Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales is the first book I've read by this author and I really wanted to like this book. I am a big Bachelor Nation fan, so I loved the premise of someone being on a reality show for the “wrong” reasons (or are they?). The reality show dates, competitions and the girls interacting in the mansion and with the crew were my favorite parts. Maya, Francesca, Isaac and surprisingly Jordy were the characters that stood out to me the most because they had unique personalities. Unfortunately that was about all I liked.

I had a hard time remembering whose POV I was between Skye and Maya. Maya's quippy thoughts during conversations were hilarious but unfortunately Skye didn't appeal to me. I wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be the bombshell or grunge girl of the group. She was cold but people immediately warmed up to her; always having a plan but also indecisive with her feelings. I found myself reading through her sections faster to get to Maya's chapters.

I didn't believe the romance in this book. I thought they were just really good friends and then all of a sudden they were in a deeply committed relationship that also weirdly had no labels. It felt like 0 to 60 in less than 20 pages.

The ending was not satisfying based off the premise it started with. I read through chapters and chapters of Jordy bringing the girls down and I wanted the satisfaction of seeing that come full circle but for me it never did.

Read This if you Love:
Reality Shows
Enemies to Lovers
LGBTQIAP+
Revenge Plots

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales comes out November 29, 2022.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the Digital ARC.

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales is a fun YA romance for lovers of reality TV romance shows. I liked the book and love the premise, but it just fell too short on many different points. Because this is a YA book, the characters are all too young (fresh out of high school) to be taken completely seriously on a reality TV second chance romance series. I wish so badly this book was more woman’s fiction/romance so there could be more depth to the characters relationship history + add believability of the premise. The pace of the book was also slower than I expected, it took me a few weeks to finally sit down and finish because I just wasn’t invested until almost 75% of the way through. Overall, I give it 3.5 stars.

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales, 384 pages. Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Press), 2022. $19. Lgbtqia
Language: R (227 swears, 68 “f” + British swears); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: G
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Jordy (20yo), the famous brother of the new Princess Samantha, is the focus of a new TV show called Second-Chance Romance, allowing him to re-date his exes from before he became famous. Maya (18yo) is adamantly against going on the show until it occurs to her that she could expose Jordy as a jerk and a cheater. But that also means Maya has to face Skye, the girl Jordy cheated on her with.
The first third of the book was nerve-wracking because I was constantly bracing myself for everything to go horribly wrong, resulting in embarrassment for Maya and sympathy-embarrassment for me. Once the lines between enemies and allies were rearranged, the story became more enjoyable because I could finally relax. Our emotions can be difficult to navigate, and I appreciated how Maya struggles with finally getting revenge, figuring out what she really wants, and the idea of letting something go to make space for something better.
Most of the characters are implied White. Jordy, Maya, Perrie, and Lauren are American; Skye is half Scottish; Kim is Indian-English; and Francesca is Irish. The mature content rating is for innuendo, alcohol use, intense make out scenes, and implied sex.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

2.5 rounded up. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I've really had to think about this book and what I was going to rate it, because there were a lot of things I didn't like about it, but at the end of the day, I also think you have to take it as it is, which is a YA romance that's not that great but isn't terrible either, and is an easy read you can fly through and have fun with regardless.

I think my favorite part of the book was the end, truly, as everything came together in a way that made sense and which was enjoyable to read. And the book was truly fun to read too, especially past the 50% mark where more started happening and the side-characters got a smidge more depth and seemed less of a chorus or monolith.

I know other people have said similar things in their reviews, but there was no reason for this to be YA and I think the entire plot and romance would have been MUCH better suited to a New Adult book. The premise of having a bunch of ex-girlfriends coming onto a reality show for their ex-boyfriend just doesn't make a lot of sense when they're all barely 18 or older. I can see the potential for a story like this if it had been New Adult SO much more, and I'm not sure why the author went for another YA book instead.

I also had issues with the two main characters, Skye and Maya, as they sounded IDENTICAL in their voices. Even though the book set up as Sky as super different from Maya, and occasionally tried to tell us that she had a super different personality from her, they sounded the exact same, both in their internal monologues and in their dialogue. What's ironic about this as well though, is that even though they sounded so similar, Skye really grated me and I almost dnf'ed this book a few times due to her chapters. I found it unrealistic and kind of pathetic that Skye goes from believing Jordy's word on everything and being honestly really horrible to Maya because of it, to immediately changing her mind and hating Jordy and having feelings for Maya. And that goes for the side characters too who were cruel to Maya for a lot of the book, but since Skye is the love interest, it boggled my mind that she was so mean and that the book as a whole was pushing this narrative that none of these girls believed Maya until there was 'proof'. And it made me not care that much when Maya and Skye finally got together either.

I really enjoyed this book! There was a lot going on but in the best way. I can’t wait to buy a physical copy and will definitely be recommending it to my students and friends.

