2 stars

This book had so much potential but sadly it was wasted.
I picked it up because I love Mythology and the concept sounded great but as soon as I saw that Brynn was the typical 'not like the other girls' character I checked out of the story.
The plot didn't help either because most of the characters annoyed me. Val in particular was infuriating which let me to skimmed parts of the book because I just couldn't stand to read her parts.
Overall I think this book it's for very young audiences in the YA genre, maybe that's why I couldn't enjoy it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

What happens when you find out your best friend’s foster sister is actually the Greek goddess, Aphrodite? And you’re falling in love with her boyfriend? That’s where Brynn finds herself during her senior year of high school. The more she tries to deny her feelings, the more circumstances keep putting her on a path with Adam and in conflict with Val/Aphrodite.

It definitely takes some willful suspension of disbelief to buy into an ancient Greek goddess hanging out in high school, but overall, it’s a cute story about friendship, family, and the power of love. There are some tense moments (particularly when a certain high-powered “Dad” gets involved). It’s a fun ride though with a sweet ever-after ending. There is a lot of typical, high school drama that is all dealt with in mature, positive ways. A few potentially upsetting themes are parental divorce, a parent committing adultery, an asthma attack, and people being caught outside in a lightning storm.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review

This was a bit of a frustrating read for me. The concept is so strong, and could easily be a 5 star read if executed correctly. It just happens that this wasn't executed very well at all. I found a lot of these characters to be unreasonable.

Let's start with Brynn's parents. Brynn doesn't get along with her mother because Brynn isn't the perfect Barbie her mother always hoped she would be. Then there's also the part where Brynn catches her mother having an affair, and Brynn is just supposed to get over that betrayal and stop disrespecting the guy her mother was hooking up with. When her father moves out, Brynn wants to live with him, but her parents somehow decide that the most important thing is for her to get along with her mother instead. Every time Brynn talked with her father on the phone, it was the same conversation, just with different words, and it was honestly tedious to read after the second time around.

Then there's Val. Look. I get it. She's Aphrodite, and love is the most important thing to her. But the way she went about doing things was manipulative and irritating. I mean, even Nina (who is supposed to be her sister) would tell Val to shut up sometimes because of how insensitive she was being. It didn't matter what Brynn had to say, Val always had some argument lined up as to why it's so important that Brynn finds love. Never mind the fact that she's a teenager and could easily worry about finding love in college or even later in life.

Then there's Brynn. She's the typical 'not like the other girls' character. It felt like she was arguing just to argue instead of actually having a point at times. Sometimes I could see what she was trying to get at, but most of the time, I couldn't really see the point of her behaving the way she was.

Like I said, I love the concept behind this story. But I wish it had better characters because it was just exhausting to read

Thank you Netgalley for the e-Arc in return of my honest review.

First off I would like to say I have a record of reading books in genre of NA fantasy, teen romance and YA fantasy. So, altogether I would say this book didn't work that well with me. This book was little annoying for me as it was supposed to be written for very young readers maybe. But I don't think even teen readers should read it as the narration was not up to the mark and was not at all engaging too. I couldn't relate to the part where Greek goddess lives in a normal world.
This book was not for me.

I loved this book, it was a cute and easy read, and I really, really liked Brynn as a main character. She was relatable and funny, and she's different to most protagonists of YA romances, which I really loved.

The whole Greek mythology thing was so interesting to explore, and I really liked how it was revealed. That scene was one of my favorites, honestly. While I did like that, I didn't like Val- at all. She annoyed me from start to finish and I just couldn't bring myself to like her.

Brynn and Adam was my favorite part of the whole book. I adored the little moments leading up to the end, and I was rooting for them from the very beginning, and I'm sure I would've been even if their relationship wasn't hinted at in the synopsis. The scene with the stars was by far my favorite scene in the entire book, and I love them together, and as individual characters, though I do wish we got to learn a little more about Adam and losing his mother.

Also Nina! I loved her so much, she was such a good friend and always so kind. And her and Gabe have my whole heart, I wish we had gotten to see a little more of them.

