Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Title: Stolen
Author: Lucy Christopher
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
Publication Date: May 4, 2009
Publisher: ChickenHouse





Do you want to know how many tears I cried while I read this small, immensely powerful and emotional book? No, I can't count how many tears I shed. There were too many.
WOW.
That's all that comes to mind when I think of this powerful book that altered my views on...well, everything around me. About Love, Family, Life in general.
I was very hesitant at first, seeing as how this was written in letter format. I wasn't sure how I would feel. But right away, after page one, I was hooked and I knew letter format must be the only way to truly get the emotion and power this book needs to (and does) get across to the reader. The fact that it's in letter format allows the reader to experience how Gemma, a 16 year old girl who was kidnapped by Ty from an airport one day, feels towards Ty and everything around her in a way that first-person narrative couldn't have accomplished. Since instead of "Ty" or "He", Gemma writes, "You", it's like you are in Ty's position, but at the same time, in Gemma's place. It gives you perspective on both the character's, and I think that's great.
I feared that, since it was in letter format, it wouldn't describe the scene or setting well enough. I was wrong. Lucy Christopher described everything just beautifully, in a way that I myself can not put into words. The characters, Gemma and Ty, who are basically the only characters (seeing as how Ty kidnapped Gemma), jump out from the page. They feel like real, flesh, livuing people who you could meet any day in the street or at school or at a fair. But they are still fascinating, and honestly, I don't think any other author has made me feel so much for his or her characters as Lucy Christopher made me feel. I was naturally rooting for Gemma and Ty to be together, as I think anyone would. They are the only ones basically in the book. You want them to be together. But then you slip into Gemma's mind, the feelings she had, how it felt for her to be kidnapped and her conflicting feelings over a handsome young man who has a temper but a vulnerable, gentle side as well. I loved Ty- and then he would scare me, or scare GEMMA, which in return scared me. By the end of the book, I was just as confliced about my feelings towards the couple as Gemma was towards Ty. And, actually, I bawled my eyes out. I was just so confused and lost and conflicted, but not lost and confused in the, "Wait...what just happened here?" way, but in the way that I was emotionally conflicted to the point of not knowing how to feel or act or do. That was also the position that Gemma was in by the end of the book, and Lucy Christopher makes it so that if her characters hurt, you hurt as well. You have no option but to hurt- it just happens. You fall in love with Gemma, who is so deep and complex that it will just amaze you. This book exceeded my expectations. It BLEW MY MIND. I had no idea writing could be this powerful, without using complicated metaphors like in other books such as The Book Thief. No, it was just so beautiful. It makes you experience Stockholm Syndrome and confuses you just as it confused Gemma, because you wonder- IS this Stockholm, or is this real? Does she even LOVE him, should she, do I even want her to...i do want her too... You want them to be together, but at the same time, it is so hard to accept them being together because of the fact that there really <i>is no escape</i> and it's hard to get over the fact that he took Gemma. It's hard not to hate him for what he did, but it's also hard to hate him once you see the vulnerable, gentle sides of him- it's hard to do anything, really. And then you hear about Gemma's old life, and how he thought he was proteting her by saving her from that life. And That is one very big and powerful part of the story. Everything here will make you lay at night thinking, it will make you cry and change everything for you. The characters are so real, they seem to be close friends- it's like you know them and, as i said, if they cry, you cry, if they laugh, your heart smiles. You see their flaws plain and simple but can't help but feel for and care for them so much. Numerous times I cried. I cried, because....
Because I wanted Gemma to go home.
Because there was no escape.
Because she was so afraid.
Because she was starting to love him.
Because Ty wanted her to love him so bad.
Because Ty was so gentle and she rejected him.
Because Gemma was conflicted.
Because it was impossible to love him, but impossible not to.
Because Ty could be scary.
Because of how bad Gemma's life was before, and because you don't know if this new life is any better. 
Because I just didn't know how to feel- and Gemma didn't, either. It was just a maze of emotions, this book- and the fear you feel when she first wakes up in a strange bed, in the outback of Australia- it is such a real fear that it makes you want to cry, and you can't help but imagine yourself in her position, and the terror washes over you and suffocates you.
This is an amazing book. Every single sentence will fill you with some kind of emotion. The plot is original- so original. The characters are realistic, three dimensional, and VERY well developed. You watch them grow throughout the book, it's beautiful and really, I think this book is the perfect example of a real, solid, perfect, emotional, powerful book that will change your life. I wish all books had the same raw, emotional power, plot, and well written characters that this book did. Lucy Christopher is a genius. She writes gracefully and finishes perfectly, not rushed, but beware- you will need a box of tissues for this book. And this might just change how you view everything in your life.  A fantastic book. This will be a classic, trust me- right up there, children from all over america will read this in 20 years. Beautiful. Just beautiful. If you haven't read this, you need to. Now.