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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
This book has been on my to-read shelf since it came out almost two years ago and wasn't one that I was dying to pick up. It happened to be available at the library and I'm so glad I finally read it. This is a story about Max, an intersex or hermaphrodite teenager, and is told through the the eyes of four or five different characters. While I liked the little brother's chapters the least, this was a very effective way of telling this story to convey how the situation impacts the characters. There are so many great conversation pieces that come from this book and it really makes you think. If you can persevere through the first very difficult scene, this is well worth the read.
“Sinto que as vezes há coisas que me rasgam em duas direções, que há dois conjuntos de pensamentos que crescem lado a lados. Mas me dou conta de que sou inteiro, seja lá o que isso signifique ou deixe de significar; eu sou completo, sem necessidade de acréscimos ou alterações”
esse livro foi como uma crise existencial no meio de uma montanha russa de emoções.
esse livro foi como uma crise existencial no meio de uma montanha russa de emoções.
Note: Received as an ARC from Netgalley.
From a rising literary star Abigail Tarttelin comes an unforgettable novel about a boy, a secret, and the single traumatizing event that sends his seemingly charmed life into tailspin.
Max Walker is a golden boy. Attractive, intelligent, and athletic, he’s the perfect son, the perfect friend, and a perfect crush for the girls in his school. He’s even really nice to his little brother, Daniel, a decidedly imperfect ten-year-old. Karen Walker is a beautiful, highly successful criminal lawyer, who works hard to maintain the facade of effortless excellence she has constructed over the years. Now that the boys are getting older, now that she won’t have as much control, she worries that the facade might soon begin to crumble. Steve Walker is also a successful prosecutor, so much so that he is running for election to Parliament. The spotlight of the media is about to encircle their lives.
But the Walkers have a secret. Max was born with forty-six XX chromosomes and forty-six XY chromosomes, which makes him intersex. He identifies as a boy and so has been raised lovingly that way. When an enigmatic childhood friend named Hunter steps out of Max’s past and abuses his trust in the worst possible way, Max is forced to consider the nature of his well-kept secret. Why won’t his parents talk about it? Will his friends accept him if he is no longer the Golden Boy? Who is Max and who will he be in the years ahead?
While Max and his family face life-changing questions, revelations, and the ever-present threat that Hunter presents, Max falls in love. He might be flawed, but could he be the perfectly imperfect boyfriend for misfit Sylvie Clark, the oddball loner in his class?
Told in first person narratives alternating between Max, Daniel, Karen, Sylvie, Steve, and Archie, the physician who attempts to guide Max through this pivotal moment in his life, Golden Boy is at once a riveting novel of a family in crisis, a fascinating exploration of identity, and a coming-of-age story like no other.
Okay, so I was unsure about whether I’d like this book or not, but this book was absolutely amazing. Abigail Tarttelin used first person point of views from a few of her main characters, and that is very rarely done well, but she did it in a way that made perfect sense, and you got to see how the issues that affect Max also affect the rest of his family and friends.
I think that my favorite point of view was Max’s ten-year-old brother, Daniel, because you could read how he was trying to understand what was going on with his brother. I also loved the relationship between Daniel and Max.
One thing that I particularly love about this book is that as you read, you’re doing the journey along with Max, you get to learn about what intersexuality is and what its like to live with it, which is amazing. It makes you think about what you would have done in his situation, how you would have reacted.
I also really began to hate his mother, for reasons that you’ll discover throughout the book, and I fell entirely in love with the relationship that grew within the boys of the family after Karen left . This book did not sugarcoat much of anything, and that’s a fantastic thing. Not to mention, the cover ties into the ending of the book perfectly and that gets it brownie points from me.
From a rising literary star Abigail Tarttelin comes an unforgettable novel about a boy, a secret, and the single traumatizing event that sends his seemingly charmed life into tailspin.
Max Walker is a golden boy. Attractive, intelligent, and athletic, he’s the perfect son, the perfect friend, and a perfect crush for the girls in his school. He’s even really nice to his little brother, Daniel, a decidedly imperfect ten-year-old. Karen Walker is a beautiful, highly successful criminal lawyer, who works hard to maintain the facade of effortless excellence she has constructed over the years. Now that the boys are getting older, now that she won’t have as much control, she worries that the facade might soon begin to crumble. Steve Walker is also a successful prosecutor, so much so that he is running for election to Parliament. The spotlight of the media is about to encircle their lives.
But the Walkers have a secret. Max was born with forty-six XX chromosomes and forty-six XY chromosomes, which makes him intersex. He identifies as a boy and so has been raised lovingly that way. When an enigmatic childhood friend named Hunter steps out of Max’s past and abuses his trust in the worst possible way, Max is forced to consider the nature of his well-kept secret. Why won’t his parents talk about it? Will his friends accept him if he is no longer the Golden Boy? Who is Max and who will he be in the years ahead?
While Max and his family face life-changing questions, revelations, and the ever-present threat that Hunter presents, Max falls in love. He might be flawed, but could he be the perfectly imperfect boyfriend for misfit Sylvie Clark, the oddball loner in his class?
