A review by billie_visible
Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin
4.0
It's difficult to know where to begin in describing this book. The picturesque All-Eurocentric life Abigail Tartellin portrays of the Walker family, a premier family of upper-middle-class Brits immersed in politics is shattered early on with the violent and graphic sexual assault of Max, the story's main character.
Max is the Prodigal Son - perfect hair, perfect grades, athletic, a hit with the ladies. He's kind, charismatic, and destined for greatness. This perfection is of course a mask, an attempt to hide something more profound. A precarious family life, and Max's own physical status as intersex. Both of these secrets are threatened with public exposure following the assault with rippling consequences as his father begins a run for PM, and Max for the first time finds a perspective relationship with a girl who he thinks he might be comfortable sharing his full self with.
It's truly a devastating and layered story, that goes beyond just the exploration of intersex identity, anatomy, and gender identity, but also forces us the reckon with the consequences of PTSD, rape culture, and victim shaming.
It was a difficult book to get through, one that expanded my technical knowledge of intersex anatomy (it presents a 101 take, with Max presenting with internal and external male and female organs to better help us cisgender people understand and connect), and broaches its topics with compassion even in the face of brutality. I did occasionally question whether the maturity gap could be so broad across the ocean (are sexual standards so different in the UK that a teenage boy supposedly losing his virginity would be a shock to his parents? This is among the average age range in the US.), and quake with the graphic writing of the assault but this was an appreciated and well-written read.
Also gotta always love an Aspie kid, Max's kid brother who is coded as Autistic, and struggles to seemingly connect with anyone except for Max and knocks the ever-loving pants off of me with his dialogue.
Max is the Prodigal Son - perfect hair, perfect grades, athletic, a hit with the ladies. He's kind, charismatic, and destined for greatness. This perfection is of course a mask, an attempt to hide something more profound. A precarious family life, and Max's own physical status as intersex. Both of these secrets are threatened with public exposure following the assault with rippling consequences as his father begins a run for PM, and Max for the first time finds a perspective relationship with a girl who he thinks he might be comfortable sharing his full self with.
It's truly a devastating and layered story, that goes beyond just the exploration of intersex identity, anatomy, and gender identity, but also forces us the reckon with the consequences of PTSD, rape culture, and victim shaming.
It was a difficult book to get through, one that expanded my technical knowledge of intersex anatomy (it presents a 101 take, with Max presenting with internal and external male and female organs to better help us cisgender people understand and connect), and broaches its topics with compassion even in the face of brutality. I did occasionally question whether the maturity gap could be so broad across the ocean (are sexual standards so different in the UK that a teenage boy supposedly losing his virginity would be a shock to his parents? This is among the average age range in the US.), and quake with the graphic writing of the assault but this was an appreciated and well-written read.
Also gotta always love an Aspie kid, Max's kid brother who is coded as Autistic, and struggles to seemingly connect with anyone except for Max and knocks the ever-loving pants off of me with his dialogue.