Golden Child
My Descent to Scapegoat and Rise to Freedom

It’s hard to know where to start in a review of a book such as this. So I think I will start with Lauren’s own words, which practically jumped off the page to hold hands with my own lived experience: “When you stop bowing to one system of control, you find yourself less and less willing to be anywher......more

Reading Golden Child was an experience that left me both challenged and reflective. While I don’t agree with Lauren Smallcomb’s worldview or many of the conclusions she draws, I still found her book to be informative and even eye-opening. It reminded me that even when our beliefs and values diverge,......more

Golden Child is an aching book about personal evolution and awakening, self-worth and boundaries, grief and longing, love and the dogged pursuit of truth. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. As someone who grew up in the 80’s heyday of conservative Christian evangelicalism, Lauren captures the......more

Thanks, Lauren. I finished reading this book a few days ago but wanted to process it before writing a review. The book is easy to read because it was well written but difficult to digest if you came from an evangelical background. It is clear to see how much pressure was applied to the writer at a y......more

There is something very special about the kind of learning that memoirs give us- an insight into who someone is, how they think, how they experience life, and what has shaped them along the way. Life is messy and messier for some than others. Growing is also messy. Parenting is definitely messy. But......more