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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I loved this book! The conflicted emotions I felt toward Ty and Gemmas relationship kept me interested and held my attention until the last page. I can't help rooting for Ty at some points like when they gaze at the stars together and I feel like I'm reading a rromance novel, not one about a kidnapping. At the same time his obsession and duel personalities can be chilling and frightening. All in all Christopher captures a story of a twisted love which draws her audience in and allows us to connect emotionaly to her characters and delivers a page turner that is romantic yet twisted.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An interesting take on a young girl taken from and airport and held captive. I liked that it was told as a letter and found it very easy to read. It has me curious enough to read the second book and see how the story concludes.
It took a while for me to get into Stolen. In fact there were a few times when I considered not finishing it. At the beginning the plot moved slowly with a lot of descriptions and inner monologues that I didn't find particularly interesting. However, when I was about halfway through I started getting into it more, really getting to know and like the characters. As the plot continually picked up my interest grew and by the end I was dying to know what was going to happen.
SO good
Even better than I expected. I couldn’t stop reading. Every page was a new surprise. It was just so good.
Even better than I expected. I couldn’t stop reading. Every page was a new surprise. It was just so good.
I didn't really get "into" this book until the almost end. There was something detached and strange about the perspective of the story. I didn't connect to Gemma.. I didn't connect to the story, the details, or how she was feeling. Near the end I started to connect a bit more, but was meh in general.
Very good - I didn't like the first person narration for most of the book but if you hang in to the end you can see why it works. By the last two discs I was completely hooked.
Sixteen-year-old Gemma is on her way to Thailand with her parents when she is kidnapped by a handsome Australian twenty-something man and taken to his secluded compound in the Australian desert. Through a letter to him, Gemma's struggle to escape while simultaneously developing feelings for her captor unfold.
This book was riveting. I listened to the audio and was hanging on to the narrator's every last word. Her delivery was spot on.
Aside from the delivery of the book, I loved the way it is written. Gemma's conflicting emotions are portrayed very well in her "dialogue" with her captor relayed through a letter she writes to him. Ty, her captor, is a complex character. I wanted to hate him for what he did to her but ended up falling in love with his gentleness towards Gemma and his simplistic ways. Christopher's talents as a writer make the reader conflicted in their feelings towards the antagonist . . . much the way Gemma must feel towards him. I secretly wanted them to end up together which is kind of sick and twisted seeing as though Ty kidnaps Gemma. But that is the beauty of this book . . .
Excellent read.
This book was riveting. I listened to the audio and was hanging on to the narrator's every last word. Her delivery was spot on.
Aside from the delivery of the book, I loved the way it is written. Gemma's conflicting emotions are portrayed very well in her "dialogue" with her captor relayed through a letter she writes to him. Ty, her captor, is a complex character. I wanted to hate him for what he did to her but ended up falling in love with his gentleness towards Gemma and his simplistic ways. Christopher's talents as a writer make the reader conflicted in their feelings towards the antagonist . . . much the way Gemma must feel towards him. I secretly wanted them to end up together which is kind of sick and twisted seeing as though Ty kidnaps Gemma. But that is the beauty of this book . . .
Excellent read.
Well this was strange nothing exciting kinda blah blah blah blah blah blah.....
I was wary of Stolen at first. The premise was of a young teenage girl who gets kidnapped by a handsome stranger and he holds her hostage in the Australian Outback until Stockholm Syndrome starts to sink its teeth into her mind. Too often, I find, stories (esp. young adult) try to sell that stalking=love, and typically with older men and young girls. "He's just SO IN LOVE with her that he can't help but be obsessed with her - isn't that romantic?" That kind of thing bothers me on a fundamental level. So, I entered this book worried. And at first, the book did nothing to soothe those fears.
I listened to the book in audio format during a couple of long drives and my solitude as I cruised down road amplified the story in an unpredictable way. The vast majority of the tale is spent with only Gemma and Ty, her kidnapper, alone in the harsh Australian desert. The audio book, which is performed by Emily Gray, I think is the best way to enjoy this story. Christopher has structured the book as a lengthy letter from Gemma to Ty and is the first book I've ever encountered that was in first/second person. That might grate on some readers, but I found that it added to the impact.
As I was pulled into the endless desert and the conflicting emotions that Ty brings out in Gemma, I found myself almost as confused as she was. A rational section of my brain cried out against the creepy things he was doing, but a more emotional part felt sorrow for a boy who was so lonely that he was driven to such extremes. I had to keep reminding myself that he was a kidnapper and a grown man who had stalked a girl from the age of 10. It wasn't always as easy as it should have been to hate him.
The strongest elements of the story are the emotions it inspires and how it forces you to confront them along with poor Gemma. Gemma's characterization is well done, but it's Ty and how he relates to her that is the most complex part. Ty does do an awful thing, but through Gemma's eyes, we see another side of him and I'm still questioning whether the author intended to romanticize the kidnapping or if that was Gemma's stockholm syndrome twisting the narration of events. Sometimes he seems almost too good to be true, but there are hints, especially towards the end of the book, that imply that we might not be getting the whole story.
So, is Ty a lonely, misguided boy who makes a mistake or a monster made sympathetic through the rose-coloured glasses of an unreliable narrator? Sitting here, writing this review, months after I finished the story, the answer seems clear, but when I was listening to the narration alone in my car, it wasn't.
I listened to the book in audio format during a couple of long drives and my solitude as I cruised down road amplified the story in an unpredictable way. The vast majority of the tale is spent with only Gemma and Ty, her kidnapper, alone in the harsh Australian desert. The audio book, which is performed by Emily Gray, I think is the best way to enjoy this story. Christopher has structured the book as a lengthy letter from Gemma to Ty and is the first book I've ever encountered that was in first/second person. That might grate on some readers, but I found that it added to the impact.
As I was pulled into the endless desert and the conflicting emotions that Ty brings out in Gemma, I found myself almost as confused as she was. A rational section of my brain cried out against the creepy things he was doing, but a more emotional part felt sorrow for a boy who was so lonely that he was driven to such extremes. I had to keep reminding myself that he was a kidnapper and a grown man who had stalked a girl from the age of 10. It wasn't always as easy as it should have been to hate him.
The strongest elements of the story are the emotions it inspires and how it forces you to confront them along with poor Gemma. Gemma's characterization is well done, but it's Ty and how he relates to her that is the most complex part. Ty does do an awful thing, but through Gemma's eyes, we see another side of him and I'm still questioning whether the author intended to romanticize the kidnapping or if that was Gemma's stockholm syndrome twisting the narration of events. Sometimes he seems almost too good to be true, but there are hints, especially towards the end of the book, that imply that we might not be getting the whole story.
So, is Ty a lonely, misguided boy who makes a mistake or a monster made sympathetic through the rose-coloured glasses of an unreliable narrator? Sitting here, writing this review, months after I finished the story, the answer seems clear, but when I was listening to the narration alone in my car, it wasn't.