-
Access Our
Best Book Club
Books of 2025!
Inspired by Judy Blume's Forever and Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, this novel 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.
"Starred Review. [A] frank, riveting portrayal of a gay teenager's sexual awakening." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Part character study, part reckoning, this is a painful, magical gem of a novel that, even when it perplexes, will rip the hearts right out of its readers." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Literary, illuminating, and stunningly told." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. An excellent choice for all teen collections. Grades 9 and up." - School Library Journal
"This book's self-awareness lends its events a dreamlike feel. Though it functions as an accessible, standalone coming-of-age story, awareness of its influences makes for a layered reading experience." - The Horn Book
"I was gripped by Adam's journey to self-belief, told pacily, beautifully." - The Times (UK)
"Release is beautiful, enchanting, exquisitely written; the novel builds to an adrenaline-surged ending that only Patrick Ness can deliver. This is an incredible work of intertwined, mirrored stories that left me slack-jawed and in awe of one of the true master storytellers of our time." - Andrew Smith, Michael L. Printz Honor–winning author of Grasshopper Jungle and Winger
This information about Release was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Patrick Ness
Patrick Ness is the author of ten novels, including his New York Times bestselling The Rest of Us Just Live Here, the Chaos Walking trilogy, More Than This, A Monster Calls, which was made into a major motion picture with a screenplay adaptation by Patrick himself, Release, and And The Ocean Was Our Sky. Born in Virginia, Patrick lives in London.
Author Interview
Link to Patrick Ness's Website
Name Pronunciation
Patrick Ness: As it looks
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