Told in first person narratives alternating between Max, Daniel, Karen, Sylvie, Steve, and Archie, the physician who attempts to guide Max through this pivotal moment in his life, Golden Boy is at once a riveting novel of a family in crisis, a fascinating exploration of identity, and a coming-of-age story like no other.
Okay, so I was unsure about whether I’d like this book or not, but this book was absolutely amazing. Abigail Tarttelin used first person point of views from a few of her main characters, and that is very rarely done well, but she did it in a way that made perfect sense, and you got to see how the issues that affect Max also affect the rest of his family and friends.
I think that my favorite point of view was Max’s ten-year-old brother, Daniel, because you could read how he was trying to understand what was going on with his brother. I also loved the relationship between Daniel and Max.
One thing that I particularly love about this book is that as you read, you’re doing the journey along with Max, you get to learn about what intersexuality is and what its like to live with it, which is amazing. It makes you think about what you would have done in his situation, how you would have reacted.
I also really began to hate his mother, for reasons that you’ll discover throughout the book, and I fell entirely in love with the relationship that grew within the boys of the family
I love this book. Period.
Gender doesn't matter. Sexuality doesn't matter.
The only thing that matters is choice and consent.
Gender doesn't matter. Sexuality doesn't matter.
The only thing that matters is choice and consent.
I have given my thoughts regarding Golden boy in a short video on my brand new Booktube Channel. Do check it out if you would like.
Golden Boy Review
My ❤️ .. this book... Just finished this book so I am yet to gather my thoughts on this. But, this is such an incredibly important book about a topic that should get attention & more acceptance. Daniel's voice was like a breath of fresh air & Max? Oh! That truly golden boy! I wanted to hug him, fictional though he was...
#books #contemporaryfiction #shorts #reels #minireviews #bookreviews #readinggoals #reading #bookish #bookishviews
Golden Boy Review
My ❤️ .. this book... Just finished this book so I am yet to gather my thoughts on this. But, this is such an incredibly important book about a topic that should get attention & more acceptance. Daniel's voice was like a breath of fresh air & Max? Oh! That truly golden boy! I wanted to hug him, fictional though he was...
#books #contemporaryfiction #shorts #reels #minireviews #bookreviews #readinggoals #reading #bookish #bookishviews
I had some pretty high expectations for this book. The subjects of identity and intersexuality, yes please! There is a lot to digest right from the start. I read the first 20 or so pages on my lunch break and when I returned to my desk I felt a bit like I had been punched in the gut. This feeling came and went through pretty much through the whole book. While I liked the alternating narratives, there are plot points in the book that I with the author had chosen not to pursue. None-the-less, I liked it and I'm glad to have read it.
This book is so beautiful and heartbreaking, and I just want to read it all over again. I honestly cannot recommend this book enough, it is so important not only because it deals with a topic not enough people are informed about, but because of the message behind this book. I learnt so much from reading this.
First off, a MASSIVE trigger warning for rape/sexual violence for this book. It really wasn't mentioned at all going into the books, and it's not even a spoiler because it happens in the first 20 pages, and it totally caught me off guard.
This book was fantastic, and will forever impact the way I see the world. It does an unbelievable job talking about gender and sexuality, and really making you think. It teaches you about intersexuality but in a respectful way, not in a way that the main character is just there to educate you about it. It really makes you connect with it and understand it on a deep emotional level. It also does a great job of talking about being a survivor of rape, and coping with that. It handles this really flawlessly, I was incredibly impressed and touched.
I learned a lot from this book, in a deeper way than I can explain. It affected how I see gender and sexuality in a deep way. It also really emotionally connected me to the awful hardship of being a survivor of rape, and overcoming that and how difficult and nuanced the situation really is. These are things I had known about before, but this book really connected me to them emotionally in a way I had never experienced.
Everything about this book was great. I didn't want to put it down. I loved how the book is told from multiple perspectives, I think it executes that flawlessly and also really shows how it is necessary. Every character was important and nuanced and lovable in their own way. It was easy to understand each of them. This book was truly excellent, I really think everyone should read it.
This book was fantastic, and will forever impact the way I see the world. It does an unbelievable job talking about gender and sexuality, and really making you think. It teaches you about intersexuality but in a respectful way, not in a way that the main character is just there to educate you about it. It really makes you connect with it and understand it on a deep emotional level. It also does a great job of talking about being a survivor of rape, and coping with that. It handles this really flawlessly, I was incredibly impressed and touched.
I learned a lot from this book, in a deeper way than I can explain. It affected how I see gender and sexuality in a deep way. It also really emotionally connected me to the awful hardship of being a survivor of rape, and overcoming that and how difficult and nuanced the situation really is. These are things I had known about before, but this book really connected me to them emotionally in a way I had never experienced.
Everything about this book was great. I didn't want to put it down. I loved how the book is told from multiple perspectives, I think it executes that flawlessly and also really shows how it is necessary. Every character was important and nuanced and lovable in their own way. It was easy to understand each of them. This book was truly excellent, I really think everyone should read it.
4.5
Utterly heartbreaking. Such an important story and subject matter.
Utterly heartbreaking. Such an important story and subject matter.