ARC Review: Finally Fitz by Marisa Kanter

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Finally Fitz by Marisa Kanter
Published by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers on April 23, 2024
Genres: YA Contemporary Romance, YA LGBTQ
Pages: 400
Source: the publisher
Format: ARC
My Rating:
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Blurb:

A bisexual teen girl tries to make her ex jealous by faking an Instagram romance that leads to surprisingly real feelings in this hijinks-filled rom-com perfect for fans of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and She Gets the Girl .

Ava “Fitz” Fitzgerald has worked hard to create the picture-perfect life she’s always wanted. She spent her junior year transforming her passion for sustainable fashion and upcycling into a viral online platform, maintaining a 4.0 GPA, and spending every free second with her soon-to-graduate girlfriend, Danica. And this summer she plans to take it all to the next level by attending a prestigious summer fashion program in New York City and convincing Dani that they can survive a year of long distance.

But when Dani dumps her before classes even start, accusing Fitz of being more invested in growing her online persona than deepening their relationship, she’s left not only heartbroken, but also creatively blocked.

Fitz will do anything to win Dani back, even if that means taking a break from the platform that she’s worked so hard to build. But just as she decides to go all-in on a hiatus, a chance encounter reunites her with Levi Berkowitz, her childhood best friend that she hasn’t seen since elementary school. Levi is struggling with heartbreak of his own, and this cosmic coincidence sparks a new use for her social media savvy. Fitz offers to help Levi craft a fake relationship online to make his person jealous…if in return he can pretend to be her boyfriend in front of Dani to make her jealous. If all goes according to plan, by the end of the summer they’ll both be reunited with their perfect partners and get to rekindle their friendship in the process.

Sometimes even the most carefully designed plans can come apart at the seams, though. And when real history leads to not-so-fake feelings, Fitz will have to decide if she’s finally willing to let go of what she thought was picture-perfect and choose what might actually be right for her.

My Review

This story had so much that was perfect for representing how things feel for you as a teenager, but also totally incorporated today’s social media issues, as well as having fun with social media aspects as well. It also had so much nostalgia for me in that it reminded me of the times I visited my younger sister when she moved to NYC. The subway fun, walking around and feeling alone when even surrounded by other people, but not in a bad way necessarily! All the places, the High Line, the parks, you name it. And the wonderful food choices! Even Fitz’s relationship with her sisters was something that was real and emotional. I have had my own times when I felt like my sisters were doing things without me. Although for me it was the opposite, because it was my two younger sisters.

This book has a lot of different things going on, but in such a good way, it was real, like life is. And when it is a teenager dealing with a lot of this, it makes things seem even bigger more disastrous at times. We had the fake dating trope, but also there was the aspect of how social media can become such a part of a teen’s life (or anyone these days) and cause relationship issues or even in Fitz’s case, issues with how she saw herself and what she thought she had to do in order to be successful or “perfect”. As I mentioned above there was even family issues for Fitz, feeling left out with her older sisters, her parents not seeming to realize she was serious about the fashion and not going to eventually go into something more “serious” like medicine or teaching, etc.

And oh did I adore Levi! I was so frustrated that Fitz couldn’t see he was actually interested in more than just the fake dating, and how she didn’t even get that when she talked to his ex the one time. Of course I know this is a teen story, and teens don’t always see what’s right in front of them. To be fair I don’t always see that either, lol. But Levi, his planty-nerdiness, was just so adorable! And I totally get why she was swooning over it, even if she was only doing it in her own head and not sharing it with him. It frustrated me at how Dani treated her and yet she still kept thinking there was a chance with her. Again, yeah, I know, teen, drama for a story, actually was realistic.

This was a really great story, one I can’t wait to share with my students. As it has so much in it. Besides what I’ve mentioned above, it also has the LGBTQ+ representation with both Fitz and Levi being bi. Dani being a lesbian, as well as I believe one of Fitz’s sisters also has a partner that is a woman. I liked how Fitz always referred to characters as first as they in her thoughts until there was a clear statement of their pronouns and from then on she would switch to those if they happened to be a she/her or he/him, or stick with the they/them as appropriate. I also enjoyed her time at the Pride Parade at the beginning of the story, and getting a bit of an inside glimpse at that from her being there and what she saw even as she searched for Dani to try to fix things.

About the Author

Marisa Kanter is a young adult author, amateur baker, and reality television enthusiast. She is the author of What I Like About You, As If on Cue, and Finally Fitz. Born and raised in the suburbs of Boston, her obsession with books led her to New York City, where she worked in the publishing industry to help books find their perfect readers. She currently lives in Los Angeles, writing love stories by day and crocheting her wardrobe by night. Follow her at marisakanter.com and on Instagram @marisakanter