Book Title: Stolen: A Letter to My Captor
Author: Lucy Christopher
Date Started: March 24th 2014
Date Completed: March 29th 2014
Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Contemporary
Rating: Three stars
Review:
Stolen was a random read, but it surprised me a little. It addressed certain issues that aren't really explored that often in an interesting way that made me engage with both the protagonist, and 'antagonist' - though it turns out to not be that simple.
Gemma was in Bangkok airport when she was abducted. And then she wakes up in the middle of a desert, in a big house, all alone with the man who kidnapped her.
(I don't really think this book needs any more introduction - that was all it took to get me interested.)
I really liked the writing style of Stolen. It's told through direct address in first person, though the reader is not the one being addressed. This really got the tone of the narration across, whilst also just being something nice and different.
I also loved the descriptions in the book. There isn't that much dialogue in the book, so Gemma's inner voice was really important in explaining what was happening to her. The location is also a key part in the story, so the landscape and how it worked had to be communicated well; which it was. I could picture a lot of what was happening and the surroundings just sounded like paradise in that dark time for her.
I think the idea of Stockholm's Syndrome is fascinating, and the way it was portrayed really caught my interest. I don't think it's an easy thing to describe honestly, but I think Christopher has done a good job of it and shown it from a variety of different perspectives.
The one problem I had with the story was that it was very repetitive, and that's the downfall of the whole book. I completely understand why it's story is so similar throughout, because the situation affects it in that way. But it still makes the book harder to get through unfortunately.
The ending was very well orchestrated to me and I think it draw the story together very, very well. The last couple of paragraphs got to me, actually.
There's a lot of subtle development from the characters throughout the book, but I still would have liked to see a more gradual development through a longer story that wasn't so rushed at the end.
Gemma was a really good, realistic character that I think a lot of young readers will be able to relate to. Although the majority of the book is about Gemma's abduction, there are still parts where it explores her life before, and the typical teenager experiences she had to go through. I think these parts in particular helped me in getting to know Gemma a lot more.
Ty was an absolutely great character. By are aware of who he is before he actually commits his crime, and so you're automatically against him. This made it really interesting for the rest of the book, because there's little hints the whole way through that actually Ty's crime isn't so much his - more of a consequence for other people's inability to help him in his life. That for me, was amazingly well communicated - I just wish there had been more.
The pace was really slow for me, unfortunately. I ended up skim reading a little later on in the book. This is mainly because its mainly a narrative of inner monologue, and that creates a lovely atmosphere in the novel; it was just a bit slow for someone as impatient as myself.
I kind of wish it had been longer, because I really want to see the characters change even more, but I was really bored around halfway through. However, that is due to the fact I'm used to much faster plot lines.
Stolen was definitely an interesting, different read. Although I became a little impatient with it, I still think it was really good and is something I'd recommend that everyone has a look at since it's very original and looks at a whole different side of life to anything else I've seen.
Stolen was a random read, but it surprised me a little. It addressed certain issues that aren't really explored that often in an interesting way that made me engage with both the protagonist, and 'antagonist' - though it turns out to not be that simple.
Gemma was in Bangkok airport when she was abducted. And then she wakes up in the middle of a desert, in a big house, all alone with the man who kidnapped her.
(I don't really think this book needs any more introduction - that was all it took to get me interested.)
I really liked the writing style of Stolen. It's told through direct address in first person, though the reader is not the one being addressed. This really got the tone of the narration across, whilst also just being something nice and different.
I also loved the descriptions in the book. There isn't that much dialogue in the book, so Gemma's inner voice was really important in explaining what was happening to her. The location is also a key part in the story, so the landscape and how it worked had to be communicated well; which it was. I could picture a lot of what was happening and the surroundings just sounded like paradise in that dark time for her.
I think the idea of Stockholm's Syndrome is fascinating, and the way it was portrayed really caught my interest. I don't think it's an easy thing to describe honestly, but I think Christopher has done a good job of it and shown it from a variety of different perspectives.
The one problem I had with the story was that it was very repetitive, and that's the downfall of the whole book. I completely understand why it's story is so similar throughout, because the situation affects it in that way. But it still makes the book harder to get through unfortunately.
The ending was very well orchestrated to me and I think it draw the story together very, very well. The last couple of paragraphs got to me, actually.
There's a lot of subtle development from the characters throughout the book, but I still would have liked to see a more gradual development through a longer story that wasn't so rushed at the end.
Gemma was a really good, realistic character that I think a lot of young readers will be able to relate to. Although the majority of the book is about Gemma's abduction, there are still parts where it explores her life before, and the typical teenager experiences she had to go through. I think these parts in particular helped me in getting to know Gemma a lot more.
Ty was an absolutely great character. By are aware of who he is before he actually commits his crime, and so you're automatically against him. This made it really interesting for the rest of the book, because there's little hints the whole way through that actually Ty's crime isn't so much his - more of a consequence for other people's inability to help him in his life. That for me, was amazingly well communicated - I just wish there had been more.
The pace was really slow for me, unfortunately. I ended up skim reading a little later on in the book. This is mainly because its mainly a narrative of inner monologue, and that creates a lovely atmosphere in the novel; it was just a bit slow for someone as impatient as myself.
I kind of wish it had been longer, because I really want to see the characters change even more, but I was really bored around halfway through. However, that is due to the fact I'm used to much faster plot lines.
Stolen was definitely an interesting, different read. Although I became a little impatient with it, I still think it was really good and is something I'd recommend that everyone has a look at since it's very original and looks at a whole different side of life to anything else I've seen.
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