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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
fast-paced
This is the second book I have read in recent months about kidnappings -- I don't know if it is because I am drawn to them (scary!) or because there are more of these types of books out there (like Room, which I have not read). At any rate, this was a pretty good one!
As the title suggests, the book is written in the style of a (long) letter, by Gemma to her kidnapper and captor Ty. On her way from her home in London to visit Thailand with her parents, 16 year old Gemma meets Ty at an airport coffee shop when her foreign currency won't buy her cuppa joe. Handsome and somewhat older, Gemma accepts his offer to pay, and sits with him for a few minutes before meeting back up with her parents. Ty has other plans, however, and as Gemma is spirited away from her comfortable and traditional life in London, she wonders if she will ever return to the life she once knew.
This would make a fantastic movie, I think. Gemma's situation with Ty seems impossible to escape from, and then changes to a situation where it might not be so bad to stay. The author does a fantastic job of telling the story, bringing the reader along on the mental and physical journey of Gemma. This is a YA book, but I think I enjoyed it just as much as any teen.
As the title suggests, the book is written in the style of a (long) letter, by Gemma to her kidnapper and captor Ty. On her way from her home in London to visit Thailand with her parents, 16 year old Gemma meets Ty at an airport coffee shop when her foreign currency won't buy her cuppa joe. Handsome and somewhat older, Gemma accepts his offer to pay, and sits with him for a few minutes before meeting back up with her parents. Ty has other plans, however, and as Gemma is spirited away from her comfortable and traditional life in London, she wonders if she will ever return to the life she once knew.
This would make a fantastic movie, I think. Gemma's situation with Ty seems impossible to escape from, and then changes to a situation where it might not be so bad to stay. The author does a fantastic job of telling the story, bringing the reader along on the mental and physical journey of Gemma. This is a YA book, but I think I enjoyed it just as much as any teen.
I really liked this book because it plays with a reader's emotions in a way that few books can match. However, by its very nature it is problematic because our hero and our villain are one and the same, which pretty much guarantees no happy endings. If you require unambiguous happy endings--like I sorta do, hence why it took my two months to gather up my courage and read the ending--skip this one, but if you like I good mind-screw, amazing setting and fantastically odd characters (I'm looking at you Ty my psychotic crush you) then this one is definitely recommended. As an aside, this book is written as a letter and "you" are placed in the role of Ty which, initially, is very off-putting, but after a while (a few chapters or so) I got used to it, so don't let it scare you off the book.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Gemma is at the airport grabbing a cup of coffee when she meets an attractive Australian guy who pays for her drink. Next time she knows, everything is blurry and she’s being shuttled off on a random plane. That is how Ty is able to kidnap Gemma, and bring her to his “home” that he made. I think the writing was really well done and the emotions were captivating- but any person who roots for Ty needs to go to therapy. The way he’s written, with mood swings, frightening anger and strength, straight up stalkerish obsession… just because he’s written as attractive does not make this ok. At all.
Every time I thought I might be sympathetic to him, I just pictured all of this if it was a 50 year old man. Suddenly the feelings “change”.
There were a few times I was unsure where things were going and I would just HOPE the author had a solid plan. Overall I really liked how it was written and the characterization- it felt very real and I got nervous alongside Gemma. However, I feel like the sympathetic side could have been worked on more if that was supposed to make the relationship more complex— I didn’t totally understand where things changed for Gemma, as I didn’t feel that change was gradual or believable enough. I definitely think I could’ve used more to the story, a longer timeline perhaps, so I could really feel more invested in Ty. Overall, great writing & idea, and definitely would recommend because I’d love to see what people thought, but it was a little too black and white for me— some of the other reviews I read after were mind boggling to me. There wasn’t nuance to this “relationship” and there was NOTHING to root for beyond ESCAPE. Ok- end rant.
Every time I thought I might be sympathetic to him, I just pictured all of this if it was a 50 year old man. Suddenly the feelings “change”.
There were a few times I was unsure where things were going and I would just HOPE the author had a solid plan. Overall I really liked how it was written and the characterization- it felt very real and I got nervous alongside Gemma. However, I feel like the sympathetic side could have been worked on more if that was supposed to make the relationship more complex— I didn’t totally understand where things changed for Gemma, as I didn’t feel that change was gradual or believable enough. I definitely think I could’ve used more to the story, a longer timeline perhaps, so I could really feel more invested in Ty. Overall, great writing & idea, and definitely would recommend because I’d love to see what people thought, but it was a little too black and white for me— some of the other reviews I read after were mind boggling to me. There wasn’t nuance to this “relationship” and there was NOTHING to root for beyond ESCAPE. Ok- end rant.
