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mandycrodrigues 's review for:
Anything But Fine
by Tobias Madden
3,5 out of 5 stars.
The first half of this novel is absolutely gorgeous. Luca is a teenager who, with one missed step, sees his passion, his life, and future go down the toilet. The first chapters are heart-wrenching, especially the one where, just a few weeks after his injury, he loses his performing arts scholarship and is forced to trade schools. Seeing how he deals with loss and how he slowly adjusts to his new life and reality with the help of amazing side characters like Sami and Amina, is a well-done emotional journey.
I especially liked how Luca’s character is flawed. His way of coping is not the best by a long shot, trying to bury his feelings and shutting out everything that reminds him of his old self. His actions are questionable, sure, but there’s so much truth and pain in what he goes through that it made him a very relatable character to me. Also, his internal monologue is quirky and fun to read, which makes the novel very palatable despite the depressing themes.
Two side characters stood out: his father and his best friend, Amina. His dad is so real and supportive, despite dealing with his own grief, he finds it in him to be by Luca’s side every step of the way, even when Luca’s being a jerk. And Amina is, honest to God, the light of the novel. She’s a wonderful example of positively portrayed Muslim representation, with a life and a character arc of her own. Aside from her being just too precious for this world, I loved how the author weaved Islam’s culture through her in an organic way.
However, by the second half of the novel, the plot of Luca and Jordan’s relationship takes over and suppresses almost everything about Luca’s emotional journey until the last chapters (and it reappears in quite a meager way), making it lower my rating. It didn’t help that Jordan’s character wasn’t as well developed as the others (being hot and not a complete jerk seemed like his only qualities) and it was only made worse by the countless times he stressed their relationship should be a secret because Jordan wasn’t out yet. I mean, I get it. No one should be forced out of the closet, but if Luca wasn’t comfortable in that position, they should just break up and not force an unbearable situation.
In the end, I wasn’t shipping them at all, and honestly thought if the novel was centered on Luca’s relationship with ballet and his journey to find who he is without it, it would have been a much better novel.
The first half of this novel is absolutely gorgeous. Luca is a teenager who, with one missed step, sees his passion, his life, and future go down the toilet. The first chapters are heart-wrenching, especially the one where, just a few weeks after his injury, he loses his performing arts scholarship and is forced to trade schools. Seeing how he deals with loss and how he slowly adjusts to his new life and reality with the help of amazing side characters like Sami and Amina, is a well-done emotional journey.
I especially liked how Luca’s character is flawed. His way of coping is not the best by a long shot, trying to bury his feelings and shutting out everything that reminds him of his old self. His actions are questionable, sure, but there’s so much truth and pain in what he goes through that it made him a very relatable character to me. Also, his internal monologue is quirky and fun to read, which makes the novel very palatable despite the depressing themes.
Two side characters stood out: his father and his best friend, Amina. His dad is so real and supportive, despite dealing with his own grief, he finds it in him to be by Luca’s side every step of the way, even when Luca’s being a jerk. And Amina is, honest to God, the light of the novel. She’s a wonderful example of positively portrayed Muslim representation, with a life and a character arc of her own. Aside from her being just too precious for this world, I loved how the author weaved Islam’s culture through her in an organic way.
However, by the second half of the novel, the plot of Luca and Jordan’s relationship takes over and suppresses almost everything about Luca’s emotional journey until the last chapters (and it reappears in quite a meager way), making it lower my rating. It didn’t help that Jordan’s character wasn’t as well developed as the others (being hot and not a complete jerk seemed like his only qualities) and it was only made worse by the countless times he stressed their relationship should be a secret because Jordan wasn’t out yet. I mean, I get it. No one should be forced out of the closet, but if Luca wasn’t comfortable in that position, they should just break up and not force an unbearable situation.
In the end, I wasn’t shipping them at all, and honestly thought if the novel was centered on Luca’s relationship with ballet and his journey to find who he is without it, it would have been a much better novel.