Overall, it wasn't the best book I've ever read. It had a lot of cliches, and it was fairly predictable, but I still loved it, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an easy and fun read with humor, romance, and friendship.

I wanted to love Never Say Never but it just never clicked for me. The idea of Aphrodite, goddess of love, and promising to show Brynn why she should give on love intrigued me. Unfortunately, it never really worked. Part of the problem was I never really liked Byrnn or Val. I felt they were all written really young, this book reads more like a MG than YA. I also didn't know you could make Aphrodite annoying, but as Val she was very annoying. Overall, It's a unique idea with lots of promises. I just wish it was written for an older audience and they let Val act more like a goddess. I think lots of people will love this book but for me it was just okay.

Overall I enjoyed the story and think students would too however I feel the Greek mythology did not actually help move the story along. The description talked about the girl's best friend actually being Aphrodite the goddess of love which she was. It just felt like an unnecessary addition to a young adult romance. The character could have been just as easily a good friend trying to help another friend find love.
Other than that it was a good story and had real world elements that students would like.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the initial concept of this book: Greek Goddess in disguise as a teenage girl trying to help her friend find love. The delivery of this premise, however, fell very flat.

The book would suit a younger audience, more teen than YA, but I do not think the target audience will be able to relate to the characters at all as there is rarely a mention of social media. Modern teenagers' lives are dictated by social media. This novel felt like it was written about teenagers 15 years ago rather than in present time (which I think it is supposed to be set, but this is vague).

The "mythology" in this book is poorly researched and badly executed. At the start there is a mention of the characters studying the Trojan War which seemed a promising lead-in to Val revealing who she was but the author promptly forgot about it.

The characters were difficult to like, especially Val who was downright irritating. Brynn made it very clear from the outset she was not interested in love and yet Val continued to pressure her to find it, despite the fact they are supposed to be teenagers? As an immortal goddess you'd think she would have better things to do than try to force awkward teenagers to find love.

This is one of those books you read and you're like what just happened. That was this book for me. I picked it up because of how cute the cover was and by the end of the book i was in love with not just the story but the characters as well especially Brynn and her friendship with Nina.
This book is a perfect blend of Ya and Mythology which honestly was an exciting concept maybe because this is the first book I've read this way but somehow Ms.Manzano makes it normal and interesting. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something sweet and loves a dash of mythology with it.

This concept was so intriguing which is what led me to read this book, to begin with! While I will say that it was bland in some ways, this book definitely went above and beyond with the plot even if the love interest was so-so! Regardless, it was a good book that deserves some recognition and love!

Cute characters that were easy to identify with. A fun easy read that you wanted to finish. I read this in one sitting.

I have read many YA books over the last years but for me it was more for teenagers than really young adults.
The topics are quite typical of high school : love, family and future but the fantasy twist (even if I knew about it from the beginning) just lost me.

I truly believe that it was a great idea to put Greek Gods in the 21st century... I guess I am just too much of an adult to really appreciate the characters and the gap between what was believable and what wasn't. But I could reread this book when my kids are teenagers and I have to deal with their high school crises - hopefully none of the drama that some of them had experienced.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an eArc in exchange of an honest review.

Never Say Never by Justine Manzano is a book that definitely brings milleninals back to our high school years filled with family drama, new relationships, and discovering who we and our friends are.

Brynn Stark is a senior in high school on the brink of graduation. Beyond high school, she and her bff Nina are to share an apartment in NYC and go to college together, but first she has to deal with her fragile relationship with her mom, her parent's imploding marriage, and going on a series of dates that Val aka Aphrodite, the goddess of love, keeps setting her up on. After multiple dates with different Mr. Wrongs, Brynn starts to catch feelings for Val's boyfriend Adam, who has this way of always defending Brynn or supporting her right when she needs it the most. Suddenly, Brynn is now caught up in a love triangle she desperately is trying to avoid. Does Adam like her back? Can she ignore her feelings for the sake of her friendship with Val?

