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max_audet's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book was fine... It feels weird to say that, but it was just fine. I didn’t relate to or care much for the POV character and was not feeling the love interest (I was hoping it would not fall for the Instalove trope like many YA do…but it did).
I’ve seen reviews mention that the book was giving Nick and Charlie's energy from Heartstopper, but to me, Jordan was much more a Ben than a Nick.
I’ve seen reviews mention that the book was giving Nick and Charlie's energy from Heartstopper, but to me, Jordan was much more a Ben than a Nick.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Islamophobia
claudiacantread's review against another edition
4.0
Do I like it? Or do I like Australian accents? Both?
Anything but Fine follows Luca, a gay teenage boy who’s life falls apart after he falls down the stairs, breaking his foot and his ballet dancing dreams. Luca finds himself having to find out who he is outside of the small ballet world he was in for the first 16 years of his life. New school, new friends, new self.
So I think your ability to like this story will be entirely dependent on your ability to like Luca as a character. The story is told entirely through his perspective and he is the entire crux of the story. If you don’t like him then I doubt the story will be good for you. I, however, found him very likable and sympathetic even when he was being a little shit. Which would happen sometimes, he is a teenage boy going through A LOT. I found something totally relatable in the removing of oneself from things that upset him and the way of insisting everything is fine and generally acting fine when you are taking things basically day by day, minute by minute. But not really being able to look beyond or around that small frame of time without having a little bit of a breakdown.
Luca is definitely very passive throughout the story which may frustrate some, but felt like a real reaction to the things happening to him. His entire personality was based around one thing and suddenly it was gone. He kind of forms his entire personality around the next ‘thing’ and doesn’t really discover the issues with that until the end. But again, this felt realistic to me. Because the character journey was him discovering himself though, it means he doesn’t really become a ‘whole’ person until near the end. Which may be frustrating (but it helps if you are listening to it in an Australian accented audiobook).
Luca gets involved with TJ, who is basically the most popular guy in school and supposedly, straight. TJ wants to hide their relationship until he can figure it out himself. I actually really liked the direction this went in, as both Luca and TJ are painted as sympathetic and neither really in the wrong for their feelings over the matter.
He also makes friends with Amina. Who was a great character and I can’t believe she has less than five million friends for being so nice. I did like that they called out racism in Australia through her character which I feel like is kind of ignored a lot.
His relationship with his dad is also really interesting. I liked their dynamic and how they both grew from his accident.
There’s definitely some teenage embarrassing cringe moments that I struggled with as a second hand embarrassment sufferer.
Overall, I enjoyed this! The Australian accents really smoothed over most of the faults I might have and made the characters all super likable.
Thanks to Netgalley and RB media for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!
Anything but Fine follows Luca, a gay teenage boy who’s life falls apart after he falls down the stairs, breaking his foot and his ballet dancing dreams. Luca finds himself having to find out who he is outside of the small ballet world he was in for the first 16 years of his life. New school, new friends, new self.
So I think your ability to like this story will be entirely dependent on your ability to like Luca as a character. The story is told entirely through his perspective and he is the entire crux of the story. If you don’t like him then I doubt the story will be good for you. I, however, found him very likable and sympathetic even when he was being a little shit. Which would happen sometimes, he is a teenage boy going through A LOT. I found something totally relatable in the removing of oneself from things that upset him and the way of insisting everything is fine and generally acting fine when you are taking things basically day by day, minute by minute. But not really being able to look beyond or around that small frame of time without having a little bit of a breakdown.
Luca is definitely very passive throughout the story which may frustrate some, but felt like a real reaction to the things happening to him. His entire personality was based around one thing and suddenly it was gone. He kind of forms his entire personality around the next ‘thing’ and doesn’t really discover the issues with that until the end. But again, this felt realistic to me. Because the character journey was him discovering himself though, it means he doesn’t really become a ‘whole’ person until near the end. Which may be frustrating (but it helps if you are listening to it in an Australian accented audiobook).
Luca gets involved with TJ, who is basically the most popular guy in school and supposedly, straight. TJ wants to hide their relationship until he can figure it out himself. I actually really liked the direction this went in, as both Luca and TJ are painted as sympathetic and neither really in the wrong for their feelings over the matter.
He also makes friends with Amina. Who was a great character and I can’t believe she has less than five million friends for being so nice. I did like that they called out racism in Australia through her character which I feel like is kind of ignored a lot.
His relationship with his dad is also really interesting. I liked their dynamic and how they both grew from his accident.
There’s definitely some teenage embarrassing cringe moments that I struggled with as a second hand embarrassment sufferer.
Overall, I enjoyed this! The Australian accents really smoothed over most of the faults I might have and made the characters all super likable.
Thanks to Netgalley and RB media for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!
thegingerpageturner's review against another edition
5.0
Where do I start with this one....I finished this in one evening on a Sunday night a couple of weeks back, I just couldn't put it down. I love it when a book does that to me
saturnsaz's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars straight after finishing. This book was a mix of everything that a young person could experience in high school. Friendships, loss, drama, self reflection and self discovery. Very engaging, stressful but sweet. It had the perfect ending in my opinion. I loved this even more because it's set in Australia, and felt very close to home when reflecting on my highschool/college years. I wanna cry lol.
char_gadling's review against another edition
3.0
If you're after a comfort read then I would definitely recommend!
As someone who had to give up dance after becoming disabled this book was one I could connect to, although Luca's and my own situation was definitely different.
