sophie275's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Suicide
punkystarshine's review
5.0
This is one of the most unique books I've ever read. I loved it, very much. I love Max, I love Sylvie, I even love strange little Daniel. Highly recommended.
Spoiler
I love the way they talked about gender as being possibly non-binary, I love that Max was just Max at his center, not fully male, not fully female, not both nor neither. Just Max. And I loved how realistic it was that one parent was more okay with it/able to cope than the other and how that affected their family. I did not love how stressful the last chapter was but I was pleased with the ending.stephaniejnl's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
donniedarkage's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
shannen_m's review against another edition
1.0
TW// rape, and also spoilers below. Mind yourselves.
I want to preface by saying that a lot of the things about this book that I hated come down to preference. I prefer likable characters, I prefer a little purple in my prose, I prefer narrative justice over gritty realism. I wanted to like Golden Boy, as it's the only book aside from the Pantomime trilogy by Laura Lam, that I've read that includes an intersex character. A while back I read some stats about intersexuality that surprised me re: how common it is, in the scheme of things. It's estimated that approaching 2% of the population falls under the intersex umbrella, which sounds small until you realise that another group of people exist at the same percentage: red heads. And we all know red heads get a fair old chunk of rep in YA fiction.
Unfortunately, I hated Golden Boy. I found the characters flat, with little going on except their problems, and at worst extremely unsympathetic, like Karen. I loathed Karen. Even Max, the protagonist, seemed to only have three traits; intersex, likes football and girls, is non confrontational. Especially considering that it was first person narration, it's strange that I wasn't able to build any attachment to him or the other characters.
The rape scene was extremely graphic, and honestly I felt criminally voyeuristic reading it. Especially with first person, I think when you handle that kind of material you need to be careful of not making the reading complicit in the violation. I couldn't stop thinking about how an assault survivor would feel reading it, and I can't imagine it being anything but traumatic. Had it only been the rape scene, and the rest of the book been about Max healing/coming to understand himself/learning to fight for his own autonomy and personhood, I think I could have grown to like it, despite the bumpy beginning. And I kept reading, hoping it would get better, but it didn't. The main problem with this book for me is that it's a trauma parade. One thing after another, put the stick down that horse is extremely dead. Karen's actions re: the termination border on criminal, and I found the idea that Max was "learning" to see things from her point of view and forgive her repulsive. And the attempted suicide? I didn't even know how to begin to feel about it. There was no catharsis, and no resolution, at least in my reading of it.
I hope other people - including intersex people - who read this found it more constructive than I did, but I feel like I've been left dangling. I've looked around and haven't seen any indication that Golden Boy is own voices, and it makes the whole thing even more uncomfortable. Again, I hope the people that got something out of this book did so unscathed, but damn, it was not for me.
I want to preface by saying that a lot of the things about this book that I hated come down to preference. I prefer likable characters, I prefer a little purple in my prose, I prefer narrative justice over gritty realism. I wanted to like Golden Boy, as it's the only book aside from the Pantomime trilogy by Laura Lam, that I've read that includes an intersex character. A while back I read some stats about intersexuality that surprised me re: how common it is, in the scheme of things. It's estimated that approaching 2% of the population falls under the intersex umbrella, which sounds small until you realise that another group of people exist at the same percentage: red heads. And we all know red heads get a fair old chunk of rep in YA fiction.
Unfortunately, I hated Golden Boy. I found the characters flat, with little going on except their problems, and at worst extremely unsympathetic, like Karen. I loathed Karen. Even Max, the protagonist, seemed to only have three traits; intersex, likes football and girls, is non confrontational. Especially considering that it was first person narration, it's strange that I wasn't able to build any attachment to him or the other characters.