Wow! What an amazing book! Definitely one of my top reads of this year!! It’s a must add to ur list.

I really enjoyed reading this. I think at times it maybe seemed a little unbelievable as someone who loved watching the bachelor, but it was a bit of a different game show so I think that was alright. It was a little weird that Skye was just from Canada? Like it’s a large country and there’s a lot of places in Canada that she could have lived? But overall I really loved the story, I think this did such a good job at getting you hooked and wanting to keep reading to find out how things ended. I loved how there was a bit of conflict between the love interests but it always see,Ed to get resolved relatively quickly. Overall such a great read!

I think that the biggest criticism i can levy against the book is that the premise just would have worked better in a book that was properly adult.

Here the characters are technically 18, and they find themselves having the kind of adult conversations you'd expect on a reality dating show... but the premise of bringing together a group of exes just feels weird when the characters have as little life experience as they have here... Like turning in every week to see if someone picks the person they were dating when they were 14 vs the person they dated at 16... it just... it feels a little weird when you're actually forced to confront the premise playing out.

I think that's part of why some of the girls felt a little under developed. Sure, with a premise like this you're bound to have to get rid of characters fairly regularly and so you can't expect them all to get the same level of care. But because of that I think the narrative does a pretty poor job of convincing the reader why Jordy would pick the people he does. At a certain point it really becomes a game of the character we know the best is clearly going to stick around the longest....

I'm not sure that the ending worked all that well for me. Partially because the subplots here felt a little under-baked and some of the explanations given for actions that took place at the tail-end felt almost comically flimsy. Maybe if I hadn't enjoyed <i>Perfect on Paper</i> as much as I did this would have been more of a banger for me. And for the target audience I think they'll get more out of it... but I do wish that the book had leaned more into being a YA book instead of existing in this grey space between categorizations in a way that crossover definitely seems to be the appeal... but if it had really been written for 16/17 year olds it might have felt like I could buy into the premise a little more.

The romance in this book was really cute and very easy to root for. I loved the main female cast and all of the side characters. All of the characters were well-written and rounded. The plot was fun and well-executed. Unfortunately, the main male character in this book sucks so much (by design) that I had a hard time wanting to read it. I was so angry for so much of the book. The ending, however, is perfect and so incredibly satisfying.

Never Ever Getting Back Together is an entertaining young adult romance that, despite an intriguing premise, failed to capture my attention. The writing itself was great, the pacing was good, and the humour was there. Unfortunately, the characters and the romance fell flat for me. It might be the fact that I never really connected with the characters, though Maya was significantly more likeable than Skye, but the romance never felt convincing. However, I did find the book entertaining and I'm sure many will like it. Likewise, I look forward to reading whatever Gonzales writes next!

I was really excited about the concept of this book, and it delivered. I was a little disappointed that the characters were so young, which means the book didn’t get as steamy as I wanted it to, but the characters themselves didn’t seem like teenagers so it was easy to forget they were. Jordy was a confusing character—I think the author was sometimes clever in giving him subtly toxic behaviors that made him feel real, but other times he acted way too villainous and acted in ways that felt unrealistic. I think the story could’ve benefitted from giving the relationships between jordy and each of the girls, and the relationships between the girls, a little bit more nuance. fleshed it out some. but in general, maya and skye were lovable, jordy was hatable, and the romance was believable. and that is a successful read to me!

This was SO much fun. I loved the representation, I loved how catty everything was, and I loved how this book felt like something you can read multiple times because the characters are so great. You either love them or love to hate them.

So so entertaining!

FOLKS. Sophie Gonzales did it again. I cannot understate how much I enjoyed Never Ever Getting Back Together. Immediately shot into my top handful of books this year. Now, let me proceed to spend probably too many words singing it’s praises.

It’s been just over 2 years since Maya and Jordy broke up, though “break up” is a pretty forgiving way to describe Jordy cheating in another country for multiple months and then dumping Maya once she found out because she was rightfully upset about it. Cue him telling everyone she’s just a crazy bitch who couldn’t accept that he moved on and that she’s lying about the cheating to make herself look better. Nice one, Jordy.

It’s been almost 2 years since Skye and Jordy broke up. Again, “break up” is a nicer way of saying he ghosted her so she ghosted him back. Notice how similar their breakup timeline is to Maya’s? Yeah, not a coincidence. Skye is the girl Jordy cheated on Maya with. And he told Maya that she knew all about her and went ahead with the relationship while he told Skye the whole “Maya’s a jealous bitch” story. What a standup fella this Jordy is.

Now, Jordy is royal adjacent and the star of a new reality show Second-Chance Romance, where his exes are brought back in a Bachelor style elimination dating show and each girl tries to rekindle their relationship with him. Both Skye and Maya agree to be on as contestants but with different motivations: Maya wants to get back at Jordy from the inside and Skye wants to let down her walls and see if Jordy deserves another shot.

