Name: Release
ISBN: 9780062403193

Patrick Ness

Inspired by Judy Blume’s Forever and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, this novel that Andrew Smith calls “beautiful, enchanting, [and] exquisitely written” is a new classic about teenage relationships, self-acceptance—and what happens when the walls we build start coming down. A Kirkus Best Book of 2017! Adam Thorn doesn’t know it yet, but today will change his life. Between his religious family, a deeply unpleasant ultimatum from his boss, and his own unrequited love for his sort-of ex, Enzo, it seems as though Adam’s life is falling apart. At least he has two people to keep him sane: his new boyfriend (he does love Linus, doesn’t he?) and his best friend, Angela. But all day long, old memories and new heartaches come crashing together, throwing Adam’s life into chaos. The bindings of his world are coming untied one by one; yet in spite of everything he has to let go, he may also find freedom in the release. From the New York Times bestselling author of A Monster Calls comes a raw, darkly funny, and deeply affecting story about the courage it takes to live your truth.

Release

Clementine Berthelsen

Rachel Evans

(4/5) 1 hour 30 minutes - Patrick Ness is one of my all-time favourite authors and this book was certainly brilliantly written. I love the characters and the lives they lead feel so realistic and immersive, and combined with the more abstract perspective of the ghost, made for an emotional and reflective story. I would have liked it better if the two perspectives were more intertwined, I think that would have made for a more interesting conclusion, but the ending as it was was written intentionally to reflect the title very well.

Lincy

Eleanor Luhar

I've been meaning to read more of Ness's novels, and this new release (hah!) looked really interesting. It definitely lived up to that reputation.

It's kind of split in two, alternating between Adam's story and the story of the Queen and the the faun - spirits, one of which is lost and accidentally bound to the spirit of a young girl who has been murdered, jeopardising the safety of the entire world. I don't actually know how or why these two stories are connected. There seems to be a link here and there, and they even meet at one point, but I don't actually see why these two sets of characters are of any real importance to each other. Each story was very interesting, but I just didn't feel like they were relevant to each other.

The story following Adam was really good, and the banter between Adam and Angela especially was fantastic. He is a gay boy living in an incredibly religious family - his father is a preacher at the nearby church. He's getting over a relationship, while simultaneously dating another boy who seems to love him very much. But Adam doesn't feel like he deserves the love, and when his father suggests he deserved the sexual harassment from his boss he completely loses it. This interaction was really interesting, and I think Ness did a pretty good job of creating a dramatic and accurate scene. A religious father faced with news such as this would likely have reacted in a similar way to Big Brian Thorn.

Although I did enjoy this and Ness's writing is superb, I don't quite understand this book. I saw a few links and enjoyed Adam's story, but really didn't understand the Queen's significance. 3 stars.

Alice Loretto

Inspired by Judy Blume’s Forever and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, this novel that Andrew Smith calls “beautiful, enchanting, [and] exquisitely written” is a new classic about teenage relationships, self-acceptance—and what happens when the walls we build start coming down. Adam Thorn doesn’t know it yet, but today will change his life. Between his religious family, a deeply unpleasant ultimatum from his boss, and his own unrequited love for his sort-of ex, Enzo, it seems as though Adam’s life is falling apart. At least he has two people to keep him sane: his new boyfriend (he does love Linus, doesn’t he?) and his best friend, Angela. But all day long, old memories and new heartaches come crashing together, throwing Adam’s life into chaos. The bindings of his world are coming untied one by one; yet in spite of everything he has to let go, he may also find freedom in the release. From the New York Times bestselling author of A Monster Calls comes a raw, darkly funny, and deeply affecting story about the courage it takes to live your truth.

RELEASE er den mest personlige roman, Patrick Ness har skrevet. Det er en rørende historie om 17-årige Adam, som prøver at acceptere sig selv som homoseksuel i en ekstremt religiøs familie. Adams far, den lokale præst, vil ikke have en søn, som er bøsse. Adams tidligere kæreste, Enzo, siger, at det de havde sammen ikke var rigtig kærlighed. Adams bedste ven, Angela, som er en af de få, der elsker og accepterer ham, er ved at flytte til Holland. På ét døgn bliver Adam konfronteret med alle de ting, som gør allermest ondt, men inden solen står op, sker der noget, som giver ham styrken til at give slip på smerten og se på sig selv på en ny måde. Imens Adam prøver at finde sin identitet, prøver et magtfuldt væsen fra underverdenen at hjælpe en forvirret og vildfaren sjæl til at give slip. RELEASE er en smuk og velskrevet sammenfletning af disse parallelle historier, der på hver deres måde omhandler en frigørelse / det at give slip.