“You saw me before I saw you.”

Lucy Christopher’s debut novel begins with that chilling opening line, and immediately, it grabs the reader’s attention.

Stolen is narrated by Gemma Toombs, a 16 year-old girl, who is the only child of a rich, prestigious family. Wrapping up her vacation in Thailand, Gemma is ready to embark on her journey back to England, until she meets Ty.

Ty is 24 years old, and he wants something from Gemma.  Before she knows his truest intentions, Ty drugs her coffee and kidnaps her.

Afterward, Gemma awakens and realizes that she is in the middle of the Australian outback.  She is in a tiny house with Ty, and he will not let her go.

Stolen‘s best feature is the epistolary format of the novel; readers will identify and sympathize with Gemma.  Keep in mind that Stolen is a “letter to [her] captor.”

The epistolary format also emphasizes the universality of Gemma’s story, and enhances its message: one cannot always trust others, and that not everyone is nice.

British children’s fiction writer, Melvin Burgess, said that it is “[a] vivid new voice for teens.”

The voice of the main character is strong as well, sounding like a typical teenage girl until the kidnapping traumatizes her and transforms her perspective on life altogether.

“Each time I shifted my body even a little, sick rose in my throat and my head spun […] I felt like I was in the middle of a fire,” Gemma narrates, after arriving in Australia.

It is noticeable how vivid and detailed Christopher writes; her language often contains poetic undertones and strong figurative language.  Readers will not grow bored or weary from reading the pages; things happen and the language is tragically beautiful.

Throughout the duration of the story, readers will ask if Gemma will escape.  They will wonder why Ty kidnaps her, and most importantly, if she will survive.

There are mass amounts of praise for Christopher’s debut, and it is deservedly so.

Not only was Stolen awarded the honor of being a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, but it also was the subject of a starred review for Publishers’ Weekly, wherein they stated that “[Stolen] is an emotionally raw thriller . . . a haunting account of captivity and the power of relationships.”

Christopher’s debut novel shows the effects of Stockholm syndrome and is a book that every teenager should read.  It teaches age-old morals in that nothing is what it seems and that strangers cannot always be trusted.