“I love you, too, by the way.”
“I thought you didn’t do love.”
“There’s a lot of things I thought I didn’t do.”
Genre: Young Adult, LGBTQIA+
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Gaslighting, toxic relationships, and cheating are a big thing here. Also, definitely some biphobia and all-round douchebag-ery.
“Never Ever Getting Back Together” follows Maya and Skye as they participate in a new reality TV show called Second Chance Romance, where they’re both competing for their ex-boyfriend’s, Jordy’s, heart. But here’s the thing, back in the day, Jordy cheated on Maya with Skye—and then spread fake rumors about Maya, and how he had actually broken up with her but she turned into a low-key stalker. That’s why Maya’s on the TV show, not for Jordy’s heart, but for revenge, while Skye does seem to have some noble intentions… Until sparks start flying between two characters, and none of those is the dumbass Jordy.
First off, if you’ve been here for a while, you know I’m a big Taylor Swift fan (aka a swiftie)—so it should be no surprise if I tell you that the main reason I was called to click on this book was because of its title, and its title alone. Now, on to the actual review.
This is the first book by Sophia Gonzalez that I have ever read but she has been a long-standing member of my TBR list—and I’ll definitely be grabbing those other books real soon.
I don’t even know how to begin to explain “Never Ever Getting Back Together”. I really like books that are set in a reality TV setting, even though I’m not a big reality TV watcher myself, and this story was honestly all I’ve been wishing to read in one of those for a long time. But if there is one thing I would’ve changed about this book was making it more PG18, rather than PG13. Just for the sake of the plot, which has the characters being in their late teens and early twenties, it just felt weird that this was a YA book.
Disregarding that, I really enjoyed the story and, above all, Sophie Gonzales’s writing. Her writing style is descriptive without being overwhelming, and it has a lot of organic, long conversations. I love when I can really see when the characters fell in love, not just some insta-love trope. (Also, it helped that I absolutely loved Maya).
Maybe its because I’m impartial to the enemies-to-lovers trope, but I just a really enjoyed this read. I would recommend this book to readers who are looking for some sapphic, reality-TV-inspired novel.
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ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.
Publication Date: November 29, 2022
“Me and Maya, we’re a good example of how first impressions don’t always set the tone for the rest of it.”
andrea's galley 