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Golden
A life-affirming, upbeat story about friendship, loss, first love, what it is to be an artist, and life in an idyllic Australian beach town-from an exciting new YA voice.
I play around with the colours for a few minutes, mixing them with the white. The colours I end up with aren't perfect, but they'll do. I don't know why I like pastel colours so much. My life would be easier if I could get into dark colours, but what can I say? My heart is made of pastel confetti.
Golden is a warm-hearted optimistic story about friends and friendship and art and beauty-and the power of letting yourself be loved...
When you work in the juice bar of your small coastal town.
When your twin brother is the fun one with all the friends.
When something happened a year ago that you can't talk about, but everything makes you remember it.
When it might have been all your fault.
When going to the beach, to that beach, takes all the air out of your lungs.
When you're training for the town's annual Mud Run that you're not even sure you want to enter.
When you're drawn to colours and pencils and paint, but you're not an artist.
When the new guy in town, the one who makes you feel you're charged with electricity, seems to want to hang out with you.
When it comes time to let your friends back in.
I play around with the colours for a few minutes, mixing them with the white. The colours I end up with aren't perfect, but they'll do. I don't know why I like pastel colours so much. My life would be easier if I could get into dark colours, but what can I say? My heart is made of pastel confetti.
Golden is a warm-hearted optimistic story about friends and friendship and art and beauty-and the power of letting yourself be loved...
When you work in the juice bar of your small coastal town.
When your twin brother is the fun one with all the friends.
When something happened a year ago that you can't talk about, but everything makes you remember it.
When it might have been all your fault.
When going to the beach, to that beach, takes all the air out of your lungs.
When you're training for the town's annual Mud Run that you're not even sure you want to enter.
When you're drawn to colours and pencils and paint, but you're not an artist.
When the new guy in town, the one who makes you feel you're charged with electricity, seems to want to hang out with you.
When it comes time to let your friends back in.
304 pages, Paperback
First published June 3, 2025
92 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 9, 2025
wow. i will be thinking about this book for a long time.
this book was amazing. gonna be honest, the first thing that drew me in was the cover. it is so stunning, and i love the simplicity and the colours!! the next thing i liked was the vague blurb. it was just the right amount of info and made me super excited to read this book, which is something i like never ever say.
as an aussie girlie, it was so refreshing to read a summer that was set in proper summer (i.e. dec-feb), because after growing up with sarah dessen/morgan matson summer stories, which i love, dont get me wrong, it felt nice to actually relate and see myself in this story.
this was definitely a five-star read because of a couple things:
- the description of the area that eddie lives. the break, and the town were described so well, i thought i was there. no joke. i fell asleep thinking i was in some beachfront nsw town, when in fact i am about 15 hrs and like 1,300 km away. it reminded me of my summer roadtrips down the coast, and that feeling in summer where you just go to the beach, run around, make new friends, and repeat it all the next day and the next day and then for like six more weeks. i crave that right now tbh.gonna be so honest, this book made me look at bikinis to buy and made me start mentally planning my summer holidays that are in another 6 months, mind you.
- i loved the music. like seeing rage against the machine on the first page? thats when you know this is quality writing. we had baker boy references, taylor swift, and like the aussie indie i grew up on. this is my comfort music, and im so glad it made its way into this novel.
- the way this dealt with grief and the symbolism of the mud run actually made me cry. even though at the start i was a bit confused because no characters were introduced, i loved how the story unraveled as i read on. the growth eddie went through was amazing, and i loved seeing her become more comfortable with her old crowd.
- also her and pat's arc did make me cry. it was so lovely to read about and i loved how they reconciled in the end and how everyone worked it all out and now they can hang out and be cool forever, right?
