Stolen

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 themes and language.

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 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 show more 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 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 show more 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 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 show more 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

Beautiful. Evil, but beautiful. Evil because I now have Stockholm Syndrome. Beautiful because I didn't realise it was happening, the writing was so subtle yet engrossing and real. Gritty.

I fell in love with Ty, the kidnapper. He was so kind, considerate and almost harmless really (Hello, Stockholm!). He'd saved Gemma's life so many times and eventually sacrificed his freedom for her. How can anyone not love him a little for that?

I understood his motivations. He was lonely and had been badly treated all his life. At first I had all kinds of ideas of what he was: paedophile, rapist, killer etc. He was none of those things. He just wanted to escape civilisation and when he spotted Gemma, who he believed was being neglected by her parents show more just as he was, he wanted to rescue her.

I can't understand why people compare this to [b:Living Dead Girl|2954411|Living Dead Girl|Elizabeth Scott|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255648770s/2954411.jpg|2983897]. Ray, the kidnapper is all of the things I mentioned above. He was not kind, he raped, he's a paedophile and he murdered. I did not fall in love with him. It's not a fair comparison. They're completely different.

Although at times Ty seemed scary, he was vulnerable and fragile too. He cried. He suffered from nightmares. In some ways he's like a child himself, with his love of the land, his painting and his folk stories. His sense of fun can be a little strange but there are some funny moments. It's not all fear and confusion. Catching the camel was hilarious. She (the camel) had my heart from then on.

As you can tell I loved Ty but I also cared about Gemma. At first I just wanted her to accept her situation, to stop looking for trouble. The number of times she said "You're lying!" or "I don't believe you!" got on my nerves because she said it in relation to the simplest of plausible statements but when she calmed down she was so starkly honest with herself even when she wanted to go into denial. She was strong. Both characters were to have survived their traumas.

You may think I'm as loopy as Ty but I wished for a happy ending. Gemma and Ty together. Maybe not out in the desert forever but living on the edge of a small town. Happily ever after. I can dream, right?

Stolen. Everything in this book is stolen, including Ty. Nothing belongs to anyone. Not even themselves. There's only the land and the sky. And survival. Beautiful. show less

This is a stunning book. There are basically only two characters: 16-year-old Gemma, and 24-year-old Ty. The book is written in the first person, in the form of a letter sent from Gemma to Ty.

Ty has been watching Gemma for years, since she was ten, and when she is at the airport on a trip with her parents going from Britain to Vietnam, Ty kidnaps Gemma and takes her to the desert in Australia.

Ty doesn’t hurt Gemma, nor does he assault her. He tells her he wanted to rescue her from the shallowness of her life, because he knows she would want more. He wants to teach her about the desert and the beauty of natural things. But she is terrified for a long time, and is convinced he is just waiting for the opportunity to kill her. Slowly, show more however, Gemma gets to know Ty, and her feelings change.

Mirroring their story is a subplot in which Ty captures and tames a camel for them to use for milk and transportation. The fear, anguish, acceptance and finally love of the camel for his captors is as compelling and heartbreaking as Gemma and Ty’s story.

We know that something about Gemma’s captivity will change, because Gemma is writing this letter to Ty, but we don’t know what it will be until near the end. But it is not the suspense that is so riveting but the process that gets us there. We are made privy to every sight, smell, taste, and perception of Gemma as she struggles from day to day to come to terms with her fate. No gritty detail is omitted, but rather than seeming tedious, this takes us wholly into Gemma’s experience like no account of an abduction I’ve ever read. And the author’s ability to conjure the harsh desert landscape is remarkable.

We come to understand Ty and admire him in many ways, especially for the way he resists any mistreatment of Gemma, no matter what the provocation. He also has an artistic streak, and teaches Gemma to look around her with a new appreciation she never had in the city. And he is brave; brave beyond what Emma is as she works her way from terror to love, and brave in ways he never thought he would have to be.

Evaluation: I would have wanted a different ending, but the one the author chose is probably the more realistic. And “realistic” is definitely a hallmark of this extraordinary book. You won’t want to put down this absorbing portrait of two shattered people who navigate through their angst and fear and rage in search of healing and renewal, and you won’t soon forget it. Highly recommended.

Note: There is no sexual abuse, or even sex, for that matter, in this book. show less

This book is classified as Young Adult but, as a far from young adult, I enjoyed it. I was grabbed from the first sentence and read it in 24 hours. Since this is a debut novel I expected some deficiencies but other than an occasional repititious reference to horror movies there was nothing that made me wince.

Gemma is a 16 year old British girl who is going with her parents to Vietnam during summer vacation. She leaves her parents at the boarding area in the Bangkok airport to go get a cup of coffee. On going to pay she realizes she has no local currency or any British bills but the man behind her offers to pay for her coffee and she accepts. He looks vaguely familiar but she puts that down to him having been on the same flight. He takes show more their coffees off to put sugar in them and he takes the opportunity to slip a drug into her coffee. When she is half out of it but still able to walk he takes her outside, gets her to change clothing and throws away her purse. They then get on another plane and fly to Australia. Turns out the man, Ty, has been planning to abduct her for years and he has a remote cabin in the Sandy Desert set up for them to live in. Miles from any other human habitation it seems impossible that Gemma will ever be found.

The book is written in the first person by Gemma to Ty so we have some awareness that they are separated. On the other hand maybe Gemma is just trying to make sense of what has happened to her. Either way the evolving story and no chapter divisions encourages the reader to keep going to the end. To me, this book was reminiscent of Room by Emma Donoghue but not quite as creepy as Gemma is able to leave her room and house. The desert location is so well described that it is almost another character in the book. I also was interested in the portions involving the camel that Ty and Gemma captured as I have just read Tracks by Robyn Davidson.

Recommended for young and old adults. show less