I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I honestly had high hopes going into this book, even if I wasn’t the biggest fan of Perfect on Paper, and somehow, this book met them! Something about this concept seemed perfect to me (a dating show, but the contestants fall in love with each other instead??), and it felt executed really well to me! My main argument is that there’s no way these characters felt like they were 18-20, and I overall would’ve liked the book to have featured slightly older characters to make the plot overall a bit more believable, but at some point I just kind of ignored the fact that everyone was supposed to be that young and then it worked better for me!

Overall, this book is just plain fun. It’s got a cute romance at its center, while banding together a bunch of women against one dude who really really sucks. I also really adored both characters for different reasons, and the way they balanced each other out worked really well for both the plot and their romance. While Maya was chaotic and fully just going for her plan without thinking it through, Skye forced her to stop and think things through, while still being totally on board with making Jordy pay. It really worked in that opposites attract sort of way, while still being entirely convincing that these two people would actually work well together!

Honestly, my biggest disappointment was that no one actually gave Jordy what he deserved on the page, because I really need to see that guy get absolutely demolished. But in the end, I felt like the plot came to a more comfortable conclusion at the end, if not entirely satisfying revenge wise. (He was honestly also a great way to bring everyone together, because he just sucked so much).

Overall, this was such a fun and cute read, and I will definitely be reading more by this author in the future! I can’t wait for this to release, so everyone can get on reading this!

Was this book predictable? Yes. Was it a little cheesy? Yes. But did I enjoy it? Absolutely. This YA book was super enjoyable and although I had minor problems, overall, it was really good. It's a short, easy read, with two dynamic main characters and a very interesting plot. This book gave me the feelings I had after breaking up with my first boyfriend, and I loved seeing the girls mature, and of course, I enjoyed the girl power. I would have loved to see more from the other girls and maybe some more backstory in general. I think since there were so many "side characters", they got lost in the crowd.
Overall though, I liked this book!

I was SO excited to receive this ARC because of the premise alone and couldn’t start reading it quick enough. The twists, the drama, and the antagonist that is Jordy (ew) were all well done and I felt like I was reading a reality television show.

This story felt much more about the television show and the character's relationship with Jordy than it did about the character's romance with each other. I wish Skye and Maya had more in common than just Jordy, their relationship felt forced for the sake of a sapphic plot twist (but we all knew about it)

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Never Ever Getting Back Together
By: Sophie Gonzales
Review Score: 4 Stars

Five Key Feels

-Maya is way too good for Jordy!

-The evolution of Maya and Skye is so well done.

-I loved all the women on the show, and their motivations for being there.

-I am not a fan of dating shows in general, but I still loved reading about this one!

-No spoilers, but the after show? Amazing.

——

Never Ever Getting Back Together was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press. Thank you for allowing me to read this wonderful book!

Release Date: 11/29/22

I started reading Never Ever Getting Back Together after reading a few historical fiction books in a row, and needing something fun and flirty. This book definitely fit the bill!

Gonzalez really made me feel invested in each girl on the show, and I loved watching friendships (and more!) form. I loved the behind the scenes look at a dating show, and how it was produced as well.

If you are looking for a fun, easy read with great characters and a little romance, this is the book for you!

#bookstagram #books #readingnow #boogiereadsbooks #fivekeyfeels #audiobooks #audiobook #fiction #arcreview #netgalley #stmartinspress #neverevergettingbacktogether #sophiegonzales

I have mixed feelings on this one. It was not the best written story in the world, and the characters didn't seem fully developed, all the women were remarkably similar and it was hard to tell the difference between the side characters sometimes. They all seemed to have one main trait that was their entire personality, the quiet girl, the mean girl, the influencer, etc...

HOWEVER, I'm a sucker for cute sapphic romances and I really enjoyed seeing Maya and Skye's relationship evolve from enemies, to friends, to lovers. They're relationship was so cute and I loved how it evolved overtime - even if some of the situations they found themselves in were not entirely realistic.

if there's one thing Sophie Gonazles can do it's craft characters you have no choice but to root for. The tension??? The build up??? This is the sapphic Bachelorette the world deserved (minus Jordy because no one needs him to exist)

This was a rather fun and interesting concept for a book. A teen reality show with a bunch of ex girlfriends. The characters seemed pretty real and their support for each other was lovely. We’ve all known the guy who seems perfect but is actually a jerk, so this was a good stroll down memory lane as an adult reader. Good book!

