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katiehasanxiety's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment and Biphobia
bookstarbri's review against another edition
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Oh boy, no one is more surprised by this review than I am. Let me start off by saying that I adore Sophie Gonzales. I think she is such a talented writer and I will read every book she writes. But, whew, this one wasn't it for me.
From first glance, this had all the makings of something I'd love. The Bachelor-esque type show, rivals-to-lovers, disaster bis, LGBTQIA+ rep on reality tv, etc. It had ALL THE GOODS to be what I enjoy. Especially because I loved If The Shoe Fits and The Charm Offensive, I went in so excited to read this book, but by the 30% mark, I was ready to give it up and it was a struggle to finish.
What I didn't like:
-the plot: this will get a teeny bit spoiler-y. The whole point of Maya going on the show is to get revenge on Jordy. Cool. Great. Love that. But her plan is kind of dumb? At first, she wanted to go on the show and then expose Jordy for being a terrible cheater. She was going to do this by simply saying it to the cameras, but then realizes that they can and will, obviously, edit her footage and anything negative she'd have to say about Jordy. Jordy is a royal. So I'm not entirely sure why she didn't think of this to begin with. Then, she decides the best plan is to go on there and make it to the end so she can publicly reject him and ruin his image. But this plan is also stupid (which she realizes literally in the last third of the book!!!) because, again, editing and just the nature of social media, she would end up looking like the bad person in this scenario. There wasn't a lot of thought behind these plans, which would have been fine, but Maya didn't even want to go on the show to begin with, so I'm not sure why she would change her mind so abruptly and not consider these hiccups in her plan sooner.
-the characters: the characters sent me on a roller coaster ride. I didn't like Maya until probably 40% of the way through. I understood why she'd dislike Skye (there was a lot of miscommunication), but she was actually pretty mean to Skye when basic context clues could've told her that obviously Jordy manipulated Skye into believing something else about their relationship. Especially bc of how much Jordy manipulated the public into believing things about her, you'd think Maya would've picked on this sooner.
I liked Skye a bit more but then I'd dislike her later in another chapter. It was confusing. I liked Perrie enough, but she was really the most prominent of the other ex-girlfriends and we still didn't get from her other than that she is very strategic and loves social media. Honestly, she felt like a stereotypical sidekick token Black friend.
-the general vibe: okay so I LOVEEEE this new wave of The Bachelor-esque shows in books. I love it. It's great, but the thing is: it doesn't really work for YA. This book is YA. Most of the characters are 18/19 (Jordy is 20). And this show is called Second Chance Romance where the lead returns to past relationships to see if they can rekindle a spark between an ex. This is a cool concept, but a bit weird for someone who's 20 years old, right? He didn't even really have that many exes to begin with and he dated Perrie when they were in ninth grade lol. I think the show would've worked better in a YA book if it had been a different kind of reality show. But second chance romance for literal teenagers is just odd to get behind. And it didn't bother me at first when I was reading the summary of this book prior to reading, but once I got reading, it wasn't working for me. I think if they were even just a few years older (21-24 age range), that would've been fine, but 18-20 is strange.
what I did like:
-the relationship between Skye and Maya: so this is iffy for me and I'm considering this a half-like. These two were truly at their best when they were together. They were fun and the revenge plot (though I didn't like the specifics) was fun once they were both on the same page and working together. The banter between them was funny sometimes too. But I didn't get romance vibes between them until 60% of the way through. Like one chapter they were fighting and disliked each other and then they were flirting and kissing kind of abruptly.
-the humor: Sophie Gonzales is amazing at subtle humor and there were many moments of that in this that I appreciated.
-Jordy: I DID NOT like his character at all, let me that clear. Rather, I loved how he was written. The way Sophie Gonzales wrote his character was brilliant. I found myself trying to find the good in him (like all the girls did at some time or another), and that was the whole point! It was incredibly subtle at first before we really begin seeing the red flags flare. I loved that Sophie Gonzales didn't didn't feel the need to redeem him somehow. Sometimes people are just awful and don't need a redemption arc or a reason for why they acted the way they did. I loved seeing all the girls rise above how terrible he was to them and, ultimately, look out for each other. This was my favorite aspect of the book!
