Never Ever Getting Back Together was a book my wife pointed out to me and we both thought we would love. She was right! This was a fun story about moving on.

The premise sounded like the show the Bachelor with a little twist. They are making a reality show about a second chance at love. All the contestants were ex girlfriends of Jordy, the star of reality show. Jordy comes off as a nice guy to the public but one contestant knows the truth and tries to expose him.

Maya knows who Jordy really is. She dated Jordy and then Jordy cheated on her and spun the narrative to the public to make him look like the victim. He cheated on her with Skye, another contestant on the show and Maya’s roommate during their duration on the show.

Maya and Skye at first hate each other and it’s all because of the lies that were told by Jordy. Once the girls figure out the truth, Maya and Skye realize that they like each other. Going from enemies to lovers is an easy narrative to screw up but it’s done really well here and you will be rooting for Maya and Skye to find happiness together.

I really liked both Maya and Skye as separate characters and also as a couple but I did not really like any of the other characters. The other characters were either just cliches or uninteresting. Luckily the two main women are interesting enough to keep you invested.

This was a unique and fun premise and I recommended this one.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

Never Ever Getting Back Together is a fun sapphic romcom that has a lot of great elements but doesn't quite manage to make them all work.

I was really excited going in as I'd loved the authors' other book If This Gets Out, as well as Alison Cochrun's The Charm Offensive which also has a dating show setting with a queer twist. However, while I enjoyed Never Ever Getting Back Together and found it to be a fun romance, some things just didn't really work for me.

It was a fun setup, the characters were good if a bit bland, and I really liked the audiobook narration.

My gripes were mainly about Maya as I generally really liked Skye.

I get that Maya was incredibly upset about how her breakup with Jordy went when they were 16 but the entire premise of this book is based on her having seethed her way into adulthood and has now devoted her life to showing the world he's not Prince Charming but actually a bad guy. It's a fun premise but it did constantly remind me that the girls are all so young and to have "the one who got away" be someone you dated for a bit when you were 17 - a year or so ago just seemed a little ridiculous.

Maya and Skye were cute together but just like Skye, I worried what they'd have in common, if anything at all, once they left the show. Maya is only concerned with taking Jordy down, it's all the two of them talk about once they stop hating each other, and I didn't see much of a real connection between them beyond lust and convenience. Possibly friendship but again, entirely based on both of them hating Jordy and not much more.

A cute, fun book but probably one I'll forget I've read in a month or so.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy to review. I loved this new take on the Bachelor-like storyline. Maya and Skye are (apparently) 18 and heading to a dating show because they share an ex. Boy did he get around if he had enough exes for a whole show. All of the exes trade stories about him, though the show’s “prize” is rekindling a relationship with Jordy (that name 😝). Though Maya and Skye find their relationships overlapped and they don’t exactly see eye to eye at first, their relationship changes as they get to know each other, and ultimately fall for each other. I don’t watch The Bachelor or any of those types of shows but I still really enjoyed this fun book.

The fact that I finished this in less than 24 hours should tell you a lot. This was such a trip and honestly so much fun! It’s not perfect and it’s definitely predictable but I had a blast reading it. Truly couldn’t put it down. A quick listen on audio as well!

Story: 3.5 ⭐️
Steam: 2 🔥 closed door/YA
Audio: 4 🎧

I was VERY excited for the premise of this book. I read the description and felt like I NEEDED to read it. I was a disappointed at first but I’m glad I stuck it out to the end! Overall, it’s worth a read if you like YA romance!

