I received an ARC of this title during an ALAN workshop and have since purchased a physical copy of the text and added it to my classroom library.

Thank you to Netgalley and the published for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I adored this book. It was so heartfelt and lovely and left me feeling all warm and fuzzy with a big smile on my face. I loved the whole cast of characters (esp Amina!) and loved the coming of age storyline. Would definitely recommend!

I received this egalley as part of the ALAN conference and it is kept on a kindle in my classroom. My rating is based on the ratings provided by my students who have read the book and I look forward to when I get the chance to do so.

I found this book hit a bit too close to home for me to enjoy. Although I tried to focus on it as a work of fiction and enjoy the representation as a previous dancer who ended up disabled myself, I just couldn't. I wish the author all the best.

This is 2.5 stars from me. It was interesting but it really read as more of a MG than a YA. The mc’s whole inner dialogue wasn’t very interesting. It also read as a very much “white person discovers racism” book. When the mc makes a new friend who’s brown, his old friends make fun of her. He rushes to defend her and in his head the whole time, he’s trying to figure out “why racism?” and it’s not a bad thing to realize that your friends suck but it is an awful thing to think “i didn’t know ppl were treated like this.” bc no shit, you’re white.

YA always seems to be mostly America-centric, which makes a novel set in Australia such as Anything But Fine a welcome surprise. On top of the unfamiliar surroundings, Luca's story of a would-be professional ballet dancer took me out of my comfort zone as a reader. Fortunately, Tobias Madden takes the reader through several familiar queer coming-of-age story beats. The combination of unfamiliar and familiar makes Anything But Fine an enjoyable read.

Madden handles the central conflict well--what does it feel like to be so focused on a singular goal only for that goal to be taken away? That question is difficult enough for an adult, but Madden put it in the hands of an adolescent. On top of a dream/career-ending injury, Luca loses his private school scholarship and his friends. Starting at a new school, making new friends, discovering new meaning are, again, all familiar YA tropes. Madden writes these tropes well and does enough with them (and Luca's single-parent relationship) to make Anything but Fine worth the read.

RATING = 3.5 STARS

Anything but Fine by Tobias Madden is a heartbreaking and emotional young adult contemporary novel. Luca is an up-and-coming ballet dancer with a bright and promising future. However, that bright and promising future is taken away from him when he falls down the stairs and breaks multiple bones in his foot. Luca’s whole world changes and he’s forced to rediscover who he is without dance (as if being a teenager wasn’t hard enough by itself). The author takes readers on a journey of many emotions, from triumph to heartbreak and everything in between.

It was super cool that the book was set in Australia. There are loads of books set in the USA or Great Britain, so I think that aspect helped set the book apart from others. I was somewhat confused at times by some of the differences in vocabulary (Australian English vs. “American” English), but it didn’t interfere with my understanding or enjoyment of the book overall. With regards to the audiobook, I really enjoyed Matthew Backer’s narration of the story (his accent is *chef’s kiss* amazing).

While I enjoyed the romance between Luca and Jordan, Amina is by far my favorite character in the book. She is awesome, and so much better than Luca’s initial friends (this is a total case of quality versus quantity - Grace is the only redeemable one from the “bunheads” in my opinion). Amina is adorable - I thought it was so cute how she’s been dreaming of giving the speech at the farewell assembly for years. I wish I had someone like her in my life - Luca is lucky to have met her (their friendship is definitely one of the major silver linings that came out of his injury).

Overall, Anything but Fine is an entertaining and fun read. I would recommend it to those in search of queer contemporary young adult romances. I look forward to reading more books by Tobias Madden in the future.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, the team at TBR and Beyond Tours, and NetGalley for my complimentary review copy of the book. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review Anything but Fine immensely. Please note - I voluntarily read and reviewed Anything but Fine. All opinions expressed in the review are my own and not influenced in any way.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: homophobia, homophobic slurs, racism, racist slurs, accidental outing, grief, death (of a parent, past), sports injuries

Luca's world changes drastically when the doctors tell him he'll never dance ballet again. Since he's at his private school on a dance scholarship and he can no longer dance, he's also forced to change schools. Luca must figure out who he is now that his future as a ballet dancer is gone. 

I loved Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden! This book is all about how one small moment can change your life forever. Luca has put so much time and focus into ballet that it made up most of his identity, so he goes through a pretty rough transitional period in this book. I think Anything But Fine will really speak to anyone who has needed to give up something they love because of an injury or unexpected life change. I loved Luca's new friend Amina so much too. This book does have content warnings for homophobia, Islamophobia, death of a parent in the past, toxic friendships, and a pretty thorough description of the injury that starts this whole tale. Anything But Fine made me laugh, and there was one scene at the end that had me crying pretty hard. I'm so glad this book exists and would highly recommend it! I also ended up getting an ALC through Netgalley and I can verify that the audiobook is fantastic! The narrator did a phenomenal job!

Our main character Luca is a talented dancer and is getting ready to go to a private high school to dance. Then the unthinkable happens. He falls down some stairs and really injures his foot and his dancing dreams are shattered.

The start of this book really had me drawn in. I can’t think of waking up one day and having everything going for you and then have a fall down the stairs change your life forever. Luca is devastated of course and struggles to know what to do next. Honestly, I thought we would get a lot more of this aspect of the story, but we didn’t. I think that’s why I didn’t end up rating this book higher. As soon as Luca meets Jordan this story changes. It becomes more of a love story only focused on Jordan and everything surrounding him. Which wasn’t always fun. Jordan wanted to keep their relationship hidden and wasn’t out. I’m never a fan of the whole having to hide relationships and forcing someone to be out. And after reading the synopsis, I don’t think this really fit.

That being said I did enjoy Anything But Fine. There were a lot of interesting and emotional moments and this book even made me laugh now and again. Also, I love that Luca was flawed. He wasn’t perfect. He made mistakes and paid the consequences. There was lot of character development in this story and I really appreciated it. I also enjoyed a few of the side characters. Amina was really sweet and I loved how welcoming she was to Luca. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing a book about her.

All in all, I did enjoy Anything But Fine. I’ll definitely be looking out for new books released by Tobias Madden.

As someone who faced a potentially career-ending injury in my own artistic field, Luca’s plight hit very close to home.  When I injured my wrist while playing cello, I was told that I needed to stop playing for months and undergo physical therapy, or else risk never getting to play again.  Reading Luca’s story, following his journey as he adjusts to a life without his passion, it felt incredibly real to me.  Tobias Madden really captured the struggles of losing something you love, especially while being in a vulnerable high school mindset. I listened to the audiobook version while reading along with my copy of Anything But Fine, and I think this was the ideal reading experience for this book!  I quite enjoyed the narrator (Matthew Backer), as his style really brought the story to life for me.  Having an Australian narrator speak for an Australian author and character rooted the book into its proper setting for me, allowing me to fall into the story easily.

My Recommendation-If you enjoy a classic-feeling YA novel that reads like a hit teen movie, you should grab a copy of Anything But Fine! This book would be perfect for fans of Tiny Pretty Things (both the book and the Netflix Series)!

𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄: 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞 ⁣
𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑: 𝐓𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 ⁣
𝐏𝐔𝐁 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: 𝟑.𝟐𝟗.𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐
⁣
𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫⁣
⁣
Luca is ready to audition for the Australian Ballet School. All it takes to crush his dreams is one missed step . . . and a broken foot.⁣
Jordan is the gorgeous rowing star and school captain of Luca's new school. Everyone says he's straight - but Luca’s not so sure . . .⁣
As their unlikely bond grows stronger, Luca starts to wonder: who is he without ballet? And is he setting himself up for another heartbreak?⁣
⁣
𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞⁣
✔️ A story about the competitive world of ballet set in Australia⁣
✔️ A heartbreaking story about how you get up when you fall and dreams shattered⁣
✔️ A beautifully written and hopeful story with equal amounts of funny and sweet, heartbreak and hope. ⁣
✔️ A great friendship story and you will be rooting for Luca, Amina and Jordan⁣
✔️ This book had everything I wanted in a contemporary YA story that is chaotic and messy, but also poignant and powerful.

First of all, this cover is gorgeous, and that's definitely what first drew my attention to this book; I'm so glad it did. The start of this book is devastating because it feels like Luca has lost so much, and in a way, he has. But in his floundering after the major accident, we get to follow in his re-evaluation of his friendships and other relationships, his exploration of love and sex and what he wants from them, and finding where his passion now lies. It's a little heartbreaking but very beautiful to see Luca struggle and blossom. The messy romance was also a great addition to this extremely Australian gay contemporary, and I highly recommend it.

This was a really sweet story full of emotions that could frustrate you and make you cheer for the MC and his life. The writing is fluent and unputdownable. The themes touched are forever relatable and I loved the ballet elements since I did ballet and I still love it a lot. It's not everyday you come across a queer ballet book. I will definitely keep an eye out for this author's future books.

Happy Pub Day to Anything But Fine! This is the perfect Teens & YA read. A sweet, pure, coming of age story about self-discovery with characters that are loveable and relatable.

"All it takes is one missed step for your life to change forever". Luca's life is on track- he attends a private high school with his friends and he is a shoe-in to join the Australia Ballet School- when a sudden accident causes him to re-evaluate his life and figure out who he is without ballet

Luca was the purest of pure characters. I loved how comfortable he was in his sexuality, his attitude, and his loyalty to his friends. His friendships with adorable Amina and potential loved interest Jordan really stole my heart. I loved the inclusivity in this book, and the acknowledgement of different cultures and practices.

If there is one relationship that I could highlight it would be the wonderful relationship Luca has with his father. Often times the single father storyline is a foil for difficulty between dad and teen, however Luca's dad was incredibly supportive and their dynamic was reminiscent of Kurt Hummel and his father from Glee, one of my favourite all-time father-son relationships.

Thank you to @netgalley and @pagestreetpublishing for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A story about family, friendship, and young love and how messy it all gets when a teenager navigates them in the wake of a dream-shattering and life-changing accident. But mess aside, it's a story that makes you realize how wonderful it is to have beautiful people in your life who love you even when don't always deserve them.

Anything But Fine was my first read of this year, and although it wasn’t the soul-crushing, emotional book that I would expect my first read of the year to be, it was a book I adored. It teaches you the significance of friendships, the bravery is takes for you to be yourself and not be afraid of it, that sometimes you have to let certain things go and that past can be cherished and still not be grieved about all the time.

Luca is dead set to perform to get accepted into the Australian Ballet School. Everyone around him knows he is going to make it, and even when his teacher keeps telling him that he has to do better, even she knows how amazing he is at ballet. However, just as he is leaving his ballet class for the day, he slips down the stairs and ends up with an injury that changes his entire life. First, it involves getting kicked out of the prestigious school he is in, and that was the most enraging part. It shows how schools only care for the talent as long as it is representing them and don’t actually care about the person or their well-being. As a black person, it is already difficult for Luca and his father to survive and losing his school means he has to shift to the affordable school which is known for its students being homophobic and the worst kind imaginable.

There’s only one good side to the school though, and that is Amina. A directioner, cute fluffy girl without a friend, who is clingy with Luca the moment she meets him. She is everything you would imagine in a best friend, she listens and offers advices, while she’s crushing on boys herself. She’s sensitive but would whoop anyone’s ass if she wishes to. I wouldn’t be lying that I liked her character more than Luca’s. I loved every moment of their friendship. The way they both stood up for each other, their time together, all of it.

I was very vary of Jordan’s character at first, but I feel like it was only justifiable if you’ve grown up around homophobic people and coming out or even taking the time out to figure yourself is not an option. I loved their romance and the ENDING!! WAS!! SO!! CUTE!!!!!

Also can someone tell me where do I sign up for a dad like Luca’s?

The pacing was perfect and the characters could have more depth but it was okay, I didn’t feel the absence of good characters. Overall, I would recommend it for sure although I feel that this trope shouldn’t be overused because I’ve already read two similar books and I would not like it if I read a similar third book.

Luca’s journey is messy and dramatic, but I love how he fully comes into his own after his injury. I loved reading about his ballet experiences and performing on a stage, and I genuinely felt his heartbreak as he struggled to recover. While I'm not entirely sure I feel like the conflict was as well resolved as it could've been, I thoroughly enjoyed the happy ending.

As someone who danced for fifteen years, sustained several injuries that nearly made it so I’d never be able to dance again, I was so excited to read Anything But Fine, which is a story about Luca, a teen who loses everything he’s worked for when he falls down the stairs and breaks his foot, ending his future ballet career. Unfortunately, this book did not live up to expectations for me. It is possible that I went in with too much of a bias and an expectation based on my own personal experience, but even looking past that, there was several issues I had that were hard to ignore.
I’ll start with the main character, Luca. For someone who’s entire life was ballet until his injury, he rarely talked or thought about it. I know he was mourning the loss of it, but it felt a little unnatural that he wouldn’t at least think about it. The minute he met Jordan and started obsessing over him, ballet got pushed aside and wasn’t really mentioned until near the end of the book. I would’ve liked more contemplation about how much ballet had done for him, how he was different now that he didn’t have it, and who he was without it. Instead, he spent most of the book pining after Jordan, thinking about Jordan, talking to Jordan, or texting Jordan. At one point, he even mentioned how he didn’t have any interests now that ballet was taken from him, except for Jordan. His obsession bordered on unhealthy, but this was never addressed. He also excused a lot of Jordan’s poor behavior just because he liked him. In the beginning, Jordan could be a little bit homophobic, and even if it was internalized, it was still something that was affecting Luca. I understand he was being more homophobic to himself rather than to Luca, but Luca rarely ever called him out for his cruel words or actions. There was one argument they had when Luca finally said something about it, only for Jordan to be downright nasty in return, but instead of focusing on everything Jordan said, Luca kept harping on the fact that he had been unfair, and that what he’d said was uncalled for, when really, I felt it was more than justified. He was calling out Jordan on his unacceptable behavior, but this was completely diminished by Luca insisting he’d been in the wrong.
Because of all of that, I had a hard time getting behind the relationship, which is unfortunate, because it takes up a majority of the book. I never felt any chemistry between the two characters, and since Jordan spent so much time at school either ignoring Luca or being wishy washy about how he interacted with him, it was difficult for me to care about them. I almost wish this book hadn’t been a romance, and instead focused on Luca’s journey of self-discovery and growth, and on the friendships and family bonds that helped him along the way.
The one thing I really liked about Anything But Fine was Amina. Her character was lovely, and I adored her. She was so sweet and kind, and she encouraged Luca every step of the way, even when he was a less than kind friend. Every time she was on the page, I was far more into the story than when she wasn’t. This is part of the reason I wish more time had been spent on building friendships and how they helped Luca, because we could’ve had even more scenes with Amina, and I feel it would have made the book a little stronger.
While Anything But Fine was a disappointing read for me, there were parts I did like, and I’m sure this book will be for someone else, even if it wasn’t for me.

I read this book in one sitting and IT WAS AMAZING. I would sell my soul for Amina and I loved the plot, the characters, the vibes, everything!!

If you are a fan of m/m romances, flawless representation, amazing side characters and a story where the character who gets tragically injured doesn't miraculously heal (because those are just cop outs) READ THIS BOOK!

My one and only complaint would be at one point Luca is talking to Jordan and they're talking about sexualities and it just didn't quite strike me right the way he talked about them in that passage. I'm still unsure of exactly why I didn't quite like it, either. However this is only a small nitpick and I still adored this book!