Never Say Never is the perfect teen fantasy  rom com to take to the beach or to hide in your notebook during class. It's a decent read with relatable characters and quippy come backs.

The teen angst and subtle comments about Brynn's low self esteem was so honest, it brought back memories. The way her friends supported her and loved her reminded me of the friendship in the 1000 acre woods; how depressed Eeroye is, but his friends still show up for him the same way. I loved this about the book.

I wish Aphrodite's goddess behavior was written stronger because she feels less like a god and more like a human teen. If the love goddess angle was removed, I don't think the book would be much different than how it is now.

This book centers around Brynn as she navigates her parents’ broken relationship and her relationships with her friends as they wrap up high school. There is a twist (no spoilers) that has to do with mythology. This is YA but I’d say it’s more geared towards middle grade. The writing style is great for YA, especially the dialogue between friends. You definitely get flashbacks to life as a teenager! Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

This was a fun, enjoyable YA read, that had some real stand out moments of brilliant writing. Brynn is a wonderful protagonist - believable, snarky and compelling, I really enjoyed her perspective.

I didn't feel this book stood out in any way from the standard YA books on the market at the moment, but I can see it being thoroughly enjoyed by readers who are probably a bit younger than myself. The 'high school struggle' was incredibly well portrayed, even with the addition of Greek Mythology, and I feel that readers still at high school will probably connect far more with the characters and thus enjoy it far more.

3.5-4 stars. I enjoyed reading Never Say Never for the most part. It won't go up on my favorites list but it was a fun YA semi-fantasy romance. The main character, Brynn, was consistently written, and very believable, as a snarky teenager who is solely focused on what matters to her and eventually grows to care more about how other people feel while still maintaining that center of the universe-ness that teenagers all have. Reading it as an adult over 10 years out of high school, it was annoying to think I may have been similar to that (way less snarky though), which means the author captured the teenage POV very well.

While the internal struggle Brynn had was generally compelling, the book definitely had some slow moments in between a few gem moments. The scene where Val reveals herself to Brynn and Nina was a serious high point of the writing (the book was worth it for that scene alone but the ending does leave you with the warm and fuzzies too). The book doesn't rise much above fun YA semi-fantasy romance quite like some other stand out YA books but I will temper that critique with the fact that I am no longer a teenager.

I rated it as a 3.5-4 stars because it did feel like the story dragged out a bit longer than it truly needed to be before reaching a small explosion (in a fun way) of an ending. If you're looking for a fun beach read type book, I would give it a go.

Cute and fun. I read my share of YA books and found this one to be pretty typical in regard to character types and underlying tropes. I do feel this one would likely appeal more to an middle grade readership rather than an upper YA reader population due to the lingo and the simplistic plot delivery. I think the cover works well for that demographic too.

Thank you netgalley for the advance reader copy.

The premise of this book sounded so, so promising. Greek goddess friend in a contemporary world? A main character who never wants to fall in love because her mom is cheating on her dad? Sign me up.

But, I felt a little disjointed to the narrative. Ultimately, this wasn't bad or good, and it did deliver on what the premise intended, but I think I set my hopes and expectations a little too high.

Thank you to Net-Galley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Disguised in human form, Aphrodite--the Greek goddess of love and beauty--Val is determined to be a matchmaker for her friend, Brynn Stark.
I was very excited about the concept of this book, I mean Goddess Aphrodite helping you find love?! how cool is that! but unfortunately the book fell flat for me. I got bored reading it and the main character wasn't relatable. I do believe this book will appeal to a younger audience.

I chose this book because of it seemed fun and light and I always love the mention of a Greek god!

While romantic love plays a key role in this story, the true love found and learned is that of friends and family. This book was sweet and fun. Brynn and her crew have some ups and downs, and one major surprise, but they come together and figure out what life is all about.

I didn't mind that it was YA because the characters were ~18, but it felt very YA/high school centered. For that reasoning, I will say it may be more enjoyable for a younger audience than myself.

Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.