Stolen by Lucy Christopher | Review *9/10 Stars*
12:30 AM
Stolen: A Letter to My Captor
by Lucy Christopher
Published: May 4th 2009
Publisher: Chicken House Ltd
Source: Own copy
My Rating: 9/10 Stars
Summary
It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him.
This is my story.
A letter from nowhere.
Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back?
The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost.
The verdict
Okay... halfway into the book, maybe more than halfway, I thought it was very predictable. A beautiful, weird, sad, happy, mindf*ck but predictable read. Right after that it turned not-so-predictable.
After finishing this book last night, I had to put it down and breathe. I mean, really breathe. I had to gather all my thoughts and try putting them in order. Did I like the story? Yes (I think). A lot (I think). My emotions are a haywire, crazy-yet-calm mess even though twelve or so hours have passed since I put the book down.
I'm having difficulty writing this review, honestly. This book was beautiful. And it made me pause and think, really think. The human mind is so so complex and... okay I don't know what to say.
About the writing, it was beautiful. I don't usually enjoy poetic verse in novels. But this time, it was different. The writing was beautiful. The plot working itself out, the descriptions of everything and the way Lucy Christopher has handled the raw emotions and the reactions of the characters, it was all so beautifully woven together.
After turning the last page, I didn't know (and I still don't know), whether I was happy or sad or confused or just paused and hanging there in reader-limbo. One thing is for sure, I'm not reading anything else till tomorrow. I need to give myself a few more hours to get out of this story, enough to be able to get into another one.
A recommended, though provoking, reader-limbo inducing, beautiful read.
After finishing this book last night, I had to put it down and breathe. I mean, really breathe. I had to gather all my thoughts and try putting them in order. Did I like the story? Yes (I think). A lot (I think). My emotions are a haywire, crazy-yet-calm mess even though twelve or so hours have passed since I put the book down.
I'm having difficulty writing this review, honestly. This book was beautiful. And it made me pause and think, really think. The human mind is so so complex and... okay I don't know what to say.
About the writing, it was beautiful. I don't usually enjoy poetic verse in novels. But this time, it was different. The writing was beautiful. The plot working itself out, the descriptions of everything and the way Lucy Christopher has handled the raw emotions and the reactions of the characters, it was all so beautifully woven together.
After turning the last page, I didn't know (and I still don't know), whether I was happy or sad or confused or just paused and hanging there in reader-limbo. One thing is for sure, I'm not reading anything else till tomorrow. I need to give myself a few more hours to get out of this story, enough to be able to get into another one.
A recommended, though provoking, reader-limbo inducing, beautiful read.
0 comments