Book Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Rating: 4/5 stars; loved it, would read again even though I had a few issues with it.

Release Date: 2009

Synopsis:
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.
-goodreads

Thoughts:
This book is moving, powerful, psychologically fascinating, and most of all, thought provoking. It begins slowly, but gradually builds up. It's not necessarily an adventurous story about survival, it's a story that may or may not be about Stockholm Syndrome. Of that, I will not tell.
Gemma is writing in her perspective about everything she goes through because of Ty, her kidnapper, while she's in his captivity. As the reader you at times feel just like she would feel. You get confused about Ty. You wonder, is he evil? Is he Crazy? Or is he good? Or is he evil but you think he's good? So many questions go through your mind, just like Gemma's. Her story makes for a very interesting and wonderfully described (I don't just mean the whole experience, I also mean the Ty's artistic abilities) captivity tale that you will be glad you read.
Other than starting out slow (and being slow at other times), the protagonist annoyed me at times. I am just not sure I would react in the same manner as she did during certain moments especially when she was trying to escape. I don't know, to me it just felt as if she did not try hard enough. I would have given it my all. Then again, I have never been kidnapped, a part of me might have ended up feeling as if I was not strong enough (learned helplessness). That's not to say, Gemma felt that way, but it's possible that was the reason why she did not try hard enough. I don't know, maybe she did and I'm being hard on the poor gal. I may or may not be picky about that, but the book did indeed have some down sides that kept me from fully enjoying the book. I should note that I was not a fan of her life (before the kidnapping). I get that her parents seemed to ignore her, but she never made any indication to her parents of that bothering her. If my parents are ignoring me, I will freaking tell them instead of getting sad because "they don't love me." She needs to learn to speak out. I was also not satisfied at all with her mother-daughter situation at any part of the book. Eek! Bad bad bad.
This one is not for the kids, it's not rated-R either and remember, it is a captivity tale. Don't expect something grand, but expect a very interesting trip. All in all, I loved it and hated those little issues. I would more than love to read more from Lucy Christopher. I am looking forward to reading her Flyaway book. It sounds amazing!

If you're interested:
Lucy Chrisopher
stockholm syndrome

~~Lisette~~