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Golden Boy: A Novel by Abigail Tarttelin
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Golden Boy: A Novel (edition 2013)

by Abigail Tarttelin

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4183660,060 (4.03)2
"The Walker family is good at keeping secrets from the world. They are even better at keeping them from each other. Max Walker is a golden boy. Attractive, intelligent, and athletic, he's the perfect son, the perfect friend, and the perfect crush for the girls in his school. He's even really nice to his little brother. Karen, Max's mother, is a highly successful criminal lawyer, determined to maintain the fac̦ade of effortless excellence she has constructed through the years. Now that the boys are getting older, now that she won't have as much control, she worries that the fac̦ade might soon begin to crumble. Adding to the tension, her husband, Steve, has chosen this moment to stand for election to Parliament. The spotlight of the media is about to encircle their lives. The Walkers are hiding something, you see. Max is special. Max is different. Max is intersex. When an enigmatic childhood friend named Hunter steps out of his 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? What else are they hiding from Max about his condition and from each other? The deeper Max goes, the more questions emerge about where it all leaves him and what his future holds, especially now that he's starting to fall head over heels for someone for the first time in his life. Will his friends accept him if he is no longer the Golden Boy? Will anyone ever want him--desire him--once they know? And the biggest one of all, the question he has to look inside himself to answer: Who is Max Walker, really?"--Jacket.… (more)
Member:MsNick
Title:Golden Boy: A Novel
Authors:Abigail Tarttelin
Info:Atria Books (2013), Hardcover, 352 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:None

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Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

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English (34)  Italian (1)  Spanish (1)  All languages (36)
Showing 1-5 of 34 (next | show all)
I had a difficult time with it.

The story was exceptionally well written and riveting in a way. I just could not personally love it.

It is a tough book to review because there is not anything wrong with it. I just..for whatever reason..did not love it.

I think everyone has at least a few books that they know, intellectually are really well done. But for some reason they just cannot get into it.

That is what happened with me and this book although I did read it through. It was tough though. ( )
  Thebeautifulsea | Aug 6, 2022 |
This was a good, thought provoking read. I enjoyed the character of Max very much and I learned quite a bit about intersex people in addition. The story is told from various points of view. Some of them were more interesting than others. My favorites were of course Max and his little brother Daniel. The character of Sylvie seemed the least well developed but she was there really just as someone that Max could aspire to and count on. The story wasn't really about her so I guess that's okay. There was some interesting bits from the POV of both of the parents. I would think that having a child with this issue would be difficult and you would struggle to do your best for them.

All in a recommended read. ( )
  Luziadovalongo | Jul 14, 2022 |
I liked this book a lot. It was a bit preachy in places, but I thought it was well-written and emotionally engaging. Worth reading. ( )
  SwitchKnitter | Dec 19, 2021 |
The novel Golden Boy offers a view-shifting exploration of gender, identity, person-hood, familial relationships, and growing up. Max's journey is touching on so many occasions and Tarttelin crafted him with such care. The message of the book deserves 5 stars, but some recurring annoyances hold my rating back. The characters began to have much too long and much too indulgent, whiny, rambling internal monologues as the book progressed. The characters would have been well-served if their inner musings were slightly less loquacious. Also the parents, especially the father, felt one-dimensional for the first 3/4 of the book, but they finally came to life before the end. The last gripe-- too many instances and detailed descriptions of Max biting his nails and lips. We get it he's at a cross-roads, he's full of angst, he's heart broken . . . but it became far too repetitive to read about his nervousness in the same way chapter after chapter. Despite these nit-picky issues, Golden Boy really is a great book and it feels very important. ( )
  mbellucci | Apr 10, 2021 |
This book, about an intersex teen, had a lot of high drama and tense moments that I thought were very well executed. The teenage dialogue was spot on, and the plot did keep the reader guessing.

The negatives: I wasn't crazy about the structure of telling the story from several different perspectives. I thought it jumped around too quickly, and that we didn't get much insight from some of the characters. Max's brother, for example, had cute comments but his story line just didn't contribute. I especially didn't like the passages told from the perspective of the doctor. Her medical talk sounded like it was pulled straight from the pages of Wikipedia. I guess the author wanted to explain the scientific side of being intersex, but I thought it was executed in a clunky way. I would have rather just heard the doctor explain to Max what he had without the reader seeing her conduct her research and learn about intersex.

I also didn't like the intern character. She just made me think that the dad was going to have an affair with her, but then -- spoiler alert -- he didn't. That annoyed me for some reason.

Overall it was an interesting book. I think a young adult audience in particular would get a lot out of it. ( )
  nancyjean19 | Jun 3, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 34 (next | show all)
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"The Walker family is good at keeping secrets from the world. They are even better at keeping them from each other. Max Walker is a golden boy. Attractive, intelligent, and athletic, he's the perfect son, the perfect friend, and the perfect crush for the girls in his school. He's even really nice to his little brother. Karen, Max's mother, is a highly successful criminal lawyer, determined to maintain the fac̦ade of effortless excellence she has constructed through the years. Now that the boys are getting older, now that she won't have as much control, she worries that the fac̦ade might soon begin to crumble. Adding to the tension, her husband, Steve, has chosen this moment to stand for election to Parliament. The spotlight of the media is about to encircle their lives. The Walkers are hiding something, you see. Max is special. Max is different. Max is intersex. When an enigmatic childhood friend named Hunter steps out of his 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? What else are they hiding from Max about his condition and from each other? The deeper Max goes, the more questions emerge about where it all leaves him and what his future holds, especially now that he's starting to fall head over heels for someone for the first time in his life. Will his friends accept him if he is no longer the Golden Boy? Will anyone ever want him--desire him--once they know? And the biggest one of all, the question he has to look inside himself to answer: Who is Max Walker, really?"--Jacket.

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