Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Overall Rating: 4/5

"Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Sophie Gonzales is a captivating YA contemporary second chance romance centered around 18-year-olds. The book explores the intriguing premise of two girls falling in love while participating in a reality TV dating show. Personally, I found the story line to be quite enjoyable, especially as a fan of reality TV dating shows myself.

However, one aspect that didn't quite sit well with me was how young the characters were portrayed in the book. Realistically, if their ages had been slightly adjusted, it would have made more sense and added to the overall believability of the story. The narrators did a fantastic job, but their voices sounded more like those of grown women in their twenties or thirties rather than the 18 or 19-year-olds depicted in the book. This discrepancy took away some of the authenticity for me.

Despite this minor issue, I must say that "Never Ever Getting Back Together" was a genuinely good book. One aspect I truly appreciated was how the female characters empowered and supported one another, steering clear of gossip and unnecessary drama. This uplifting dynamic added depth to the story and made for a refreshing reading experience.

Obviously, I requested this book because of the Taylor Swift reference in the title. It turned out to be a cute YA/ New Adult rom-com where it seems like you could be set up for a 2nd chance romance, only to have things switched up and instead get a forced proximity, sapphic enemies to lovers story.
Set on a new reality dating show, this royalty-adjacent manchild named Jordy brings back a half dozen of his "exes" to see about reuniting with one of them. Except some of them aren't even exes, because I think Jordy was only like, 21? 22? They were asking back his high school girlfriends. For me, the ages didn't work the best with this setup. However, ignoring that, Jordy was an absolute twatwaffle who deserves to end up alone. SO, obviously some of his exes hate him and are looking for revenge. Cut to, Maya, who he cheated on and then gaslit. Skye is also on the show, and she is the girl who was the "other woman" in their scenario. After initially hating each other and each getting half of the other contestants on their side in a poolside feud, they learn that keeping their enemies closer would work better and instead plan revenge. And by keeping their enemies closer, they eventually mean in bed. Obviously!
Given the target audience, there is really no spice. Everything is closed door. But it is rather sweet and heartfelt. While not my favorite YA rom-com of the past year, I enjoyed all of the Swift references and the LGBTQ rep in this story. I would certainly read more by the author as I enjoyed her writing style. All in all, I would give this 3.5 stars and rounded up.

girlies THIS. is a book to get excited about. "never ever getting back together" is about maya and skye, who both are exes of the now-famous jordy miller. they are invited on a reality tv show where they get the chance to date him again. maya is plotting revenge (jordy #cheated) while skye hopes to revive what she lost when jordy ghosted her (what a guy<3). but oh no! plot twist! maya and skye fall for each other instead!

WOOWEE i loved this. i'm really over the reality show set up but this one didn't feel derivative and brought such a nice humor to the book as a whole. honestly, i forgot this was YA while i was reading it LOL! the characters were more emotionally mature than they usually are written at this age, which was SUCH a breath of fresh air.

this book was really funny :) i cackled so much. i loved the relationships between the girls on the show (i grew up on the selection series so... think that kind of vibe but less High Stakes Drama). sometimes the writing around physical intimacy was a bit young (metaphors about stars and explosions and stuff), but i'm used to non-YA romances. overall, i LOVED this. ate it right up in just a few day. MWAH can't wait to read more of this author in the future!

(omg there's this scene where maya gets drunk and the narration is so fucking funny she gets so so silly!!!! eeee)

(thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review).

I adore Sophie Gonzales's books. This premise adds a really interesting twist to the classic dating show concept, not only with the ex-boyfriend but with the main character falling in love with another one of the ex-girlfriends! I found myself really frustrated with how horrible, and frankly, annoying, Jordy was and with all the miscommunication surrounding Skye and Maya at first. I would also argue that this is less young adult and more new adult, particularly given the stages of life the characters are in and how they're written. Hated the third-act breakup catastrophe but loved the romance.

I enjoyed this read. It was different than other romance novels I have read recently in that the main FMC doesn’t fall for the traditional hero. This was super easy to fall into, I found myself reading this very quickly. This was a solid 3 stars because of the diversity & easiness of the authors writing. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I wanted to like this book so badly! But I think the edits I have for it are too major and I wasn't able to finish it. Jordy was too cartoonish of a character. All the women competing on this show are so cool and smart, it's not believable that they would date a guy like this. That being said, I think the premise of this is great but I wish it had gotten another edit.

2.75* (⅗)

Rep: queer relationships and characters

A young adult sapphic spin on the Bachelor franchise and reality dating shows, Maya gets invited to a show for a chance to get back with her ex, Jordy. However, two years ago Jordy cheated on Maya, and now Maya plans for revenge on him on the show. Syke, another of Jordy’s ex gets invited to the show, she hopes to reconnect with Jordy and is warned about Maya. As Maya and Skye compete on the show, they discover something else between them.

I think like most people, I picked up this book because of the title (Taylor Swift reference).

I thought this book was very fun and had an interesting concept. I really liked Maya’s character and I think she is the strongest point of the book.

However, I do think the book has some weak points, the biggest is the plot. Often the book gets very slow, especially during the most intense moments. This also made me not care about many of the characters, and the relationship between Skye and Maya. I do think that this book is written for a younger audience (11-15).

This book is not a ‘girl’s girls’ book. There are so many petty fights, sult slamming, and so many times women are being pitted against each other. I understand that's the point of a reality dating show, but it's kinda insufferable at times, especially if the two main characters are doing it to each other (they are supposed to be love interests!!!) And it sucks even more when they are only acting like this for the most insufferable, awful, red flag man.