2015 Reading Challenge, #29 A book set somewhere you're alwayas wanted to visit.
3.5
Kind of disappointing, considering all of the hype. I think I would've enjoyed it more if I had gone in not having heard as much as I did about it. It wasn't bad--it just didn't "wow" me.
Kind of disappointing, considering all of the hype. I think I would've enjoyed it more if I had gone in not having heard as much as I did about it. It wasn't bad--it just didn't "wow" me.
dark
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For a book that didn't really make me feel much while reading it, I certainly have a lot of feelings about it post-read.
I don't shy away from dark themes in fiction by any means, and I was more than excited to read a book with a trope that I have come to enjoy. The problem that arises with this book - one that is going to sound counterintuitive, but hear me out - is that I'm left utterly confused as to why I should feel any empathy for Ty.
As the narrative is all from Gemma's perspective, Christopher attempts to muddy our own views on Ty, forcing us to attempt to morally justify his actions in one breath and condemning them in the next. However, I felt as though the reader was not given enough time to emotionally invest ourselves into Ty and Gemma's plight at all. The pacing was incredibly slow, which I normally prefer, but the writing just felt so...lacking? Whatever it was, I just felt bored out of my mind rather than on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened next.
This also brings me to my next issue: the genre. This was marketed as a romance book with a certain, though not explicitly stated theme of Stockholm Syndrome. Instead, it felt more akin to a thriller which was too scared to fully delve into that genre headfirst and instead teetering on some weird middle ground. The more "romantic" scenes and the subtext start after the 100 page mark, but the narrative before this was so uneventful and lacking in substance that it felt like it came out of nowhere. It also doesn't give the reader enough time to properly digest the switch between what was setting itself up to be a straight thriller and now attempting to be some weird psychologically twisted romance...yet lacking in both respects.
As stated before, both of these culminate back to my biggest issue: Ty. Gemma is bland, don't get me wrong, but Ty's character just stuck out to me with how strange it was. It felt like Christopher really wanted a part of ourselves to sympathize with him, even to the very last page. I understood why Christopher wanted us to feel this way as she wanted the reader's emotions to mirror Gemma's own conflictions, but aside from the kidnapping aspect, the biggest unspoken issue with this is that Ty is a literal pedophile.
This is definitely going to cause some people to disagree with me, but there is no doubt in my mind that Ty is a pedophile (or at least exhibited pedophilic/predatory behavior), no matter how Christopher tried to justify their age gap or what her original intentions were. Here are some quotes straight from the camel's horse's mouth:
"You chewed on the corner of your thumb. 'It's amazing what living on the streets in a city can do.' You bit off a piece of your nail and spat it aside. 'Anyway, you were a child then; I'd look old to you regardless, even if I was barely an adult myself.'
I wiped my palms over my T-shirt. Every part of me felt clammy. You noticed, but you kept going anyway, enjoying my confusion . . .
. . . 'You're sick,' I hissed. 'You were obsessed with a ten-year-old girl, then abducted her six years later? What kind of freak . . . ?'" (Christopher, 104-105)
Then later, Christopher seems to try and justify these actions as being "protective" or something by revealing that Ty actually protected Gemma from a guy who attempted to SA her in the past...and that's actually when he fell in love with her!
"'And in case you were wondering,' you began softly, ' . . . that was the moment.'
'What moment?'
'The moment I first knew I wanted you . . . the moment I knew I had to bring you here. Not when you were ten - that night. From then on, this was all geared towards you. I worked harder to make sure it was finished, trying to rescue you as quickly as I could.'" (Christopher, 151)
Like...okay? He's still a creep? Just because Ty protected her from a creep doesn't suddenly make him not weird and predatory for stalking a literal child for years. Again, I'm not saying you can't explore these themes in what's supposed to be a darker book, but I just don't feel these topics were covered with the care they needed to be.
I really don't think this should have been marketed as a YA romance. If anything, it could have been an interesting YA thriller, but it doesn't seem to meet the criteria. The pacing is slow, the characters are one-dimensional and boring, and while I did enjoy some of the worldbuilding and scenery descriptions, it really could not save the book. If anything, the only thing I felt emotionally connected to in this book was the camel who I still miss dearly.