What could possibly go wrong when the two of them are roomies for the multiple months that the show is filming? Will Maya be able to convince everyone that Jordy is /not/ the victim in their story? Will Skye get another chance at romance now that her walls are down? Maybe the answer to each of their quandaries is more similar than they originally think.

“They don’t call it gently cascading for someone. You don’t gracefully descend for someone. You fall. Head over heels, right? And either someone catches you, or they don’t, and you don’t have any control over how badly bruised you are at the bottom of it.”

I would kill for Maya and Skye. It took me a while to get into the story because there’s lots of characters to meet but once the exposition is done I was HOOKED. I would pay an exorbitant amount of money to read their story again for the first time. They grow into each other and the rest of their newfound friends and I thoroughly enjoyed their characterization, especially once Skye joins team “fuck Jordy.” Oh man, speaking of, I hate Jordy so much and am impressed that Sophie can write such a convincing douchebag when the rest of her characters are so easy to love.

Okay and let’s be honest with ourselves. We all know a Jordy. That guy who keeps getting away with being absolute garbage all the time and yet is always the one who comes out of unsavory situations the good guy. And we all hate him and wish him the worst because he is the worst. I would’ve given the book 5 stars alone just for the beautiful Jordy slander.

I do wish the book was categorized as NA instead of YA. All of the characters were adults and I think it would make more sense to be selves as a new adult book instead of a young adult book since there’s lots of drinking and hooking up.

To summarize, screw all the Jordy’s out there, fictional or otherwise, I am a Sophie Gonzales stan, and Maya and Skye are now my OTP. Five huge, beautiful stars for this stellar read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love everything Sophie Gonzales puts out typically. However, I'm not a huge fan of dating show books anyways so I went into this with little expectations. Surprisingly, this was actually bearable in comparison to other dating show books I've read. I think the premise was really interesting but the execution left much to be desired.

I wanted more gay romance and less of the focus on the terrible ex. This had so much promise but it ended up being pretty frustrating and lacked the romantic punch seen portrayed in her other books.

I would recommend to those who like a wrapped up "happy ending" and reality/dating show books. I will definitely keep reading her works, but this one will not go down as a fave unfortunately.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Love this, it is so much fun, love the story behind it that Sophie shared. There’s just a lot of wonderful parts of this book. It was lovely. Recommend!

if you love drama you will love this book!! sophie gonzales is excellent at crafting characters you will want to root for! i adored maya. i hated jordy and his fake british accent. his speeches made my blood boil and the frustration i felt was unmatched. bonus: the taylor swift title 🎶 thank you netgalley for the arc!

I can’t say no to a book with a reality dating show premise. But one that switches things up by making two of the contestants fall for each other instead of the lead? Genius!

This YA enemies to lovers, dual POV, behind the scenes take on a dating show where the douche-bro lead dates his exes in a Bachelor-esque setting was an all around super fun read. It hooked me from the first page and never let me go. (And the hilarious inner monologue and deadpan sarcasm only made it more enjoyable.) Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This isn't my first book by this author and it definitely won't be my last. She continues to write great romcoms that draw me in, make me laugh out loud, and have me swooning by the end.

Is Jordy a jersey? Yes! Do understand why Maya did what she did? Yes, I think we've all encountered a Jordy. 🤢 Will this make you think about revenge and if it's worth it? Definitely yes!

I didn’t love this one as much as I thought I would. It was definitely cute but I felt it was drawn out at times. Still worth the read!

Overall this book didn't hit it for me - even though I am a sucker for a queer YA romance (they didn't exist when I was a young'un!) I enjoyed one of Sophie Gonzalez's previous books, Perfect on Paper, a lot so this was disappointing to me.

I thought there was a lot of fun humour in the book - but it didn't seem to ever quite decide if it was a parody or not, at times taking itself somewhat seriously, and at other times full blown ridiculousness. The made-up kingdom of Chalonne and its made up language and weirdly described foods also seemed VERY unnecessary to me - not sure if it was so outlandish to be a parody, or if it was trying to set the scene in a fictional land for further suspension of disbelief. Didn't work for me.

The characters make or break it for me, and here, I did not find much to relate to in any of the characters. They were all pretty flat and I didn't feel Maya and Skye had defining characteristics or real personalities of their own. I struggled in telling their voices apart when the narration switched. Who were these women and what were there motivations? It was all very surface-level .A lot of the book is dialogue-driven, and it was all a bit too much. Just no depth.

The premise could have been fun, but why were these people all 20-ish? Who has 6 exes by 20 and goes on a Bachelor-like show at that age? I feel it would have been better if everyone was aged up a bit, which would take this out of YA territory but maybe seemed more plausible.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to review this ARC.