A book that took me by surprise! I typically don’t like books about younger characters and this book felt closer to YA than I would prefer, but I thought it was extremely enjoyable. I love reality shows and the set up of “Second-Chance Romance” was a perfect base for the romance between the two leads. Maya and Skye both felt secure in their characterization and I loved getting both of their perspectives throughout the book. The writing was clear cut without any additional weight, making a few of the love metaphors fall flat but probably appropriate for an 18 year old. It felt like reading their internal monologues without being over-dramatic or cartoonish. Sophie Gonzales is very good at getting her point across without needing a ton of words and it made the story fly by. As the villain ex-boyfriend, I thought Jordy felt grounded as a real person, easy to hate but not exaggerated enough to take away from the story. The conflict between them at the end felt surprisingly realistic, even if the ending was easy to see, the path to get there felt surprising and fitting. The background characters were entertaining and I loved their specific roles to move the story further, without the feeling that they existed solely to support Maya and Skye. From Perrie, another contestant open about being on the show primarily for followers, to Isaac, their producer, to their families back home, everyone felt real and complicated. The book was genuinely funny and I loved almost everything about it. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Never ever Getting Back Together is a clever twist on what's becoming one of my favorite new romance tropes the Reality Show contestants. Sophie Gonzales created the perfect suitor to love/hate on. Jordy Miller is a wealthy charmer, a reader to orphans and the famous brother to a princess. He has the unfortunate burden of women throwing themselves at his feet, yet how can he tell if they are sincere.

Thanks to an eager new reality show Jordy has a second chance to revisit his past loves. The loves he knew before he was famous. Many of these past relationships tragically ending due to moving. Who wouldn't want a second chance at the one that got away, especially when he's handsome and charming Jordy Miller.

One lost love Maya, that's who. The one he left scorned, the one he didn't break up with before moving onto the next, the one he lied to then about. Maya has no intention of answering the producers call. Why on earth would she give this man a moment of her time. But the her sister insists she goes to help protect these other innocent girls.

This is the set up for a wonderful book full of sweet revenge. It is full of twists and turns and ends with a heaping pile of come uppings. This book is a winner in the HEA category although the HEA is one you could not predict from the beginning.

I was given an ARC of this book from NetGalley on behalf of the author and Wednesday Books. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Sophie Gonzales keeps creating stories that are beautifully written and captivating. I loved everything I read from the beginning to the end.

Maya is just starting to move on after being cheated on and dumped by Jordy, a Royal-adjacent jerk face, when a new reality tv show invites her on as a contestant. The premise of the show is to give her and all of Jordy’s exes a second chance to find true love with him. She absolutely doesn’t want to end up with Jordy, but it seems like the perfect opportunity to get some very public revenge. Her new roommate on set? Skye, the girl that Jordy had cheated with, who is intent on being part of Jordy’s future.

Read if you:
Love (or love to hate) reality TV 🌹
Wish you could read The Charm Offensive again 🎥
Need more YA, queer roms in your life 🏳️‍🌈
Are a sucker for enemies to lovers ❤️

This book was lots of fun. It reminded me of a teen version of The Charm Offensive, which I couldn’t get enough of. I didn’t love Maya at first because she seemed to want to fight all the other contestants, but once they’d all hashed it out, I loved the fem camaraderie. After reading this and watching some of the Bachelor, all I know is I really don’t want to be on reality tv, thanks!

Never Ever Getting Back Together

4/5 Stars

Never Ever Getting Back Together follows the story of two main characters, Maya, and Skye. They’ve never met, they’ve never spoken to each other, but Maya hates Skye with everything she has because of their mutual ex-boyfriend Jordy. Jordy and Maya dated when they were 16, became long distance due to Jordy’s lifestyle at the time, and then ended dramatically when it came out to Maya that Jordy was cheating on her with – you guessed it – Skye.
When Maya gets a sudden call from a reality television producer for a new show “Second Chance Romance”, she turns it down immediately. Why would she want to be in a house with all the people her ex had dated, and try to win him back? But when Jordy calls her personally, she agrees, if only to get revenge by outing him after he put it out there that she was the crazy ex-girlfriend who was obsessed with him and lied about him cheating. But as she lives “off the grid” in a fancy country, in a gorgeous house, with 5 other girls, she can’t wait for revenge. Until at least, she falls in love with the person she might hate just as much as Jordy.

