Talented teen designer and Instagram influencer, Ava “Fitz” Fitzgerald knows this is going to be the best summer of her life! Not only does she get to spend the summer attending a prestigious FIT program in New York City, she also gets to do it while living with her girlfriend Dani. Then Dani dumps Fitz, citing her obsession with her Instagram page, If the Shoe Fitz and a devastated Fitz makes a disastrous first impression at her program. With her creativity MIA and her relationship in pieces, Fitz’s fantastic summer has imploded. But Fitz is determined to win Dani back, so she goes on an Instagram hiatus to prove she can make Dani a priority. In the midst of her life melting down, Fitz reconnects with her childhood best friend, Levi Berkowitz, who she hasn’t communicated with in years. He’s the one bright spot in her otherwise bleak life. When it seems like Dani might be moving on, Fitz concocts a new plan. Since she and Levi will be spending time catching up, they should pretend to date to make Dani and Levi’s ex jealous. What could possibly go wrong?

Marissa Kanter’s Finally Fitz is phenomenal! Outgoing, emotional Fitz has made herself small to make others comfortable. She filters herself around her parents, sisters, friends, and even Dani. But quiet, thoughtful Levi has always seen and accepted Fitz just the way she is, messy emotions and all. Watching them relearn each other and reminisce as Levi shares the magic of New York City with Fitz, one adventure at a time, was so heartwarming. It made me long for time with my childhood friends. The more time they spent together, the more they helped heal each others wounds. They have such a truly sweet bond. Kanter is amazing at digging into the teen psyche. The need to belong, the feelings of not fitting in, the hurts, the heartbreaks, the joys, the jealousies, and the acceptances. She writes relatable and realistic teen experiences and characters. A beautifully authentic book.

It’s been a while since I truly whipped through a book without taking a moment to stop and think on the craft that went into creating it. That’s a consequence of doing this job plus being a writer. I see a lot of plot "surprises" coming from a mile away, and I'm often so distracted by examining the bones of a book I forget to enjoy how the writer has fleshed them out. So it’s saying something pretty significant when I tell you that I binged Marisa Kanter's new YA romance Finally Fitz faster that a new Netflix drop. I would have finished it in a single sitting, but I do have other responsibilities, and they rudely interrupted me several times. 

The title character Of Finally Fitz is Ava Fitzgetald, a teen Instagram fashion influencer, who goes by the name of Fitz. Thanks to her trendy up cycling and large fan base, she is in NYC for the summer completing an intense program at FIT, learning how to sustainably scale up her brand. The main problem in this idyllic scenario is that her girlfriend, and also roommate for the summer, unceremoniously dumps her right before the program starts. In the most awkward living situation ever, the now ex-girlfriend also starts dating their mutual third roommate. A heartbroken Fitz can barely think, yet alone create, so when she fortuitously runs into her long lost best friend Levi Berkowitz on the 1 train he seems to be the solution to all her problems. Fitz quickly hatches a fake dating plot to make both their respective exes jealous and Levi, who is mostly in this for the help he will receive on rescuing plants, reluctantly agrees. 

The chance meet cute on the subway reminded me of how Finally Fitz came into my possession. I actually emailed the publisher, explaining the concept of BookishlyJewish, and asked for a different title. They very kindly provided that title (a review of it is forthcoming) and inquired if I might like to try Finally Fitz too. Indeed thoughtful publicist, I would. 

The thing is - not every book is on my radar. I’m small enough that most big five publishers are not exactly sending me their catalogues to peruse, and even if they did, I usually have no way to know which ones have Jewish content unless someone, ANYONE, tells me. This is why I rely so heavily on the suggest a book form and my fellow bloggers, writers, and readers who often share this information about their favorite reads with me. Still books can slip through the cracks- like this one almost did. 

Which is actually pretty ironic, because Fitz’s perfectionism and anxiety have her worrying on the page about whether she’s Jewish enough to attend a reform Shabbat service with Levi. I bet she'd be worried her book didn't belong on the website. It’s a reflection of what I have often noted- Judaism can sometimes magnify our internal mental struggles to the point where some people stop engaging with it, rather than worry about if they are doing it right. Those people need a Levi in their lives. He shows Fitz such kind and caring compassion that she can’t help but find herself developing some more than friendly feelings towards him. 

The romance is low heat, nothing more than kissing, so it’s perfect for those YA readers that enjoy a good swoon but don’t want sex on the page. This adult reader enjoyed it quite a bit too. The focus was on Fitz reconciling with herself rather than someone else magically fixing her with their love. As someone intimately familiar with how mental health can block a person from creating, I really appreciated the message and thought it was relevant for all ages of reader. 