4.5 ⭐️

Omg I realllyyy liked this book.. a lot. I was drawn in by first like. I stayed up late reading half and was very upset I had to put it down due to sleep.

I loved both female MCs, Maya and Skye. We got both POVs in this book and it made sense. I loved being in their heads. It was enemies to friends to lovers.

Both ex girlfriends of Jordy join him in his debut in a reality show involving dating ex girlfriends whom he may want to rekindle romance.

I had fun, soooo much fun reading this book. I laughed out loud sooo many times. The banter and the scenarios had never dying. Perrie was one of my fav side characters. I actually connected with a lot of the women side characters. As for Jordy.. he is the definition of a man I would never want to date.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and you will too if you like romcoms with a hit of reality tv and queer female MCs. I highly highly recommend!

This is a cheesy, heartwarming, clever and hilarious book. Love the mcs and their hatred for the villain lol. I also loved the side characters. I couldn’t put it down. I'm a sucker for this type of books and it ticked all the boxes for me. I can recommend this book to everyone who wants to read a feel-good wlw book.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this novel.

I'm so sad that I didn't love this. I have been a fan of Sophie Gonzales' books for a while, but this one just didn't do it for me. I don't know if it was the Bachelor like setting or what but I just wasn't into it. I found the main couple to not have a lot of chemistry and I was just kind of bored. That aside, it did have some of that Gonzales charm which I have come to love. Just wasn't the right book for me.

I really enjoy a good YA book with the trope of 2 people fighting and eventually fall in love with each other. Give it a dash of LGBTQIA? Even better! The characters were fun, good development, and a fun read overall.

Never Ever Getting Back Together is a cute YA LGBTQ romance book. The book goes back and forth between narratives from Skye and Maya. Both girls are ex-girlfriends of Jordy, who has a ton of media attention since his sister married a prince of a European country. Both girls along with some of Jordy's other exes are contacted to be on a show Second Chance Romance.

This overall was a cute YA book. Not the type that is really meant for a older audience but I do wish that there were more of these type of books when I was growing up.

DNF at 40%
Ahh I just couldn't finish this T^T
I was hoping for a bit more romance but from what I read so far, honestly it just seems like high school girls fighting over a boy for me.
Just not my cup of tea
I would definitely give another book by this author a second try tho!

I just loved everything about this.

It is hilarious. Maya says about drinking jello shots: "Pacing is for chumps and I'm a chaos gremlin"

So, she has my heart forever

#netgalley #neverevergettingbacktogether #funnyromcom #sophiegonzalez

Reality TV love competition where two girls competing for one guy fall in love with each other instead? YES PLEASE! I’m so glad somebody finally wrote it, the tension and the pining was amazing.
On a TV show where one man’s exes are all brought together to have a second chance, Maya and Skye were set up to be enemies, but despite the conflict, they begin to fall in love and plot to ruin his reputation.
I normally hate the miscommunication trope, but this book did it really well! It was resolved fairly quickly and added to the plot. I was very relieved when part of the truth came out.
I could go on and on about how much Jordy sucks. I think it really shows a modern representation of male celebrities being idolized and females torn apart. Especially all the hate towards Maya on social media, and even after Jordy dumped her in the first place. His fans refused to believe he was a cheater, when they truly had no clue about this guys personal life.
I found myself so involved in this book, I would become really frustrated when things went the wrong way, I desperately wanted them to be able to ruin Jordy’s life.
The trope of two ex girlfriends who were cheated on coming together to raise hell and falling in love in the process is severely under hyped! This book isn’t exactly a love triangle, but I think this type of thing is such a missed opportunity in love triangle books, it adds much more tension and involvement.
This book was wonderful!

Have you ever wanted a reality TV dating show where the girl wants revenge on the guy and also falls for another contestant? I’m not personally someone who watches dating shows, but when I learned that Sophie Gonzales’ upcoming book had this premise, I knew I needed to read it!

“Never Ever Getting Back Together” follows Maya and Skye, two of the six contestants participating in a second-chance dating show where they are supposed to be dating their mutual ex — Jordy — who is now quite the celebrity since his sister married a prince. Maya wants to get revenge on Jordy for cheating on her with Skye, but she doesn’t expect to starting falling for Skye. Skye thinks maybe she wants to genuinely give Jordy a second chance, at least until she finds out the truth about how things ended between him and Maya. As Maya and Skye grow closer and plot to bring down Jordy, Maya has to decide which is more important: revenge on Jordy or her budding relationship with Maya?

