Release - Patrick Ness

Title: Release
Author: Patrick Ness
Publisher: Walker Books
Date Published: 4th May 2017
Pages:  287
Source: Publisher ARC

Buy It Here: Release - Patrick Ness*

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.

I was asked by the publisher if I wanted to review this book and honestly JUMPED at the chance. Patrick Ness is a hit and miss author for me, but when it's a hit, it's a MAJOR hit. I really liked the main themes of this book, I liked the main character (even if I did have some problems with him) and I liked the raw truthfulness of it all, it's something that you don't really see much in YA books. There were a few moments when I was like... okay is this going anywhere or? Because it really was just a story about a boy having a bad day. There was a little fantasy element to the novel, but I don't think it added much to it, I mean this book would have been just as great without it. I feel like if the fantasy element HAD to be there then it should have been more prominent in the book- but maybe it was only me that didn't get it.

So let's delve in a little deeper to my likes and dislikes of this book. 

Firstly, I loved the secondary characters, Linus and Angela were just lovely characters, as were the two girls he worked with (forgot their names). I'm so glad that Adam had supportive people around him, considering his family were hardly the most supportive bunch. I feel like we could have gone deeper into the issues with his family and maybe see them change their perceptions a little. There was so much potential there for a really heartfelt, emotional story but I guess it wasn't supposed to be like that. 

I feel like the novel didn't really have a main focus, like there really wasn't much point to it. We were following Adam's day and a lot of things happened during that day, awful things but there wasn't really much significance. The end wasn't rounded off properly, nothing really came together, it wasn't connected. 

Right, this fantasy element. Honestly, honestly and truly, what was the point? It was interesting to read, and I was curious as to how it was going to connect with the main story but I still don't really understand. It didn't really connect at all, I mean it did, but it was hardly significant. It just really didn't seem like there was a point to it. I'm baffled, if anyone wants to explain it to me, I'd love that! 

Anyway so I really did enjoy reading this book, I loved that it was so raw and sort of relatable (in a way... although I'm neither gay, nor a boy with overly religious parents but yknow). I think that's the beauty of it, when you can relate to it even though you're not really in the same position as the MC. I just can't get over the fact that there was so much sex and love and friendship and it felt so natural and real. There are so many books that I've read where I either roll my eyes or just plain hate it purely because I can't imagine myself as a teen doing any of that, nor my sister (who is currently the prime age of YA characters). But it's so nice and refreshing to see true representation. 

I enjoyed it a lot, but the flaws really let it down! So for once, a Patrick Ness book has torn me. I rated this 3* on Goodreads! What did you think of the book!?