I thought I had my favorite book by Sophie all picked out and nothing could top that. But, she proved me wrong.

This book was FANTASTIC. It was brilliant and so good. Every moment was leading up to something else and you could SEE Maya and Skye falling for each other. It didn’t happen inn one moment, but over time and it built up. I also LOVED that, in the end, Maya chose what was better for her. She did what she felt was right for her, going forward and I was so proud of her for that.

Jordy was a piece of work. I’m being nice here, but he really, truly was. When Maya confronts Skye, even though Jordy had tried to manipulate her ahead of time, it starts off as a mess and ends as a mess, but in the best possible way. That is the moment their relationship started and I am SO glad for it because that is when everything came together.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but everything Maya had done, the entire reason she came here led up to one big moment. It was supposed to be this big reveal of the truth butte used it insntead for the better and did what she knew would be best for her and Skye. Jordy…well, justice was served, is all I’m going to say.

Overall, this entire book was wonderful and so well written. It is one of my favorites from Sophie, topped only by Only Mostly Devastated!!

A rom-com with a cheating ex whose ex-girlfriends come together in a dating show like the bachelor? Count me in!

Maya is still angry at Jordy for cheating on her and lying about their breakup, but Skye thinks, Maya is the crazy one, because Jordy told her so. They hate each other, but when they finally are on the same side - against Jordy - Maya and Skye are a great team with silly plans to expose Jordy's true nature. This is a really entertaining enemies-to-lovers-romance and I really enjoyed both the lovestory and the ridiculous dating show.

GERMAN REVIEW
Der fremdgehende Ex mit einer Schwester, die einen Prinz geheiratet hat, und dessen Ex-Freundinnen sich bei einer Bachelor-ähnlichen Datingshow zusammenfinden? Der Klappentext klang schon nach romantischer Komödie und da konnte ich einfach nicht widerstehen.

Maya ist noch richtig wütend auf ihren Ex Jordy, weil er sie erst betrogen und dann Lügen über die Trennung verbreitet hat, aber sie stimmt dann doch zu, an der Show teilzunehmen. Ihr heimlicher Plan ist jedoch, ihn öffentlich mit seinen Taten zu konfrontieren. Bei der Show läuft aber nichts wie geplant, weil die Produzenten viele der Geschehnisse kontrollieren und Maya sich auch nicht von ihrer besten Seite zeigen kann.

Dann ist da noch Skye, mit der Jordy Maya damals betrogen hat und das kann Maya dem kanadischen Mädchen auch nicht verzeihen. Skye hingegen wusste gar nicht, dass Jordy da noch in einer Beziehung war und zu Beginn der Show wird ihr dann gesagt, es sei Maya, die Jordy nicht in Ruhe ließe und die Trennung nicht akzeptieren könne. Also gibt es schon jede Menge Drama, bevor die Show überhaupt richtig beginnt.

Jordy ist schon ein Mistkerl, was aber nicht allen so klar ist. Er ist zu allen Teilnehmerinnen freundlich, aber durch die Erzählperspektiven von Maya und Skye wissen wir schon von Anfang an, wie viel er lügt und wie er immer versucht, sich selbst besser aussehen zu lassen, während er alle anderen ständig herabwürdigt.

Für Skye und einige andere Teilnehmerinnen ist Jordy tatsächlich ein Ex, dem sie noch eine Chance geben würden; Maya scheint die einzige zu sein, die seine Fassade wirklich durchschaut und nun versucht, auch die anderen zu bekehren. Gerade bei ihrer "Feindin" Skye ist das gar nicht so einfach, weil man die beiden für eine spannende Show gerne miteinander streiten sieht.

Aber ihre Konfrontationen bringen sie einander auch näher und als sie auf einer Seite stehen, werden sie zu einem unschlagbaren Team mit witzigen Plänen, um sich an Jordy zu rächen. Ich mochte die beiden zusammen wirklich gerne und finde, sie sind ein sehr ungleiches Paar, das gut unterhalten kann.

Fazit
"Never Ever Getting Back Together" ist eine romantische Komödie mit einer albernen Datingshow, einem miesen Ex und einer unterhaltsamen Enemies-To-Lovers-Romance.

