Release by Patrick Ness is that book. It’s the book readers don’t know they need until they pick it up. Discussing sexuality, self-worth, ‘casual’ workplace harassment, religion, and a ton of other things, Release is an eye-opening book that delves deeper into understanding one’s self-worth.
Told through eight chapters—or parts, depending on how you look at it—Release follows a teenager trying to come to terms with being gay in a heavily religious family. The story takes place over the course of a single day and is jam packed full of events, revelations, farewells, heartache, dual narratives, and above all else, hope. It’s punchy and entertaining, truthful and heart wrenching, and it doesn’t back down from addressing some pretty big issues.
At the center of this story is Adam Thorn. A young gay teen growing up in a small town, Adam faces homophobia in his heavily religious household through his father, local preacher Big Brian Thorn of The House Upon the Rock. Watching Adam struggle with his desire to love and be loved in return is one of the hardest aspects of this book—on one hand you have family man Brian Thorn who can’t accept his son for who he is and chooses to remain blissfully ignorant and on the other you have Adam collapsing under the weight of trying to be the ideal son while also staying true to himself and reaching for more.
“It’s only the yoke, Adam thought . . . and the yoke isn’t forever.”
The secondary characters are also worth their weight in gold and will leave the reader feeling warm or irritated, depending on the character. Angela is the best friend that everyone needs. Open-minded, smart, and caring, Ness is able to explore and open up numerous discussions on sexuality and the idea of labels through the use of this character. Marty, Adam’s older brother, is an honest representation of someone from his background reacting to his environment and certain decisions within the story. And then there’s Linus. If only we could all have a Linus-like understanding and compassion towards life and others as he does. There are also the adversaries in this book, who are all done so well that the reader will instantly either hate them or be frustrated by them. Ness is a master of characterisation, which is shown not only through his main protagonist, but also through his secondary characters.
In relation to the dual narrative structure and plot, Release includes similar components to a few of Ness’ other books, including The Rest of Us Just Live Here and The Crane Wife, while still being something completely new and different. Experimental in nature, the book combines two narratives that seem, at first glance, to have nothing to do with each other. Similar to the two books mentioned above, Ness includes glimpses into another version of fantastical events taking place at the same time as his main contemporary narrative—while Adam is the main focal point, there is also the intersecting narrative of the Queen and the Faun, and the potential end of the world.
Admittedly, these glimpses into the secondary narrative are jarring to begin with. One could even be forgiven for suggesting the book could stand on its own without the addition of the Queen and the Faun. But upon a second reading, the two narratives are so interwoven and crucial to each other, and to discovering how to let go and find one’s own release, that both strands become essential to unveiling the central messages of the book. One lends urgency to the other, and vice versa, creating a fast paced novel that will have readers racing towards the end.
Essentially, Release is a contemporary novel with a fantastical twist. It is arguably the author’s rawest, most vulnerable work to date. Like an exposed nerve, this book oozes heartache. It argues that family are those who accept you for who you are, and are not necessarily those who share the same blood. This reader consumed Release in a single day and cried on multiple occasions, and advises potential readers to ride out the secondary narrative, because it’s totally worth it in the end. Oh, and don’t forget the box of issues—you’ll need them.
Release is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
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.