This was such an engaging, fun novel! I loved seeing Maya and Skye grow as they helped each other overcome their fears and their pasts. I also enjoyed seeing them interact with the other contestants: Perrie, Kim, Lauren, and Francesca. I’m not one to watch reality TV, but I think Sophie Gonzales humanizes the characters. The contestants all develop throughout the book, and they have much more depth than the sort of catty behavior reality TV is known for. Meanwhile, Jordy isn’t the perfect man searching for the one that got away. Instead, he’s a terrible guy who has been fooling the world into thinking he’s perfect. Sophie Gonzels uses this story to expose the misogyny and disingenuity often present in reality TV.

While I did really enjoy the book, I felt like Skye and Maya’s relationship was a little rushed. I would have liked to have seen more moments between them with lots of chemistry. I’m more of a slow-burn person. However, I was rooting for them the whole time. I also felt like the general events happening weren’t quite intense enough at points, but that may just be because I don’t watch reality TV. Ultimately, Maya’s goal of getting revenge and exposing Jordy was a pretty big deal, so the stakes were fairly high.

I definitely recommend “Never Ever Getting Back Together” to people who enjoy reality TV but also to those who want to see it being critiqued. It was so cool to see a dating show being subverted like this. “Never Ever Getting Back Together” comes out on December 6th, so preorder it now, buy it when it comes out, or request it from your library!

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book is so cute. It’s sort a reverse Bachelor, where the guy is redating his ex girlfriends to find “the one that got away”. Except the guy is a douchebag. And two of the girls were dating him at the same time two years ago, unbeknownst to either of them. And now they have to share a bedroom. With one of them in denial, and the other one blaming it on the wrong person, they clearly get off to the wrong start, but begin to reconnect, and mayyybe start to fall for each other. As well as make a plan to get back at ex bf. This book was funny, cute, and charming, and included female contestants from a wide range of backgrounds, reasons for being their, and histories with the bachelor. Although it could be aggravating with all much miscommunication, the ending is worth it, especially for everyone who lives to see a deservingly horrible man get out in his place.

Who doesn't love trashy reality competitions and all of their twists and turns? Never Ever Getting Back Together gives all of the little television moments you wish there were in shows like the Bachelor because god knows those shows could be gayer and we would devour them.

The characters in this book all have great qualities and there are none that I truly hated, besides Jordy because fuck that guy. I loved the eventual girl gang that was inevitably formed to go against him. The writing was funny and was an overall fun read.

I do think I would have enjoyed this more if the characters were aged up slightly and there was a little more detail in the background information we are given, but understanding this is a teen rom-com it is great for the audience it was created for.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martins, and Wednesday Books for the eARC!

I loved this read! Watching the enemies-to-lovers plot unfold as they unraveled the truth behind their hatred in this slow-burn romance was so delicious. The set-up of this story itself is rife with opportunities for drama and the story does not disappoint. There were occasionally parts where I felt like the characters conveniently forgot a discovery they'd already made for the sake of the plot, but I was more than willing to look past it as I was enjoying the story so much. A great read for anyone who's ever wondering how in the world they get people to sign up for some of the dating shows that are on these days, and if any of them ever really lead to love. Here's hoping someday I can binge an onscreen adaptation of this book in place of whatever wild dating show is concocted next!

To Chose Revenge or Love? . . .

Enjoyed this book, the dialogue and the MCs being unapologeticly Bi was icing on the cake. I honestly have seen maybe just one episode of the Bachelor and this book shows just how ridiculous those kinds of dating shows can get, especially behind the scenes.

When participating in TV show centered on her highbrow ex boyfriend, reconnecting with his recent exes, is looking for drama the MC, Maya, can’t help deliver when she and Skye, another ex, butt heads immediately. Their drama runs deep thanks to a lot of lies, scandal of cheating and of course having dated the same guy. Drama was sure to ensue when you have a mansion full of exes vying for a second chance with a boy they once knew, even if the prize isn’t the guy he portrays himself to really be.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. All the characters from the main to the background characters all had their moments to shine and be unique helping the plot grow and aided the MCs to fall in love. Revenge may have been the what got Maya to the reality show, but Skye made it all worth the drama. Their growing romance was so cute and magnetic, that I was cheering for their HEA despite all the current and past drama. The only issue I had was the age of the characters, wish they’d been a bit older maybe mid 20’s instead of 18 & 19 to make the situation a bit more realistic or relatable, buuut its a book and fictional. All that said, would definitely read more from this author in future.