Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Never Ever Getting Back Together

CW: cheating, explicit language, gaslighting, parent abandonment (mentioned), drowning, sexism, car accident (mentioned off-page), slut-shaming

I would like to thank NetGalley and Wednesday Books, a division of St. Martin’s Press, for providing me a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Maya ends up taking the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to humiliate her ex-boyfriend, Jordy Miller, on national TV by winning his new reality show, Second Chance Romance. However, she doesn’t take into account the fact that Skye, the girl Jordy cheated and left her for, would end up on the show. Even having to share bunk beds together, Maya and Skye realize they can work together to expose Jordy for who he is.

After reading the first chapter, I knew I was going to love this book. And rightfully so. Never Ever Getting Back Together has been getting a lot of talk in the bookish community and I was excited to have been given an e-ARC to review before it releases at the end of the year.

The whole concept of Second Chance Romance and how it's written in the book is definitely a unique component to the plot. I could not stop laughing at the production team’s attempts to get Maya to join the show. While it occasionally spurs out to say and do cheesy things, you get to see first-hand what it means to be on reality TV.

I also loved Maya and Skye’s relationship. Personally, it was great to see their banter throughout the book and their transition from enemies-to-friends-to-lovers. It also features a dual POV between Maya and Skye, which definitely helps the plot and can allow you to get inside their heads.

So if you want to read a book that takes forced proximity to a whole nother level or want to find a book that you can easily somewhat tie a Taylor Swift into, you will definitely want to read Never Ever Getting Back Together.

Content Warnings

whosfernn's review against another edition

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hopeful tense fast-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

4.25

I've been looking forward to this book since it came out, so glad I finally got the chance to read it! Cute, great bisexual representation, with a whole heap of the forced proximity and enemies to lovers tropes. One of my favourite reads of 2023 so far.

Content Warnings

lackyducks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

A fun read with a lot of emotional depth despite its positive outlook.

The story centers around two first person perspectives, that of Maya and Skye. From the get go, the narrative is good at painting Jordy as the antagonist by giving the reader a perspective the girls don't have - what he's saying to them versus the other.

The humour of the book is spot on, playing well on the media industry. It's a story that feels very apt in the current climate. The reality television clichés are plentiful, yet provide a good basis for the story to take place.

The characters all felt surprisingly well fleshed out. Even side characters we meet less often have backgrounds and inner motivation that isn't obvious at first. They feel like a well developed group, instead of just people made to fill spaces. The story is good at making antagonists of them, yet resolving it with new perspectives and sides to situations.

The story is also an optimistic showing of girls sticking together and looking out for each other. Alongside the main romance you have lots of friendship throughout the cast of girls, as they bond during the show. This comes together brilliantly at the end, and had me smiling wide.

The story is also multi-layered. Underneath the story of revenge and the dating show, you have learning to open up and trust again, trying to figure out your future and what you want to do with it. Just like a TV show, there's a lot more happening behind the scenes than first appears.

And, the book is cleverly structured where things start to fall apart for Jordy once the girls begin sharing perspectives.

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