Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Book Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

I rated it 5 out of 5 stars. 
 

Overview: 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.


Review: I reread this over the weekend and it continues to be one of my favorite YA books of all time. Lucy Christopher is brilliant. I love the writing because it's so simple, so visceral, yet so mesmerizing and beautiful. The first time I read it, I was literally in tears at the end, having felt like I had undergone stockholm syndrom with Gemma. I had read it in one sitting just so entranced by the story and the two characters.

Reading it this time around, I really got to appreciate the novel sytlisticly and admire Christopher's craft. Isn't it funny how another reading shows you things you hadn't noticed around the first time? Not many books survived my move from Sacramento to Seattle, but this one did, and for a good reason. Just pick it up and you'll know why.

2 comments:

  1. This sound really interesting. I haven't read anything like this before. I'm definitely adding this to my list. ^_^

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