Review: Stolen
So a couple of years ago, a friend of mine, Nadia, told me of this book she had read and how she thought I’d be interested in it. Stolen, by Lucy Christopher is a story that is like no other that I have read before – and I loved it, a lot. I chose Stolen as a related text for one of my modules for my HSC; I kind of regret doing that because it means that I had to analyse one of my favourite books, but all I had to look for was phrases relating to ‘distinctively visual’ so it wasn’t so bad and hasn’t ruined the book for me. I re-read it recently only because I needed to for my HSC, and I’m glad I got the chance to. Once I finished the novel, I found myself in some sort of state in which I didn’t want to do anything else but keep myself in the story and its characters. This feeling doesn’t come often when I read and the only other time I can think of when this happened was when I finished reading The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare.
The world created in Stolen is very very real and also quite bland, and not in a bad way. There was no need for world-building because the world already exists. The novel is set in the Australian Outback and the way in which it is described in the book is wonderful and real, and would paint a picture of this landscape for those who do not know much about it.
Pretty much the only characters in the novel are Gemma and Ty, and the relationship between the two is complicated to say the least. Ty has been watching Gemma for about six years and he then proceeded to ‘steal’ her away from everything and take her to live with him in the desert. He believes he has ‘saved’ her from her life in London and towards the end of the book he admits his love for her.
The book is written in the form of a letter from Gemma to Ty, and this style provides a very detailed insight into not only the story, but into Gemma’s thoughts and feelings. As the story progresses, we see both Ty and Gemma adapt to their new situation and although Gemma still hates Ty, she depends on him for survival. Ty is seen to be a monster of sorts, but it is clear that he is not when he delves into his past and his reasoning for taking Gemma, he also never forces himself onto her, but waits for her to love him back.
Christopher takes you on an adventure as Gemma and as a reader, you can help but root for Ty and Gemma to be together, despite the situation and feelings of hatred and loathing. As and author, she makes you consider the reality of Stockholm Syndrome from the inside and even then, she makes you question whether Gemma has fallen victim to it or if her feelings are real. As a reader, there was a hell of a lot of conflict going on in the emotional department, as to whether I actually like Ty, or not – but I found that in the end I indeed did like Ty and I thought Gemma did too.
I was so ready to go on this adventure with Ty and Gemma when they both agreed that she would stay for four months and if she still wanted to go, Ty would take her. And I also wanted to see more romantic sort of things, like when they fell asleep together in the sand.
But a snakebite ended those dreams – especially Ty’s. Ty gave up his life to save Gemma, he took her to a hospital and stayed with her when he knew that he’d never see his desert home again, and he turned himself in – to save Gemma. He couldn’t have been such a horrible person then could he? Towards the end of the letter, Gemma admitted her feelings for Ty, and it was a whirlwind of emotion when she was deciding what she was going to do, and I desperately wanted her to save him and for them to be together, but alas, that’s not how it ended because it isn’t really logical. Ty kidnapped Gemma, and he’s being punished for it, end of story.
I very much loved this book and I don’t actually own a copy, but I will definitely buy one so Ic can read it over and over. I’m such a sucker for a good love story, and this could’ve been one. I really do hope that there is another book with these two characters, I would absolutely love to read it. I would recommendStolen to pretty much everyone, go ahead and read it, I bet you’ll enjoy it. I give it a:
