Everyone should read this book. That could simply be my whole review.
Anything But Fine follows Luca, a Year 11 student from Ballarat. When a missed step leaves his foot broken, his dreams of a career in ballet crumble as well. As his life is flipped upside down he meets Jordan (who everyone says is straight) and suddenly Luca finds himself falling for a second time.
Ultimately this book is about self-discovery and the things one loses and gains on that journey. I saw myself in Luca and his friends as they conquered high school. I laughed. I sobbed. I almost fell off my bed.
I love this book and I would recommend it to everyone, young and old, but most specifically to those of us who have yet to discover ourselves in one way or another. This book is for you.
Reviewed by Gretel, Year 11
Cerdon College, Merrylands NSW
Age Guide 14+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Originally from Ballarat, Tobias now resides in New York City with his husband, Daniel, and their Cavoodle, Ollie. Tobias worked for ten years as a performer, touring Australia and New Zealand with musicals such as Mary Poppins, CATS, and Guys and Dolls.
In 2019, he edited and published the Underdog anthology and co-wrote the cabaret show Siblingship. Tobias’s debut novel, Anything But Fine, was published in 2021, and was awarded the Australian Association of Family Therapy’s Book Award for Older Readers, was shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year for Older Readers, was named one of Better Reading’s Top 50 Kids Books (2022), and was included on Bank Street College of Education’s list of Best Children’s Books of the Year (US, 2023). His second novel, Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell, was published in 2022 in Australia and 2023 in the US.
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