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There are currently 65 member reviews
for Golden Boy
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Rebecca K. (Illinois)
Heart-breaking and fascinating
"Golden Boy" is one of the best novels I've read in years. It provides a heart-wrenching view at the growing pains faced by an intersex teen. Max's story is full of family secrets, medical questions, and difficulties with dating. It's a page-turner, and I read it in several days, not wanting to put it down to go to bed at night. Heart-breaking at times, the novel provides honest glimpses into a family full of secrets and lies. I highly recommend it.
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Sue H. (Wooster, OH)
One of the best this year
What a Christmas gift! I read first-time author Abigail Tarttelin's "Golden Boy" in a little over a day and am still (nearly a week later) thinking about how the lives of the characters are going on. You will fall in love with Max, the golden child of two driven parents and the older sibling of Daniel, a charmer in his own right. It is just not right to call this another coming-of-age story; it is much more. It is a coming-into-one's-own-identity story. Read it as soon as humanly possible; it will haunt you in the nicest way imaginable. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have read it!
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Beverly J. (Huntersville, NC)
Golden Boy
Golden Boy is the story of Max who is considered a perfect golden boy because of his good looks, smart, compassionate, and he strives to be the perfect child to his parents. But, Max is intersex, and this secret has caused his family to be as normal and successful as possible by avoidance and politeness to each other. But the seams that hold the secret (and the family) together will burst open when Max is violated physically and emotionally.
The author writes with both sensitivity and detached consideration and except for the emotional opening scene I often felt I was reading a clinical report. The multi-narrator worked for me to understand who the characters were and how Max and his family ended up at this place. The subject of intersex, social expectations regarding sexual identity and the importance of communications within a family will make this a good book club discussion.
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Wilhelmina H. (New Port Richey, FL)
Golden Boy
I found this book to be a fast and easy read. The storyline was different and held my interest, but I thought the characters could have been a bit more developed, especially the parents. There wasn't much layering to their relationships with each other and their children, making their interactions feel superficial to me, but perhaps that was the author's intention. The book does make you think about a topic that is not commonly discussed.
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Ann S. (Shenandoah, IA)
Golden Boy
I found the opening very disturbing. It was however a riveting story. Max's character was realistic in the way he tried to deal with his situation. I was stunned that the parents were unable to help him. Without Sylvie and the doctor, Max would have had no one to turn to.
I feel that the ending was contrived and forced. Max is after all still a teenager; he still has so much to deal with, (as do his parents) but he may be on the right track.
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Nancy C. (Newton, KS)
Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin
This is a book I would not have picked out to read on my own. That said, I am glad that I did. The story is an emotionally wrenching look into a subject I was totally unfamiliar with. Max, the golden boy, lives what on the surface seems to be a charmed life. Athletic, handsome and a genuinely nice teen; his life begins to unravel quickly as the facade his parents have created comes apart. Born with both male and female organs, his parents chose to raise him as a boy and defer any decision for surgery until he is older. The supporting characters round out the story in a satisfying manner. Daniel, the brother, provides an anchor for Max through his unwavering love. Wise beyond his years, he was my favorite character. Both parents love Max but make some devastating decisions regarding him. Hunter, his childhood friend, is so flawed that he is the perfect villain you can love to hate.
Tarttelina, a first time novelist, begins her story with no holds barred and at first I was not sure this was the book for me. I am glad I persevered and I find that Max, Daniel and their parents still occupy my thoughts long after the book concluded.
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Kristen H. (Lowell, MA)
Just when you think you had it hard
This story took me for a ride right from the first page. Most of us think we have hard lives for one reason or another but not too many of us can imagine how hard it must be for those in the world who struggle with trying to figure out who they are just like Max did in "Golden Boy". Max's parents also had trouble during his struggle because they had made the initial decision for him when he was born which is what caused his "problem". Imagine being in their place having to make the choice for your child. I can't imagine being in any of these positions and I think that Abigail Tarttelin tells a great story from many different perspectives and calls into question the motives of those around Max and the struggles they must have gone through.
