REVIEW for Golden Boy

Thank you to the wonderful people at Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me a copy of this book.

TITLE:            Golden Boy

AUTHOR:        Abigail Tarttelin

GENRE:           Fiction

RATING:         

I am pretty well ready, willing and able to read almost any type of novel and I am always interested to read novels that are compelling as they deal with difficult situations.

Having said this, Golden Boy met all of these criteria and more.  If you are looking for a quick, light read, then this is definitely NOT the book for you.  However, if you want a book that will tug at your heart strings, make you sit back and truly think and force you to look at your beliefs, then this IS the book for you.

Golden Boy’s main character Max was born with both male and female parts.  He is trying to live a fulfilling and happy life until a horrific event happens – marking him for life.

What follows is a riveting story of life – the good and the bad and just how different people deal/manage/view the same circumstances so differently.  The story is told in a realistic and, at times, extremely heart wrenching and challenging way.  I had to put down the book a few times as I found myself with a variety of emotions.  

I would love to say that this book is full of the ‘warm and fuzzies’ and that Max and his family live happily ever after, despite the odds, but here, once again, the strength of the book stands out – outlining to us that in life things happen, people happen and some days are good and some are not.

I love the realistic feel of this story and I loved Max.  Now, go out and buy this book.