This was unfortunately a DNF for me: I was not in the place to read it at the time, I will try to give it another chance in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Phil Stamper's Golden Boys explores all the wonders of relationships (platonic and not) and shows that life changes when your sixteen: for better or worse.

Gabriel, Sal, Heath, and Reese were all such wonderful characters in their own right and their growth as individuals and as a group was lovely to read, shown through the ups and downs of internships, friendships, and family through a range of circumstances.

I enjoyed this book as a coming of age type, multi POV story. The budding romances were adorable and I think some of the characters developed really well.
I did feel that one of the characters was annoying a few I found them hard to root for, but the rest of the characters were nice.
I loved the way it explored friendship at the point in your life when you're almost finishing school and moving away and how that changes group dynamics, bit how individual friendships grow.
Really enjoyable, I just felt like I wanted more, but not necessarily a series of more.

Another fantastic LGBTQ+ YA title from Phil. A touching and authentic modern day story of male relationships. The perfect summer holiday read.

It was a funny coming-of-age story i liked 2 perspectives more than the other two. I think some crucial topics were well handled.

You can see my full review spoiler-free here: https://youtu.be/MjPFyxyM8OY

It is the last summer before plans beyond High School need to be decided for Gabriel, Reese, Sal and Heath. They are all going their seperate ways just for a few weeks but they are always connected by the strength of their friendship. Instead of enjoying the golden rays of summer they are each working hard towards their future and neither wants to waste a minute.

Not my usual read and I am beyond the intended demographic but I really enjoyed following this friendship group's coming of age. As I have a son a similar age and planning his future beyond High School I appreciated the fictional glimpse into the minds of these four boys. Over the course of a few weeks their futures become more clear and even their friendships evolve and adapt. I found the boys' closeness and shared queer experiences were sweet and heartwarming, making me hope there are groups of friends just like this in real life. None could predict what would happen by the end of the summer and they soon realise that independence is not all that it is cracked up to be which again is very relatable.

I really enjoyed this book, i thought the characters were interesting and three dimensional, and they had realistic relationships with each other and the people around them. I appreciated the LGBT representation within the four main characters, as well as the fact that they were all individuals rather than a group. They all had separate story lines that didn't revolve around each other.
Although the boys relationships with each other were central, there was also a refreshing list of side characters and an emphasis on the boys growing and developing social circles aside from each other.
Overall i enjoyed how this book portrayed life in a small town, and the impact leaving your comfortable social group and making new connections, as well as the importance of maintaining the ones you already have.

Gabriel, Sal, Reese and Heath are united by their queerness and burning ambitions but they’ve all got different plans for their final summer before college and who knows what will happen when it ends? Although there is romance embedded in it, Golden Boys is primarily about the years of friendship and memories that the four heroes have shared. It’s also about how that friendship endures and evolves through life’s natural transitions and each character’s growth. Heartwarming and frank, it’s a must-read for all queer teens!

Thank you so much to the publishers for providing me with an eArc of this book in exchange for my honest review. I'm sorry I couldn't get it read and reviewed by the time of it's release.

"We're humans; we're capable of all sorts of emotions at one time."

I FINALLY had time to finish this amazing book after my life was thrown into a hectic storm as well as a book slump just to top it all off.

And I have to say, it is amazing. Filled with friendship, love and connections this book is perfect to sit back and read. It made me smile so much and it was enjoyable to read about the character's new experiences but also their worries.

I think my favourite character out of the main four has to be Reese. There is just something about him that I generally love and I was always so happy to see his name pop back up when we returned back to reading his pov.

The ending was so beautiful as well. I wouldn't have imagined how this would have all ended and I was pleasantly surprised by it all.

I did also love the other main characters perspectives and definitely related to Sal on being a people pleaser and over working myself.

I'm glad they all got something in the end of their new journeys.

This book was everything! I loved all the characters and really resonated with them. It gave me if this gets out vibes, especially with sal and his mom who reminded me of Ruben and his mom. I appreciated that covid was referenced, especially in relation to the tourism industry which was hit the hardest. I just felt this was a very honest account of what its like to be a teenager, queer or not. Queer YA is everything and this book really cemented that. I can't wait to read more from Phil Stamper

This is a coming-of age story about four young men who clearly have developed strong relationships with each other throughout their lives but this charts that moment where school is ending and their lives will, inevitably, take different paths.

