Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Gemma, a British city-living teenager, is kidnapped while on holiday with her parents. Her kidnapper, Ty, takes her to the wild land of outback Australia. To Gemma's city-eyes, the landscape is harsh and unforgiving and there are no other signs of human life for hundreds of kilometres in every direction. Here, there is no escape. Gemma must learn to deal with her predicament, or die trying to fight it. Ty, a young man, has other ideas for her. His childhood experience of living in outback Australia has forever changed the way he sees things. But he too has been living in the city; Gemma's city. Unlike Gemma, however, he has had enough. In outback Australia he sees an opportunity for a new kind of life; a life more connected to the earth. He has been watching and learning about Gemma for many years; when he kidnaps her, his plan finally begins to take shape. But Ty is not a stereotypical kidnapper and, over time, Gemma comes to see Ty in a new light, a light in which he is something more sensitive. The mysteries of Ty, and the mystery of her new life, start to take hold. She begins to feel something for her kidnapper when he wakes screaming in the night. Over the time spent with her captor, Gemma's appreciation of him develops into what could be referred to as Stockholm syndrome.

EDIT: 4th time reading my all time favourite book! SO IN LOVE

Third time reading my all time favourite book and I still cry. Its been my favourite for 6 years and I don't see it being taken of my number one spot for years. Will pay anyone to read this book, I want this book tattooed on my forehead

It really, really bothers me that there are readers who find this kidnapping scenario romantic.

So oddly enough I really got into this book. I say it's odd because I actually began to like the kidnapper. The author did really well and making me basically feel like the main character, in the way that she herself is even conflicted a bit at the end. She knows what he did was horrible but yet she grew feelings for him. Would be nice of there was a sequel.

*4.5 STARS.(Review originally posted at Fictionally Inclined.)I did not know what to expect with this book. The only “kidnapping” books I've read are [b:Perfect 129617 Perfect (Second Opportunities #2) Judith McNaught http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171988350s/129617.jpg 1391556] by Judith McNaught and [b:Precious and Fragile Things 8487352 Precious and Fragile Things Megan Hart http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1280528992s/8487352.jpg 13352674] by Megan Hart, which are vastly different from one another. Neither are young adult, although both are fantastic. Stolen was tagged with “romance” on Goodreads, but that does not necessarily guarantee a love story. Despite all this, I was still super excited to read it.I was so addicted to this book! For the first half, I kept only catching little 5-20 minute segments to read. It was maddening because the book was super intense and made you completely lose yourself in it. But I just couldn't quite get there because I kept getting interrupted. Finally, I'd had enough. I was planning on snagging another 20 minutes one night before I went to bed. Instead, I stayed up until 2 AM finishing it, despite the fact that I had to be up early the next morning. It was so good! Articulating how I feel about this book is going to be a challenge. Basically: I loved it. But describing why is a bit of a challenge. For one, when they're fictional, I love twisted, messed up relationships. A lot. The promise of this is a lot of what drew me to it in the first place. Stolen is rather controversial, due to the touchy subject matter. I've heard it's one of those books where you either love it or you hate it. I can definitely see how that would be the case. Ty kidnaps Gemma. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. There is more to the story, more that makes it possibly even more creepy. It is not an easy book to read. Regardless, I absolutely loved it. I never wanted to leave this world, whether it was due to interruptions or the end of the book.Christoper's prose is top notch. It is real and harsh, but beautiful and unique at the same time. The format of the first person voice written to the second person really worked. It was perfect for the story. It truly added a whole other quality that any other approach would not have included. I never would have thought of it, and I applaud Christopher's originality. Oh, and her descriptions of the land were wonderful. I have never been to the desert of Australia, so I cannot speak for the how realistic it was. But it did give a very convincing sense of authenticity. I honestly just loved the writing itself. A few samples:❝The deep blue of your eyes had secrets. I wanted them.❞❝I remember that feeling of skin. It's strange to remember touch more than thought. But my fingers still tingle with it.❞❝Instead, you smiled. Or tried to. It was like your eyes and your smile were fighting each other.❞This book messed with my head and heart so much. My emotions were in upheaval the entire time. I didn't know what I wanted. I didn't know what I was supposed to want! This is actually a testament to how well written the book was, I think. There were mixed signals galore. You would think this would be horrible, but it wasn't. I was not sure how anything was going to work out. I was on the edge of my seat, clenching my blanket, biting my lip the entire time. And I loved every second.This is no fun, lighthearted book. It will mess with you. If you are prepared, though, I would highly recommend it.