The story was "eh." The gore was far too detailed but also far too casual---the gruesome and unnecessary descriptions were almost totally emotionless. The writing was surprisingly bad---a motheaten plot, extremely poor pacing, and stuff that was just plain confusing.

Example: Thom has been secretly coming to scope out the gay bar's parking lot "hundreds" of times. One night he goes to his usual surveillance spot. A sentence later, he states that he's going in now. (No emotional development? Why now, after a hundred visits?) A sentence after that, he decides he's not going in because it isn't "his scene" and mentions that the 'direction of his feet echoed his thoughts.' This made me honestly wonder if my copy was missing a page where he goes (or at least looks) inside and physically turns his body away from the door. Just... what?

There are lots of half-addressed issues of racism. The ones that are addressed are awesome, because you don't see that enough in teen books; but the ones that aren't... aren't. I half suspected Golden Boy was going to turn out to be mixed race, but I was really hoping I was wrong. Golden Boy?? Seriously???

I'm surprised I didn't hate this book---I just ended up being very underwhelmed. I'm a bit confused by the good reviews. ( )

Not terrible, but too long and too predictable. I wasn't impressed by Moore's borrowing previously established superhero profiles for his own characters. ( )

Reminded me of the Magician's by Lev Grossman, but this was more of a coming of age story.

Moore kept the mystery tight the whole way through, but left enough clues for us to figure out what was going on.

Great read. ( )

Solid story, but so much loss it left me sad. ( )

Thom feels like he needs to hide large pieces of himself from his dad - both to protect him (who has a life full of pain and is hated by society) and himself (because he is scared and doesn't know how his dad will react). He is gay (and his dad is homophobic) and he has superpowers (and his dad hates superheroes so much that they can't even be mentioned in their home). Thom's lies grow as he explores himself and his capabilities, but eventually he has to admit the truth. And secrets about his parents and the greater world slowly start to unravel into chaos.

This was a fun book. I loved the plot and the characters. I enjoyed seeing our team of heroes grow and lean together. Although it does seem like a bit of a strange mix of powers (I would have expected a bit more physical strength). Just be warned, that while most of the book is fun, other parts are vey sad. I teared up a couple of times.

One of my biggest issues is how everyone figured out he is gay. Simply stating he was with a specific man? How does everyone get gay from that? There were also several times when things seemed to be a little too convenient (including parts of the ending). A weird amount of time was also spent rehashing his parents' relationship. I get that parts are important, but it felt a bit drawn out? While other events (arguably more interesting events) seemed a little rushed. Like the ending. While the build up to the end end was amazing (both happy and sad and very tense) the actual end was a little flat in comparison.

Despite its shortcomings I'm sure that those who enjoy superhero stories who are in the mood for something fun and gay will enjoy this book. Its strengths are definitely better than its weaknesses. ( )