Wow this one was a ripper of a read! Lucy Christopher has an excellent debut novel in Stolen. Even though that was MY novel title! Have to come up with something else now...
Anyhoo, this is told from the point of view of Gemma a seventeen year old British girl who is en route to Vietnam when she is drugged and stolen from Bangkok airport. The style is second person point of view, written as a letter to her captor and this is effective in keeping the reader engaged in working out the mystery of where he has taken her and what his intentions are.
It reminded me a lot of John Fowles' The Collector, but the imprisoned Gemma is much more sympathetic than the (at times pathetically) self-obsessed Miranda, while Ty is more interesting but just as creepy as Clegg.
There is a touch of Stockholm syndrome in the resolution, and while teenage girls might like this romance, it wasn't the most interesting part of the story for me. I enjoyed the landscape descriptions of outback WA and that the premise was (mostly) believable.
One small quibble, and I know that the author has little say over these sorts of things, the snake on the inside cover and the back is a bit obvious and brighter readers will NOT appreciate the spoiler.
recommended for:
Anyhoo, this is told from the point of view of Gemma a seventeen year old British girl who is en route to Vietnam when she is drugged and stolen from Bangkok airport. The style is second person point of view, written as a letter to her captor and this is effective in keeping the reader engaged in working out the mystery of where he has taken her and what his intentions are.
It reminded me a lot of John Fowles' The Collector, but the imprisoned Gemma is much more sympathetic than the (at times pathetically) self-obsessed Miranda, while Ty is more interesting but just as creepy as Clegg.
There is a touch of Stockholm syndrome in the resolution, and while teenage girls might like this romance, it wasn't the most interesting part of the story for me. I enjoyed the landscape descriptions of outback WA and that the premise was (mostly) believable.
One small quibble, and I know that the author has little say over these sorts of things, the snake on the inside cover and the back is a bit obvious and brighter readers will NOT appreciate the spoiler.
recommended for:
- fourteen or fifteen year old girls
- those who like a bit of mystery with their bit of romance
- those who like to be creeped out a bit
teaching ideas:
- the symbolism of the camel, and other caged things would provide discussion
- writing from the second person pov, considering what situations this would suit
- design a LESS obvious dust jacket!
happy reading :)
No comments:
Post a Comment