I didn't love this book, but obviously many people have so far and will continue to! I hate that this wasn't the queer reality show book of my dreams like I hoped, but I'm glad Sophie wrote it as it's nice to have this rep. Thanks so much to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!
From first glance, this had all the makings of something I'd love. The Bachelor-esque type show, rivals-to-lovers, disaster bis, LGBTQIA+ rep on reality tv, etc. It had ALL THE GOODS to be what I enjoy. Especially because I loved If The Shoe Fits and The Charm Offensive, I went in so excited to read this book, but by the 30% mark, I was ready to give it up and it was a struggle to finish.
What I didn't like:
-the plot: this will get a teeny bit spoiler-y. The whole point of Maya going on the show is to get revenge on Jordy. Cool. Great. Love that. But her plan is kind of dumb?
-the characters: the characters sent me on a roller coaster ride. I didn't like Maya until probably 40% of the way through. I understood why she'd dislike Skye (there was a lot of miscommunication), but she was actually pretty mean to Skye when basic context clues could've told her that obviously Jordy manipulated Skye into believing something else about their relationship. Especially bc of how much Jordy manipulated the public into believing things about her, you'd think Maya would've picked on this sooner.
I liked Skye a bit more but then I'd dislike her later in another chapter. It was confusing. I liked Perrie enough, but she was really the most prominent of the other ex-girlfriends and we still didn't get from her other than that she is very strategic and loves social media. Honestly, she felt like a stereotypical sidekick token Black friend.
-the general vibe: okay so I LOVEEEE this new wave of The Bachelor-esque shows in books. I love it. It's great, but the thing is: it doesn't really work for YA. This book is YA. Most of the characters are 18/19 (Jordy is 20). And this show is called Second Chance Romance where the lead returns to past relationships to see if they can rekindle a spark between an ex. This is a cool concept, but a bit weird for someone who's 20 years old, right? He didn't even really have that many exes to begin with and he dated Perrie when they were in ninth grade lol. I think the show would've worked better in a YA book if it had been a different kind of reality show. But second chance romance for literal teenagers is just odd to get behind. And it didn't bother me at first when I was reading the summary of this book prior to reading, but once I got reading, it wasn't working for me. I think if they were even just a few years older (21-24 age range), that would've been fine, but 18-20 is strange.
what I did like:
-the relationship between Skye and Maya: so this is iffy for me and I'm considering this a half-like. These two were truly at their best when they were together. They were fun and the revenge plot (though I didn't like the specifics) was fun once they were both on the same page and working together. The banter between them was funny sometimes too. But I didn't get romance vibes between them until 60% of the way through. Like one chapter they were fighting and disliked each other and then they were flirting and kissing kind of abruptly.
-the humor: Sophie Gonzales is amazing at subtle humor and there were many moments of that in this that I appreciated.
-Jordy: I DID NOT like his character at all, let me that clear. Rather, I loved how he was written. The way Sophie Gonzales wrote his character was brilliant. I found myself trying to find the good in him (like all the girls did at some time or another), and that was the whole point! It was incredibly subtle at first before we really begin seeing the red flags flare. I loved that Sophie Gonzales didn't didn't feel the need to redeem him somehow. Sometimes people are just awful and don't need a redemption arc or a reason for why they acted the way they did. I loved seeing all the girls rise above how terrible he was to them and, ultimately, look out for each other. This was my favorite aspect of the book!
I didn't love this book, but obviously many people have so far and will continue to! I hate that this wasn't the queer reality show book of my dreams like I hoped, but I'm glad Sophie wrote it as it's nice to have this rep. Thanks so much to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Emotional abuse
Minor: Biphobia
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