya as they compete on a Bachelor-esque dating show, with their ex, Jordy, as the suitor. There's bad blood between the girls--and Jordy--because of their relationship history. There was plenty of drama and twisty reveals here to keep a reality TV fan guessing.

While I liked the characters here, I didn't really feel like the perspectives were super well-developed. I struggle with dual perspective that doesn't feel necessary. I also, like other reviewers, wonder why this couldn't be an adult title. The reality show concept just seemed better suited as a show for adults. But this was still a fun read.

I really loved Perfect on Paper by Gonzales, so I'm always eager to read her new releases. Even though this one didn't quite hit the mark for me, I still had a good time. I'll be looking out for her next one!

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