🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 out of 5 🌸s
#TheGoldenChild by #WendyJames is one hell of a read. I will start out by saying that if you are #triggered by #bullying and #suicideattempts then you should avoid this book.
Our main characters are Beth, a mom blogger, her husband Dan, and their daughters, teen Lucy and Charlotte (12). Befriending them upon their arrival in Australia are Andi (new mom to baby Gus), her husband Steve, and their 12 year old daughter Sophie.
Throughout the book are snippets both from Beth’s blog and from a blog called GoldenChild, the latter written in the first person by a morally questionable youngster.
Sophie, after the arrival of Charlotte in her class at school, soon becomes the victim of hideous bullying, both in person and online. She is eventually driven to attempt suicide.
The book goes into many points of view on this subject, seen through the eyes of many characters. A knee jerk reaction to the initial events is swiftly called into question by these varying viewpoints.
I pray this book gets made into a film. Its savage and unexpected twists and turns are dizzying, and designed to discomfit the reader. Absolutely brilliant.
