Never Ever Getting Back Together, Sophia Gonzales

I wanted to love this one, I really did, but I ended up closing the book feeling entirely too lukewarm.

Get a 2nd chance at dating your ex on a reality show? Sure, if you are still really into him. But if you just want revenge for how he embarrassed and trashed you? That would feel even better. Especially because the girl he cheated with will be there, and you can take her down… maybe.

I didn’t care for Maya. Her singular focus on getting revenge was relentless, and it was distracting. Though the more I got to know of Skye, the more I liked her. This is a fun premise, though it doesn’t feel YA to me. The characters aren’t super fleshed out until individual dates or competitions, where you see activities geared towards personal tastes or strengths. They also had a ton of downtime. It seems like if you’re rooming two girls together to create tension, that time would be somewhat filmed because that makes for dramatic tv. But there really wasn’t that much filming going on.

I have an early arc, so perhaps it will go through some editing before release day to revise some inconsistencies. Like Skye swimming the backstroke around Maya, but then a few pages later, she couldn’t swim, so they were going to stage a rescue. There are some other issues, but again, my copy is early, so there might be another round of editing in store.

I was definitely way more into the relationship between Skye and Maya than the rest of the story and could have tossed the whole dating show and Jordy out. But I like how the girls eventually supported each other, most of the time, because it’s nice to see that in fiction. There are a lot of fun moments, hilarious comebacks, and quips that I think readers will enjoy. So this book had some ups and downs, but I think readers will enjoy this one, so please take my lukewarm feelings with a grain of salt. Thank you, St. Martin’s, for sending this along.

Book Links (releasing November 29th)

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About the Book

It’s been two years since Maya’s ex-boyfriend cheated on her, and she still can’t escape him: his sister married the crown prince of a minor European country and he captured hearts as her charming younger brother. If the world only knew the real Jordy, the manipulative liar who broke Maya’s heart.

Skye Kaplan was always cautious with her heart until Jordy said all the right things and earned her trust. Now his face is all over the media and Skye is still wondering why he stopped calling.

When Maya and Skye are invited to star on the reality dating show Second-Chance Romance, they’re whisked away to a beautiful mansion—along with four more of Jordy’s exes—to compete for his affections while the whole world watches. Skye wonders if she and Jordy can recapture the spark she knows they had, but Maya has other plans: exposing Jordy and getting revenge. As they navigate the competition, Skye and Maya discover that their real happily ever after is nothing they could have scripted.

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