I'm torn on this one. The concept? Fully four stars. Gonzales manages to construct a plot which mostly conforms with the genre, but also has a few twists to keep you on your toes. Likewise, there are times throughout that it's not entirely clear who is going to end up with who. But I kept bumping up against two things:
1) The characters' ages-- why were they so young? It would've been so much more believable if all of the women had been 26-30, and I think it would've appealed more to fans of dating shows (who are more likely to be in the 18-30 range). As it stands, it's sort of straddling YA and Women's Fiction/Rom Com.
2) The chapters are told in alternating POV's, between Maya and Skye. I'm a fan of this kind of storytelling, but their voices were nearly identical. I kept getting confused as to whose POV I was in and had to search for context clues nearly every chapter.

Loved this one!

The characters were all interesting, the conflict was realistic/believable, the writing was funny, and it was a joy to read.

What I’ve loved about Sophie Gonzales’s writing in the past is the unexpected depth, whether that’s in the humor or in the vulnerability. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that same depth in this book. This book felt driven by the plot much more than the characters, and miscommunication was a major part of the story, which I found frustrating. I also think this book would have benefited from the characters being slightly older because it was disorienting to me that they were supposed to be so young given the premise of the story and how they behaved.

I still consider myself a fan of Sophie Gonzales, but this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Maya's heart was broken by her now famous boyfriend Jordy. He cheated on her but made her out to be the crazy, stalkerish ex girlfriend. When Maya recieves a phone call to go on a reality dating show about Jordy, she refuses at first. But then she realizes now could be a good time to tell her truth and embarrass Jordy the way he embarrassed her. Skye is another one of Jordys exes who goes on to the dating show. She believes Jordy and her could work so she is hopeful about their reconnection. When Maya and Skye are to room together, they immediately hate each other. By the end, they both find love, but the question is, with who?

I LOVED this book. It was so cute and funny. I really like reality shows like the Bachelor and Bachelorette and I found myself wishing a show like this existed. Maya is a strong willed character but she is sensitive and I liked that. Skye is more adventurous and watching their friendship grow was nice. My only negative about this book (as with any romance book) is how predictable the story is going to be. But in all, I highly recommend this one to others and will definitely be reading more of this authors work. I give it a 4/ 5 star rating.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of this work in exchange for my honest review. All reviews are entirely my opinion.

Cute queer romcom, the only struggle for me was their ages. Bachelor style dating show but they were all barely out of high school???

Two girls competing on a reality show fall in love with each other.

What a fantastic premise! But it gets spicier: Jordy Miller, a minor royal, is hosting a dating show and inviting his exes to win back their hearts. The exes include Maya, who he cheated on for months, and Skye, the girl he cheated on her with.

That’s not the way the public sees what happened. The way Jordy told the story, he and Maya were already broken up when he started dating Skye, and Maya is just the crazy ex who couldn’t let him go. Why would Maya agree to go on the show, you ask? Revenge, of course! Her plan is to show the world the truth about Jordy.

Things I loved:

1. Jordy was a realistic (and scary) villain, which made me care a lot about the outcome.

2. Both protagonists are bisexual disasters. (I relate.)

3. Supportive female friendships!

This book is a fantastically juicy read, and I highly recommend it!

I really enjoyed reading this book!
It was such a refreshing love story and I didn't expect it to end the way it did, but I really was happy for the characters.
It showed red flags in relationships without harping on them and also how we can move on and forgive ourselves for making poor choices in the past but in a kind and gentle way.
I would recommend this book for teens on up. Well written and fun to read.

3.5 stars rounded up ⭐️

This was a unique premise that the synopsis grabbed my attention immediately.

A group of women go onto a reality show about second chance romance with one guy, just to fall in love with eachother. Sign me up, screw that guy❤️

That basically is what the story is about. We get to follow main perspectives Skye and Maya as they battle to be Jordys rekindled love. I'm reality they hate him and what revenge for being such a crappy bf and honestly just human being. Like a seriously he sucks.

It was interesting following the story thru each episode of the show basically and how each contestant gets widdled down.

I feel like this book could have easily been adult rather than young adult. I really struggled relating to the women characters cause all their crappy experiences with Jordy happened when they were young teens 15/16. They only dated him for less than a year. It felt like just a highschool fling.