Pros:
- I loved the concept, it’s so unique and I thought it was very creative.
- There were a ton of funny bits that made me laugh
- Really cute bonding scenes
- I love getting some bi rep 🙌🏻
- Kept my attention majority of the time

Cons-
- It’s YA (more below)
- Petty teenage drama
- Some of the romantic aspect between our leads felt rushed and like it wasn’t the main focus of the book


About it being YA…

I was a disappointed at the beginning when I realized this was YA and not adult. I guess this is my fault for not checking the genre but when the blurb states ““Wickedly funny [and] searingly sexy.”―Kelly Quindlen, author of She Drives Me Crazy” I expect the book to be, well… searingly sexy 😂 which it was not and my issue wasn’t the lack of smut (though that would have been fun) but with the characters ages making the storyline less believable. Our female leads are about 18 while Jordy (the male lead of the TV show) is only 20. Doing the math we see that Maya and Jordy dated when they were 16/18. I think that if these characters would have been 10 years older, this story would have been way more realistic and the stakes would have felt higher. Why would anyone wanna see 18-21 year olds dating their high school exes?

Audio:
The narrators did an amazing job and are very talented! My only note is that they both sounded more mature than the actual characters which is part of why I was confused they were 18 😂

To absolutely no one's surprise i adored this book! This book has literally everything you could ever want. There is a bachelor style premise, female friends, girls standing up for other girls, a saphic romance, enemies to lovers! I literally couldn't ask for a single other thing. I adored this and I know everyone else who reads it too!
Bonus points for Taylor Swift references!

As soon as I heard the narrator’s voice I knew INSTANTLY that this book would be a winner, as I recognized her from “One Last Stop” The bisexual representation was EVERYTHING! Jordy is a complete narcissistic ASSHOLE, who deserved everything he got in the end. I was not expecting the outcome of the two MC’s. Will be recommending this book to my book club friends. Glad I was approved this ARC via Netgalley to listen to this!

I loved this audio book. Sophie Gonzales is auto buy for me. I have read her previous books and loved them too. Her writing is funny and really like the LGBTQIA+ representation

Thank you so much for the arc!

Exactly what I expected and not at all what I expected, and I love that especially in a romance. Sophie delivered all of the angsty, heart-achy, will they won't they, enemies to lovers drama and the payoff was completely there and worth it. This book delivers what all rom com type love stories should, a rollercoaster you can't wait to keep riding and are both excited to get to the end of and never want to get off. I love how our heroines ended up falling for each other and ditching "The Bachelor" who was by all accounts a complete bag of poo.

I would also like to leave you with the caveat that I do NOT like reality shows, I do NOT watch reality shows, and I really have no interest in general IN reality shows. That being said, the packaging here really worked for me and I can't imagine this done in any other setting as well as it was here. That is to say that even if you don't like reality shows, you may just love this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an advance review copy of this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

YES! I absolutely loved Never Ever Getting Back Together. Maya and Skye are two contestants on Second Chance Romance, a dating reality show bringing together the exes of the first-season's leading man, Jordy. What Skye doesn't know is that when her relationship with Jordy began, he hadn't ended his relationship with Maya. While Skye's interest in being on the show is for love, Maya's is for revenge — and it's possible that they both might get what they're looking for. My only complaint is that this skews younger than what I was originally expecting (I think the characters are mostly 18-early 20s). Besides that, the characters are all so interesting and the plot was incredibly entertaining. Overall, this was an incredible read that I highly recommend.

4.5/5

This is a fun and romantic f/f book that is just right for anyone who is a fan of reality tv. I liked the conversations had in this book about holding grudges and the "reality" when it comes to tv programs.

I really enjoyed this book! It was fun and sort of girl-power, but not in a girl-power sort of way, if that makes any sense at all.

So, the plot is that Maya is asked to go on a second-chance romance reality TV show to try and win her ex, Jordy, back. However, Maya HATES Jordy, but she decides to go on the show to try and screw him over for lying about her after their breakup. I mean, that already sounds great. Add in 5 of his other exes, each of whom have varying degrees of love for him, and it makes for a thoroughly entertaining story.

Overall, I don't know what else to say, because I don't want to spoil any of it.

Definitely recommend!

Like if the selection and behind the scenes of the bachelor had a baby but worse. I had high expectations but this didn't follow through. I disliked all the character they're very annoying and unlikeable.

