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ambi_reads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Golden Child, a book that will stay with me for a while. 🥺
Golden Child is a #ReadCaribbean novel written by @claireadamwriter. Set in rural Trinidad, we follow a nuclear family consisting of the dad (Clyde), mom (Joy) and their twin sons (Peter and Paul) as they try to quietly survive and live a decent life. The twins are nothing alike. Peter is praised to be a genius and the gem of his family while Paul is considered mental because of an incident that took place at his birth. One evening, Paul goes for a walk and never returns home. Hours turn to days and Clyde is left to make a decision no parent should ever have to make.
I was skeptical about going into this one. The talk I heard around it varied on both ends of the like/dislike spectrums. While I think Golden Child is somewhat an average book, it's also different and one that is going to stick with me for some time. Adam's writing is exceptional and the outcomes of this situation definitely haunts and hurts me so! 😓
Golden Child is probably the first book I have read to capture the good and bad of Trinidad so well. Readers are exposed to the developed and underdeveloped parts of Trinidad, the rich and the poor, the love and prejudice amongst families and so much more. There are characters I would have lived to learn more about and why they did what they did but Golden Child wasn't about that. It showed as the saying goes, "Peter pay for Paul and Paul pay for Peter."
I was so disbelieved and saddened by the stigma against mental health present which is still so in present day. If this triggers you, please be mindful in entering this world. One other thing to note, and it disgusts me so 🤮, is the submission of certain sexual activities involving a minor. While it is a lot, it also is something that is the reality in those situations I think.
Golden Child is a #ReadCaribbean novel written by @claireadamwriter. Set in rural Trinidad, we follow a nuclear family consisting of the dad (Clyde), mom (Joy) and their twin sons (Peter and Paul) as they try to quietly survive and live a decent life. The twins are nothing alike. Peter is praised to be a genius and the gem of his family while Paul is considered mental because of an incident that took place at his birth. One evening, Paul goes for a walk and never returns home. Hours turn to days and Clyde is left to make a decision no parent should ever have to make.
I was skeptical about going into this one. The talk I heard around it varied on both ends of the like/dislike spectrums. While I think Golden Child is somewhat an average book, it's also different and one that is going to stick with me for some time. Adam's writing is exceptional and the outcomes of this situation definitely haunts and hurts me so! 😓
Golden Child is probably the first book I have read to capture the good and bad of Trinidad so well. Readers are exposed to the developed and underdeveloped parts of Trinidad, the rich and the poor, the love and prejudice amongst families and so much more. There are characters I would have lived to learn more about and why they did what they did but Golden Child wasn't about that. It showed as the saying goes, "Peter pay for Paul and Paul pay for Peter."
I was so disbelieved and saddened by the stigma against mental health present which is still so in present day. If this triggers you, please be mindful in entering this world. One other thing to note, and it disgusts me so 🤮, is the submission of certain sexual activities involving a minor. While it is a lot, it also is something that is the reality in those situations I think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual harassment
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