Overall, I don’t think I was the right audience for this book, but it was fun at times.

If you like Charm Offensive, I Kissed Shara Wheeler, or Do Revenge you should read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for an honest review.

Content warning: misogyny, sexism

This was a cute rom-com about getting revenge on your slimy ex boyfriend, and falling in love while in the process. It’s an interesting take being that it took place during the filming of a realty dating show focusing on second chances.

Overall this was cute. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

2/5 stars! Thank you NetGalley for giving me the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Man this book had a lot of potential and it really fell flat for me. I ended up DNFing at around 60% because I really could not get through it. The main characters had literally ZERO personality traits except that they shared the same ex-boyfriend and mutual dislike for him. THEY WERE SO DRY...like what????

I only read the first half of this book because I underestimated how strongly I dislike dating reality TV. I love Sophie Gonzales, though, and I think this might be one of her best yet.

Highly recommend for anyone who loves Sophie Gonzales or dating reality TV! This one is a keeper.

3 *

Concept:
I thought that the concept was a pretty unique one as far as romance books go. I think I have only read / heard about 3 or 4 other reality TV based dating plots having to do with dating shows. I have however seen and heard of many shows with this premise. I think that having it in the book format takes my love of reality TV to new levels.

Plot:
Who doesn't love a revenge plot. I found it funny that they had the same idea. Jordy was so bad and definitely deserved it.

Characters:
The characters themselves definitely should have been more fleshed out, they felt somewhat flat to me. Some parts were also very frustrating because the characters felt so naive. If they were literally plotting revenge because their ex was such a douche why were they then believing him. It's not enough to get duped once by the guy???

This was a cute read, and a fun take on reality shows. My students keep asking for LGBTQ+ romances, and they have enjoyed this one.

This was fun! I do think it would've done much better as an adult book. It was hard to take any of the previous relationships seriously since the characters were so young. But the premise was a super fun idea, just wish it was written for an older audience.

A dream of a queer YA. Nothing gets me more than the ex's ex trope. Glorious! And Gonzales handles it beautifully, executing with voice, wit, and smarts.

This was a fun quick read. I enjoyed the whole reality show vibe. The author did a really good job on showing the girls and their different personalities. Overall it was good read.

Two years ago Maya’s ex-boyfriend cheated on her and now she’s invited to appear on a new reality show where Jordy dates all of his exes (Bachelor style) to see if any of them were actually the one. Maya joins the show for the opportunity to get revenge on Jordy. There, she meets Skye, another one of Jordy’s exes. Skye joined the show hoping to rekindle her romance with Jordy because she’s still confused as to why he stopped calling her. But in the biggest plot twist of all, Maya and Skye find they are actually attracted to each other.

The premise of this book was so much fun and I found myself flying through it! There was the perfect amount of drama to keep me entertained the entire time and much of the story had me laughing out loud. If you are a fan of teen romances and reality TV this one's for you!

Natalie Naudus is one of my all time favorite audiobook narrators and she along with Barrie Kreinik did a phenomenal job with this one!

Thanks to Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance copies.

SCREAMING. This is reality tv alright. And mind you, I'm not that fond of reality tv shows 😭😂 But the drama? The scripted shenanigans? The ridiculousness of it all? Very spot on.

Also this has the same style and vibe I came to love in a Sophie Gonzales novel. She just knows how to create a story that sucks you right in, characters that stay with you, and plot twists that either hurt you and make you laugh. And I love how everything works out in the end.

Have to say, I did not like girl on girl hate on the first part of the story. But I also understand that this is what the story intended, especially for a "reality tv".

Love Maya and Skye. Though, I wanted to see more chemistry between them. I wish them all the beat tho, wrap them up in a blanket and protect them from the world.

And yes, Jordy fcking Miller is a true as$hole lmaoooo

Exact rating: 3.5

I really thought I'd be the perfect person for this book, what with the Taylor Swift-esque title and the Sapphic bachelor premise, but it just didn't work out between us. I didn't really connect with the characters and the book felt just a little juvenile (which could be because the premise typically works better in adult fiction over YA, but I digress). I'm not a huge fan of the prose as well, but not so much that I wouldn't read another book by Gonzales again. Overall, not my favorite, but definitely okay. (2.5 stars, rounded up).

This may just be one of those books that's not for me, which is surprising because it has a bunch of tropes that I love - I usually love a fake reality dating show - but it all just fell flat. I think the largest issue here is that this should have been an adult book rather than YA. It's hard to feel like any of Jordy's previous relationships are worth anything when they occurred at age 14...

Beyond the context issue, I just didn't connect with any of the characters, the romance arc felt rushed and unexplained, and even though it's a small detail, I REALLY hated the fake country this story took place in. It's so jarring for the rest of the world to be true to life, only to have some fake place thrown in. I guess I'm just more jaded than when The Princess Diaries did it...

I hope this book finds its target audience because there are some great ideas in the pages, but unfortunately, they just didn't work for me.

Overall, the book was ok. I like the premise at first of where the two main female characters decided to join forces and get back at their ex. The ending was completely different to what I imagined, I thought it would go through with putting the antagonist in his place. I will be recommending this book to my students, but will not be purchasing it as we are no longer allowed to purchase lgtbq+ books for the school,