Review: Stolen

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Published by:Chicken House Ltd

Released on:May 4th, 2009

Pages:301 paperback

Buy here

It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him.
This is my story.
A letter from nowhere.

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back?

The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost.

My thoughts:

 Wow. This book was wonderful. I feel like I say that about a lot of books but it's quite true. We meet Ty within the first few pages and you can't help but want to scream to Gemma, "no, you can't sit with him! He's going to take you from everything you know and expect you to love him!!Don't do it." But what would this story have been if that didn't happen?
 It's guaranteed you will despise Ty for a long time because Gemma does and he's a hooligan for taking her and expecting her to love him. Like mmm boy, you are crazy. Ty in the beginning came off arrogant, manipulative, and cunning. I hated him so much and even until the end I still hated him but not as much. Things started to change though, we saw a much more vulnerable and almost sweet side to him. Gemma eventually warms up to him and genuinely sees him as a better person. I think this story is an example of when you get to know someone, and I mean you really get to know them: weakness, strengths, secrets, triumphs, deepest wishes, and their scars, you can fall for them.That person is much more than their appearance at that point.
 The writing was phenomenal and makes you feel like you are right there on Gemma's journey. The ending was not exactly what I expected. It gives the reader a sense of closure but it's up to you to decide which direction Gemma took, and feel okay about the decision. This book was fantastic and I recommend it to anyone who thinks it sounds interesting. I rated it 4 out of 5 stars.

Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!

Ashlinn