Never Ever Getting Back Together

"I think our ex-boyfriend might be a psychopath, you know.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”

I somehow didn't realize this was a YA book going in. I'm sure I knew it at some point back when I bought it, but my brain refused to retain this information. So I was a tiny bit disappointed at first to be faced with all the late-teens messiness... up until I got a few chapters in and, wow, yay! Late-teens messiness! Excellently well-done and so dramatic and just what a reality show book should be! Honestly, I just loved it so much. Even though I do still feel that the whole "second chance romance! the one that got away!" premise of the reality show in the middle of it all makes little sense when most of the characters are 18-ish. Like, how does a guy that age already have that many exes for the producers to pick and choose from? Wouldn't it overall make more sense to create this type of show with people in their mid-twenties and beyond who already have some histories and baggage? Really, the premise is shaky when you think about it too hard, and yet the execution was so entertaining it got me to suspend my disbelief.

Even though this book has a Swiftie title, the songs that played in the back of mind as I read were definitely Olivia Rodrigo's (mostly Vampire and Deja Vu, if you're curious). Considering that the teen celebrity drama that inspired the book's idea, according to Sophei Gonzales's post about it on Goodreads, was the Olivia-Sabrina-Joshua triangle, I'd say it speaks well of the author's ability to capture the vibes. 

A lot of the plot here hinges on various miscommunications, and normally, I'm wary of the trope, but here, it just works so well. Not really in the "all of their reasons to miscommunicate make rational sense" way, but more like, "half the time they'll all being so messy and petty and overdramatic, and yeah, I can see how that's exactly the point." Interestingly enough, somehow most of the characters work through it all toward sharing a bunch of genuine, empathetic moments, and those ended up blending surprisingly well with the drama. I really liked how, in spite of the whole premise being "show business pits girls against girls for the sake of entertainment," these girls all found their own ways to bond and grow and be so much more than accessories to the guy in the middle of it all. I was particularly proud of Kim's choices revealed very very late in the book.

The romance itself was pretty cute with some serious moments. I liked how Maya's issues overlapped with Skye's and how their relationship got them to inspect and evaluate a bunch of their choices. I also liked how easy to tell apart their voices were in the early part of the book. Unfortunately, that was something that didn't quite last through the entire book. In some ways, it made sense they would pick up some turns of phrase and such from each other while spending time in such close quarters. But it felt more like an overall blending of two previously distinct voices, and I guess I would have liked a bit more editing to prevent that.