Teenagerhood clearly looks a lot different now than when I went through it. We had no phones to build “platforms” on, and my parents were nervous to let me ride the train into Manhattan let alone spend an entire summer there unsupervised, but Kanter gives a realistic picture of what growing up this way might do to a person. The realities of being a social media personality are universal and cross age borders - and I don’t even post photos or have a huge following. Finally Fitz is also quintessentially a NYC book, with many familiar locations and outings. Locals will enjoy the references. 

I sank into this book for so many reasons, and I didn’t pause to think over how I would frame it, or what angle I needed to take in the review. Much like Fitz, I learned to just enjoy the ride. I’m still struggling with waiting for the other part of my art and creativity to return, it’ll take as long as it takes I guess, but this post was easy to write. That is no small gift from a novel.

An utterly charming and sweet story of 17-year-old Ava 'Fitz' Fitzgerald, an aspiring fashion designer and budding influencer fake dating her childhood best friend Levi to win back her girlfriend Dani who dumps her after they arrive in New York for summer internships. I breezed right through this heartwarming tale, tearing up during many moments as Fitz struggles to find her way; always feeling not good enough, not Jewish enough, or not fitting in.

Melissa Kanter sensitively handles mental health, slowly weaving in a portrait of a teenager struggling with with perfectionism, burnout. I also appreciated the realistic way family issues were handled, with some of my favourite scenes being between Fitz and her sisters not realising their 'baby' sister felt excluded instead of protected.

I adored the calm, assured way Levi is always there for Fitz, even when she's clueless to his feelings for her, and struggling to come to terms with her feelings for him. What is refreshing is the way miscommunication is deftly addressed and handled. These *are* teenagers after all, yet I found them far more mature than some mature people!

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you Simon and Schuster for my copy! All thoughts are my own.

I have always loved reading YA and Marissa Kanter has become one of my favorite authors in the subgenres! Her last book, As If On Cue, so perfectly captured what it means to be a theatre kid that it remains a book I think about often! I was so excited for a summery NYC book and oh my gosh, did I love it. If you love New York, this book is a love letter to the city. It’s full of sticky, sweaty subway rides and finding the hidden gems within the bustling streets. It made me miss New York so much!

Synopsis:

“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.” —NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Setting—This book is so New York and I loved it so much. I missing living in NYC every single day so I loved getting to visit through these pages. I know the author used to live in the city too and the love was so evident.

The Banter—One of my favorite parts of Marisa’s writing is the banter between the characters! I loved how sweet and gentle Levi was and Fitz was so fun.

The Sister Relationships—I loved that Fitz had to navigate how it feels to be the youngest sibling and moving away, not wanting to viewed as a child as she grew up, and figuring out how to best communicate.

The Lessons Learned—YA can be tough to read as an adult because we often forget how it feels to be young. But that is exactly why I love reading it! It reminds me how things feel so big when we’re young but it’s because we’re experiencing things for the first time.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

Needed More of the Summer Program—I wish we’d spent more time with Fitz at FIT. I feel like the reason she was there got lost in the shuffle, which happened to the character but I wanted to see more of her passion.

Character Authenticity: 4/5 Overall Rating: 4/5

Content Warnings:

absent parents, bi-phobia

🦇 Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❓ #QOTD If you have a plant, what type is it and what would you name it OR what's the story behind your Insta handle?❓

🦇 When Ava "Fitz" Fitzgerald travels to New York with her girlfriend, Danica, she's ready for the perfect summer attending a prestigious summer fashion program that will take her upcycling Insta account to the next level. Unfortunately, Danica upends her plans by dumping her before classes even start, blaming Fitz's obsession with her online persona. To show she's willing to do anything to win Danica back, Fitz takes a break from social media. After reuniting with her long-lost, childhood best friend Levi, she strikes up a plan to win Dani back by making her jealous. Unfortunately, even the most carefully designed plans can come apart at the seams.

💜 Fitz is adorably chaotic and entirely too realistic. A perfectionist with three sisters and parents too busy to pay her much notice, Fitz connects to her older sisters by upcycling their old clothes, turning them into new creations. Unfortunately, that perfectionism causes her to become creatively blocked, leading Fitz to realize there's just as much beauty in imperfections and being authentically yourself, sans filter.

💜 There are so many adorable tropes in Finally Fitz, giving it elements of a comforting, familiar rom-com. I loved Fitz's dynamic with her sisters (I'm the oldest of four girls, and she's the youngest), who always felt shut out and disconnected as the baby among them. The underlying mental health topics of self-worth, authenticity, and work-life balance gave this story the extra layer of depth it needed. I also appreciated the normalcy around queerness (and the touch on biophobia/bi-erasure) for both Fitz and Levi.

