4/5 stars


This was such an enjoyable read. Absolutely hated Jordy from the start but all the girls and other side characters were amazing and the humour was perfect, the relationship between Maya and Skye was incredibly cute. Overall this book was amazing and would definitely recommend.

I am not a fan of reality shows but if I had to watch one it would be this.

Never Ever Getting Back Together - By Sophie Gonzales
5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I love a good sapphic romance!!

Synopsis:
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..

This book brought me so much joy, laughter and tears at one point I’m an emotional Pisces and get attached easily okay.

I loved the way Sophie wrote the characters.. I love the girl power I’m obsessed with Maya & Skye and couldn’t get enough of them. I was so excited to find out that there are Bi-Representing characters. The revenge plot was planned out and so perfectly unpredictable in the best way possible.

I absolutely loved this book so much. I read it all in one sitting. It was definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. I would recommend this book to anyone

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for this ARC copy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun, light-hearted, girl-power read. I love the bi representation within a TV reality dating show environment. My only drawback is that I wish this hadn’t been YA, as I think the storyline would’ve worked better with adult characters. However, it was still a great book that left me fired up in the best way possible!

(ᵒ̤̑ ₀̑ ᵒ̤̑)wow!*✰

The only other Gonzales book I've read is Perfect on Paper and I absolutely adored~ it the moment I read it. In fact, it had become one one of my favorites upon its release. Getting this arc meant that I was tuned up and pumped to start reading this. A sapphic love story between two bi girls competing over their cheating ex-boyfriend on a TV show with forced proximity and feminism? Count me in.

There's a lot of good to say about this, and there's some minor grievances. First I will cover the good. I didn't go into this expecting to love most of the characters, but oh boy did I FALL.

I will admit up front that Skye was my favorite character, she really shined. Her entire arc came full circle in the end and I couldn't help but relate to her in a lot of ways. Not just her fear of heights, but mostly the abandonment issues. Yikes. We've mostly all been there, right? Thanks mom.

Anyway, to point out a grievance it was unfortunate that Maya's character went on plot autopilot and Skye took over. The issue I have? That transition happened at around 40% and didn't change despite the narration flipping between Skye and Maya every few chapters. While I liked Maya a lot, I felt like most of the complications and mis-communication felt unnatural.

And that sucks because grievance two: The second part DRAGS. As in Drag Me To Hell. I wouldn't say I yawned or anything, but things didn't really pick up until the third act. Even thought here was, of course, drama. I really felt like the story went its predictable way and dawdled until it got to the really good, meaningful parts. That's not an insult, hopefully.

The fact is, a lot of this was good. Gonzales has a particular flow to her writing and a way of creating an artful, fun and sometimes messy cast. The romance was beautiful and really touched on a lot of important things about relationships. The tiniest spicy scene with fade to black which included consent...Gosh. Thank you.

Anyway, this story was fun, uplifting, and the novel entertained for the most part. I wish maybe that it was a bit shorter and wasn't so heavily focused on dialogue and shot by shot scenes of every little activity. While it was the main point of the show, and the novel itself, I felt like there was something that could've made this story set itself apart in a way. It's on the tip of my tongue. My point is, there's something here that's missing, and for that, most of the time I felt I was reading a book instead of experiencing it. The good news is that when I was into it, I was REALLY into it. And the ending had a good message.

Four stars to say well done, it was fun, now shoo!

Another great book by Sophie Gonzales and I like the voice in this one. I liked the characters and their dynamics plus I liked the reality show element in this too.

Love a pandemic lockdown bound written book’! So much representation and plenty of moments where I actually laughed out loud. Jordy elicited such a strong reaction from me I had to walk away at some points hahah—wild make a great movie!

I won’t lie, i was VERY sceptical getting into this ARC. It’s been so long since i’ve enjoyed reading YA. However, knowing I LOVED Perfect on Paper, I had hope that Sophie would spark my interest with this book.

AND SHE SURE DID.

Maya wanted to get revenge on Jordy, her cheating ex boyfriend, while Skye wondered if he was the one that got away. So when they both get invited to the love reality TV drama “Second Chance Romance”, they both believe they’ve been given the perfect opportunity.