- i am a sucker for fun names, and howl is actually too cool! i also loved the eddie representation bc the lil girl i babysit is called eddie and its such a cutie name! as well as stevie, rads, viv, pat, and blaze. like it just sums up aussie teenagers so well, you know?
i am now off to beg someone to buy this gorgeous, gorgeous novel for me for my birthday because i want to just reread and reread and reread it again. this book might be my highlight of 2025 so far. i cant wait to see what jade timms does next!
update - i begged my friend eden and she bought it for me for my bday, so im gonna annotate it asw as reread many many times. im also working on a playlist that ties in!
reread tally - i think it’s been 13 times now?
as i read this book again and again, i find little crossovers and ideas that are mentioned at the start of the book and then towards the end that signify eddie‘s journey. the mud run, the hill, the track to the break, it all signifies her growth and it’s just another reason i love this book so much.
this book was amazing. gonna be honest, the first thing that drew me in was the cover. it is so stunning, and i love the simplicity and the colours!! the next thing i liked was the vague blurb. it was just the right amount of info and made me super excited to read this book, which is something i like never ever say.
as an aussie girlie, it was so refreshing to read a summer that was set in proper summer (i.e. dec-feb), because after growing up with sarah dessen/morgan matson summer stories, which i love, dont get me wrong, it felt nice to actually relate and see myself in this story.
this was definitely a five-star read because of a couple things:
- the description of the area that eddie lives. the break, and the town were described so well, i thought i was there. no joke. i fell asleep thinking i was in some beachfront nsw town, when in fact i am about 15 hrs and like 1,300 km away. it reminded me of my summer roadtrips down the coast, and that feeling in summer where you just go to the beach, run around, make new friends, and repeat it all the next day and the next day and then for like six more weeks. i crave that right now tbh.
- i loved the music. like seeing rage against the machine on the first page? thats when you know this is quality writing. we had baker boy references, taylor swift, and like the aussie indie i grew up on. this is my comfort music, and im so glad it made its way into this novel.
- the way this dealt with grief and the symbolism of the mud run actually made me cry. even though at the start i was a bit confused because no characters were introduced, i loved how the story unraveled as i read on. the growth eddie went through was amazing, and i loved seeing her become more comfortable with her old crowd.
- also her and pat's arc did make me cry. it was so lovely to read about and i loved how they reconciled in the end and how everyone worked it all out and now they can hang out and be cool forever, right?
- i am a sucker for fun names, and howl is actually too cool! i also loved the eddie representation bc the lil girl i babysit is called eddie and its such a cutie name! as well as stevie, rads, viv, pat, and blaze. like it just sums up aussie teenagers so well, you know?
i am now off to beg someone to buy this gorgeous, gorgeous novel for me for my birthday because i want to just reread and reread and reread it again. this book might be my highlight of 2025 so far. i cant wait to see what jade timms does next!
update - i begged my friend eden and she bought it for me for my bday, so im gonna annotate it asw as reread many many times. im also working on a playlist that ties in!
reread tally - i think it’s been 13 times now?
as i read this book again and again, i find little crossovers and ideas that are mentioned at the start of the book and then towards the end that signify eddie‘s journey. the mud run, the hill, the track to the break, it all signifies her growth and it’s just another reason i love this book so much.
August 3, 2025
Content warnings: death of a loved one (in the past), grief, mental health, shitty parenting, drowning
This was kind of a slow burn for me. Like, I wasn't DISLIKING the story, not by a long shot. But I kind of struggled with it. And then somehow, it crept up on me and I ended up crying my way through the last 50-odd pages. It's a beautiful depiction of grief, and while there were elements of the romantic subplot that didn't really work for me, I'm ultimately extremely glad I read it.
This was kind of a slow burn for me. Like, I wasn't DISLIKING the story, not by a long shot. But I kind of struggled with it. And then somehow, it crept up on me and I ended up crying my way through the last 50-odd pages. It's a beautiful depiction of grief, and while there were elements of the romantic subplot that didn't really work for me, I'm ultimately extremely glad I read it.
November 29, 2025
I just really love these types of quiet, quintessentially Aussie YA contemporaries. Reminds me of beach summers and lifeguarding days and surf trips with friends and the messiness and imperfection that was growing up, before life stomped me into the ground. This was beautiful and sad and filled with nostalgia and I just loved it so much.
April 16, 2025
Terrific narrative voice. Lots of messy complicated relationships to sort through.
August 21, 2025
"I don't know how to fix it, and maybe I can't. Maybe something in me is broken forever."
October 17, 2025
Wow I loved this! Could not put it down, was so captivating. The sense of place was really cool and I loved the balance of exploring serious stuff but without being too heavy.
June 29, 2025
Young Adult novel set in a coastal Australian town. Tells the story of Eddie and how she deals with the death of her brother-in-law three years ago. Friendships lost, family fractures and first love and unresolved grief.