💙 Fitzy. Oh, sweet, sweet Fitzy. Fake kissing your childhood best friend and plotting a curated, fake relationship to make your ex jealous is not okay. Not respecting someone's boundaries or desire for a healthier relationship (by their definition) is not okay. The moment Fitz started down that route, I disconnected from her, even as a fellow messy bi. Everything that Danika considered a red flag was entirely valid, and Fitz only made things worse for herself.

🦇 Recommended for fans of She Gets the Girl or To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Great if you love a messy fake-dating rom-com.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🪡 Second Chance Romance
🪴 Friends to Lovers
🪡 Mental Health Rep
🪴 Bi FMC + Bi4Bi Romance
🪡 Young Adult/Coming-of-Age
🪴 Queer Supporting Cast
🪡 Jewish FMC

🦇 Major thanks to the author @marisakanter and publisher @simonteen for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #FinallyFitz

💬 Quotes
❝ But if I’m a person who never shows people less than their best . . . how is it possible to still feel like my best is never enough? ❞
❝ Because it’s one thing when queerphobic trash invalidate your identity. It’s another thing entirely to experience biphobia from within the queer community. ❞
❝ Because everyone deserves clothes that empower them to feel like the best, most authentic versions of themselves. ❞
❝ I just want to bottle the feeling that’s finding the one person in this universe who gets you and sees you—the whole unfiltered truth of you— and loves you anyway. ❞

4.5 stars rounded up. This was a very enjoyable YA/coming of age book. I loved all the bi representation and the overall emphasis on character development and mental health.

I thought the characters were relatable and likable and all around pretty great. This was one of the books where I actually liked the secondary characters and thought they added to the story. While the main couple was adorable and followed some fun tropes (childhood friends to lovers and fake dating), there was a lot of other stuff going on as well. The sisters were a highlight for me.

All in all, I thought this was a sweet, fun read with just the right amount of angst and mess.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

This was a really sweet book about perfectionism and learning who/what really matters to you. I loved Fitz and Levi and the way that their relationship, though bumpy, was real and helped each other find what was real. It was an amazing book!

Finally Fitz is a story of a girl trying to have the perfect life, at least on camera. Set in the summer in New York City, this fake-dating meets second-chance romance tale follows Fitz as she runs through the trials of love, family, making your dreams come true and trying to figure out what you really want in life all in one whirlwind of a summer. The timeline on this one felt a little jumbled in places but was still a fun ride all together. Fitz was relatable in many ways but also a new type of character for me to read about. I do feel like I would have adored this story when I was a teenager though! The references to by gone episodes/designers from Project Runway still kept her story relevant to my teenage years wanting to be in the art world in any compacity, even fashion design. Additionally there was an attempt at a great reminder to live life for the off-screen moments more and not simply of the attention or 'likes' that social media have many of us chasing. The message was only cut shy due to the nature of Fitz's decision to go on a hiatus from her wildly popular fashion page to show her ex-girlfriend that she cared about more than 'likes' only to make a fake dating profile with her childhood guy friend to try and help each other win back their prospective exes. Granted it was a necessary point in the book so we'll let the lesson still be mentioned! I do wish there was more to the story between the relationships with Fitz's sisters and a clearer view of how she wanted to plan her future in fashion. These things seemed too important to Fitz to not be delved into a smidge more. Overall this was a fun summer read!

When I read “As If On Cue” I loved Kanter’s storytelling so much that when I saw another book of hers, I jumped at the chance to read it! Kanter has a way of making incredibly messy characters that you love so much and that was absolutely demonstrated in “Finally Fitz” and I am going to admit that it took way to long to realize that some of them were the same characters from “As If On Cue” (i’m a little dumb sometimes). “Finally Fitz” is an incredible story of finding yourself and becoming the best version of yourself… to quote “Legally Blonde: The Musical” “being true to yourself never goes out of style”!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a cute falling in love story! It's the perfect cozy book about teenage love and falling for your best friend.

It starts off as an attempt by Fitz to get back together with her ex-girlfriend, and it quickly turns into an adventure through New York of Fitz rekindling her friendship with her childhood best friend and watching the two of them fall in love. The representation in this book is ample and beautifully written. The main characters are both bi, as well as Jewish. It was refreshing to read a book about bisexuality where there is love and support and normalcy around the sexuality - no internal or external conflict, just silly teenage love.

This book caters to a large audience, and many readers will find something to identify with, whether it's love story, the family relationships, the identity questioning with Jewishness, falling in and out of love with your passions, or simply finding friendship in New York. Also, Levi's plant parent journey is adorable!

This book was a lighthearted YA read. I enjoyed the layers to the characters - you felt for the main character (Fitz) but she definitely had her flaws as well.

