Golden Boy: A Novel

I don’t think anything I write will give this book justice, but I genuinely loved this book and its characters and overall message. This isn’t just a love story. It’s a story about life. I think the most important thing I took out of reading this was the fact that this was such a real story, besides it being technically fiction. The feelings were real. The inner turmoil that Max faced throughout the story was real. The events that took place were as real as they could get. That’s probably what scared me the most. I’m fairly ignorant when it comes to gender binary and people who are intersex so GOLDEN BOY was definitely educational and left me thinking that people may not always identify with the gender they were born with and that’s okay. So long as they remember that they are a living person, their gender is not needed to classify who they are. We are all human in the end, regardless of what our gender may be. I don’t want to give too much away, so I will leave you with this: GOLDEN BOY is an eye-opening, intense, and eloquently written story about Max and the problems he faces being intersex. I cried, I laughed, but more importantly, I felt empathy. I needed this story more than I thought I did. If a book can move me the way GOLDEN BOY did, it will more than likely stay with me long after I have finished it. Abigial Tarttelin is an incredibly talented writer and is now one of my favorite authors. Thank you so much for wrecking me completely and for this story. If you haven’t already read this book, please find the time to do so. I’m so genuinely grateful that I did.

This book showed up on my recommendation list and I hesitated before I decided to read it. Once I pulled in the sample though, I was hooked. I thought initially that the whole concept of the book was farfetched but by the time I was a few chapters in, I fell in love with the characters and felt that I "needed" to know what happened next. Although I'm not sure the scenario outlined in the book could ever be reality, it ultimately makes the reader think that people are different and are struggling with unknown demons, challenges and issues that may or may not be understood or even acknowledged by others. Well worth the read. GOOD JOB!!!!

