Lucy Christopher

Pretty gut wrenching tale of Gemma who is drugged and stolen at a Bangkok airport and taken to Australian outback by a man called Ty. Seriously shocking look at how captives can succumb to Stockholm Syndrome when they are deprived of any contact with the outside world. We come to wonder if Gemma is going to decide to stay with Ty forever, or if she can remember and cherish enough of her old life to break free of his clutches. Had me gripped from start to finish. For mature readers due to show more themes and language. show less

Cleverly crafted and totally believable!

Sixteen year old, Gemma Toombs is at Bangkok airport with her parents when she goes off on her own for a drink an hour before their flight to Vietnam. In the cafe she bumps into Ty, a good looking boy who is older than herself. He's so easy to talk to and seems interested in her Gemma can't help but feel drawn to him and stop for a chat. Before she knows it she's telling him all about herself, but there was no need. He already knows everything about show more her. She never makes it to Vietnam.

When she awakens, Gemma discovers she's been drugged, snatched from the airport and taken to a remote location in the Australian Outback
by none other than the friendly Ty. He planned the whole thing for ages because they were "meant to be together." Given enough time he's positive Gemma will understand that. And in a way she did. As the hours turned into days, then months, they both experienced some wonderful sights, made his place more like home, and even captured a camel which they kept as a pet for a while. Yet, not once did one thought leave the back of her mind. Home. When she gets her chance to escape she takes it, but when out in the middle of the desert, with no neighbours, no running streams and absolutely no experience at fending for herself under these conditions, she is destined to fail. Ironic really, with all that space around her, there is actually no where to run.

This is a seriously shocking, clever piece of writing that moved me no end. Here we have a young, innocent girl, taken from everything she knows by a boy she trusted, or at least never dreamed would be planning anything.
We learn how his smooth talking and gentle ways slowly draw her into his world, in which she begins to feel something known as the Stockholm Syndrome - in short, sympathy for her captor. And it's not surprising. Ty has been through a very emotional time, and he doesn't mean her any physical harm, so one can see how easily it would be to fall for his ways. However, being out in the middle of nowhere on your own for too long, and being a mixed bag of emotions can take its toll, and make him dangerous and more unstable than perhaps he appears to be.

When something near fatal happens and Ty is forced to take Gemma to a camp because her survival depends on him giving her up it is heartbreaking. On one hand you want him to give her back, but on the other hand, you see her side of the story and understand her confusion. If she leaves him now, which she has to, he'll be in big trouble and she knows she'll never see him again. That's the last thing she wants. He's not a mon
ster in the true sense of the word, even though he did a terrible thing taking her. When her life is literally in his hands the final test of his love for her is really pushed to the limits. Should he let her go, or make her stay?

I loved the ending and thought it was cleverly crafted and totally believable. Normally a book written in second person, documented as one long letter can be off-putting, but in this instance it made me feel so connected to Gemma that not only could this be a true story it made me feel it could easily be me in her place - I felt that involved! Author Lucy Christopher has also put a lot of research into getting the setting, and all the creatures that shared her protagonist's world just right. Stolen is a scary, thought provoking and utterly fascinating read! show less

It took me a long time to read this book but that had a lot more to do with the other stuff I had going on then the actual content of the book. Gemma was abducted from the Bangkok airport by Ty. Ty loves her and thinks that he is helping her; taking her away from people who aren't looking out for her best interests and a place that is strangling her. This book is a letter to Ty where she recounts their days together and tries to figure out how she feels about him.

The writing style is just show more gorgeous. Everything sounds just write and kind of beautiful, even the horrible things. The descriptions have almost a poetic quality to them. The landscape is terrible and it's what keeps Gemma in her prison but you can still feel the beauty and stillness of it. How there are hidden gems within the angry desert.

Ty is an interesting character. You know he's wrong but you can't help feeling bad for him. He means well but it's obvious that no he's never really had people with him or taking care of him, so he doesn't realize he's going about everything entirely the wrong way.

It's interesting to see how Gemma's feelings change for Ty over time. She starts out hating him and wanting nothing but to leave. While she never really stops wanting to leave, truthfully I think that she sees him for who he is. Someone that wanted to help her and just went about it the wrong way. show less

Gemma is sixteen when she is taken from a Bangkok airport and brought to no-man’s land in the wild and dusty Australian desert. Her kidnapper, Ty, says he stole her from the life she knew back in London in order to save her from the soulless lifestyle of zombie-like commercial conventionality and acquiescence. But Gemma wants nothing to do with Ty and his independent existence: she just wants to get back to her old life.

As time passes with just the two of them, however, Gemma learns of show more Ty’s past, his reasoning, and even begins to see the desert in a new light.

Written in letter format addressed to Ty, STOLEN is a startlingly unique and utterly haunting UK debut that is sure to take the world by storm. It is a detailed exploration of the human psyche under extreme conditions, a vivid portrayal of Australian wilderness, and a rare literary accomplishment.

Gemma’s emotions, thoughts, and behavior perfectly befit those of who have been taken, and are now being held, against their will. Of course I don’t have any personal experience to back my claim up, but I found myself nodding along to her thoughts and actions, knowing that, if I were ever in her situation, I would react the same way. Gemma is not universally likable: she is at many times petty, reckless, and frightened to senselessness. However, that makes her more appropriately human for this book than the “perfect” protagonist: she is the worst side of ourselves that would come out in similar conditions.

I found Ty sympathetic, and understood his logic much more quickly than Gemma did, even though his methods of carrying out his dreams were downright dangerous and psychotic. Lucy Christopher gradually reveals his troubled past to readers, and the beauty of it is that at the end we are not sure where we should stand. Should we agree with Gemma’s desire to return to her old life, even with knowing how stale, monotonous, and “unreal” it would be? Or does Ty’s version of removing oneself from the corrupt society in order to find a more fulfilling lifestyle among nature make more sense?

There is something remarkably intimate about the way in which STOLEN is written. Because it is written in first-person letter format to Ty, we connect, remarkably, with Gemma (first-person narration) AND Ty, the “you” whom the letter is addressing, since we are placed in a position of essentially being both Gemma and Ty at the same time. STOLEN makes it clear that there are no easy answers to this scenario, and readers can feel free to make of it what they will.

STOLEN is not without its flaws. We are not given enough information about Gemma’s old life to decide whether or not Ty was justified in taking Gemma away or to reach a decision about which “life” Gemma should choose. The desert experiences can become a bit tedious as they blend into one another, and despite the excellent characterization, some of the scenes were a tad too dramatic for me to despite. However, it all comes down to the fact that STOLEN is a remarkable achievement and an alluring, nearly unputdownable read. Pick this book up and see if you don’t get sucked into Gemma and Ty’s story yourself. show less