Lucy Christopher - Stolen

Synopsis

What should have been a family holiday becomes national news as Gemma, a young teenage girl, gets kidnapped. However, this was no random abduction as her kidnapper, Ty, had spent years studying her and preparing for this moment. Although most people would consider Gemma to have been ‘Stolen’, Ty believes that he has saved her. As the relationship between the pair develops, Gemma questions if she should fear her captor or thank him

Likes

Although this book is in the first person narrative as we’re experiencing everything through Gemma’s eyes, we’re still able to get to know Ty in an intimate way. Through the pair’s interactions, the reader is exposed to Ty’s vulnerable nature which is akin to that of a young boy’s, as well as his outlook on life, leading to Gemma’s abduction. Initially seeming closed and taciturn, it’s easy for the reader to maintain a dislike for him. However, the more he engages with Gemma, my dislike for him is soon replaced with sympathy and understanding of why he felt he had to do what he did as a result of his upbringing. Despite knowing that what he did was wrong, I found myself seeing Ty as a man who had been misunderstood and resenting those he resented for how they had treated him. Due to this, I found myself in a state of cognitive dissonance as I know that what Ty did was abhorrent, but I found myself supporting him, especially at the end

I enjoyed the first person narrative as it enabled me to think, see and feel everything Gemma did. I was exposed to her fears about being forgotten by loved ones and the rest of the world. I learned about her insecurities. When she made a desperate attempt to escape her captor, the despair that washed over her when she was caught washed over me too. Christopher did a great of sharing the weight of Gemma’s feelings with the reader which only strengthened my need to know how everything would end

Dislikes

As aforementioned, this book takes on the first person narrative through Gemma and although we learn a few things about Ty, I would’ve liked to obtain a better understanding of him to know why he does the things he does. More so, I would have appreciated learning more about his relationship with his mum and how she contributed to him being so resistant to the world, yet still yearning to be loved by it

General Thoughts

‘You saw me before I saw you’. That’s the first sentence in the book. As a reader, I’m immediately captivated by this ominous opening and have questions running through my mind just one line in – ‘Who did you see?’ ‘Why were they watching you?’ ‘Where?’. I love a good line grabber, especially one used in the opening as they get me excited for what is yet to come

I wish it didn’t end how it did! I know that it ended how it should have ended as Ty did a heinous thing but I found myslef sympathhising with him and hoping that he could somehow escape his fate. The ending left me feeling very conflcted and I kept looking past the final page to see if there was possibly another hidden page somewhere as I couldn’t accept the ending. But the fact that I felt so conflicted can only be credited to Christopher’s great writing skills as we’re left experiencing some symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome like Gemma

Rating

I enjoyed the delivery of the story throughout as the author managed to keep me interested. ‘Stolen’ is a book I had read in my own teen years and was gifted to me by a friend who had introduced me to the novel 10 years ago, so it was nice to read it again and pick up on things I may have previously missed. Although I would have liked to know more about Ty as I think it would have given the book greater depth, I liked it nonetheless

Based on this, I would give this book a 3/5  

Would I recommend?

Although I enjoyed this book, it was more for the nostalgia. I don’t see myself recommending this to others from the top of my head, unless they had expressed an interest in a genre and storyline which matched this one specifically. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t mind reading this book again in another few years and seeing if I still share the same opinions. However, I definitely would have enjoyed the book more had I learned more about Ty. If the author wrote a second book where the version of events are still the same but from Ty’s perspective, I would definitely give it a read!

Favourite Quotes

‘You took your head from your hands. Your eyes flashed at me for a moment, but they weren’t icy. They’d thawed a little. They looked wet. For a second I wondered if you’d been crying too’

‘They sounded like the two old ladies who were sometimes on my bus home from school; those ladies twittered and muttered too, only instead it was about their favourite TV shows. I missed those old ladies. I wondered if they’d noticed I was no longer on their bus’

‘My body started shaking and my eyes blurred. It took me a while to realise that I was crying’

‘The water tingled in my throat. I gulped more. Right then, that water wasn’t brown or full of grit; it was the finest champagne’

‘I kept looking at the sky, not trusting myself to look back at you’

‘Your eyes opened wide when you let my fingers touch you. They looked over my face, my cheeks and mouth, skimming down over my neck. I was the best view you’d ever seen. It gave me a buzz the way I made you look right then’