Anything But Fine

What an absolutely lovely coming of age story! Tobias Madden has written a true jem with Anything But Fine. A young adult, coming of age story, Mr. Madden touches on some powerful issues, and manages to keep a hopeful tone throughout. I was repeatedly impressed by the depth of Luca's voice. Faced with some intense challenges, Luca’s reactions, and the choices he makes, are admirable. What he learns about himself, and the way this sweet boy grows over the course of the story, is a joy to experience. Author Tobias Madden has a real gift, and I’m eager to read the several other books he’s written… and here’s to hoping there are many more to come! I was lucky enough to enjoy Anything But Fine as an audiobook, and I’ve got to spend some time crowing over the narrator! Matthew Backer delivers an absolutely stellar performance. His ability to infuse Luca’s character with the youthful innocence he surely possesses, and the lighthearted tone Mr. Backer keeps up the entire way through, is exceptional. Bravo, Bravo, Bravo!!!

Audiobook Review: Overall – 5 Performance – 5 Story – 5 Fantastic story and audio performance. Anything But Fine is a great YA story that can be enjoyed by all ages. I listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved it. I started listening kind of late in the evening (big mistake LOL) and I ended up staying up until 7 a.m. to finish because I just couldn’t put it down. Thank goodness I am retired. 😊 The advanced copy of the audiobook that I listened to had a great interview/discussion between the author and narrator that I found wonderfully interesting. I can’t find any other audiobooks performed by Matthew Backer but during the talk he indicated that he is an actor so it’s easy to understand how he was able to do such a great job with his performance of the story. Anything But Fine is full of great and not so great characters – pretty typical of high school. After he changes schools, Luca is befriended by fellow student, Amina, who happens to be Muslim. They bond very quickly at least in part because other students don’t like them – Luca because he’s gay and Amina because she is Muslim. I could go on and on and tell more of the story but the blurb gives you the basics. I can’t recommend this audiobook highly enough; it’s fantastic! A complimentary copy of this audiobook was provided to me at my request from the publisher via NetGalley but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author and/or narrator.