But why bother with the love triangle trope when the two girls can just date EACH OTHER? Genius.

The setting in which this book took place made it SO incredibly fun to read. A dating show where the contestants are exes of the man they’re trying to conquer, but the guy is actually an asshole and everyone slowly start to realize it? SIGN ME UP!

I also loved Maya and Skye’s relationship, despite Jordy’s intentions to set them up against each other. Their transition from enemies to friends to lovers had be HOOKED. I couldn’t put this book down.

I 100% recommend this book to anyone who likes YA, reality TV drama, and WLW books.

*Thank you Netgalley for giving this ARC in exchange for an honest book review*

This was a fun concept with a teen reality dating competition with a suitor picking between his exes (a la The Bachelor). I wish the characters were a bit older -- the male lead Jordy having that many exes by age 20 felt excessive, and I didn't love all the drinking from the girls (even though it's legal where they were in Europe, it felt like a lot).

I enjoyed Maya and Skye's budding friendship as they pursued revenge on their ex and found unexpected romance along the way. It's a fun story overall that's good for fans of The Charm Offensive.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!!

Yes! Revenge against a cheating ex? Reality TV show? Sapphic romance? Yes, Please and Thank You.

This is such a fun read. It really had everything and more for a romance. This was completely unexpected and absolutely perfect.

Maya gets a phone call that at first seems like a practical joke. Go on a reality TV show to re-date her ex among other girls so the ex can choose the right girl for him? An ex that cheated on her and that she hates? And the girl he cheated on her with is going to be there too? Yes.... She grudgingly accepts not knowing the drama and surprises that await her.

This book is about revenge on that one person that holds a special place as the worst human ever. And, trust me, I have a few to choose from that I would love to serve up some revenge too! This is a girl power, friendships beat all, and whirlwind Sapphic romance that had me laughing and swooning.

Out November 29, 2022!

Can I just say: "I would NEVER!" This book was interesting and engaging because it was like reading about another species. I know people love reality TV and there are a ton of people who are into both wtching it and participating in it. I think this book seals the deal that reality shows and especially reality dating shows are not for me

Synopsis:
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.

Can your sworn enemy become your romantic interest? In this very interesting book, Maya and Skye are those enemies. They both believe that they both hate each other. That is because of their ex-boyfriend Jordy, He is very handsome, close to royalty and very rich. He has called both women (and several others) to see if they will be on a reality show starring him called Second Chance Romance. It is a show that will have him going on several dates with his exes to see if they were the one that got away.
Once the women arrive at the mansion where the show will be filmed, Maya and Skye find out that will be sharing a room together. The women finally do talk and find out that Jordy lied to them both. They both want revenge and do all they can to survive to the finale so they can tell the world that Jordy uses women and lies to everyone. In all this planning, the women realize that there are sparks between them.
I really liked this book and read it in two sittings.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Sophie Gonzales has, once again, stolen my heart. This book was everything I could have ever wanted. It was funny, it was emotional, and it was absolutely fantastic. This has one of my favorite niche ideas and Sophie absolutely nailed it. If you've always wondered "why don't they just leave him and date each other?" then this is the book for you. It has reality dating, enemies to lovers, great banter, two bisexual FMC's, and a load of shenanigans. Also, that title? Anything referencing Ms Swift has my name all over it. I also loved the sprinkles of random Swift lyrics or references to lyrics throughout the book.

Maya and Skye are such an incredible pairing and I love how they go about navigating the reality show and their need for revenge against Jordy and what he did to them. What ensues is a brilliant YA contemporary that will leave you wanting more and more of the clever prose and witty banter.

I love Sophie Gonzalez’s other books and I was super excited to receive this one as an ARC, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. I appreciated the girl power theme and casually queer components of the story, and the book wasn’t cringingly bad, but it was totally forgettable and not particularly enjoyable to read. I just did not understand the main characters at all. I never felt like I got to know them at all and they had zero chemistry with each other. We keep being told they have all these strong feelings for each other, but we never actually see that for ourselves. Ironically, the character whose personality we got to learn about the most was Jordy. The writing was also competent but not special, and the plot far fetched. I did not feel invested in what happened or eager to keep reading. Super bummer because I’ve so enjoyed all the other books of hers that I’ve read.

