Reviewed By Lorena Sanqui for Readers’ Favorite
Anthony lost his dad to an accident at a young age, and then lost his mom, Yuni, to cancer when he was in high school. Yuni’s best friend, Rita, took Anthony in and treated him like her own son until Rita’s urges got the better of her and she entered into a sexual relationship with Anthony. Anthony was a willing participant, but being a minor and Rita’s ward didn’t go down well with the police and they sent Rita to jail. Now Anthony is back in college and he’s having issues with getting into relationships. Luckily for him, Kay Goodman loves him very much and will not give up on him. Will Anthony and Kay get together and have a happy ending in Anthony by Harold J. Fischel.
Anthony by Harold J. Fischel is a wonderful coming of age novel. I loved the story of Anthony, but it didn’t seem to follow one plot line. There were lots of smaller stories crammed in the book, although they all revolved around Anthony. It was okay but everything happened too fast; there was conflict after conflict so that it felt like there was no real climax and the ending seemed abrupt. On the other hand, I welcomed all the surprises and I loved all the characters. Anthony was resilient and strong, even when he was still a kid. Everything he experienced growing up only made him stronger, some of the things that happened to him even made me cry. Aunt Rita was a really nice person who just made some mistakes. Kay was persistent and supportive in all that Anthony does. All the supporting characters also played big roles in Anthony’s success. Overall, a good book with great characters.