Audio Book Review: Release By Aly Martinez

Release

By Aly Martinez 

Narrator: Andi Arndt, Jason Clarke
Length: 7 hours and 31 minutes

From USA Today Bestselling Author Aly Martinez comes an emotional new standalone.

Growing up, Ramsey Stewart branded my soul in ways time could never heal.

At twelve, he asked me to be his girlfriend.

At thirteen, he gave me my first kiss.

By sixteen, we’d fallen in love, planned a future together, and had our eyes set on the horizon.

Love never fails, right?

But for Ramsey, it did.

Love failed him.

I failed him.

The entire world failed him.

At seventeen, Ramsey was convicted of killing the boy who assaulted me.

Move on, he wrote in his first and only letter from prison.

Start a new life, he urged.

I don’t love you anymore, he lied.

There was no such thing as giving up on Ramsey. Love may have been our curse, but he was mine—then, now, and forever.

So here I am, twelve long years later, waiting for a man I don't even know to emerge from between the chain link gates

Available At:| Amazon | Audible |

My Review:

This book is the first book since I listened to The Fault In Our Stars By John Green that made me sob. It wasn't necessarily that the story was THAT level of sad. Certain aspects of this novel just hit too close to home in a way I wasn't expecting which made the waterworks come out surprisingly uncontrolled. 

Thea was a very complex character. As a kid, she was so angry and bitter with the world until Ramsey wore her down. As an adult, she's learned and, more importantly, has gone to therapy to understand herself and her reactions to the situations and people around her. Though everyone will forever be broken, she knows her faults and how to deal with them. 

My heart broke for Ramsey. He was dealt one heck of a bad hand all his life. His sister is the only shining light left until he met Thea. He complemented her so well as kids and teens. 

The twist involving Ramsey and his sister is something I didn't see coming. I hate that everyone around her lied to Thea about it but at the same time I understand. Putting that on Thea at such a young age would have done more damage than anything else. I just hate that Ramsey paid for it. As for the crime that was committed, all I have to say is good riddance. 

My Rating: