Book Review and Giveaway for Release by Aly Martinez

RELEASE
by ALY MARTINEZ

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.

ADD TO GOODREADS

REVIEW: 4 STARS
"Sometimes you have to let go of the life you planned in order to live the one you're given."

So, yeah. Aly Martinez had me all up in my feelings again with this one. WAY up. But the two most prevalent ones had me laughing at one point and smiling from ear to ear the next - hilarious anecdotes and deep discussions of the past providing a serious emotional barricade. But that certainly doesn't negate the fact that a twist thrown in there didn't just make me gasp like, "no biggie!"

The rivalry between Ramsey and Thea was easily my favorite part. It added an underlying level of comfort to their friendship. But her anger towards him cracked me up! Typical 10 year olds. Totally. I feel like their innocence and growth from young kids to teenagers was such an organic and natural progression and she really nailed their mannerisms and actions. Ramsey was aggravatingly cute.....his smile in all the wrong times and places were matched by Thea's grumpy self. I loved his smile. I felt like it was addicting too. Again, aggravatingly so. His sarcasm made me smile.

Throughout the entire book, understanding was in the eye of the beholder. Perception was in the all knowing mind of a child. Turnabout was fair play. Given all the happenings in the book that we were privy to, and some that we weren't, it allowed for the emotions to consistently affect me mentally and emotionally. I wanted to MOM these kids, but I wanted to read as they came through on their own volition and made the world theirs. I loved their journey.

The love between Ramsey and Thea was the epitome of being someone’s weakness; their kryptonite. A battle of wills was definitely one for the making with this story. The underlying pain and sense of duty alone was intense and kept me flipping the pages. I needed to know what was going on.....and whyyyy?? I was mentally cataloging all the ways I thought it could go and I was pretty sure I was paying attention to all the clues....and she got me. She really got me. Crazy thing is, I've seen this before but I had NO clue it was coming. I love when a book outcome takes me by surprise.

My reading experience with this one was a lot like watching a man plays video games and his whole body is moving left and right with the controller in his hand, swearing that’s helping him do better in the game. I was like, "No there’s not enough room in his book to hash the rest of this out - oh my gosh - what am I gonna do - holy cow - someone help her -someone help him - someone help ME!!"

I want to point out that Aly Martinez has an excellent way of wrapping up a book and giving me a look at her characters' lives after their story is complete, and this epilogue was no different. I loved how she finished up their story. The crux of the story, however, was an emotionally charged rush of information as I kept turning the pages with anticipation mounting. This is one of those books that while I read it, my breath had a slight hitch in it, but by the time I was done I could breathe a sigh of relief and I could close the book with a smile. this was a feel-good book with plenty of angst for my angst loving heart. This wasn't as heavy as some of her previous other books, but the emotions were on point and the detail was exceptional.

Dammit Aly!!! That twist upset me! But I'll be ok.....soon.

"The sparrows don't come because you need them, Ramsey. They come because they need you."

~BEE

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~MEET ALY MARTINEZ~

Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Aly Martinez is a stay-at-home mom to four crazy kids under the age of five- including a set of twins. Currently living in Chicago, she passes what little free time she has reading anything and everything she can get her hands on, preferably with a glass of wine at her side.

After some encouragement from her friends, Aly decided to add “Author” to her ever-growing list of job titles. So grab a glass of Chardonnay, or a bottle if you’re hanging out with Aly, and join her aboard the crazy train she calls life.

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