Stolen - Comments

On first read, I despised this book, mainly because it was in second person narrative and nothing annoyed me more at the time than second person narrative. But, thinking back on reading it and such, I grew to really enjoy the book. I loved the way Australia was described in such a pretty way, and how the author incorporated our great dusty landscape was just lovely. The way Christopher wrote the novel though, I found it hard to dislike Ty because you could see the reasonings to why he did the things he did. It was brilliantly written though, and so was this article

oh my goodness I loved this book so much

@ castiel's vessel
Yeah, I think you could make an interesting story out of a girl coming in contact with her former captor that she sorta almost fell in love with or whatever, but I don't know if it would work for Stolen or even if it's necessary. Plus, either A) their correspondence would have to occur while he's still in prison or B) they would be going on middle aged (Ty especially) in the sequel because he definitely would have been locked up for a good chunk of time, therefore, not exactly qualifying as YA fic anymore.

I see it as a kind of "hate the sin, love the sinner" sort of thing. He wasn't a "bad" guy, but what he did was definitely bad. And he really can't be judged based on that one act because besides that, he did very few things wrong. He was always trying to protect Gemma and his intention in kidnapping her in the first place (though severely flawed and selfish) was to protect her.

And honestly, I don't know all the ins and outs of Stockholm. I'm sure that as part of it but people fall in love with "bad" people all the time without it necessarily being a syndrome. Maybe my opinions about Ty are flawing how I'm looking at things but with all he did, it's really hard for me to believe that's the only reason Gemma loved him. I mean, he was attractive, and attracted to her, and he tried so hard to woo her, and yes, he saved her life countless times - which could imply Hero Worship (I'm not sure if this is the correct term but it's what I've always heard it called). I think it's much more likely the bonds of Hero Worship intermingled with the Stockholm Syndrome to eventually make Gemma fall for Ty.

@ addesin
I know that Christopher has said that there could be room for a continuation of Gemma and Ty's story in the future but it's nothing set in stone about it, so I guess the open ending is great for the just in case there isn't a sequel. I mean, I'm content with the opening ending because it leaves it open for me to keep changing my mind about how it should end, but I'd also love a sequel as long as it's not just done for the sake of being a sequel.

Yeah, she definitely acknowledges that Ty wasn't all that bad with his intentions, it's just how he went about doing those intentions was what made him bad. I mean, I could totally see her having a bit of stockholm syndrome because it was just him and her in the desert, no one else around for miles and there's only so much company a camel can provide, but I do believe that she doesn't seem him as entirely bad because he wasn't other than the kidnapping aspect.

@ castiel's vessel
We'll never know how it turns out, though, I don't think because Stolen isn't exactly the kind of boom to have a sequel... Maybe that was Christopher's intent, to leave an open ending to make people think and wonder and speculate.

I dunno, it was pretty sealed up nice and tight, though for me. I mean, yeah, I don't know what Gemma would do after the trial and if she'll keep seeing/thinking about Ty or try and forget him. But I think she acknowledges both that he has a place in her heart but also what he did to her. Yes, I believe she loved him, but a small part of it may actually have been Stockholme syndrome just from the stress of.the experience.

@ addesin
I'm not sure about Australia which is where he is for his trial, but for something as minor in regards to the different levels of kidnapping there is, I doubt he'd get more than 20 years, probably less. I mean, she's a British girl who is sixteen years old and generally, you're classed as an adult in the eyes of the law for most things including moving out, finishing education and such. So he probably would get too long because he only has the charge of kidnapping (international kidnapping, I'm sure, considering it was from Bangkok to Australia and she's British ) so maybe he would be able to get his happiness with Gemma after he serves his punishment.

Christopher left the ending pretty ambiguous because we don't know what Gemma chose to say in the end which means it could go either of the two ways: in an ideal world, she'd say what she put as an option in the letter, but in the realistic world, she'd tell the truth and put everything that she felt towards him down to stockholm syndrome like everyone has forced her to believe - and it could be true, but it might not be.

@ castiel's vessel
I agree. I love him, too, and think he deserves his happiness with Gemma. After he receives his punishment. Generally, kidnappers don't get life. And I don't know how it is in Australia or Great Britain, but in America district attorneys love to make deals and just pleading guilty can get your time cut down, too (I guess the logic is if you don't waste their time, they won't waste yours).

He gave me feels, too, don't get me wrong. I really wanted him to have his happily ever after, especially after how he constantly proved himself to Gemma. But I also understand why Christopher
chose the ending that she did. It was a sucky ending in some ways but it was understandable. You can't just get away with kidnapping an innocent girl, even if you had a shit childhood.

@ addesin
Logically and legally, he was wrong in all his actions and yes, he does deserve to go to prison for what he put Gemma through. I do agree with that. Maybe he'll get some help for his mentally instability as well. But it doesn't remove my feelings towards him that Christopher exposed me to. It's very dividing for me because most of me says that he deserves the punishment for the crime he committed freely, but also a part of me says he's already had his punishment in the past and maybe he just deserves the happiness that he finds in Gemma.

@ castiel's vessel
I did, too, personally, and maybe if I were in that situation, I would have. But I know, logically, that wasn't the "right" thing for her to do. Yes Ty loved her, probably more than most mem love women, but he wasn't mentally stable and he did something vert inapproriate that deserved punishment. Maybe if he had just tried to woo her and win her heart than forcing her, then things would have turned out differently, but you can't just do the things he did (especially the emptional abuse he inflicted on her) amd expect the world to be hunky-dory.

I really wanted them to be together, yeah, mostly because Ty deserved happiness for all the shit he went through, but justice had to be served for the kidnapping.

@ addesin
I really wanted Gemma to go with the option she mentioned in the letter. I wanted her to stand in court and say those things because dammit, Ty was so brilliantly written that I just fell in love with him. He stayed with her when he knew he'd be arrested.

I really love this book. ::inlove; I couldn't even be mad at the ending (of course I can't spoil it for yall ) and yeah, I really cared about Ty. I don't care if he was a kidnapper, Christopher really wrote him in a way that was easy to empathize with so if she didn't want me to like him, that's her fault. This is a really terrific novel though, and I would rec it to anybody.