My issue with this book was that it grappled too many themes & topics at once. Example: there is a half-fleshed out storyline about her fauxmance being bi, but it only comes up one other time as a mini plot point that doesn't really matter. Also, there is a throw away line about Fitz's gender expression that seems like it's going to come up again later with her fashion design and haircut, but it doesn't. While queerness is important on the surface, it didn't actually matter at all to the characters or the plot which felt disappointing in a YA book about self discovery.

Also - as a New Yorker I liked how accurate the places & directions were, but it was definitely overkill and unnecessary to the story.

*this book was provided as an arc for review

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was really cute and sweet and I loved that the characters were so messy and complex. It’s always interesting to read about characters figuring out their feelings when you already have a pretty good guess of where the story is going.

Some critiques I have are the amount of pop culture references felt a little much and the end of the book kind of got a little messy and rushed in my opinion. I think pop culture references can be done well, especially if they help along the plot, but these just felt like they stood out too much and interrupted the flow of the narrative.

Other than that, I think it was a nice cozy read for those who are fans of fake dating.

I really enjoyed this eARC a lot, I felt as though some of the struggles that the Fitz had to deal with was very relatable. I liked how the fake dating trope also tied into redeveloping a long lost friendships.I thought the pacing was as well done and I loved getting to experience Fitz’s self discovery journey. I was surprised by how well the author displayed the struggle of how it’s hard to build relationships with older siblings when you’re the youngest one.

Really love this coming of age YA Contemporary read. Fitz has amazing summer shenanigans in NYC, struggles with perfectionism and impostor syndrome while in an exclusive summer program at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology); all while fake-dating her childhood best friend (Levi) in attempt to make her recent ex (and roommate) jealous. There's so much going on for Fitz and I love every moment of being in her head. Levi is the perfect book boyfriend; kind, genuine, and a little awkward. And I like how part of Fitz's journey to 'fit in' was also with her parents and her 3 much-older sisters.

Highly recommended reading!

2.8

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC! Finally Fitz certainly took me on quite the emotional journey. And by emotions, I mean struggling to care or like about any of the characters. Fitz as a protagonist was quite frustrating to like or want to root for for the majority of the story. Her struggles with mental health were something that made me quite sympathetic to her in the end, but boy did we take a journey to get there! Levi was the kind of boy that 16-year old me would have gone wild over, kind and empathetic and he LOVES PLANTS — are you kidding?! As for the overall story, many of the characters were made out to be more interesting than they actually were. Which leads to be regrettably giving this title a 2.8 out of 5, much lower than I thought it would be.

I really enjoyed the romance element of this book. It had that hijinks that I was looking for in this type of book and it was just a fun read. The character is felt like real people and worked in the setting of the romance that I was looking for. Marissa Kanter has a great writing style and I was hooked from the first page.

Finally Fitz follows the inner monologue of Ava ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald as she navigates her content creation journey and her relationships.

Kanter does an amazing job of conveying the messiness of relationships as a young person and what anxiety can feel and look like before diagnosis and therapy. Looking back on being 18-21, my feelings and actions were similar to those of Fitz. This book is also a great representation for bisexual people, as many books only discuss the WLW relationships. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Marisa Kanter.

Even though I’m old according to the main character. Objectively. I still loved this book. I enjoyed the reflection on her relationships with her older sisters and her first best friend as well as figuring out there’s more out there and reflecting on your first love.

Thank you to netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for allowing me access to this book for my honest opinion. This was such a cute queer book.

In Marisa Kanter's "Finally Fitz," Ava "Fitz" Fitzgerald's meticulously constructed picture-perfect life unravels when her girlfriend Dani unexpectedly breaks up with her, leaving her heartbroken and creatively paralyzed. Determined to win Dani back, Fitz embarks on a quest to rekindle their relationship, even if it means temporarily abandoning the online fashion platform she's worked tirelessly to build. Fate intervenes when Fitz serendipitously reunites with her childhood best friend Levi Berkowitz, who is also nursing a broken heart. Together, they devise a plan to use Fitz's social media savvy to create a fake online relationship, hoping to spark jealousy in their respective exes and ultimately reunite with them. As Fitz and Levi navigate the complexities of their faux romance, they rediscover their friendship and find solace in each other's company. Along the way, they learn valuable lessons about love, self-acceptance, and the importance of authenticity. "Finally Fitz" is a heartwarming and humorous tale of love, friendship, and second chances. Kanter deftly explores the challenges of young adulthood, the complexities of relationships, and the power of self-discovery. With relatable characters and a captivating storyline, "Finally Fitz" is a must-read for fans of young adult contemporary fiction.