The rape scene was extremely graphic, and honestly I felt criminally voyeuristic reading it. Especially with first person, I think when you handle that kind of material you need to be careful of not making the reading complicit in the violation. I couldn't stop thinking about how an assault survivor would feel reading it, and I can't imagine it being anything but traumatic. Had it only been the rape scene, and the rest of the book been about Max healing/coming to understand himself/learning to fight for his own autonomy and personhood, I think I could have grown to like it, despite the bumpy beginning. And I kept reading, hoping it would get better, but it didn't. The main problem with this book for me is that it's a trauma parade. One thing after another, put the stick down that horse is extremely dead. Karen's actions re: the termination border on criminal, and I found the idea that Max was "learning" to see things from her point of view and forgive her repulsive. And the attempted suicide? I didn't even know how to begin to feel about it. There was no catharsis, and no resolution, at least in my reading of it.
I hope other people - including intersex people - who read this found it more constructive than I did, but I feel like I've been left dangling. I've looked around and haven't seen any indication that Golden Boy is own voices, and it makes the whole thing even more uncomfortable. Again, I hope the people that got something out of this book did so unscathed, but damn, it was not for me.
randomheart's review
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was like nothing I was expecting but so much more at the same time. A real doozy. The first 20 pages put me in such a headspin because of how graphic and intense the sexual assault scene was, I had to literally put down the book and take a few breathers before continuing on. It just went from 0 to 100 in such a short space of time that it threw me for a loop for a second and I needed to find my bearings. I wasn't exactly triggered (I'm usually pretty good with handling heavy issues for the most part), but I had to step away for a bit after that. Basically, this book had me so incredibly invested in the characters from the get go.
I loved the alternating perspectives we got. There were characters that made me absolutely frustrated and infuriated (my first instinct was to constantly get defensive when it came to Max because I was always, ALWAYS on his side), but that's the beauty of the writing in this. The characters just felt so, amazingly human. There were moments when I was completely in agreement with a certain character, and then I would read things from another perspective that would make me question that. That's wonderful writing imo. When you can empathise with a certain character but then feel frustrated with them when the same thing is told from another character's pov. The true beauty of the way the characters are written in this is that, although I got angry with them at times (Karen!!), I could generally understand why they acted and reacted the way that they did. They just felt so intricate and distinct. The only character I truly despised in this was Hunter tbh (for obvious reasons).
I've read many, many queer and trans novels, but I've never read a book that focussed on an intersex character before...reading this was just so eye-opening for me. It's made me realise just how incredibly sad it is that there's so little intersex representation. Although intersexuality falls under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, we very rarely hear about it, so there's so much that's unknown about it. It broke my heart how alone and isolated Max felt throughout this whole novel because he didn't have anyone he could relate to or talk to about his intersexuality. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult this would be for someone, let alone having to handle being raped, getting pregnant AND having an abortion on top of all that. Not to mention the intense gender dysphoria Max felt because of everything that happened to hi,. There was so much heaped on poor Max and although I got through this book fairly fast (because it was so GOOD), it was also a real heavy one to get through. There were so many moments I had to put it down to breathe and tear up for a moment. I just had such emotional and visceral reactions to everything that happened in this book.
Another I liked was the contrast between Max and Daniel. The way that Max kept so much of himself hidden to please his parents and everyone around him. How he was so scared to rock the boat because of the trauma of his mother leaving when he was younger. Whereas Daniel was the complete opposite. He was so honest the whole way through. Never afraid to stand up for himself (even if that was also incredibly frustrating at times). I really liked their relationship. It was very sweet. I do feel like Daniel was a bit neglected towards the end though when everything was unravelling for Max, and wished we had a bit more insight into how he was feeling around this time too.
I feel like there's so much more that I can say about this book, but I'm still reeling a little from having finished it. It was such a wonderful novel and I just know that I'm going to be thinking about it for a long time to come.
4.5/5
I loved the alternating perspectives we got. There were characters that made me absolutely frustrated and infuriated (my first instinct was to constantly get defensive when it came to Max because I was always, ALWAYS on his side), but that's the beauty of the writing in this. The characters just felt so, amazingly human. There were moments when I was completely in agreement with a certain character, and then I would read things from another perspective that would make me question that. That's wonderful writing imo. When you can empathise with a certain character but then feel frustrated with them when the same thing is told from another character's pov. The true beauty of the way the characters are written in this is that, although I got angry with them at times (Karen!!), I could generally understand why they acted and reacted the way that they did. They just felt so intricate and distinct. The only character I truly despised in this was Hunter tbh (for obvious reasons).
I've read many, many queer and trans novels, but I've never read a book that focussed on an intersex character before...reading this was just so eye-opening for me. It's made me realise just how incredibly sad it is that there's so little intersex representation. Although intersexuality falls under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, we very rarely hear about it, so there's so much that's unknown about it. It broke my heart how alone and isolated Max felt throughout this whole novel because he didn't have anyone he could relate to or talk to about his intersexuality. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult this would be for someone, let alone having to handle being raped, getting pregnant AND having an abortion on top of all that. Not to mention the intense gender dysphoria Max felt because of everything that happened to hi,. There was so much heaped on poor Max and although I got through this book fairly fast (because it was so GOOD), it was also a real heavy one to get through. There were so many moments I had to put it down to breathe and tear up for a moment. I just had such emotional and visceral reactions to everything that happened in this book.
Another I liked was the contrast between Max and Daniel. The way that Max kept so much of himself hidden to please his parents and everyone around him. How he was so scared to rock the boat because of the trauma of his mother leaving when he was younger. Whereas Daniel was the complete opposite. He was so honest the whole way through. Never afraid to stand up for himself (even if that was also incredibly frustrating at times). I really liked their relationship. It was very sweet. I do feel like Daniel was a bit neglected towards the end though when everything was unravelling for Max, and wished we had a bit more insight into how he was feeling around this time too.
I feel like there's so much more that I can say about this book, but I'm still reeling a little from having finished it. It was such a wonderful novel and I just know that I'm going to be thinking about it for a long time to come.
4.5/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Suicide attempt
lolo626's review
5.0
I hated absolutely everyone in this book besides Max and Sylvie.
Still beautiful though.
Still beautiful though.
angieinbooks's review
3.0
I really don't know what to think about Golden Boy. On one hand, I'm glad this story exists. I'm glad that there's a thoughtful book about being intersex with an extraordinary protagonist. I'm glad the book doesn't attempt to provide easy answers to complex problems. But on the other hand, I can't really say I enjoyed reading it. And it's not the subject matter that's the obstacle here, but the structure of the novel and the characters that fill its pages.
The altering first-person points of view really took me out of the experience and created an uncomfortable distance with the characters, something the first-person point of views are probably trying to prevent. I particularly struggled reading the Daniel and Karen sections. Daniel's because I didn't see the point of having his perspective and Karen's because it made her hard to sympathize with. I guess I didn't care what she was going through, and it didn't help that I didn't like her. But it's hard because I think her perspective and the way she deals with raising an intersex child are valid and probably really honest. In a different format I may have liked/respected her more. But in a fictional novel it just didn't work for me.
But I don't want to be too critical because I think books like Golden Boy are important. I think they should be written and published and be on school reading lists. I just wish this book was a little bit better. But it feels disingenuous to rate it highly solely because of its subject matter.
The altering first-person points of view really took me out of the experience and created an uncomfortable distance with the characters, something the first-person point of views are probably trying to prevent. I particularly struggled reading the Daniel and Karen sections. Daniel's because I didn't see the point of having his perspective and Karen's because it made her hard to sympathize with. I guess I didn't care what she was going through, and it didn't help that I didn't like her. But it's hard because I think her perspective and the way she deals with raising an intersex child are valid and probably really honest. In a different format I may have liked/respected her more. But in a fictional novel it just didn't work for me.
But I don't want to be too critical because I think books like Golden Boy are important. I think they should be written and published and be on school reading lists. I just wish this book was a little bit better. But it feels disingenuous to rate it highly solely because of its subject matter.