Scan barcode
A review by katykelly
Release by Patrick Ness
4.0
Ness takes on teenage angst in the guise of a conflicted young gay man caught between old love and new.
4.5 stars
Adam Thorn goes out to get flowers for his mother. The book, taking this as its starting point, follows him through a day, where revelations come thick and fast at him and his own perspective on life and love will undergo some major upheavals.
Adam is gay. His very religious parents disapprove of homosexuality, so he has never explicitly opened up to them about it. Happy with his boyfriend Linus, he still has strong feelings for Enzo, the ex he's preparing to say goodbye to tonight at a 'get together' to wish him well.
While Adam puzzles over his feelings and prepares to face Enzo for one last time, we vacillate between his story and that of a dead girl - Katherine - murdered by her boyfriend over drugs. Her spirit is angry and after revenge.
I could have lived without the second plot, the spirit story, the book would have worked perfectly well without it. Adam's story is fascinating - the author explains that the story is inspired by both Mrs Dalloway and Judy Blume's Forever, both of which I am familiar with. I liked the combination of the two, and the coming-of-age story that also encapsulates a friendship, a romance, a family drama.
Adam and his best friend Angela are marvellously written, she the smart and loyal confidante, he a young man trying to find himself. Linus is also a well-rounded character that I empathised with. And Enzo, the ex, develops nicely into a rather unsympathetic character.
The story itself develops well, with pushes from minor characters (Adam's brother and father) to further Adam's growth and understanding.
I wouldn't have instantly recognised the parallels between Release and Forever, though being told of the connection, I can see it. The Woolf inspiration is instantly obvious on the first page, and it's a novel idea.
This feels like quite a personal read. I have no idea of Ness's personal preferences, his teenage experiences, but this did feel as though there might be autobiographical elements to it (I could be completely wrong about this of course) but it did feel on a different level to the author's previous work - no fantasy context, a strong male voice.
I'm not one for supernatural stories, which is again probably why I didn't like Katherine's story, it felt unnecessary really, and didn't in my opinion add anything to the theme or overall book. I loved Adam's story and its conclusion, an excellent short novel set in the modern world.
Some quite graphic sexual content, this is best suited to ages 14 and above.
With thanks to Walker Books for the advance reading copy.
4.5 stars
Adam Thorn goes out to get flowers for his mother. The book, taking this as its starting point, follows him through a day, where revelations come thick and fast at him and his own perspective on life and love will undergo some major upheavals.
Adam is gay. His very religious parents disapprove of homosexuality, so he has never explicitly opened up to them about it. Happy with his boyfriend Linus, he still has strong feelings for Enzo, the ex he's preparing to say goodbye to tonight at a 'get together' to wish him well.
While Adam puzzles over his feelings and prepares to face Enzo for one last time, we vacillate between his story and that of a dead girl - Katherine - murdered by her boyfriend over drugs. Her spirit is angry and after revenge.
I could have lived without the second plot, the spirit story, the book would have worked perfectly well without it. Adam's story is fascinating - the author explains that the story is inspired by both Mrs Dalloway and Judy Blume's Forever, both of which I am familiar with. I liked the combination of the two, and the coming-of-age story that also encapsulates a friendship, a romance, a family drama.
Adam and his best friend Angela are marvellously written, she the smart and loyal confidante, he a young man trying to find himself. Linus is also a well-rounded character that I empathised with. And Enzo, the ex, develops nicely into a rather unsympathetic character.
The story itself develops well, with pushes from minor characters (Adam's brother and father) to further Adam's growth and understanding.
I wouldn't have instantly recognised the parallels between Release and Forever, though being told of the connection, I can see it. The Woolf inspiration is instantly obvious on the first page, and it's a novel idea.
This feels like quite a personal read. I have no idea of Ness's personal preferences, his teenage experiences, but this did feel as though there might be autobiographical elements to it (I could be completely wrong about this of course) but it did feel on a different level to the author's previous work - no fantasy context, a strong male voice.
I'm not one for supernatural stories, which is again probably why I didn't like Katherine's story, it felt unnecessary really, and didn't in my opinion add anything to the theme or overall book. I loved Adam's story and its conclusion, an excellent short novel set in the modern world.
Some quite graphic sexual content, this is best suited to ages 14 and above.
With thanks to Walker Books for the advance reading copy.