The only reason I would rate it 3 and not 4 stars is purely the romance, it was cute but sometimes Jordan annoyed me a little too much but that's likely a personal thing.
As someone who had to give up dance after becoming disabled this book was one I could connect to, although Luca's and my own situation was definitely different.
The only reason I would rate it 3 and not 4 stars is purely the romance, it was cute but sometimes Jordan annoyed me a little too much but that's likely a personal thing.
gmdelrio's review against another edition
2.0
“Fine” feels like the best word to use to describe this book. The story felt underdeveloped, the characters a bit one dimensional, and the plot wasn’t original at all. What I was most excited about - a bisexual love interest - fell flat and left me wishing for more depth. The writing was good and I’m glad this story exists but it just wasn’t for me.
luckies_universe's review against another edition
3.0
I received this ARC from Penguin Books Australia, and it was a pretty standard, YA queer romance. I liked the ballet aspects (as an ex-ballerina myself), but I found the characters a little lacking. I was attached to the main character because he was awkward and funny, but I just couldn't get invested in his love interest, who I felt was surface-level and boring.
It was fun, but just flat in some aspects.
It was fun, but just flat in some aspects.
holdingmybreath's review against another edition
2.0
Why was the MC one of the most unlikeable teenagers I’ve read about in a while? Cause holy cow, was this Hoboken difficult to get through. I can appreciate a flawed character, and I went into this understanding that this is a YA novel, yet the MC was SO self-absorbed throughout the whole thing. Only when he had to face the consequences of his actions did he start to realize how ridiculous he had been.
Also, the love interest didn’t have much of a personality? And their relationship came across as so flat. Maybe this is because I’m coming off of binging the Heartstopper comics, but this romance seemed so lifeless. When the MC “pronounced his love”, all I could think of is ‘why?’. The audience wasn’t given enough depth with the two of them, other than descriptions of text messages exchanged and some teenage hormones.
I did appreciate the best friend character. The representation in this book was one of its stronger points in the best friend and romantic interest. Amina was the only character (other than the dad) that I enjoyed learning more about.
Overall, disappointed, but not surprised.
Also, the love interest didn’t have much of a personality? And their relationship came across as so flat. Maybe this is because I’m coming off of binging the Heartstopper comics, but this romance seemed so lifeless. When the MC “pronounced his love”, all I could think of is ‘why?’. The audience wasn’t given enough depth with the two of them, other than descriptions of text messages exchanged and some teenage hormones.
I did appreciate the best friend character. The representation in this book was one of its stronger points in the best friend and romantic interest. Amina was the only character (other than the dad) that I enjoyed learning more about.
Overall, disappointed, but not surprised.
jaysereads's review against another edition
5.0
This book was incredible!!!
Flawless and evocative writing places Madden in a league of his own in debut novel filled with heart.
In Anything But Fine, one missed step is all it takes to shatter not only Luka Mason's foot, but his entire world. An already accomished ballet dancer, Luka now faces an uncertain future as his dreams lay pieces. Ballet was Luka's entire world, it gave him escape, friends, a scholarship to a fancy private school and a goal for the future. All of that now ripped away.
Starting at a new school is hard for anyone, but try being gay and on crutches in a small town school. Ugh. I could 100% identify with Luka's pain and frustration with this whole situation. As someone who went to a public school in a small regional town, Madden's writing instantly transported me back to the halls of Benalla College.
Tobias Madden has written a debut suburb novel here which is uplifting and shows that even when life is 'Anything But Fine,' there's always something good just around the corner.
I devoured the book in two sittings, it was one of those books which even when you put it down, it's all you think about and want to dive back into. I haven't had a book do that to me in a long time and it's one of the wonderful things I adore about reading. I was totally and utterly sucked in to the world Madden had crafted. If I could gush about this book any more and keep it coherent, I would. I just want to tell everyone to READ THIS BOOK!!!
Perfect for lovers of Alice Oseman's Heartstopper or Becky Albertalli's Love Simon this punchy LGBT+ novel is filled with heart.
Congratulations Tobias on this brilliant novel.
Flawless and evocative writing places Madden in a league of his own in debut novel filled with heart.
In Anything But Fine, one missed step is all it takes to shatter not only Luka Mason's foot, but his entire world. An already accomished ballet dancer, Luka now faces an uncertain future as his dreams lay pieces. Ballet was Luka's entire world, it gave him escape, friends, a scholarship to a fancy private school and a goal for the future. All of that now ripped away.
Starting at a new school is hard for anyone, but try being gay and on crutches in a small town school. Ugh. I could 100% identify with Luka's pain and frustration with this whole situation. As someone who went to a public school in a small regional town, Madden's writing instantly transported me back to the halls of Benalla College.
Tobias Madden has written a debut suburb novel here which is uplifting and shows that even when life is 'Anything But Fine,' there's always something good just around the corner.
I devoured the book in two sittings, it was one of those books which even when you put it down, it's all you think about and want to dive back into. I haven't had a book do that to me in a long time and it's one of the wonderful things I adore about reading. I was totally and utterly sucked in to the world Madden had crafted. If I could gush about this book any more and keep it coherent, I would. I just want to tell everyone to READ THIS BOOK!!!
Perfect for lovers of Alice Oseman's Heartstopper or Becky Albertalli's Love Simon this punchy LGBT+ novel is filled with heart.
Congratulations Tobias on this brilliant novel.