Doesn’t everyone always wish they could have a second chance with their ex? Maybe to try and show them what they’re missing… or maybe just to give them a piece of their mind. This is exactly what happens to Maya, who is invited onto a Bachelor-esque reality Tv show where she competes with other girls to try and win the heart of their mutual ex, Royal adjacent (it’s never really explained) Jordy. But Maya thinks Jordy cheated on her and is out for revenge, and Skye thinks Maya is the jealous, stalking ex girlfriend. Will the two girls overcome their differences or will it be a battle for not-prince Jordy’s (again, I’m really not sure where the royal thing comes into it) heart?

I was initially drawn to Never Ever Getting Back Together because of its title (and it will definitely appeal to most Swifties) and at first was turned off - I thought it was too basic and the plot holes bothered me too much. But I was so charmed by Maya and Skye and their fellow ex girlfriends and this ended up being a super fun, light hearted romance which I would definitely recommend. My only problem (and it’s not even that) was the age of the characters - their history and decisions would make a lot more sense if they were 25 rather than 20, but I think this is a choice to appeal to more of a YA market.

While on the whole I enjoyed this book, it never sat right with me that the characters were 18-20ish. I get that for it to be marketed as YA they need to be young, but putting a load of teenagers into a Batchelor-style reality show just felt icky to me. It would have worked much better marketed as romance, with everyone aged up into their mid-20s.

That said, Jordy was a fun villain and the exes competing for his attentions felt individual and well-drawn. I read it in a few hours on holiday, and it was great escapism, but not my favourite book of Gonzales’.

SOPHIE GONZALES DOES IT AGAIN

This book was so fun from start to finish!

An excellent revenge plot, a smarmy guy, 2 fantastically realistic women, and brilliant bisexual representation!

Also I would die for Maya, and am 100% a Skye (planning to have plans is a legit way to go through life!)

If you love reality TV shows, this is definitely the book for you!

This new YA novel from Sophie Gonzales focuses on a reality show, where Jordy's ex-girlfriends are invited back to compete for his affection and the ultimate prize - Jordy! I expected this book to be the story of just the reality show but it was so much more. I started off team Maya, furious that Skye was even part of the show, but that didn't last long! I very quickly found myself rooting for both girls in their mission of destroying Jordy.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This fell slightly short for me, which was disappointing as it was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023.
I really liked the concept, and love rom-coms set in the reality show setting ('The Charm Offensive' is one of my all-time favourite books), but with this being a YA, it felt slightly uncomfortable. Having this group of mostly 18-year old girls fighting to flirt and have alone time with their ex felt quite off-putting and unrealistic, which would have been fixed quite easily by ageing these characters up. In addition to this, although I mostly enjoyed the main romance of the novel, I did find the two main characters fairly unlikeable, especially Skye, as well as finding Jordy a little too easy to hate. There's very little complexity to him as a character, with his main trait being misogynistic and cruel to the other women, with very little depth to him at all. He's a simple villain and evil ex, which is fine, but there's just not much to him as a character at all, which feels slightly off, considering he's the star of this reality show.
This being said, there were some aspects of the book I enjoyed. I enjoy Sophie Gonzalez generally, and like her writing style, this just didn't really hit the mark for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Children's Group for this eARC!

whilst not being a huge fan of reality dating shows, I liked the concept and enjoy reading books with that theme, and this book was really fun and explored a lot of different aspects and tropes associated with reality shows. I thought it would make more sense to adjust small details about the book, for example making the male lead an influencer or someone in the entertainment field, as opposed to a member of the royal family as that felt quite abstract.

The story was fun to read, and I read it quite quickly but struggled to tell the two main characters apart whenever the pov alternated, as they were written quite similarly and had a lot of inconsistencies with their personalities, which I hope was just because it was an arc that I read.

Overall, it was another enjoyable book, but I think if it were written for an older audience there would have been more room to develop ideas and have more drama, which I felt the book and show aspect was really missing.

I am a big Sophie Gonzales fan, particularly the sublime 'Perfect on Paper', so was very excited to read her new book which brings the characters into the world of reality TV. Jordy is the star of this new bachelor style TV show 'The One That Got Away', a heartbreaker but also internationally beloved as a hot philanthropist. The show sees six of his ex-girlfriends come on the show to battle it out for a second chance at his heart. We follow the dual narrative of two scorned ex-lovers, Skye and Maya. Maya in particular is hell-bent on revenge for the way Jordy treated her. Will she succeed or will she find she loses her heart to someone else in the process?

I love a reality TV trope so I went into this desperate for a classic Sophie Gonzales crossed with the fun humour and game show stakes found in books like 'One to Watch'. Whilst I adored Maya and Skye, the fact that Jordy is utterly horrible and deserving of any revenge coming to him made the reality TV elements of this less exciting. I was much more invested in Maya and Skye than I was in any of Maya's quest for revenge so many of the competitions to win dates with Jordy etc. felt like the filler between the real romance.

Overall, I enjoyed the premise of this one and the Maya and Skye dynamic. I think the game show could have been a bit more nail biting if we did not already know about Jordy's real self from the start! As always, I look forward to reading Gonzales' next novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Personally not one for me. I struggled with this because of the reality TV aspect which I didn't realise was such a huge part of it going it as I rarely read blurbs as I love to go into books blind. I can see it going down well with a different crowd though.