cute bi romcom with theater nerd/plant nerd/fashion nerd major plots and it was so fun :D i loved the vibe the entire time. thanks for the arc

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC!

3.5 stars rounded up

I want to start off by saying I am always happy for more bi rep, especially in YA, especially especially that addresses biphobia directly. As a bi woman my identity is questioned constantly, and affirming media for young people is proven to be beneficial. I really enjoyed Fitz, flaws and all; I think she's someone people at any age could relate to. Her burnout felt like what I've gone through as a recovering perfectionist and I'm sure her journey would speak to just about anyone who experienced the same thing. I also loved Levi quite a bit, but while Fitz felt like an actual teenager trying to figure shit out, Levi didn't feel like a real person. He seemed to be an idealized version of the perfect teenage boy, which took away from Fitz. He was always doing the right thing or the best thing while Fitz stumbled along.

All that being said, the most important relationship to me in this book was Fitz and her sisters. I'm an older sister and I know what it's like to think you're doing the right thing by your sibling, but seeing how badly Fitz wanted her older sisters to just include her actually felt a bit like a punch to the gut. Without spoiling anything, the resolution of this storyline meant everything to me (I may have actually teared up).

The plot is where things started to fall apart for me.

To be fair, it wasn't the plot itself, but the circumstances surrounding the romance part of the plot. (I love an unrealistic fake dating scenario!) The whole situation with Dani just felt weird to me as the plot progressed - it reminded me slightly of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, arguably the worst bi rep I've ever read. Sophie was not even a person, just an idea. I did love all the amazing New York locations and their not-dates and while obviously it didn't work for the plot, some more Boston location dropping as well would've been so fun for me. (As a slight aside, depending on when you leave Boston and which route you take, it can take anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours to get to Falmouth for the ferry to Martha's Vineyard! Signed, a current Bostonian, former Cape Codder)

Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a trend in bi rep fiction, especially in YA bi rep fiction, where inevitably the FMC ends up choosing the the male love interest instead of the female love interest. I can think of several books where this is the case and not one the opposite. This is not necessarily on the author but part of an ongoing larger discussion to me; the takeaway from this trend could easily become being bisexual is okay as long as you end up with a man, and then the inevitable bisexual people don't belong in queer spaces if they're in heterosexual passing relationships... I just personally think it's something we as readers should point out.

I am not a fashion person so I can't speak to the specifics in accuracy beyond little details about sewing satin is difficult and the like were great in making it feel real. I'm also not Jewish, so I will defer to Jewish reviewers on that storyline. I AM a musical theater nerd, but I will keep my opinions on their musical tastes to myself.

I clearly had a lot of feelings about this book, and I really did enjoy it! Even if it looks like I didn't. It was fun and will resonate a lot with readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuester for the ARC of this book! I absolutely loved this story, and it’s one of my favorite reads of 2024 so far!

Our story focuses on Ava Fitzgerald, or ‘Fitz’, the youngest of four sisters and a fashion instagrammer who is known for her thrifting flips. Following her girlfriend Danica to NYC for both of their summer programs, Fitz is determined to spend the summer with Dani and prove they could make long distance work. However, Fitz’ plans fall apart when not even a week in New York, Dani breaks up with Fitz, saying not only is the girl too obsessed with her social media presence, but that she needs space. Between taking a hiatus on Instagram, creative burnout in her FIT classes, and running into her childhood best friend, Levi, Fitz is completely unsure what to do to prove to Dani they’re meant to be. Until she finds out that Levi is also broken hearted over a summer break with his girlfriend Sophie. Fitz forms a perfect plan to get their exes back. The plan? An Instagram and real life fake relationship, sure to send both their exes running. But when real feelings come into play, Fitz has to decide if she wants to cling to her past, or go into a new future.

I will admit it took me way too long to realize this book was actually featuring some characters in Kanter’s “As If On Cue”! And I loved that, getting to see Natalie and Reid in the future, Chao, and Dani, and feeling updated on their story while enjoying another.

As for this book, I loved every part of it. From Fitz’ sisters and their own drama, to the plantscapades and rescues, to the various “dates” Fitz and Levi went on. Kanter crafted such a great fake dating story, especially for a trope that can feel overdone if not done well! But she knocked it out of the park. It was well paced, the characters felt fleshed out, and I was rooting for Levi and Fitz by the end! I would recommend this for any fans of fake dating stories, and YA romances too!

I found Fitz really, really difficult to like, which made this a difficult book to enjoy. I don't know if maybe I would have empathized with her more if I had read this as a teenager, but I felt that the way she treated her sisters and her friends was significantly more selfish than the complaints she had with how they interacted with her. I also generally just don't like when book have a "one year later" epilogue to wrap story up that the author couldn't figure out how to wrap up within the main book.