This book though might really relate to better with the intended younger audience. I could see this book easily being on the top of young adult romance. As it was fun and I really had a great time in the last 1/3rd of book.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins press, and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. My review is voluntary.

I will be posting my review on my Instagram the.floofs.booknook close to publication date.

5 STARS

Oh my god! I loved this! First of all, it already got an automatic bonus from me because of the Taylor Swift reference in the TITLE!! But overall I just loved this so much and how this was a perfect sapphic love story. My heart was so full after finishing this and I'm so glad I got to read this before the release date.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!!

This book was wonderful! I started it only a few days ago, but just had to finish it. As an avid Reality TV-watcher, I can say this is the ending I have dreamt of each season. I am glad to see I am not alone in that. It's super sweet, and the interactions between Maya & Skye are cute.

Cute set up of second chance romance meets Bachelor-style reality tv show. I liked how Gonzales managed to make the characters less predictable than expected. Jordy was a tool, of course, and Maya and Skye were both strong girls who had the typical emotional outbursts befitting of recent high school graduates. Their get-together wasn't exactly slow burn, but it wasn't insta-love either. I'm a Sophie Gonzales fan and she's great at creating bi-love triangles (see "Perfect on Paper") and I always find her representation earnest.
Thank you for the ARC!

This is another super cute read from Sophie Gonzales. I absolutely loved Perfect on Paper, and this wasn't quite as strong for me, but it's still such a fun, delightful read.

I think the conversations about how scripted and manipulated reality TV is great to examine and I also really enjoyed the conversations about college and how it's just not for everyone.

It feels a little like a new adult plot with YA characters which is a little weird to me, but I think it's great for readers who are transitioning between YA and NA.

I do wish there had been more scenes with the royalty though

I thought this book was so great! I love love love an enemies to lovers and I think this book did a good job with making it believable (I was a little concerned by the early behavior that it wasn't going to get there). Would definitely love to read more from this author!

I'm giving this 4 stars but I actually think it's more like 3.5.

I liked a lot of things about this. I love the bachelor and I love wlw romance, and I think Sophie Gonzales is a great writer. I just found Maya to be SO ANNOYING for so much of the book that I had trouble getting through it. I know it's part of the plot, but GOD her obsession with getting revenge on Jordy was annoying. Skye is a sweetheart though, and when she and Maya were together NOT talking about Jordy I loved them.

Overall a very sweet YA romance

What a funny book. I liked the premise of having exes on a reality show trying to reconnect with their boyfriend. It’s always a fun dynamic when people are forced to live in the same space. In a classic he said, she said there is a bit of confusion as to who might be lying. The witty banter was refreshing. I liked the girl power in the end where everyone worked to take down a jerk. A very sweet romance blossoms out of a bad situation. Easy beach read.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The first half of the book was so strong and I devoured it. The characters were interesting, the premise was so fun, and the shenanigans were hilarious. I genuinely felt like I was watching a reality tv show, which is perfect considering that was the setting. I hate characters and I love them at the same time. It truly reminded me of my days watching reality tv shows.

But the second half started to slow down, and I lost interest as the main characters got closer to their end game. I am a huge fan of revenge and I fully wanted the characters to complete their revenge, so the ending was a bit of a let down for me. I prefer revenge stories to be unhinged and wild, and while the first half promised this, the second half went back on its promise by bringing in that stupid moral compass.

It was still a fun and easy read with great characters. I loved the LGBTQA+ representation and that it was normalized as opposed to making it a huge deal. Overall, a solid read and other than me not liking the ending, it was a great book!

Two girls set up to be enemies fall in love during a reality show about second chances with an ex-boyfriend who is not worth their time. Jordy broke Maya's heart when he cheated on her with Skye. Skye's heard all about Jordy's stalker ex-girlfriend. No one knows what really happened and someone is lying to everyone.

The premise was a little out there, but the characters were alive and the book was a fast-paced. There is a balance of perspectives - with chapters narrated by both Maya and Skye. In addition to it being a cute teen showmance, the book provided some interesting insights about the value of perspective and how stories can be twisted in the retelling. Strangely enough, this would make a great book report book especially with the social media twists within.