Review: The Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

Introduction

Max Walker is the Golden boy, a star athlete, adored by all the girls in his school, boyishly handsome and an all-round good person. Max Walker has the perfect life in almost every aspect, but Max Walker also has a secret that has been hidden from everyone including his little brother. This secret could have devastating consequences if it were to get out and get out it will.

Max’s parents hide the fact that their son is intersexed in order to protect him from ridicule and alienation but by doing so they never educate their son about what it means to be the way he is in terms of sex and gender knowing that he has always identified himself with being male and the fact that he looks male they thought it would be okay to sweep it under the rug and never speak of it. But this decision comes back to bite them in the ass (as it should) and their whole world is turned upside down as they are forced to own up to the truth and to leave their distorted reality behind.

Throughout the book we follow Max on his journey of self discovery and turbulence as his trust is broken multiple times and he himself struggles to come to terms with who he is.

Not only is this book fantastically written and enlightening but it takes you to places where comfort is derailed and understanding evoked. You will remember this book long after you finished the last page    

My Thoughts

This book basically opened my eyes in more ways than I thought it would. I never thought of myself as ignorant in terms of what gender and sexuality meant until I read this book and this alarmed me. Max Walker, the main character of this book is intersexed and for those of you who do not know what it is to be intersexed don’t worry it’s not your fault it is however societie’s fault as it often is.

Intersexed people have both male and female genitalia and/or reproductive organs. They therefor do not fall into male or female categories’ and determine with which gender they associate either at infancy or before adolescence. For some reason the term intersexed is rarely spoken about and it was only until I started taking gender studies this semester that I realised why this is the case.

 Our world is dominated by heteronormative content! We see it in the media, the books we read and the mainstream movies we watch. People who fall into the LGBTQIA community are rarely featured and this is because we have been indoctrinated by heteronormative messages throughout our lives that basically marginalise these people because they go against the norm. Institutions such as religion, politics and laws that consider sexuality and gender too diverged from the normative male and female sex groups uphold these marginalising ideals in order to continue or sustain a patriarchal society with no regard for the consequences that these ideals have.

By reading this book you are put into a position of the marginalised and what you will find might be more enriching than you could have ever believed it to be.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone from young to old although there are some graphic scenes so let’s say from 14 to 90. You are never too old to change your perspective or to educate yourself there should be more books out there like this one.

To the author, Abigail Tarttelin, I applaud you (claps)

If you have read this book and had a different experience or if you like me had your mind blown and your heart stomped on please leave your comments down below and we can discuss :)