Gold by Chris Cleave

Never hearing of this particular author before, I was glad to have a fresh and open mind about this work of his I was about to start. Unmarred by the expectations readers may have after reading an authors' previous works.
From beginning to end, GOLD was a breath of fresh air. I was happy to see Mr. Cleave bring his readers' into the world of the olympics. Happy to see him tell the story of his famed athlete characters as they worked to find their place in both the next olympics and in their everyday lives. It made me think of olympians I have watched on the television. They do not seem human, but superhuman, to be able to perform the feats that they do. I was glad to see that human side portrayed in this book.
I was also amazed to find in this book another fight of epic proportions. The fight of a girl to just be able to live....to be able to survive. Seeing the world through her eyes, watching her notice how her parents reacted to her illness and being able to work around that to keep them happy, made you realize that children with leukemia are so grown up in their own right. I also loved her imaginings of being in her Star Wars world. It was a nice relief thrown in around some of the serious aspects of the story.
The author truly did his homework with this one.

General Synopsis for Gold

 

Gold is the story of Zoe and Kate, world-class athletes who have been friends and rivals since their first day of Elite training. They’ve loved, fought, betrayed, forgiven, consoled, gloried, and grown up together. Now on the eve of London 2012, their last Olympics, both women will be tested to their physical and emotional limits. They must confront each other and their own mortality to decide, when lives are at stake: What would you sacrifice for the people you love, if it meant giving up the thing that was most important to you in the world?