All the characters in this book are fairly one dimensional. Once outside Skye and Maya, there’s no real character development for anyone. It’s the two girls against the world – or the 4 other girls that are competing for Jordy’s affections once again. But honestly, even within Maya and Skye, there’s the revenge they’re trying to inflict, and their very basic love story that has the third act breakup.

Maya is only there for revenge, and the moment it’s done, she’ll be going to college to be a doctor – which she doesn’t even want to do and just wants her parent’s approval for it.

Skye is on a break between school, travelling solo, terrified of settling down by herself or with anyone so she’s always on the move.

Jordy is an asshole and stays an asshole. There’s no redemption for him, with an epilogue of the revenge ruining his life after the show ends perfectly for him.

The development in this book is fairly quick between Skye and Maya, from enemies, to friends, to lovers, back to barely-friends is the fastest thing in this book. The side characters are all fairly fun but have no real character development, while Jordy has almost – somehow – a development into being worse than he was at the beginning of the book. The reality part of the show resembled almost a hunger games vibe with their respective leaders and tossing them into events to win one prize. The games they had to play and the events they had to participate in are perfect for anyone who loves a little bit of the Bachelor drama.

The ending where Maya picks revenge over Skye, but along with all the miscommunication was a bit frustrating, but it came to a satisfying close in the epilogue.

Some frustrations I had with this book are as stated, how one dimensional everything is. It’s just a quick sapphic romcom that feels like it could have been a badly done Netflix special.

If you’re looking for enemies to friends to lovers, characters that don’t know what they’re doing, revenge, forced proximity, miscommunication, and toxic men that get what they deserve, this is the book for you.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a super fast read that had a super satisfying ending and relationship. I didn’t hate the characters despite the miscommunication, and the reality setting was really fun to read.

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

First off, I want to say thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
Never Ever Getting Back Together is a dual POV story about two girls (Maya and Skye) who go on a reality show centered around their shared ex. Their ex has a sister who married a prince, which means he’s gained some fame and is now one of the most eligible bachelors. He’s gained so much popularity that now he has a show based on him trying to find love again with one of his exes. Considering he cheated on Maya with Skye (who had no idea), it makes sense why someone would question why she’d want to join this show. He cheated on her, broke her heart, and made her out to be a jealous ex. However, while she was unsure about joining at first, she decides to go on this show with one mission: get revenge on Jordy..
I’ve never read a reality TV centered book, so after seeing this a couple times on my For You page, I requested it on NetGalley. After reading it, I have to say that Sophie Gonzales did an amazing job at writing the most unlikable character in this story: Jordy. I could not stand that man, which was the point. Sadly, there are actual Jordys out there who manipulate people so easily that it’s scary.
Moving past the antagonist, I really like how Gonzales wrote the two main characters: Maya and Skye. Skye had no idea that Maya and Jordy were still together when she started dating him. Eventually, the truth does get out, and we start to see the two become closer and really start to care about each other. Apart from realizing they have a common enemy, they talk about their own lives. Skye has trust issues because of something that happened in the past, causing her to have very few people who really know her. Before getting on this show, she’d been traveling and having her own adventure, which is something she plans to get back to once the show is done. A part of Maya wonders what it would be like to do the same. Right now, she’s planning on going to university in the fall. We do get an idea of each of their home lives, but we barely get to see them interact with their families since they aren’t allowed to have their phones.
Maya is driven by her hatred for Jordy, letting it consume her. He made her out to be this crazy ex who couldn’t handle him dumping her. It took her a little while to realize how that was affecting her relationship with Skye, and I thought she’d realize it sooner, but she was blinded by her anger towards him. What I loved is the ending for both the show and the book. I had a feeling of where it was going to go, and I was afraid that I wasn’t going to be completely satisfied. After all, who doesn’t want to see the jerk ex-boyfriend exposed? But Gonzales definitely gave readers an ending they’d be happy with!
Even though I liked this book overall, it was a little hard to get into it at first. What was really frustrating was how the majority of the girls on this show were either somewhat or completely under Jordy’s spell. There was drama that they didn’t have to fake for the cameras since sides were taken on who was right about the Maya-Skye-Jordy situation. I was glad that they all eventually figured out who he really is, but I did feel bad for how he treated them on the show. We did get to know each of them a little better, and they definitely deserve better than a guy like him. I also liked that they were each there for their own reasons. It felt more realistic since it’s not like every person who goes on a reality show is necessarily “looking for love”. Some people want the fame that comes along with being on a reality show. Although, of course, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any broken hearts.
Overall, I give it four stars! A cute romance, some very well-deserved revenge, and reality TV show drama make this a very interesting read!

This is not appropriate for middle grades, but is a great YA novel! I will be recommending to my high school colleagues.

This book was probably one of my favorite reads of this year, I really liked how the story went and could relate to a lot of the issues the MC went through. I definitely recommend giving this book a read, you will not be disappointed! Sophie really hit it out of the park with this book and I did not see a lot of things coming, you will be surprised by the ending and how it all worked out for Maya!

This book was so good, I loved everything about it. I usually hate the third-act breakup in books but I felt like this one made sense for the plot. I was a bit frustrated when Skye was so mad at Maya for wanting revenge when Maya went through so much because of Jordy.

Take the Bachelor, make it about re-kindling romance with ex's, then throw in extra drama, and sapphic love and you have this amazing little book! I am a Sophie Gonzales fan so I knew I was likely going to love this book anyways, and it definitely didn't disappoint!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the story was told in dual perspective, but definitely not upset about it! It really allowed us to get to know Maya and Skye as individuals first, their experience with Jordy first-hand, and eventually their feelings for each other and the struggles that came with hiding those. Both girls were so loveable, head-strong, and fun. The rest of the girls in the cast just add to the drama and the ultimate downfall of Jordy.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Gonzales' writing, but also any lover of reality TV shows. This book really hit all the spots for me and I wish I could read it again for the first time all over again :)

My initial thoughts were "meh" but I ended up really enjoying this one!

I started this book thinking these kids were wayyyy too young for this "second chance" dating reality show and I stand behind that! But as soon as I realized this was going to be queer and the contestants were going to fall for each other, I was sold!

A fun read! The writing style was good and it was easy to connect with the characters. Definitely recommend!

Fast paced and super fun story. I really enjoy both Maya and Skye and their different personalities. As someone who doesn't watch reality TV I do enjoy reading about it. Really fun and enjoyable read.

So I requested an arc of this because the premise sounded really fun (it was), and I ended up reading it all in one day because oH MY GOD it was so good!!!!! First of all, MAYA!!!!! She’s amazing and I love her. End quote.
Really though, I loved most of the characters (except Jordy* he sucks). They were messy and loveable and real, and while Skye took a moment she did win me over (I think because we got Maya’s POV first), and I really liked seeing their development throughout the book! I also really liked the reality show angle and revenge plot, and while I didn’t love the girls fighting with each other over an (objectively terrible) guy, it thankfully didn’t last that long and the team up between Skye and Maya was AMAZING. Also, MAYA AND SKYE????? Adorable amazing spectacular and I loved every bit of it. (AND THE ENDING WAS ALSO SUPER CUTE!!! and really satisfying even though it happened in a way I did not see coming, which I think made me like it more? Idk.)

Anyways, this was definitely a 10/10 read and I am absolutely going to pick it up again!!!

[Honestly this section at the very beginning sold me, I read this and was 100% in. Maya is a legend.]
“Let me be clear, Gwendolyn. I would rather be swallowed up into the bowels of hell and enter an arrangement with the fallen angel Lucifer than date Jordy Miller again.”
Gwendolyn’s pause of surprise stretches on long enough I almost laugh into the silence. “The fallen angel Lucifer is the devil,” she says finally, like she thinks I made a small mistake there.
“Yes, Gwendolyn.”
“You’re telling me you would rather date Satan than Jordy?”
“I am telling you I would sooner go on a reality show with the prince of darkness himself, Gwendolyn, yes.”
“That’s a heck of strong opinion.”
“Hell of a strong opinion seems more accurate here.”


*I sincerely hope Jordy falls down a well; like, how this guy had SIX whole serious girlfriends by the age of twenty is beyond me. He is the worst. Like ‘I would fly to Europe just to punch his stupid face’ the worst.

