I only have a few tiny nitpicks with this book, but I am now obsessed with the reality TV romance trope, so thank you for this one, Sophie Gonzales.

This is my first Sophie Gonzales, but when I saw the premise I knew I needed this in my life! And Never Ever Getting Back Together does not disappoint!

Two years ago, Maya dated Jordy who suddenly moved to Canada, but they were going to try keeping it going and make things work. Except almost immediately after moving to Canada, Jordy met Skye and started dating her. He convinced everyone, including Skye, that he broke up with Maya before the move but she couldn’t let him go and stalked him, and when she learned about Skye she made up lies about him being a cheater. So Maya has spent the last two years being vilified and harangued for how she treated Jordy “post breakup,” especially as he started gaining more publicity and public recognition when his sister married a prince.

Now Jordy is about the be the star of a new reality dating show, Second Chance Romance, which involves him reconnecting with exes and seeing who is the “one who got away.” When Maya is invited, at first she refuses, but then she realizes being on the show would be a chance for her to get her side of the story out there in a way that couldn’t be ignored, so she decides to take this opportunity for revenge. Except of course she is roomed with Skye and Maya believes she knew all along that Jordy was cheating on her with her, and takes out her hurt feelings on Skye. What follows is them bonding and realizing the one they love is each other.

This is a really fun, tropey romance and a really fun story. I think people who enjoy reality shows will enjoy it even more than I did, but I still had a lot of fun with this book. This premise is just the best hook and I loved everything about it. If you’re looking for a fun, slightly goofy, reality dating romance where instead of the girl getting the guy she gets her “rival,” I think this book will be perfect for you!

[blog post will go live Dec 6]

I really enjoyed this. Combining reality TV with a revenge plot is exactly what I needed. Maya and Skye have a lovely journey learning about one another as they are on a reality show where they re date their ex in common.

I drank this book in one day. It was such a good lighthearted read, and the ending was satisfying in the best way. I’m pretty new to sapphic reads and I absolutely loved this! Definitely adding this author to my must-read romance authors list!!!

*3.5 stars!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Never Ever Getting Back Together (taylor swift is that you???) is about a bisexual teenage girl who goes onto a dating show to get revenge on her ex, only to come face to face with the girl he cheated on her with. Drama ensues, words are said, names are called, enemies are made; it looks like this won't be as easy as Maya thought. It doesn't help that her and Skye are roommates (OMG and they were roomma- i'm sorry) and the rest of the girls have taken her side. But as the show goes on, and they discover there seems to be more to the story than they both thought, sparks begin to fly between the two of them. How will they deal with this undeniable chemistry? Will their reluctant alliance be enough to expose Jordy, their charming but extremely manipulative and self-centered ex, once and for all? Stay tuned...

When I saw that I had been accepted to receive an ARC of this book (by Sophie Gonzales, aka one of my all-time favorite authors), I literally SCREAMED. It's an understatement to say I was very excited. Unfortunately though, this book did have a few misses for me, which was quite disappointing!

#1: Maya and Skye did not feel like well-developed characters, they are exceptionally one-dimensional. When I first started this book, I was so excited for their romance because the idea of two girls finding love on a dating show sounds absolutely adorable, and they both sounded like such interesting people. But neither of them had any personality traits besides the fact they both hated their ex boyfriend (which is totally deserved). Especially Maya, because at least Skye had her quirk about needing to plan everything and anything in advance. This also caused their romance to feel a bit bland, because again, they had nothing in common except the ex-bf situation. I felt almost 0% chemistry throughout the whole book :/ They were still cute, but their romance was lacking in quite a few areas.

2# I found it a bit odd that a teenage boy has dated over 6 girls. I think the plot would make way more sense if it was about a 25 year old, or just someone older, but I do get that Sophie Gonzales is a YA author which is probably why she didn't go that route. However, I do think it'd make a lot more sense because no teenage guy, especially as manipulative, sexist, and entitled as this boy is, could pull six amazing, gorgeous, lovely girls like the ones in this book. I mean, it's not uncommon for very mediocre, awful men to date amazing girls and get away with it so...maybe not so unbelievable? Just realistically sad.

3# Now for the good things!! I really liked the reality tv show environment! I've only watched a couple dating shows, but I always find them so interesting, especially the behind the scenes parts. Like, what actually happened? Did they take this shot out of context? What happens after filming is over? Obviously this is a fake show, so none of it was real, but it was entertaining to see how these questions were answered nonetheless. I liked how they showed the way the producers made the contestants twist their stories to sound better or the way they'd make them refilm fake reaction shots to use. It felt very accurate to, how I'd imagine, reality tv shows work in real life.