Trigger Warning: Very strong and difficult content, non-consensual decisions about the bodies of others. A more detailed trigger warning is included at the end of this review, in order to avoid story spoilers if you decide to read this novel. If you wish to avoid the details of sexual assault while reading the book, skip Max’s first section. My use of male pronouns in this review is due to Tarttelin’s portrayal of Max as a male-identifying person. For the sake of this review, I felt that he/him/his were the proper pronouns to use. This review includes spoilers involving the perspectives of various characters in the novel. Golden Boy is a heart-wrenching story about an intersex teen named Max, and the aftereffects of his rape. The main issue explored by the author in Max’s story is the secrecy and misconceptions surrounding sex and gender. At it’s core, this is a coming of age story with a conversation on social expectations. Along with characters’ problematic views comes the question their lives revolve around: what will people think? An English novelist trained in acting, Abigail Tarttelin writes with natural ability. The character development is expertly established such that the reader becomes fully invested in Max, wanting to see the novel through to the end. This is the gift of a skilled author. The book is beautifully written in the simple style of many young adult novels, making it an easy read. However, the content is harrowing, making the reading psychologically challenging. Each section of the book is divided according to character. The story continually shifts perspectives, allowing a thorough view of the complexities of the situation. The reader sees how Max’s character evolves through both his eyes and those of the people around him. The readers also get to know the personalities of the other characters, and how they affect the story. Adding to the events of the book are the class, political, and familial elements of Max’s life. Max is the golden boy: blonde, smart, good-looking, sweet-natured, athletic, and popular. His parents live in the spotlight of their highly successful legal careers, which have a strong influence on Max’s feelings about himself, as well as his actions later on. His attacker is a childhood friend; a friendship at times forced by the close relationship between their mothers. At the time of the story, Max’s mother Karen is leading a charmed, privileged life. She has a close relationship with Max, and played a large part in raising her children as her husband Steve worked longer hours. This is quickly shown to be problematic in that Max began to take on his mother’s view of his body as mysterious and distasteful, a mistake best kept quiet. She worries about Steve’s political involvement in the town, as it draws them further into the spotlight that could shine on things she believes are best left in the dark. I think much of Karen’s view of intersexuality comes from her interactions with Max’s specialists. The specialists are the worst kind of doctors, the kind that treat Max as a specimen, ignoring his personhood, his feelings and curiosity about his own body. They talked almost exclusively to Max’s parents, particularly to Karen (Steve didn’t like them). In doing this, they gave her all the control. When the family is at a doctor’s appointment, Karen demands that Max “stop talking” to the doctor, as if what he has to say about himself is of no consequence. They led her to believe Max was different in a bad way; Max, like many children, picked up on Karen’s attitude. He sees intersexuality as a terrible secret that will force him into loneliness in his adult life. Knowledge is a power Max was never given, leading to the confusion he deals with throughout the story and the events that unfold after the rape. As for Max’s father, he is partly to blame as well. While he is far more open-minded about Max’s intersexuality, and better able to cope than Karen, he is guilty in that he did not speak up. Karen bullied him into keeping quiet when he should have said something. He also spends far more time working than Karen, especially when he decides to delve into politics. This leaves Karen to rule the household, to make decisions concerning Max. If Steve had stood up for Max, the story would have taken a different route; rather than focusing on society’s opinions, Steve wants his children to make their own decisions. Adding pressure to an already strenuous situation is Daniel, Max’s younger brother. Daniel’s chapters are characterized by run-on sentences about his love for his brother, video games, and his frustrations concerning parental attention. 9 years old and an aspiring robotics engineer, Daniel is a smart, temperamental little brother who, in spite of a close relationship with Max, often feels ignored or cast aside due to Max’s golden boy status. Daniel experiences problems in school, and relies on Max to help him, adding to Max’s already overflowing emotional plate. Sylvie is Max’s love interest in the novel. An anxious loner who spends her days writing poetry, Sylvie likes hanging out in the local graveyard. Doing so helps her prove to herself that she has courage, that she has nothing to be afraid of. She helps Max by being there for him and helping him to feel loved and accepted throughout the novel. The local doctor, Archie, is the character that reminds me the most of myself. When Max asks questions she doesn’t know the answer to, she does her best to find out; she recognizes the limits of her knowledge, and wants to learn more so she can do better. She states, “The trick is to treat the sick like you treat the well. More than anything, they need to feel normal” (pg. 45). She sees sex as a normal part of adolescence, and believes Max deserves answers to his questions about his body. Archie and Max initially have trouble communicating. This is largely caused by a lack of education on both their parts. Max is ashamed of what happened, doesn’t understand his body well, and doesn’t understand sex well, so has trouble communicating necessary information to his doctor. Medical education hardly covers sex and gender issues, and this gap in medical education makes it difficult for Archie to understand what she needs to know in order to help Max. These are gaps that must be addressed and fixed by society in order to create a healthier human population. The end of the book is everything one could hope for. The book itself is a heartbreaker; Tarttelin gives her audience the ending that so many similar stories cannot have. I am happy with this; we all need some positivity in our lives. Tarttelin gives readers the kind of ending that gives one hope for a better day. Trigger Warning (this includes major plot spoilers!): rape, abortion, self-shaming, nonconsensual decisions about the bodies of others, attempted suicide.

This book is reasonably well written. I sympathized and understood the suffering of the main character. But there was no right answer for how to handle intersexuality. Everyone that has ever been a parent has had to make decisions for their children. You do the best you can. The parents relationship fell apart without sufficient cause. These people had the money to take years off work with out a problem. Very few families could do this. All in all, interesting but pointless.

Enjoyed the story. I despised the mother, Karen and her motives. By the time the story attempts to rehabilitate her, it was too late - at least for me. She kept spouting unbelievable nonsense about how she wanted the best for Max and yet... She clearly wanted what was best for her. The father was the quiet champion of Max. I listened to this as an audiobook. Still not convinced it's the best way to experience a book. Great writing and loved the story!

