What I Thought Of Release | Book Review
Hey friends! Today I am here to bring you a book review for
Release by Patrick Ness! This is one that I hadn’t heard much hype for in the community
but I had read Ness’s other work and really enjoyed it so I was eager to give
this a chance, especially since it sounded quite interesting.
About the book.
Book: Release
Author: Patrick Ness
Author: Patrick Ness
Publisher: Walker Books
Publication date: 4 May 2017
Publication date: 4 May 2017
Synopsis: Inspired by Mrs Dalloway and Judy Blume's Forever, Release is one day in the life of Adam Thorn, 17. 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. (source)
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. (source)
Genre: Contemporary
Recommended for: Anyone 14+
My thoughts.
WHAT I LIKED!
- The cover. Beginning with the basics first, I hadn’t even realised how gorgeous the cover was until I took a closer look and realised that there were two faces in the cover or it could be interpreted it as a path (or river, depends on you!) which I thought was really cool because from the outside, you already know this book means business
- The gorgeous writing. It is a well-known fact that Ness can write. He writes simply yet effectively and knows how to tug the heartstrings. His writing is straight forward yet at the same time, very lyrical and compelling. It just draws you into the book until you have to know more more more.
- Story set in an entire day. I feel like I’m such a sucker for this because of how rare and unique this is! The entire of the book is set in one day of Adam Thorne’s life, which I found so super cool because the day was told in such detail and clarity and it felt short yet long at the same time. I also loved getting a glimpse into Adam’s life yet not having to spend too long there because it made me savour the time I was there (if that makes any sense??)
- LGBTQI+ rep. While I can’t speak for the representation in the book, it’s #ownvoices which hopefully makes it more accurate and reading it felt real because Adam spoke of his hardships very plainly (which I really appreciated) and you could feel his insecurities and unsurities. Adam's best friend Amanda was bisexual and I liked how that was explored too, in a humorous and sweet way (and she is a woman of colour!)
- Felt super real. I loved how Ness as a writer never talks down to his teenage audience and never uses old fashioned ideologies of teenagers not actually being in love and that their pain isn’t real. Even though I am nothing like Adam, it felt very real and heart-wrenching. And on that note...
- Very heart-wrenching. There were many times were my heart felt heavy and it was hard to read at times. Adam was in a very hard position in his life and he was having quite a terrible day and as a reader, you empathise with that
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE!
- The characters were hard to relate to. This is something I noticed a lot of bloggers commented about this book and that was even though you could empathise with and feel for the main character, they just didn’t feel relatable. Maybe it’s because I’m not a gay teen or maybe it’s because my parents have always been generally understanding but it felt quite disconnected
- I didn’t get the parallel storyline. I found the parallel storyline to be really unnecessary and confusing to the point where I began to skim read it up to half way and then just skip the italicised pages altogether once I hit the half way mark. I know it must have had some significance but it was too confusing and I decided to just focus on Adam’s chapters instead
- There wasn’t much character development. Which is understandable since it is set in a day but I would have liked something more from them.
- Didn’t have a very profounding impact on me sadly. All of the other Ness books I have read have had a very strong and almost lifechanging impact on me and this one left me feeling quite confused with the message and where the term ‘release’ fit in. (Although it could be because I didn’t read the italics oops)
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I found it to be
super well written as per usual and extremely unique and cool. However, I think
I like Ness’s speculative fiction such as More
Than This and A Monster Calls than
his contemporary based works.
OVERALL RATING:
★★★½
Have you read
anything by Patrick Ness? What did you think?
16 happy thoughts
This sounds like such a great story! I agree about Ness' contemporary books not being quite as good as his speculative books, but I'm still definitely going to give it a try regardless. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3
ReplyDelete~ Zoe @ Stories on Stage
Thank you so much Zoe, for your kind words as per usual <3
DeleteI sooooo loved this book. *cries with appreciation for it* It's weird though because I see SO many bloggers saying they didn't relate too but like...I didn't "relate" in the sense that my life/self is anything like Adam, but I SO still loved him and totally connected to the story?! And usually I'm the opposite and never relate to books.🙈🙊 So basically PATRICK NESS' BOOKS CAN DO NO WRONG FOR ME AHHHH. This is on my best-of-the year list haha. 💕💕
ReplyDeleteOoH THAT'S SO GOOD TO HEAR CAIT! Patrick Ness is truly fantastic!
DeleteOh my gosh I had seen this cover around quite a bit but hadn't noticed the faces! That's so cool. I love Ness' books, but I've seen so many mixed reactions to this book that I'm not sure if I should pick it up or not. I'm torn haha. Great review though!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Michelle :)
DeleteI didnt realise there were faces on the cover for ages!! It really is stunning :D
ReplyDeleteI find I feel the same way about Ness's paranormal aspects they just sit funny with me and are more strange then enjoyable but I know some people love it so its probably just a preference thing. I didnt realise it was set in a day! I love that. Great review Anisha <3
Thanks for reading and commenting Casey and glad you enjoyed!
DeleteI just adore the Chaos Walking books, and I've also enjoyed The Rest of Us Just Live Here. I also want to read more than this and A Monster Calls (especially after seeing your interview with him for the movie!) and Release sounds interesting. I think experimental elements like parallel storylines are sort of hard to understand, but sometimes worth it. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteShanti @ Virtually Read
I have yet to read the Chaos Walking books but I hope to soon!
DeleteWhile I generally enjoyed this book, I didn't feel like I was getting it enough to really fall in love with it. I really suggest reading Aimal's review (https://www.bookshelvesandpaperbacks.com/arc-review-release-by-patrick-ness/), because even though I read it after I had read and reviewed Release it actually made me appreciate the book so much more. So maybe it will do the same for you, Anisha!
ReplyDeleteThe thing I love most about Patrick Ness and what I've read of his books is that he is very authentic and respectful when writing about teen and their experiences, which I love.
Sorry you didn't adore this, Anisha :(
Yes, i'll check out her review! And yes he is very respectful which I adore!
DeleteRelease actually sounds amazing! I might check it out in the future. I don't think I've ever read a book that's set in a day so that'd be interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteREAD THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR GIRL
DeleteHm. I love Patrick Ness and feel like he can do no wrong. This one isn't too long, I might pick it up again at the library sometime soon. Thanks for the review! I like that this one is only written over one day, and that there's some good representation in it. Boo that you didn't feel much towards it overall though. I don't think anything can really compete with some of his previous masterpieces!
ReplyDeleteCass @ Words on Paper
Thank you for reading xx
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