4# The dry humor was everything <3 Anytime Jordy would say something back-handed or entitled, the girls would have to go along with it in order to keep the producers happy, and their responses were hilarious. It was even funnier because Jordy thought they were genuine. Like no buddy, no one actually wants to hear you complain about how "life is SOO hard now that girls just THROW themselves at me. How do I know if they're genuine and not just some sl*tty gold-digger?" (yes he did call them that at one point). Maya's sarcastic responses really cleansed my soul. What an awful guy.

Overall, I think this book just didn't feel as passionate as the author's other books. I'm not sure how to explain it, but I just didn't feel the love or connection that usually shines through Sophie's other works. I think it's still very entertaining and worth a try, but I believe it could've been way better and there was some lost potential. However, don't let me discourage you from reading this book because maybe you'll love it more than I did!!

The Taylor Swift title reference is what originally drew me to this book, and it totally matched the vibe. It goes back and forth between getting back with Jordie and never talking to him again. I liked not knowing where all the other girls stood with him as it added to the pressure on them. The book totally delivered on the drama to go along with the plot, it very much reminded me of the Bachelor but with more of the drama that makes it so addictive. However, this book fell flat with the dimension. It was a fun read but extremely predictable. Typically that is part of the run in a romance novel but I wasn’t drawn to pick up the book over what I was doing. There was so much build up between Skye and Maya but then their big moments happened without any large fanfare from the two. The moment on the cliff at night between them was the highlight of the book but I cringed during the isolation week after the show wrapped. And just a side note, I would raise their ages slightly because although it was in another country, it’s not common in many countries and I had to keep reminding myself of both facts, so I couldn’t really connect with them through similarities.

“Ah, so he calls me up and he's like, "I still love you"
And I'm like, I'm just, I mean this is exhausting, you know?
Like we are never getting back together, like, ever” - TS

I absolutely adored this book. It made me so so smiley😊. This book is a mix of several of my favorite things. Taylor swift title reference, reality dating shows, revenge and of course, sapphics. Jordy is the perfect narcissistic villain. I wish there was more of a build up between maya and skye but that’s just cause I’m a sucker for angst. I know that it was set in Europe so drinking at 18 is okay, but I wish it was written as new adult instead of ya.

Overall this was a fun queer read and I would definitely recommend!

I was lucky enough to get ahold of an ARC for one of my most anticipated releases of 2022: NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER by Sophie Gonzales.

NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER follows bisexual Maya, who joins a Bachelor-style dating show designed to let her cheating ex Jordy re-date all his exes to find the one that got away. But Maya’s not interested in getting back together: instead, she plans on making it to the end just so she can reject him on live television. When Skye, the girl Jordy cheated on Maya with, finds out about Maya’s plan, they make a pact to help one another tear Jordy down once and for all.

NEGBT is brimming with drama, excitement, and a romance far more satisfying than you’d find on any reality show. There are so many highlights—far too many for me to list out in a single spoiler-free review—but for just a few:

First, the romance. The relationship between Maya and Skye and its evolution from rivals, then partners-in-crime, to romance is Gonzales writing at her finest. Maya and Skye are such fully developed characters who complement each other so well that you’re rooting for them to get together, even when they’re at each other’s throats.

The setting would make it easy for the competing girls to all hate one another. Instead, Gonzales deftly writes each of them as multi-dimensional characters and even when they’re in opposition to one another, there’s never a sense of internalized misogyny.

You might have noticed in my brief description that I mentioned Maya being bi. Since the central premise involves two girls on a competition to win a man who fall for each other instead, the two main girls being bi is essential to the plot. It’s great to see a romance between two bi girls, where their relationship is kept secret not from fear of being outed but from the need to pretend they’re in love with someone else as part of a revenge scheme.

It's refreshing.

On that note, Jordy. Yes, he’s a highlight of this book. Not for being likable—good grief, not for that. No, Jordy is a highlight as one of the most infuriating villains I have read this year. Gonzales does an outstanding job of writing him with enough charm that you can get glimpses into what made Maya and Skye fall for him—and then he says or does something awful that reminds you of why Maya’s set on vengeance.

The last 40% of the book had me constantly screaming. I might’ve been tempted to throw my kindle across the room, except I wouldn’t dare do anything that would cause a delay in getting to read the next page.

NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER comes out on December 6 of this year, and I can’t recommend it enough. Anyone who’s ever watched the Bachelor and thought that the women were way too good for the guy they were fighting over (and maybe rooted for them to start dating each other), this book is for you.

This is a fantastic book with compelling characters and entertaining dialogue. I would highly recommend this book to readers looking for sapphic romance!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Publishing for an arc of this book! It came a surprise and I am very grateful.