September 10, 2025
went in w pretty low expectations but actually quite good and sweet!! found the first few chapters were heavy on the exposition but once we got into the swing of things that became less of an issue and really enjoyed it
June 5, 2025
Melina Marchetta for gen alpha
July 25, 2025
It was good at the start but the ending was weird
September 14, 2025
With thanks to ‘Good Reading Magazine’ (Australia) for the ARC and the opportunity to review.
It’s easy to see why this book was shortlisted for the (now defunct) Text Prize in 2023: it has all the ingredients of a compelling YA contemporary novel. A gorgeous beachside town setting, a wide cast of recognisable characters, modern cultural references, realistic dialogue and interactions, and a variety of personal dramas being faced.
Eddie is our 17-year-old main character and it’s through her first person POV that we experience the summer holidays, while getting an inside perspective of the mental burden that has weighed her down for the previous three years. Namely, the drowning death of Jackson, her brother-in-law, which she witnessed. Since then, Eddie has withdrawn, never acknowledging her stress aloud, but everyone around her knows things aren’t right. Especially her twin brother Pat, to whom she had been very attached. Eddie only ever looks out for her older sister Viv, Jackson’s widow, believing she’s the one that needs support.
For all of the heavy themes dealing with grief, guilt, anxiety and trauma, this novel works because the over-arching impact of these issues is sensitively and cleverly woven into the day-to-day reality of the ups-and-downs of life in a community. Present and absent family, old and new friends, work and school mates, falling outs, crushes and first loves – all of these relationships hold Eddie together in different ways. Her flashbacks and memories are peppered throughout, and I was utterly relieved when she finally ‘opened up,’ bringing a welcome circuit breaker to the ever-growing tension. There is genuine growth when she releases her feelings and begins to trust again. Sad, funny and real, this page-turner is uplifting and the hopeful conclusion is very satisfying.
It’s easy to see why this book was shortlisted for the (now defunct) Text Prize in 2023: it has all the ingredients of a compelling YA contemporary novel. A gorgeous beachside town setting, a wide cast of recognisable characters, modern cultural references, realistic dialogue and interactions, and a variety of personal dramas being faced.
Eddie is our 17-year-old main character and it’s through her first person POV that we experience the summer holidays, while getting an inside perspective of the mental burden that has weighed her down for the previous three years. Namely, the drowning death of Jackson, her brother-in-law, which she witnessed. Since then, Eddie has withdrawn, never acknowledging her stress aloud, but everyone around her knows things aren’t right. Especially her twin brother Pat, to whom she had been very attached. Eddie only ever looks out for her older sister Viv, Jackson’s widow, believing she’s the one that needs support.
For all of the heavy themes dealing with grief, guilt, anxiety and trauma, this novel works because the over-arching impact of these issues is sensitively and cleverly woven into the day-to-day reality of the ups-and-downs of life in a community. Present and absent family, old and new friends, work and school mates, falling outs, crushes and first loves – all of these relationships hold Eddie together in different ways. Her flashbacks and memories are peppered throughout, and I was utterly relieved when she finally ‘opened up,’ bringing a welcome circuit breaker to the ever-growing tension. There is genuine growth when she releases her feelings and begins to trust again. Sad, funny and real, this page-turner is uplifting and the hopeful conclusion is very satisfying.
December 5, 2025
Seventeen year old Eddie in ‘Golden’ is grappling with grief, abandonment and shifting friendships, plus her family who are also trapped in their own worlds of loss. Set in a coastal town over the summer holidays there is first love, really hard lessons and the balm of art, cooking and exercise (a mud run!) I would love her to make me a smoothie. I cried.
Mistakes happen and it’s not the end of everything. There is hope! And good friends mean so much.
Mistakes happen and it’s not the end of everything. There is hope! And good friends mean so much.
August 4, 2025
this was so beautiful. as an aussie girl, i loved reading a book that represented our summers the way they really are - blisteringly hot, messy and surrounding christmas. i loved all of the characters in this so much. the way they all were so grounded and realistic. there was no true meaningless hate, just circumstances. the way eddie had spent three years untethered and alone, before slowly making her way back to her old friends and developed the courage to make new ones was so real and relatable. i’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.
August 4, 2025
Golden delivers on every front! What a stunning debut!
🌟 An authentic, deeply moving story that gripped me from the 1st page to the last. The characters were real and left me wanting more. I have so many questions. I would love a sequel! Highly recommended to anyone who loves fiction that lingers in the heart.
