Release

Release
Written by Patrick Ness
Contemporary, LGBT, Paranormal
288 Pages
Published May 4th 2017
Thank you to Walker Books Australia
Add to Goodreads
★★★
Inspired by Mrs Dalloway and Judy Blume's Forever, Release is one day in the life of Adam Thorn It's a big day. Things go wrong. It's intense, and all the while, weirdness approaches...

Adam Thorn is having what will turn out to be the most unsettling, difficult day of his life, with relationships fracturing, a harrowing incident at work, and a showdown between this gay teen and his preacher father that changes everything.

It's a day of confrontation, running, sex, love, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, hope. He won't come out of it unchanged.

And all the while, lurking at the edges of the story, something extraordinary and unsettling is on a collision course.
Adam Thorn is sensitive, compassionate, beautiful, complicated. His grief is palpable, poignant and often confrontational. The Thorn family believe in the capacity of faith. To rehabilitate and to offer judgement especially concerning Adam's sexuality. Emotionally depleted after his relationship dissolved, Adam is navigating the parameters of a new relationship, desperate to find love once more.

Adam identifies as gay, his father using his faith to thinly veil his homophobic beliefs and whilst his sexuality isn't acknowledged categorically, he is often discussed as being dishonourable and needing to rediscover his own faith. Adam is nursing the heartbreak of first love while trying to commit to a new relationship. Adam's narration was wonderful, profound, often poignant and takes place over the span of a single day. Throughout his narration, Adam questions his own faith by being in a same sex relationship and when reaching out his evangelist father, he is ridiculed and dismissed.

Release touches on issues such as homophobia, substance abuse, manslaughter, sexual assault and the religion verses sexuality contention. Courageously and compassionately. The incorporation of sexual relationships was wonderful, a mature inclusion rarely seen in young adult novels accentuating same sex relationships.

The emphasis of Release is familiar relationships and in particular, the relationship Adam shares with his father. LGBTQIA teens and adult readers as an extension may find these particular passages confronting as it explores homophobia and erasure. Adam's family is homophobic, expressing the view that gay love is fraudulent.
It's not real love. Everybody's convinced themselves that it is, but it isn't. And it never will be.
Angela is a tremendous support to Adam, compassionate and maternal. Angela's adoptive family are wonderfully inclusive of her Korean ancestry, supporting Angela who identifies as bisexual and offering sanctuary to Adam.

The magical realism elements of Release were enchantingly lyrical, perplexing and synonymous within Patrick Ness narrations. A Queen infused with the spirit of a young women, dying from asphyxiation by her narcotic effected partner. Her companion is an anxious Faun. The two narratives converge and although peculiar and lyrically enchanting, the significance was nonsensical other than two characters seeking release


Patrick Ness is a magnificent author and Release is a tender and compassionate read, confronting and captivating until the final page.

23 comments

  1. So the Adam Thorn part sounds painfully brilliant. The Queen and her faun sound strangely fantastic, but on their own, not squished together with Adam.

    This one makes me think I'll finish it with tears rolling down my cheeks thinking WTF!

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    1. Adam's narrative was wonderful Sarah, so emotional and poignant. The Queen's narrative only barely converged with Adam and that's why I struggled. There was no correlation between the two apart from two separate characters seeking release.

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  2. I have yet to read a book by Patrick Ness. I have been meaning and meaning and MEANING to grab one, but apparently my memory is abhorrent?? Bah, this sounds so painfully real in its heart-break. I don't USUALLY cry when I'm reading, it takes a lot, but maybe this is one that could make me cross that bridge.

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    1. I've yet to read a Patrick Ness book that doesn't combine an poignant narration with magical realism and he's such a wonderfully prolific author. It's incredibly emotional and confronting but I think it's what readers have come to expect from Patrick Ness. This wasn't a favourite of his novels for me personally but he's amazing nonetheless.

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  3. FIRST OF ALL TEACH ME YOUR WAY OF WRITING REVIEWS! They sound so professional! Do a post on it! :*
    Now on to the book, So nice to hear that Angela's family was so supportive and nice. It sounds so enchanting plus if never read any of patrick's book's so I'll definitely read his books now!
    Haniya Qamar
    booknauthors.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you Haniya, that's so lovely of you!

      He's an amazing author that I can't recommended enough to readers. His narratives have a little something for everyone to be able to relate to, which is rare in young adult especially.

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  4. It sounds like Ness packed a lot into just one day. I enjoyed The Rest of Us Just Live Here so I'll have to give this one a try.

    For What It's Worth

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    1. That was one of my favourite reads too Karen. Would love to see what you think of this one.

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  5. Ah Patrick Ness is one of my favourite authors. I absolutely loved the Chaos Walking trilogy, More Than This and A Monster Calls. I'm really anticipating reading Release and I'm pretty much reassured by your review that he will work his magic in this one too. (But yeah, the magic realism seems a bit weird).

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    1. That's the only one of his releases I haven't read yet actually, his Chaos Walking series. The secondary story just felt strange to me and disconnected. I loved the contemporary aspects and you could actually skim past the magical realism, as those passages are written in italics and it wouldn't impact on Adam's narrative.

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  6. I haven't read a Ness book yet, though they are on my list. I'm digging the magical realism aspect of this.

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    1. His books are wonderful Christy. Such an amazing author who never fails to surprise.

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  7. now you are talking! i love how you make it sound so exciting and dark at the same time :P

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    1. There are a lot of confronting themes in Release, especially the blatant homophobia by Adam's family. The contemporary narrative is brilliant.

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  8. I haven't read anything by Ness as of yet, but I know I need to. This one is definitely on my list though. You know I love LGBT+ novels. :) I'm glad it was written well and touched on a lot of important topics.

    -Lauren

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    1. It did Lauren and it was written with such compassion. He's such a wonderful author.

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  9. i think i'll start with Release when i decide to read Patrick Ness' books. i have read LGBT+ novels and i know this will be one of them, soon. thanks for the awesome review. :)

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    1. Thanks Yani.

      This has been my least favourite so far, but only due to the magical realism storyline. I was completely engrossed by Adam's narrative though.

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  10. I have to admit, I have never read his work, but I don't think this is one I should start with -- it sounds amazing, and as always your reviews make it sound even more so... but the magical realism makes me pause. I admire the justice Ness does to a book filled with such complicated themes

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    1. I would consider starting with More Than This Verushka. I found that has been my favourite of his so far and my first Patrick Ness read as well. I'm looking forward to reading his Chaos Walking series soon as well.

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  11. This was such a beautiful review to read, thank you for sharing your thoughts about this book :) I have read a couple of books by the author and really enjoy his writing style so far - I really like the magical realism aspect of that book as well. CAn't wait to read it :)

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    1. Thank you so much Marie.

      It's an amazing read. There's something so incredibly captivating about his style of writing isn't there. It feels incredibly raw and he pushes boundaries y delving into discussions that young adult as a whole seems to shy away from.

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  12. This sounds amazing! Probably going to read this in the next week or so, I've borrowed it from the library. Thanks for the review!

    Cass @ Words on Paper

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