I read Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin for my Summer reading assignment, and I was a little disappointed. The book was about some of the hardships intersex kids face. I would say it is an example of a good idea with poor writing, but I feel like there was a lot to be added to this book.
During the first pages, before I had even started to care about any of the characters, the main character, Max, was raped. It just seems like a poor choice for a hook. I wondered why I was reading a book about something so graphic that was happening to someone I didn't even know. The characterization was poor, and the internal dialogue didn't really feel real enough, either.
One of the redeeming qualities of the book, however, was the fact that it was even about an intersex child in the first place. Not many people - including myself - really know that much about intersex people. Obviously, it wasn't the most informative thing I have ever read, mainly because Max hardly even knew about his own condition, either, but I thought it would be an interesting topic to read about, even if it was pretty gruesome and in some parts, poorly written.