🌟 An authentic, deeply moving story that gripped me from the 1st page to the last. The characters were real and left me wanting more. I have so many questions. I would love a sequel! Highly recommended to anyone who loves fiction that lingers in the heart.
Read
October 3, 2025The following reviews have been shared by Text Publishing, publisher of Golden.
‘A deeply moving tribute to the power of friendships and sibling relationships. Heartbreaking and heart healing—and it's funny, too. What a gem of a book!’
Miranda Luby
‘A charming book about friendship, first love, and reclaiming happiness after a devastating trauma…Eddie’s PTSD is handled with sensitivity and integrity, and Golden never feels overwhelmed by its heavier themes. Timms’s depiction of a large teen social circle is authentic and joyous; she vividly brings each member of the group to life with nuance, humour and energy.’
Books+Publishing
‘An exceptional glimpse into how one family grapples with grief and change.’
Book Muse
‘Funny and revealing…Written with optimism and feeling, Jade Timms’ debut is worthy of being shortlisted for the Text Prize.’
BookPeople
‘Golden is exactly what we need in Australian young adult fiction right now—it is authentic, readable, relatable and dark without being depressing.’
Karys McEwen, author of The Paperbark Tree Committee
‘A book full of colour and beauty...Not to be missed!’
Kids’ Book Review
‘Golden was shortlisted for the Text Prize, and this is not surprising once you have read this heart-warming novel. Highly recommended.’
Magpies
‘Sad, funny and real, this page-turner is uplifting, and the hopeful conclusion is very satisfying…It has all the ingredients.’
Good Reading
‘A heartfelt, emotionally rich young adult story full of hope, recovery, and the sweet power of letting yourself be loved.’
Yellow Shelf
‘[Golden] glows with heart and humour…A tender, affirming read…about love, art, and letting colour back into your life.’
CBCA Reading Time
‘The text is well written, and the language is accessible for a teen audience’
SA English Teachers Association
‘A deeply moving tribute to the power of friendships and sibling relationships. Heartbreaking and heart healing—and it's funny, too. What a gem of a book!’
Miranda Luby
‘A charming book about friendship, first love, and reclaiming happiness after a devastating trauma…Eddie’s PTSD is handled with sensitivity and integrity, and Golden never feels overwhelmed by its heavier themes. Timms’s depiction of a large teen social circle is authentic and joyous; she vividly brings each member of the group to life with nuance, humour and energy.’
Books+Publishing
‘An exceptional glimpse into how one family grapples with grief and change.’
Book Muse
‘Funny and revealing…Written with optimism and feeling, Jade Timms’ debut is worthy of being shortlisted for the Text Prize.’
BookPeople
‘Golden is exactly what we need in Australian young adult fiction right now—it is authentic, readable, relatable and dark without being depressing.’
Karys McEwen, author of The Paperbark Tree Committee
‘A book full of colour and beauty...Not to be missed!’
Kids’ Book Review
‘Golden was shortlisted for the Text Prize, and this is not surprising once you have read this heart-warming novel. Highly recommended.’
Magpies
‘Sad, funny and real, this page-turner is uplifting, and the hopeful conclusion is very satisfying…It has all the ingredients.’
Good Reading
‘A heartfelt, emotionally rich young adult story full of hope, recovery, and the sweet power of letting yourself be loved.’
Yellow Shelf
‘[Golden] glows with heart and humour…A tender, affirming read…about love, art, and letting colour back into your life.’
CBCA Reading Time
‘The text is well written, and the language is accessible for a teen audience’
SA English Teachers Association
July 28, 2025
So much love for this book. I loved the bit about HR as I do that also. I was reading through tears for about the last 100 pages. I hired this book from the Library but I need to buy a copy now as I want to re-read it.
Read
October 3, 2025The following book reviews have been shared by Text Publishing, publisher of Golden:
‘A deeply moving tribute to the power of friendships and sibling relationships. Heartbreaking and heart healing—and it's funny, too. What a gem of a book!’
Miranda Luby
‘A deeply moving tribute to the power of friendships and sibling relationships. Heartbreaking and heart healing—and it's funny, too. What a gem of a book!’
Miranda Luby
June 8, 2025
Actually just such a gorgeous book
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews