ISBN: 9781906427139Publisher: The Chicken House (UK)
Pulished: 2009
301 pgs
This book has stolen my attention right from its grabbing first line till the end of the story. For a moment, I am at a loss of words when typing this post because I fear whatever I write will not do this book justice. It is so good!
Anyway, I suppose I have to start from somewhere, so here it is:
Sixteen-year-old Gemma Toombs is kidnapped while she is on a holiday with her parents. They were waiting for their plane to arrive at the Bangkok airport when she caught the attention of a young man, whom she believed she has last seen him on the plane departing from the London airport. She could sense there is a strange sort of familiarity about him, but she could not remember anything.
So when she wandered about and stopped at a cafe for coffee, the young man offered to buy it for her when he found she hasn't got any change. They started a conversation from there, and told her his name is Ty. Ty must have drugged her coffee and fed her some chocolates because the next thing she knew, she was following him half-dazed and by the time she has changed clothes and with Ty holding her 'new' passport, they left Bangkok and arrived at a wild land of outback Australia.
There are no sights of any people there in the remote deserted area, except the dry landscape which seems to stretch forever and some wild animals like snakes, wild kangaroos and even camels. Being a city girl all her life, Gemma has seen any place like this before, but the most terrifying of all is there will be no escape for her, ever. Left without a choice, she learns to live with Ty, who seemed to have prepared and planned for this abduction because he had more than enough food and other necessary stuff to keep them both alive and to stay there for some time.
On the other hand, Ty has no means of kidnapping her. Like Gemma, he has been living in the city once, but it left him with too many sad memories, in particularly of his mother. Living in outback Australia has changed his lifestyle and the way he sees things, and he welcome this new experience. He has been watching Gemma since she was ten, and he feels he has a need to protect her ever since her narrow escape from a boy whom had taken a fancy at her.
Although Gemma has not entirely given up hope on escaping, but it is also at this time that she began to see him in a new light which she has never seen in him - sensitive and yet vulnerable at the same time. Through these, she sees a little of him in herself; after all she is very much alone like him as she felt her parents are too busy with their lives to even care about her feelings.
Just when Gemma wonders about her life thereafter, an encounter with a wild snake changes their lives from then. After Gemma is bitten, Ty tries all ways in saving her, even if it means risking his life in seeking medical assistance and exposing his deeds. But regardless anything, it is up to Gemma to decide his fate.
Stolen is told in a letter from Gemma's perspective, but it does not read like the typical letter form. Throughout the story, Gemma referred Ty as 'you', so it read like journal after what had happened between her and Ty. I liked the plot, but most of all I liked how it explores Gemma's feelings about everything: from Ty to the wild remote place she is being forced to stay.
I think most readers would argue that what her feelings for Ty might be a cause of Stockholm syndrome; I admit I had the same thinking while reading the story, but the more I read I felt there is also a real connection between Gemma and Ty, after all. And I simply, simply loved the ending and that is all I have to say. You will have to read it and find out what Gemma has decided on Ty's fate, and I felt there is no other better ending than this is.
There, I have completed writing this post, at last. It is now your turn to look for this book and read it.
To find out more about the author, Lucy Christopher, click here.
