Never Ever Getting Back Together

• Author: Sophie Gonzales
• Genre: Romance
• Publication Date: November 29, 2022
• Publisher: Wednesday Books

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: infidelity, gaslighting

It’s been two years since Maya dumped her cheating ex-boyfriend, Jordy, and she still can’t escape him. Jordy has captured hearts globally as the eligible young bachelor whose sister has married into royalty—perfect fodder for a new reality show where he’ll get to re-date his exes and find the one that got away. Maya’s made the cut, but she’s not interested—that is, until she realizes she can exact her revenge and publicly break Jordy’s heart.

Enter Skye, the beautiful, charismatic girl Jordy cheated on Maya with. How is Maya supposed to live with this girl for six weeks? But there’s more to Skye than meets the eye, and she might be rooting for team Maya. If they can keep their unexpected chemistry from interfering, they just might have a chance to take Jordy down and find true love.

I loved the idea of getting public revenge against a douchecanoe ex on a reality show and showing the whole world who he is. I loved it even more when it also involved two of the contestants going from enemies to lovers and having a queer romance with each other instead of falling back in love with their ex. So it’s safe to say that this was one of my most anticipated reads from my list of ARCs.

Pretty sure most of us have come across at least one guy who comes across as sweet and genuine, the whole package, but winds up being a lying, manipulative jerk. The name “Jordy” should have been a dead giveaway, but I digress. Let me tell you—this guy was absolute trash. Like, throw the whole man out. He was completely irredeemable. I hated him intensely right from the start, and not just because we get to see Maya’s version of the story first. He’s simply awful.

After reading both Maya and Skye’s perspectives, I could easily see how both of them thought they were right, and how the two of them were ripe for confrontation from the start. And of course, throw in hurt feelings and anger that results from that and you get some pretty strong miscommunication. Which doesn’t help to resolve the conflict. It’s pretty clear that Maya is being set up to play the villain in the show, no matter how she is in real life, but I liked how instead of the girls getting catty and backstabbing, the characters generally behaved in a friendly and cooperative manner.

I especially loved seeing Maya and Skye resolving their conflict and not only becoming friendly, but acting on their attraction to each other. However, they also have to navigate the fact that they’re both on a show where they have to pretend to be attracted to their ex, and compete against each other, along with Maya’s desire to get revenge on Jordy and publicly humiliate him.

Both of the main characters wound up showing a lot of growth, and I loved reading this book. It was a fun and fluffy read for the most part, and although it touch on some heavier topics, like parental abandonment and the issues that go along with that, as well as the fear of homophobia, and trust issues that go along with cheating and gaslighting, it was a great and enjoyable read. I’m definitely going to be reading more books by this author!