4.5 !! I will actually consume anything that Sophie Gonzales has written and this one was so good I have been waiting for her to write a sapphic book and she did not disappoint. It was such a fun cute rom com that I couldn't put down and I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time.
Things I really liked about the book:

The setting. I thought the design of the game show was really unique with the whole only ex’s thing. I really liked it as a take on modern dating shows

Female friendship. Yes the ship is really cute but also all of the girls being friends and then kicking ass was very cool. Even though it starts as a competition they end up on good terms which I loved. No women hating women!

The ending. Jordy getting what he deserved was very satisfying. I felt the last book of hers “If this gets out” ended sort of abruptly but this one wrapped up very nicely.

Again, it was just very cute and made me very happy

Things I didn’t like so much:
Sykes main personality trait was that she thought things through and Mayas was that she was more impulsive? Other than that I actually could not tell you a single thing about them. They were both really fun main characters, I just wish they had a little bit more depth? I guess that's what I'm trying to say? Or maybe something that made them stand out a little more? They were just missing something that makes me become attached to a character. The plot was so enjoyable that this didn't affect my reading of the book at all but looking back It's just something that I noticed and something that I know Gonzales can achieve from reading her other work.

That's honestly it. For a YA romcom it was really well done (and I actually have a tendency to give YA romcoms 3 stars so this is one of my favorites). I would say it's perfect for fans of “Better than the Movies' ' or any of Gonzales' other works.

I struggled with this one! Why would there ever be a dating show focused on a bunch of teenagers? Why the weird royalty aspect that doesn't do anything but establish fake stakes?;

I think this would have been much more successful as a new adult novel focused on people just out of college instead of just going into college. Some fun characters and banter but just couldn't get past the weird setup.

This was a wonderful story that made me think of the movie John Tucker Must Die except better. I love a good girls teaming up story and how open and honest it felt, I loved how Skye and Maya had preconceived notions about each other because of their shared ex and overcame it to look at the source. Perrie was probably my favorite character even more than the romance. But I am one of those people who loves a well written side character. Anyway, do yourselves a favor and go read this magic.

3.75/5 ⭐️

i heard sapphic enemies to lovers and bachelor-type plot and i was sold. it was really entertaining and i always wanted to find out what was going to happen next. although, i thought it was sometimes underdeveloped and cringey. the book felt more focused on the mmc than the two wmc’s relationship which was disappointing. but, overall the plot was entertaining! it was a fun read to fly through when i needed something light. :)

comes out december 6th!! thank you @netgalley for the e-arc :) 💗

The Bachelor meets John Tucker Must Die but make it sapphic. Also, the Taylor Swift inspired title?! All of the yes! 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻

I already enjoyed Sophie Gonzales as an author going into this so I had high expectations and I was not disappointed. There are two bisexual MC’s (Maya and Skye) and a fun cast of other characters.

Maya is called up by reality TV producer Gwendolyn to come on a reality show to date her ex boyfriend, Jordy, again. Maya then tells her that she’d rather not date satan again, thanks. However, after some consideration and a call from Jordy she decides to go on the show…for revenge.

As soon as Maya gets to the set she’s roomed with the girl Jordy cheated on her with, Skye and things start off quite rocky.

I won’t give much more away but the way that the friendships (and something more for some of the characters…) develop and grow is authentic and relatable. Much like my favorite part of watching the show The Bachelor, the way the girls on Second Chance Romance bond (by the end) is absolutely delightful.

This was absolutely adorable and so fun to read

Five Stars
⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank You to Wednesday Books abs NetGalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was a really great romance book, and I LOVED the enemies to lovers.

I wanted just a little more depth to the main characters and have them explore their deeper connection just a bit more than the author did. Although, that being said, I really did enjoy how light this book was and how cute the premise of the book was.

I also kind of felt like the revenge plot was a little tired by the end, and I wish they would have given us more of the "shooting" of the show. It felt like the book became very much not about the show they were shooting when they both wanted to stay to get to know each other.

Overall, this was a super cute book AND they stay together at the end.

Sophie Gonzales never misses!

The premise was so fun and done, I thought, believably and well. The ending was also satisfying and stemmed naturally from both Maya and Skye's characters and arcs, and I loved how Jordy was able to get what he deserved at the end as well.

Maya and Skye were both distinct characters with strong arcs and strong development and recognition of their flaws. Gonzales is expert at writing realistically flawed characters who mess up, sometimes dramatically, but whom you still end up rooting for. I also liked Skye and Maya's relationship and how after the truth came out there was no pettiness and they were able to reconcile easily, understand each other, and work together. I liked how they fit together and tempered each other's flaws and weaknesses.