A glimpse behind the curtains of a reality tv show where exes get a second chance at love. Grab the popcorn, and a tissue - Never Ever Getting Back Together will keep you just as entertained like hours and hours of your romance reality tv show of choice while simultaneously rooting for love. Cute, quick read.

I love the premise of 2 contestants on a reality dating show fall for each other and they band together to take the man down. However, I did think it was weird that this book premise is YA and not adult. Why does does this crappy 18/19 year old guy have so many exes? That is the real question. I enjoyed the friendship, the hijinx, the secondary characters but found the main characters one dimensional. Maya’s only personality trait is that she hates Jordy (I mean I get it, I do to), but I needed something more than that.

This book came at the perfect time for me, after bingeing bachelor-esque shows and always being disappointed in the endings. This was perfectly cheesy, healthy romantic tension, and fun group dynamics. I would recommend for anyone looking for an easy, cheesy, sapphic romcom!

I absolutely adored this book, I found myself picking it up whenever I had excess time because I wanted to get through it so badly. The characters were just so endearing and it was such an engaging story that is so easy to immerse yourself into. I think that the reality TV show format is just super engaging and it really allows the reader to get into the story with an idea of how this all already works. I do wish we got to see just a little bit more about the production process itself, but it was a short book that was super fast paced, so its kind of excusable.

Skye and Maya's relationship was super cute, though it's super intimacy focused and kind of built out of mutual resentment, I also wished they were more fleshed out characters, but it was cute, and that ending was just adorable. I am a sucker for the specific trope used in the ending.

One other thing that was really weird was the fact that this is YA??? Like.... why? Why are we sending 18-20 year olds on a dating show, also they literally act like adults with adult experiences, there was no reason for this to be marketed at YA< and it kind of takes away from some of the nuance and the flavor that could've come from them being adults.

But also this book is just super fun, and super easy to invest yourself into. The villain and the twists are just so engaging, and one can get super fired up about it.

First off I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to receive and ARC of this book. All opinions shared in this review are solely my own.

Uplifting and a lesson well learned by the end of the book. Big Brother meets the Bachelor. A young group of women take back their power after being pitted against each other in a challenge to win back their undeserving ex-boyfriend.

I appreciated how Maya was written honestly with clear strengths and faults. At times her stubbornness was cringe worthy, but true to character for someone who was just trying to get revenge on the person who cheated on her. Author did a great job of making readers consider both perspectives in a major conflict towards the end.

Notable tropes/themes: Enemies to lovers, shared room, Bi rep

* I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.


Really cute LGBTQ YA romance book. I really enjoyed the characters, and I know it will be edited a little more before publication but there are a couple things I would have changed. Given the whole romance/drama reality tv show aspect, I would have expected everyone to be between 23-25 years old so having to keep reminding myself that they’re 18-19 kept throwing me off. Also, I like the idea that they’re in a made up country, which is called Chalonne, (that I believe is in Europe) but I wish that the author just said they spoke French or German or an already existing language because I had no idea what they were saying in “Chalonian”.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: gaslighting, cheating (past relationship)

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-f/f YA
-dating reality show
-roommance
-forced proximity
-rivals to friends to lovers
-this is just a hookup
-bi rep
-revenge

This book was just fun. The premise was so smart and just created great tension throughout. A dating show, except the dates are all the lead's exes. Add in some cheating, a complete douche of a lead, and this book just kept me sucked in.

Maya was justifiably pissed and decided to join the show for revenge and honestly I can't blame her. She wore her heart on her sleeve, was vulnerable and lacked a filter that had me cackling. Of course she's roomed with the girl she least wanted to see - Skye. Skye was entirely allergic to feelings, trying to protect her heart. But what can you do when you fall for your roommate.

I loved how thees two came together to reach a common goal and really looked at living in the past, or living for yourself and your dreams.

Honestly I just need more books where exes fall for each other. If you're a fan of reality dating shows, of turning anything sapphic or just looking for a fun read I couldn't recommend this one more.

Steam: 1