Apparently I have a thing for books about dating shows… First I loved The Charm Offensive, and now this one captured my heart as well! Never Ever Getting Back Together was such a heartfelt, adorable and addictive read about friendship, letting go of the anger that controls you and falling in love when and where you least expect it, with wonderful well-developed characters and great bisexual representation.

The main characters in this book are Maya and Skye, who are both contestants on a reality show where their shared ex-boyfriend, Jordy, is supposedly looking for a second chance romance with one of his former exes. Maya however, is not in the show for a chance to win Jordy’s heart, but to expose to the world what a horrible, selfish, mean and manipulative person he is. The only problem is that when Maya gets to know Skye, and stop hating her for being the girl who Jordy cheated on her with, the revenge on Jordy might not even be the main focus anymore…

As always, Sophie Gonzales made a wonderful job with her characters. They are always fleshed out and relatable, both likeable and unlikeable at the same time and allowed to make mistakes and grow. I loved the dual POV from Maya and Skye and watching their love for each other develop from both sides. I also loved all the other female side characters and their strong personalities, and the way they all became friends (and not toxic competitors as is often the case in many reality shows) to support each other against their joint enemy.

I have only two minor complaints. The first one is that the beginning was a bit slow and it was a bit odd to have a reality dating show with teenagers. How many exes can you have when you’re barely 20 years old, really? It also took a bit too long for Skye to start believing Maya (or for Maya to explain the cheating situation in a way that made sense…), they really should have been able to sort that out much sooner. The other thing was the way Jordy was described. Sophie Gonzalez sure did a good job letting us readers immediately see what a scumbag he was, but I just wish that there would have been more to his character that could explain why all these smart and strong girls would ever fall for him in the first place.

But those minor complaints set aside, this was such a wonderful, fast-paced and addictive story about revenge, love and friendship with a completely nerve wrecking and unpredictable ending. I read the second half of the book feverishly, totally hooked and not able to put it down until I knew how it all would end. The writing style was so smooth and with so much banter and humor that I had so much fun reading it. But there was also so much at stake that my heart was beating nervously all the way through. I desperately kept my fingers crossed for the happy ending Maya and Skye deserved, but feared that Jordy would get away with it all as usual.

May and Skye was such a wonderful couple and I really appreciated how the bisexual representation was made in such a believable and relatable, but also warm and heartfelt way.

All in all, this was a completely adorable, sweet, witty and enjoyable romcom that I had so much fun reading and recommend with all my heart!

Thank you so much to the publisher St Martins and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this gem! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4.5 stars rounding up to 5

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​Author info:
Sophie Gonzales

This book completely blew me away! It was such an adorable and sweet, but also so heart-wrenching and gripping, story about two boy band members falling in love with each other and having to choose between risking the band and their whole careers or being allowed to be their true selves. It was also a terrifying tale showing the harsh realities of the music industry, as well as a wonderful tribute to loyalty and friendship. I read this book feverishly in one sitting, hoping for the HEA the main characters so deserved, but fearing that the evil manager or the characters themselves would cause a train wreck hindering that.

The story follows the boy band ‘Saturday’ and its four members Ruben, Zach, Jon and Angel, as they head off to Europe for an overseas concert tour together with their strict management. Everything in their lives is planned and arranged in detail for the personas they’ve been typecasted for; the clothing (even in private), their hairstyles, who they’re allowed to talk to, and what they are allowed to say or do. To live up the mass-appeal demands, Ruben has been forced to hide being gay since he was sixteen, Angel has been forced to change his name, Jon has been forced to play on his sex appeal and Zach has been stopped from writing music the way he wants to. Basically, they are treated more as products than real people. That is, until the pressure just gets too high, and Zach starts to question his sexuality, Angel starts taking drugs and Ruben just can’t take any more of his mother’s ‘feedback’ and lying about who he really is. When things get weird between him and his secret crush Zach after a kiss one night with too much to drink, the foundation for the whole band starts to crack.

This was such an amazing book! It didn’t shy away from the darkness and trauma and the problems with the entertainment industry, but it was also a heartwarming, sweet and adorable story about love and unwavering friendship. I rooted so for all the four main characters, they all completely stole my heart in their own ways. They were so complex and wonderful and my heart ached for them, especially Ruben and Zach struggling with new feelings for each other and for their right to be together in open, but also for Jon always coming second after the business for his father, and Angel for not getting the help he so desperately needed. And the friendship between the four of them was truly amazing. Even though they fought, they always had each other’s backs.