Sophie Gonzales's new YA book can best be described as The Bachelor, but royal edition, and also all the contestants are actual the Bachelor's exes. In this story we follow Maya and Skye, two of Jordy Miller's ex-girlfriends who are chosen as contestants on Jordy's season of Second Chance Romance (a new reality TV show that follows a celebrity trying to reconnect with one of their past partners). Maya agrees to participate in the TV show with revenge for Jordy on the mind and Skye agrees to participate because she believes that Jordy might just be the one for her after all. As the whirlwind TV show full of competitions and challenges begins, the girls begin to realize that nothing about the show (or Jordy) is what it initially seemed to be.
This story is unlike anything else you have read before. For fans of The Bachelor or The Selection Series, this book is for you. Never Ever Getting Back Together is full of laughs, crazy scenarios, wonderful LGBTQ rep, and lots of drama. I thought this was a fun, lighthearted story that has an air of unrealistic foolery around every turn. Maya and Skye were both great characters, as well as all the other contestants. I thought each girl was unique and fun and down to earth in her own way and I loved reading the scenes where they all interacted together. Despite this, my favorite character of the bunch was without a doubt Isaac. Isaac came out of the blue in this story but had me hanging on to his every word by the end, I thought he was a wonderful addition.
As someone who really enjoys The Bachelor I loved watching the competition progress through the weeks and watching each behind-the-scenes aspect of the show because I couldn't help but relate the story to The Bachelor in a lot of ways. When I first learned about the premise of Second Chance Romance (the reality TV show) I thought that they must be nuts because for most people the prospect of re-dating each one of your exes is probably stomach churning. But, for this story the premise of the TV show works so well. I would read a sequel to this book following another group of contestants in a Season 2 of Second Chance Romance, that's how much I loved this premise. I thought this was a hilarious, fun read that is definitely worth picking up in November!

3.75/5
Ok to be honest it wasn’t bad but adult rom coms aren’t really my thing.I did like however the relationship included in the books.Like I loveee maya and Skye together it’s like they were meant for each-other and honestly I’m glad he cheated or they wouldn’t have met. A reason I rated it low was the premise of the whole situation honestly but if u like ex boyfriend ex lover I feel like this is good for u

A feel-good, cute, and funny romcom! The romance was SO CUTE and entertaining to read about. The story was intermittently a little slower at times, but overall it was wonderfully written! I will definitely be picking up more books by Sophie Gonzales after this read!!

I liked this one okay. I was excited because the plot had a lot of potential. And I’m all for more LGBTQIA representation but this one lacked for me. It was hard for me to get into this one. And I was not a big fan of the miscommunication trope used in this book

4.5 stars

I just cannot stop gushing about Never Ever Getting Back Together. If you have not read this yet, I would highly recommend reading while listening to We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift, Better Than Revenge by Taylor Swift, Keeping Tabs by NIKI, and good 4 u by Olivia Rodrigo on full volume. Okay, maybe not full volume, but you get the idea.

The world truly needs a sapphic book like Never Ever Getting Back Together, which centers around a teen reality show called Second-Chance Romances, in which Jordy's exes compete to win back his affection. I mean, really? Just from reading the book synopsis, how egoistical is Jordy? Anyways, instead of falling in love with Jordy, two contestants named Maya and Skye fall in love with each other.

If that book summary did not already convince you to pick up Never Ever Getting Back Together right now... well, let me just say that the characters did not disappoint. I loved revenge-seeking Maya and carefully-planning Skye. They really are good for each other. And they won't fall for Jordy's bullshit again after they find out the truth.

This reminds me of the long-awaited scene when both girls finally realize the truth of their previous relationship with Jordy. That was definitely one of the more memorable scenes and also the start of Maya and Skye's non-rivalry and scheming together.

Oh, I also loved the bisexuality rep.

Okay, I hated Jordy, who is a cheating and gaslighting asshole, with a burning passion, but that was also the point of the book. I would be surprised if anyone actually even liked Jordy throughout the book.

Okay, I also thought that the ending was a little, just a little, anticlimactic, but that is okay because the rest of the book was so good.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

Sophie Gonzales did it again!!
I read the author's another book "if this gets out" and it was as FLAWLESS as it was this one. This book flew by. I loved the characters and the "plot"