For quite a long time, I kept getting the boys confused and as the story was told from each of their perspectives the narrator kept changing! I loved how 'ordinary' this was - they are kids I could relate to in terms of their mixed family arrangements and their summer journeys on a path to self-discovery. Their lack of direction and future plans seemed so normal and I was pleased to see a book for the YA market address this. relationships with family, friends and significant 'others' felt true and authentic.

A great read: divorce, family disputes and same sex relationships feature but I think are realistically and sympathetically addressed. This is a book with hope for the future but could even lead to a sequel!

DRC provided by Bloomsbury YA via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: gay white protagonists, gay white protagonist of Eastern-European descent, pansexual white tertiary character, gay white tertiary character, non-binary white tertiary character, queer white tertiary character, lesbian tertiary characters.

Content Warning: parental pressure, anxiety, homophobia, internalised homophobia, overworking, mentions of a homophobic incident, alcohol, mention of a slur.

Golden Boys by Phil Stamper is a contemporary novel about getting to know yourself without the safety of security nets; getting in touch with your feelings and deciphering them; facing your fears while staying true to who you are.

Gabriel, Reese, Sal and Heath are spending the summer before their senior year apart. Heath is staying at his aunt’s place in Florida while his father in Ohio sets out to sell the family home after the divorce. Sal is interning for a senator in Washington. Reese is attending a design school in France. And Gabriel joined a philanthropic organisation in Boston whose objective is the safekeeping of parks. While apart, the boys will have the chance to grow and discover new aspects of themselves.

My very first thought when I started reading this book was that it so clearly reminded me of “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”, only with no “magic” pants involved, and one hundred percent queerer (and yes, that does mean better in my book). Sadly, I did not particularly enjoy reading Golden Boys though.

I certainly do not think it is a bad a book. I dived into it with no expectations whatsoever because it was my first book by Phil Stamper, so I could not compare it to his previous works. I found it to be a completely fine a novel. One that will have rocked my world around seven years ago, the time when I first started reading in English and reading queer books with actual queer joy depicted.

I am so happy that book like this exists though, especially for the younger generations and the queer kids who are only starting to look into themselves. So, I would define this as a starter novel, a book I would recommend to queer people who are just peaking inside the doors of the community.

What I appreciated most about the novel itself were definitely the characters. My favourite characters were Heath, Gabriel and Diana. They felt like the more genuine characters and the boys had the most interesting introspective journeys among the protagonists.

Lastly, while Golden Boys was not an exceptional read for me, it definitely could be for you, so do not let my thoughts refrain you from giving it a go!

This was an enjoyable book about 4 gay boys finding themselves written from the point of view of all four boys which really added depth to the story as I felt I knew them all equally. It was well written, had a cute storyline and all the charcaters were well developed. I liked that they werent perfect, they were flawed and made mistakes along the way - I mean who doesn't when trying to figure out who they are.
There were some moemnts that fell flat within the book but overall it was enjoyable.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but it just fell flat for me. The voices of the characters felt the same, there was no difference. All in all a solid book but wont be rushing to re-read.

Such a sweet book about a friend group of gay boys, and I love that while there are romances in the book, there's so much more focus on things like future plans, their individual passions, new friendships, and mental health - very trademark Phil Stamper!

This was a fun coming of age story following 4 boys as they all head off in different directions for the summer.

I really liked all the characters and the relationships they had built between them. I really enjoyed seeing them all take on a new challenge in a new place and be away from the only people they all felt comfortable with. All four boys were very real, they made mistakes and were learning as they went. I also really liked having 4 POV’s, even though it took me a while to stop being confused about who was who and where they were!

I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel.

A perfect summer holiday read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

I love the characters in this book! They're a bit messy, but they're real. I sometimes struggle with books that have multiple points of view, so at times I did feel a bit lost (especially at the start) but once the characters all went off to do their own things for the summer I got a much better sense of who they were individually and found it much easier to keep track of which POV I was reading. I loved the dynamics between Sal and Gabe at the start, and Reese and Heath too, but what I enjoyed even more was the way the other friendships were forged throughout the summer. This messy group of friends make such a wonderful found family, and I love the love between them all.

I really enjoyed this comforting read. All four characters were well flushed out and all completely unique, but not to the point of being extremes of personality. It was fairly predictable but utterly lovely

This is a sweet story of three boys finding out who they are at the end of high school. Closed door LGBTQIA+ romance. Great for YA readers.