There's no build up between our MCs it went to like 30% of them fighting to them kissing the next chapter and basically having a full relationship. And the miscommunication that made Maya hate Skye, and Skye be afraid of Maya was because the man that was nothing but rude to them lied to them, but neither of them for one second was like,,, hey, maybe I should,,, believe other women who was also wronged by this man. One singular girl out of the like eight or so that start the show actually like him and I'm pretty sure it's just because he is royalty and he sends her home first. None of them like him, they all hate him, the production staff are trying to make the dates seem romantic but he's stiff and the girls are awkward and bad actors. Also the timeline moves so fast we're skipping days left and right. Like I said I had high expectations, I added this book to my goodreads when it had no cover photo and only a bio of it. Bisexual bachelor vibes where the constants fall for each other instead but have to stay on the show to stay together longer. It sounded so good, but I think I was expecting almost a love triangle where the love interest bachelor was likeable so the MC was struggling to choose between the other constant and the bachelor. Because one is her ex with a past relationship she still had love for and this other one is so fresh and new. But that wasn't this.

As for the narration specifically, avoidant of the story itself. It was a good narration and kept my attention.

I appreciate the opportunity to listen and review this digital ARC from NetGalley and St. Martins Press.

This book was just ok for me. It has gotten a lot of buzz, and I thought it just fell flat. The characters just weren’t very likable.

Maya and Skye both dated Jordy at the same time. Because of Jordy’s sweet talking both girls hate each other because of that. Two years later they are both contestants on a dating show to have a second chance at love with their ex, which leads to the two of them finally getting to talk about what went down and how Jordy is the true villain. Now instead of focusing on winning all they want to do is take him down.

I love books centered around dating shows. There’s so much drama behind the scene’s you’re bound to have a good time reading about it. But this blew me away with how much I enjoyed it.

Maya and Skye were such enjoyable main characters. And Jordy was the perfect antagonist.

The only thing I didn’t like about it has to do with the audiobook. The narrators sound identical to each other, so much in fact that I didn’t even realize there were two different people narrating until I went to log it on storygraph & saw two different names listed. This isn’t a huge problem for me but it did mean I had to pay extra close attention to which girl was which.

If you are a fan of “The Bachelor/Bachelorette” shows, then you’ll like this book! It was a fun read with a little bit of a twist.

I do feel their ages are a little unbelievable. I expected them to be at least 23 or 24 years old, not recently graduated from high school.

I picked this one because the cover and title, but I am overwhelmed at how good this book was. Sophie Gonzales put a creative spin on The Bachelor, and I fell in love with the characters, particularly Maya and Skye. I did not want this audiobook to end, and I really hope there is a sequel...

Wow! I really loved this one! A friend recommended it and said it was pure fun and I really agree! Told from the perspectives of Maya and Skye, both ex girlfriends of Jordy on a bachelor-esque style show. The two start as enemies, but quickly figure out they’re better as co-conspirators, plotting to show the world who their ex really is. This was funny, sweet and sour entertaining! I binged the whole book in about a day. The narration was fantastic too!

3.75
Overall a fun concept and a fun book.
My two complaints is their ages, I feel lime if they were all in the early to mid twenties then it would all feel more believable. It was kinda hard to back a revenge plot from a relationship that happened when they were 16...
My other complaint was the amount of cursing, it felt unnecessarily frequent (especially for ya).
Overall the books was funny and cute, just the romcom I thought it would be and worth a read especially if you like reality TV dramas and some well deserved revenge plotting.

3.5 stars

This book was a good easy book to listen to while getting chores done but I did find myself zoning out at times. Some parts felt like it dragged and was repetitive. I enjoyed the 2 POVs, however, because it was one narrator sometimes I didn't remember which girl was which. But I really liked that the story took a completely different turn than I expected!

Thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio & St Martin's Press for advanced copies in exchange for an honest review.