The birth of any baby born outside of all perfection comes with a time of mourning. No matter the unconditional love, the imperfect child is born with dreams shattered and life arcs disrupted. We meet Max as a ten year old who has his own version of dreams disrupted. He has traveled further than the panicked fear of his parents. Yet he has a secret known to his parents, and his parents ' best friends including the somewhat disquieting Hunter. Max has grown to be the golden boy, the one everyone admires. He is smart. He is athletic. He is inter-sex .In the end, in my opinion, the nature of Max's secret is only marginally more important than the fact the secret has been kept, sometimes at cost. While its nature dictates the specific issues of the plot line, to me anyone who shares a self view of not being right would understand the currents of meaning. Yes the concept of a child with indeterminate sexuality is a more loaded concept in literature, yet one in a hundred live births have some degree of ambiguity. For all of his success, a child must always feel other when the specifics of his life are a deeply guarded secret. The plot could easily devolve into melodrama and I credit the author's skill in avoiding that tempting trap. In secrecy lies the spawning of abuse and shame. The subject matter is something different, and that does attract a level of novelty. However I continue to find that the mundane and commonly shared aspects of this story are its strength. I found the characters to be well developed, and felt empathy for most of them. I especially enjoyed Max and I think you will be glad to meet him while you ponder the world as it craves the nonexistent perfect person.

Had it not been for Christian Coulson, who was one of the actors who participated in the audio book for Golden Boy, this is a book that would never have been on my radar. Thank you Christian! I would have missed out on one of the best books I have read. I highly recommend the audio book for Golden Boy, it is excellent. The book is very well written with excellent character development. Max the main character, a 16 year old boy dealing with very tough circumstances, is a very lovable character. His brother, Daniel, can only be described as a somewhat spoiled, seemingly clueless kid, addicted to video games, he's 10. Then there are the parents Karen and Steven, Karen leaves a bit to be desired, not very likable, in my opinion, she tries to do her best for her children, but, where she is successful in her career, she sometimes fails miserably in giving her sons what they need. Steven, is probably the best father, his character started out a little shaky, but in the end he was awesome, thankfully, for Max. I would not discuss any specifics of the book other than this is a family struggling with a family secret, that nearly tears them apart. Any details would be considered a spoiler. It is an excellent story, and I'm so glad I was pointed in the direction of this book. If in doubt, READ IT!

WARNING, WARNING, Do not start this book if you have anything you need to do during the day, or need to sleep at night. This book literally rocked my world. It is brilliant. This is a story of an intersex child named Max. Nothing has been done to change Max since Max was a baby, so Max grows up identifying as a male, but is really both male and female. (That may seem some awkward wording, but it just shows how intrenched we are at labeling anyone a he or a she right from the beginning.) So, this situation is kept secret by Max's parents, and even Max knows Max is different, but has little information about this condition. Max knows kissing is as far as Max will go, but seems content just being Max. (Do you see how hard it is not to use an identifying he or she.") When Max reaches the age of sixteen, a compelling event takes place that changes everything. All the secrets that have been kept, all the questions that Max has never asked come boiling to the surface, and nothing can ever be the same again. At times this book had me in tears. The hardships and humiliation our society puts on others through deeming some not "normal." All the tragedies that could be prevented if we just accepted people as they are. All the secrets that kill our soul. For what? All to appease those who are fearful of anyone who is different? Who decides what "normal" is anyway. This is an intense read, and I adore any author who is able to put such a poignant story together. Really, drop everything, and read this book.

The doctor character, Archie, is a little flat and it is obvious her role is to teach us the reader about being intersex. But other than that it is a good read. Would recommend for sure.

A nice novel to add to any queer youth centre. Love to see more stories out there about intersex folks. Though be warned there is a major trigger warning for rape.

Excellent novel. It's a very intense and very insightful read. To this day (read it last fall) I still remember most of it. It's unforgettable no matter how you try. It's that deep.

Great book. Couldn't put it down. Such an interesting subject and thoughts around being different and human. Glad I read it.

A charming tale of how we all are identified and how we find a way to identify ourselves. Brilliant inside look at the impact of intersexuality on a family and an individual. Your heart will break by times and be redeemed at others.