If you want to read a GREAT book with a similar "guy kidnaps girl" plot, check out [b:The Collector|243705|The Collector|John Fowles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394828024l/243705._SY75_.jpg|1816452] by [a:John Fowles|10039|John Fowles|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1486678092p2/10039.jpg]. That is an amazing novel which handles this exact trope with great class, and then some.
I don't shy away from dark themes in fiction by any means, and I was more than excited to read a book with a trope that I have come to enjoy. The problem that arises with this book - one that is going to sound counterintuitive, but hear me out - is that I'm left utterly confused as to why I should feel any empathy for Ty.
As the narrative is all from Gemma's perspective, Christopher attempts to muddy our own views on Ty, forcing us to attempt to morally justify his actions in one breath and condemning them in the next. However, I felt as though the reader was not given enough time to emotionally invest ourselves into Ty and Gemma's plight at all. The pacing was incredibly slow, which I normally prefer, but the writing just felt so...lacking? Whatever it was, I just felt bored out of my mind rather than on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened next.
This also brings me to my next issue: the genre. This was marketed as a romance book with a certain, though not explicitly stated theme of Stockholm Syndrome. Instead, it felt more akin to a thriller which was too scared to fully delve into that genre headfirst and instead teetering on some weird middle ground. The more "romantic" scenes and the subtext start after the 100 page mark, but the narrative before this was so uneventful and lacking in substance that it felt like it came out of nowhere. It also doesn't give the reader enough time to properly digest the switch between what was setting itself up to be a straight thriller and now attempting to be some weird psychologically twisted romance...yet lacking in both respects.
As stated before, both of these culminate back to my biggest issue: Ty. Gemma is bland, don't get me wrong, but Ty's character just stuck out to me with how strange it was. It felt like Christopher really wanted a part of ourselves to sympathize with him, even to the very last page. I understood why Christopher wanted us to feel this way as she wanted the reader's emotions to mirror Gemma's own conflictions, but aside from the kidnapping aspect, the biggest unspoken issue with this is that Ty is a literal pedophile.
This is definitely going to cause some people to disagree with me, but there is no doubt in my mind that Ty is a pedophile (or at least exhibited pedophilic/predatory behavior), no matter how Christopher tried to justify their age gap or what her original intentions were. Here are some quotes straight from the
"You chewed on the corner of your thumb. 'It's amazing what living on the streets in a city can do.' You bit off a piece of your nail and spat it aside. 'Anyway, you were a child then; I'd look old to you regardless, even if I was barely an adult myself.'
I wiped my palms over my T-shirt. Every part of me felt clammy. You noticed, but you kept going anyway, enjoying my confusion . . .
. . . 'You're sick,' I hissed. 'You were obsessed with a ten-year-old girl, then abducted her six years later? What kind of freak . . . ?'" (Christopher, 104-105)
Then later, Christopher seems to try and justify these actions as being "protective" or something by revealing that Ty actually protected Gemma from a guy who attempted to SA her in the past...and that's actually when he fell in love with her!
"'And in case you were wondering,' you began softly, ' . . . that was the moment.'
'What moment?'
'The moment I first knew I wanted you . . . the moment I knew I had to bring you here. Not when you were ten - that night. From then on, this was all geared towards you. I worked harder to make sure it was finished, trying to rescue you as quickly as I could.'" (Christopher, 151)
Like...okay? He's still a creep? Just because Ty protected her from a creep doesn't suddenly make him not weird and predatory for stalking a literal child for years. Again, I'm not saying you can't explore these themes in what's supposed to be a darker book, but I just don't feel these topics were covered with the care they needed to be.
I really don't think this should have been marketed as a YA romance. If anything, it could have been an interesting YA thriller, but it doesn't seem to meet the criteria. The pacing is slow, the characters are one-dimensional and boring, and while I did enjoy some of the worldbuilding and scenery descriptions, it really could not save the book. If anything, the only thing I felt emotionally connected to in this book was the camel who I still miss dearly.
If you want to read a GREAT book with a similar "guy kidnaps girl" plot, check out [b:The Collector|243705|The Collector|John Fowles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394828024l/243705._SY75_.jpg|1816452] by [a:John Fowles|10039|John Fowles|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1486678092p2/10039.jpg]. That is an amazing novel which handles this exact trope with great class, and then some.