{Audiobook} Review: Stolen: A Letter to My Captor by Lucy Christopher

Title: Stolen: A Letter to My Captor
Author: Lucy Christopher
Narrator: Emily Gray
Series: Standalone
Length:  8 hrs 38 mins
Publisher: Recorded Books
Publication Date: August 16th, 2010
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

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.

Why have I waited so long to read this book!!!!!???? OMG. I loved it so much. I recently bit the bullet and purchased the Kindle edition. At the time it was on sale for 2.99. (I think it still is). Then I saw the audible version was on sale for 3 something just because I already owned the Kindle. Heck yeah, I grabbed that shit too. 

I ended up going with the Audio for my first read, because I wanted to get to it sooner rather than later. And plus, it takes place in Australia, and I really enjoy hearing the accents. It bring the book even more to life. I loved the narrator for Stolen. There are some moments that the fear just drips from her voice. She was freaking awesome. 

Stolen took over every hour of my day. If I wasn't listening I was thinking about it. It was that interesting. I mean, this poor 16 year old girl gets kidnapped. You have no clue going into this story what kind of man this is. Now I'll admit, he's a bit screwy in the head, but for those of you who fear this story, because of what normally happens when young girls are kidnapped... it will be okay. Trust me.  I think that is one of the things that made me hold off on it, because I was afraid I would be reading a horrible story.This isn't your normal kidnapping though. 

Stolen is told from Gemma's point of view, but in a letter. She's writing everything that happened and writing it to her captor Ty. I really like that. I think it helps us get in her head a little better. Because it's not all "OMG, Happening Right Now!!!". She's telling us with a calm way about her. Now that she's had time to give it all some thought, before putting it into words. It makes things much clearer than if she was telling us in real time. At least that's how I felt about it. 

Also, the setting! It almost made me want to go to Australia. Even with all those poisonous thing that live there. So beautiful, and the heat has an appeal to me right now as I'm living in single digits. 

I struggled with how I felt at the end of Stolen. It's one of those stories, that really make you question your feelings. Those are the best kinds of books. This one will go down as one of my faves this year. Love love loved it! 

About the author:

Lucy Christopher was born in Wales but grew up in Australia. She obtained an Undergraduate degree at Melbourne University. She moved to the UK to earn a distinction in a Creative Writing MA from Bath Spa University. The novel she wrote for this class, The Long Flight, was picked up by a publisher under a new name of FLYAWAY.

Lucy’s debut novel, Stolen, was written as part for her PhD degree. Stolen explores her thoughts on the Australian desert through the story about a teenage girl who is kidnapped and taken there.

Lucy is working on another teen novel. When she is not writing, Lucy spends her time daydreaming, emailing friends and horseback riding a mare named Topaz as well as helping to run a kid’s wildlife group at Newport Wetlands.

Find Lucy:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Labels: Audiobook, Australia, favorites, kidnapping, lucy christopher, reviews, scholastic, stolen: A letter to my captor