![]() Release is aptly captivating, and asks stimulating questions on the long-term impacts of crime and imperfect victimhood. Release has not been marketed as a sequel, and it works well as a standalone novel if you’re satisfied with an ambiguous backstory. In fact, the precursor to Release, Christopher’s earlier work, Stolen, does detail the characters’ histories. This is not elaborated on in much detail in Release, which creates an ambiguity: Is she a victim of coercive control or abusive dynamics in a cult of one, or is she genuinely one half of a twisted love story? Throughout the book I wondered about the initial kidnapping, and how Ty’s relationship with then-Gemma evolved. A simple plot summary is as follows: A young changeling and his hobgoblin fellows snatch seven-year-old Henry Day and takes his place in the human world. ![]() It is part courtroom drama, part psychological study, and part thriller. ![]() And her obsession with the perpetrator ultimately turns him into a target. Kate’s musings are directed to Ty, told arrestingly in the second person. The book that results is a kind of reverse You by Caroline Kepnes. And as much as she is repelled by her past, she is also drawn back to it. ![]() And yet, her narration is only part revenge fantasy. She understands that her relationship with Ty was coercive. She is certain that the kidnapping ruined her life, and she takes pains to ensure it doesn’t happen to another girl. It’s difficult to label Kate’s response to what happened to her. ![]()
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