A review by pandafan7
Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden

4.0

Anything But Fine follows Luca, a gay teenager. Luca suddenly finds himself lost after he falls down the stairs, breaking his foot and effectively crushing his dreams of becoming a famous ballet dancer. Luca doesn’t know who he is without ballet, and now his school is taking away his ballet scholarship because he can no longer dance. He is feeling completely overwhelmed with the change of a new school and no more ballet, but things start to change once he meets Jordan at his OT appointment. Meanwhile, at his new school he also meets Amina, a friendly Muslim-American girl.

Amina honestly turned out to be my favorite character in the story. The way the author describes her faith and the racism she faces sometimes was very well written. I also enjoyed the budding romance between Jordan and Luca. I could empathize with Luca and understand how it might feel to fall in love with someone that isn’t out.

I highly recommend this book full of diverse characters. It held my attention throughout the book. The author did an excellent job making the story relatable. I would love to have a friend like Amina in real life. I also really enjoyed the author interview included at the end of the audiobook. It really made me feel a connection with Tobias Madden. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

Thanks to Netgalley and RB media for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!