I loved the writing style and how the authors made us reader come along the four main characters’ journey from insecure, closeted, troublesome kids to young men finding their path. I also really appreciated the authentic way in which the pressure and objectification within the music industry was explored, showing the abuse of powers, the constant supervision, control and staging, the exhausting working conditions, the homophobia and marginalization of queer artists, and how young celebrities are kept isolated and risk to lose their sense of who they truly are. There were some parts that were almost too heartbreaking and I wanted to scream at the horrible persons responsible for the way the band members were treated. But there were also so many parts with hope and joy, amazing character developments, a swooning love story and, most of all, the important message that you are beautiful and wonderful just the way you are

All in all, I absolutely loved this book and recommend it with all my heart! It was such a powerful story about accepting and being proud of who you are, for wanting things and for being brave enough to chase after those things no matter how scary it feels or how hard it might make your life. It dealt with difficult topics in an honest and realistic way, but it was also such an uplifting, heart-warming, sweet and emotional rollercoaster for a love story!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this gem! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
5 glorious stars

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​Author info:
Sophie Gonzales
Cale Dietrich

This is such a delightful and entertaining YA rom com, with amazing representation and authentic characters! Highly recommended for anyone looking for a light-hearted read that at the same time discusses important themes and deals with many of the issues queer teenagers struggles with in a real way.

The story follows sixteen-year-old Darcy Phillips who gives anonymous relationship advice to her high school peers via ‘Locker 89’. Darcy is openly bisexual and has a wonderful supportive group of friends and family, especially her sister (my absolute favorite person in this story!). But she could nevertheless really need some of her own relationship advice about how to tell her best friend, Brooke, that she’s been secretly in love with her for forever. Especially when she can’t help herself from meddling in Brooke’s dating life out of jealousy. Or when things take a turn for the worse when the school hottie and swim star Alexander Brougham sees her opening locker 89 and blackmails her into being her own private relationship coach in the strive to win his ex-girlfriend back.

There were so many things I loved about this book, like the wonderful relationship between Darcy and her older transgender sister Ainsley (and the fact in itself that Ainsley was transgender but it wasn’t made into a big deal), the insightful discussions about internal biphobia and how bisexual people aren’t ‘queer enough’ if they’re in a relationship with someone of the opposite gender, all the representation including gay, lesbian, pansexual, ace and non-binary characters (to name a few), and the great dialogues. I loved the funny bantering and authentic dialogues, and how the teenage friendships were described. It was all so well done in the way issues such as crushes, jealousy, insecurity, finding your true self and where you belong, were addressed.

I must admit though that it took me a long time to root for Darcy. Normally I love flawed characters, but here I had problems connecting with her because she didn’t feel fleshed out enough for me to accept some of the double standards she had and because I just couldn’t understand her motivations at times. And the relationship with, and Darcy’s secret crush on, her best friend Brooke never felt completely believable, there was something off with the dynamics there for me. But kudos to Sophie Gonzales for not being afraid of showing Darcy’s lesser likable sides, like her selfishness, jealousy and pettiness, and for the amazing character development she let her (and some of the other characters, especially Brougham) undergo. No matter how cliché it might be, I do have a soft spot for missunderstood bad boys with hidden good hearts, so after a rough start Brougham really won me over...

All in all, this was such a delightful, sweet, adorkable and wonderful YA story that embraced and showed an amazing array of queer characters who all felt authentic and real, and opened up for important discussions about biphobia at the same time as it was a fast-paced, light-hearted and addictive read. Highly recommended!

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
Sophie Gonzales

Only Mostly Devastated is a sweet, fastpaced and gorgeous story about Ollie, who due to a family tragedy is forced to transfer to a new school after summer. A summer where he’s had the perfect summer fling with the hot basketball jock Will.

“Is this okay?” he asked.
“Was water wet? Was the day hot? Were his freckles perfect? Of course it was okay. Nothing had ever been more okay in all of human history.”

So it should be perfect that Will happens to go to the same school, right? Well, not quite, since Will isn’t out and treats Ollie like a real jerk to try and hide it…
 
I love the Grease parallels in this story! Even thought this definitely is its own story, you can really see how Will is the Danny, Ollie the Sandy and Lara the Rizzo of this Grease retelling. The characters are really well written and I adore Ollie, his little cousins, Juliette and Lara. I had problems with Will though, since he acted so unnecessarily cruel and mean at times. But in the end, he kind of made up for it.
 
Overall, this is a sweet, fuzzy and funny read while also dealing with some pretty heavy topics, like family illness, coming out, staying true to yourself and not let anyone walk all over you.
 
“All this time, I’d been wondering when my needs would start to really matter to him. Maybe I hadn’t spent enough time wondering when my needs would start to really matter to me.”
 
Sophie Gonzales made an amazing job combining these difficult topics with the lighter ones while still making it a very easy and joyful story to read. I finished this book in one sitting, ending it with a big goofy smile all over my face!

Rating:
5 stars

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​Author info:
Sophie Gonzales