Release is the sequel to Australian author Lucy Christopher’s YA novel, Stolen. Ten years after sixteen-year-old Gemma Toombs was abducted from Bangkok Airport and held for some months in the West Australian desert by Tyler MacFarlane, she is living in London as Kate Stone.

She works from home for an online travel agency, tries to be independent from her (overprotective?) mother, feeds and watches a vixen in her yard, and swims regularly as a release from her conflicted thoughts and emotions.

She still sees her therapist, but lately is less honest about her thoughts and feelings, especially those about Ty. When she is officially notified of Ty’s pending early release, she burns bridges with her fledgling romantic relationship and finds herself making plans of which she is certain her mother will not approve.

Back in Perth, mere days before Ty’s release, Kate is making preparations for a role reversal which can hardly end well, and later sees her before the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

This is one of those novels that feels a bit like a train wreck happening before your eyes and you just can’t look away: with each step Kate takes, and each rationalisation of her actions, the effect of her ordeal on her mental health becomes more apparent.

“These days I’m finding it harder to tell what you might like. You’re still there in my head, of course – you’ve been part of me for so long, and I have such a sense of loyalty – but something is shifting inside. Because what if this is it, and you really are gone?”

The story is told by Kate in a dual timeline first-person narrative addressed to Ty MacFarlane. The Perth courtroom scenes are interspersed with the story of Kate’s return to Western Australia, their journey to the place where Ty held her a decade previous, and the events that follow.

While this volume can probably stand alone, readers who have not read Stolen may find the lack of prior knowledge about Gemma’s ordeal frustrating. Kate is not an entirely reliable narrator and not all readers will appreciate the ambiguity of the ending. A dark and powerful read.
This unbiased review is from an unsolicited copy provided by Text Publishing.