Girl, Stolen by April Henry

Cheyenne, a blind sixteen year-old, is kidnapped and held for ransom; she must outwit her captors to get out alive. Sixteen year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of a car while her mom fills her prescription at the pharmacy. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, their car is being stolen--with her inside! Griffin hadn't meant to kidnap Cheyenne, all he needed to do was steal a car for the others. But once Griffin's dad finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of a powerful corporation, everything changes—now there's a reason to keep her. What Griffin doesn't know is that Cheyenne is not only sick with pneumonia, she is blind. How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare, and if she does, at what price? Prepare yourself for a fast-paced and hard-edged thriller full of nail-biting suspense. This title has Common Core connections.

DNF ~ 40%

I tried to finish this one, but it just felt like it was dragging on.

Girl, Stolen is a book that you have to step away from and mull over for a few days in order to really appreciate how you feel after reading it. I had no idea what I was going to be reading when I opened the book to the first page, and so I went in with a fresh perspective. Upon completing the book for the first time, I was hit with such a sense of (then unexplainable) awe that I wasn't sure how I felt overall. It stuck with me, and I was thinking about it for days afterwards.

That being said, Cheyenne has a ton to do with how much this book touched me. She was such a young protagonist (being 10 years younger than me) and yet she was so courageous! It may be a little cliche but the phrase “Everything I wish I could be...” pops into my mind. Cheyenne carries herself like a much older character throughout the story, making split decisions with calculating grace. There were times when my mouth fell open at her brilliant decisions and deductions. I kept thinking that if I were in her situation, well I'll be frank, I would have been screwed.

What really brings the story to life, and separates it from other books dealing with kidnapping that I've read, is Cheyenne's blindness. That isn't to say that it takes over the story. Instead it makes following Cheyenne extremely fascinating, because her world is so much the same and yet so different at the same time. Her inability to see that which is endangering her is so intriguing. Each time she describes how she uses her other senses to make up for her lack of vision, I was completely in awe. How many times had I actually stopped to think about how much I take advantage of my ability to see? Eye opener there my friends, truly.

There really isn't much else I can say without ruining the story for potential readers. The synopsis, sadly, already gives away so much and I want all of you to go in wondering what else April Henry has in store for you. If you are sitting there wondering “Well was it perfect?”, to that I counter you with - define perfect. Girl, Stolen really touched and entertained me, and those two qualities alone now allow it to take its rightful place in my stack of favorite books.