I loved how developed the side characters (specifically the other girls) felt and how their relationships with both Maya and Skye progressed. The 'never have I ever' Jordy version scene was so clever and made me laugh. On that point, Gonzales's writing style is so conversational and natural, distinct to each character, and funny! I always enjoy reading it.

Overall, another hit from Sophie Gonzales. I will read anything this author writes.

I want everyone to play a game with me for a second: go to any sapphic book in existence, find the reviews saying they couldn't connect with the romance, and see how many of them have reviewed multiple mm books saying they loved it. Did you get 100%? Me too!

Funny how when two boys look at each other it's sweet and soft and precious but if two women get their moment suddenly the romance is dry and you just weren't feeling it. We see you doing this on every book sapphics ever get, and we're tired of you all. Just say you hate lesbians and go away and leave us to enjoy our romances in peace.

Sorry for hijacking this review with my rant, I have just had it up to here with the way straight women talk about ff romance!!!!!!!!

Never Ever Getting Back Together is a ya romcom about Maya, a potty-mouthed, impulsive, extremely thoughtful girl who goes on a reality show to get revenge on her cheating ex boyfriend. There, she becomes roommates with the girl he cheated on her with, Skye, an independent (read: scared of romance), Type A girl with some questionable morals who is happy to go very cold on someone if they hurt her. Their shared ex Jordy is a total asshole, a misogynist, who's also super charming, a good liar, a great manipulator, and has some serious issues of his own when it comes to the spotlight being on his sister and not him.

It took me about ten chapters to get used to the tone of the book: it's almost absurdist, bordering on satirical, with some cartoon logic. If you're the kind of person who can suspend their disbelief around characters acting over the top, and the somewhat wild premise (though when I think about it, plenty of people on the bachelor are in their early 20s, as are half the girls on the show, so it's not that ludicrous), then you'll find it easy to vibe with this. If you like your contemporaries down to earth, you might find this harder to vibe with.

I really enjoyed this read. It was about a 4 for me until the end, but the twists actually blew my mind. I thought I knew where it was going, then I didn't, then I didn't again, then I didn't again. It's hard to surprise me, so I'm gonna bump this up to a solid 4.75, rounded up to 5 for goodreads.

Oh. My. God.
I cannot say enough good things about this book!! I was HOOKED from the very first page, and found myself itching to read more any chance I got. It's funny, dramatic, heartwarming, and super super adorable.
Maya gets an invite to be on a reality tv show, where her cheating ex-boyfriend Jordy re-explores his past relationships to find the one who got away. She goes on seeking revenge, and along the way finds love instead - but not with Jordy.
It's a beautifully written queer love story, with all of the tropes I love most - enemies to lovers, the oblivious denial, and a well-deserved revenge plot. This book had me squealing in excitement and biting my nails in anticipation at the drama. I just know this is going to blow up on booktok when its released, and I can't wait to recommend this to everyone once it comes out!!!

3.5 ⭐️

This book is dual pov, following Maya and Skye. Both girls are invited to participate in a reality TV show called Second Chance Romance where they date their ex boyfriend. Maya and Skye accept the invitation with different motivation. They end up being roommates at the mansion the TV show will be recorded at. Maya hates Skye for being the girl Jordy (ex bf) cheated on her with, thinking that Skye knew about her. They eventually become friends and even co conspirators. They both begin to fall for the girl who’s trying to seduce the man that broke their hearts.

my thoughts:
I was really looking forward to read this book, but I felt really disappointed because of the corniness and cheesiness (not in a good way). Characters were really unlikeable and did not have a lot of depth. Definitely enjoyed this book more in the 20-40%. Beginning was kind of boring, and the ending felt really dragged out too. I especially didn’t like Jordy. High-key a sexist egomaniac jerk.

Overall: not bad, very unique, but didn’t like the execution/maybe not even the concept?!

This is more like a 3.5, but goodreads doesn’t let me do that. Anyways. Maya dumped her cheating ex-boyfriend Jordy 2 years ago. Now she gets a call from a tv producer to appear on a Bachelor type reality tv show where Jordy will be dating various exes to find The One Who Got Away. She agrees, planning to get her revenge on Jordy on film. Of course, she ends up rooming with Skye, the girl Jordy cheated on her with. Soon enough, they’re teaming up to take Jordy down and also falling for each other in the process.

Cool concept, but…it would’ve worked better if they were all older. Like, it’s weird that they’re doing all this with a bunch of 18 (though I guess some are 19 or 20) year olds. I hear The Bachelor and immediately think Drama ™, but the drama felt kinda low stakes all throughout. That said, Maya and Skye’s romance was very cute.