ISBN-13: 9780805090055Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published: September 2010
224 pgs
Source: Personal Library
Please let me go. I won't tell.
I am sure many of you may have read about a kidnapping story in one time or another, but have you ever read about the victim who is blind? I haven't, and that is why I find Girl, Stolen is so refreshing. Reading Girl, Stolen reminds me a little of a great story I read in June 2009; that title is Stolen by Lucy Christopher (one of my favourite (and best) reads for last year!). Stolen is about the journey and the relationship between a kidnapped girl and her captor as they travel along the Australian outback. It is a very character-driven story, filled with lots of emotional intense than anything. There is also something very disturbing about the story having the victim sympathised and feeling for the captor towards the end, but yet you couldn't help reading it. Lucy Christopher's prose and style is that wonderful!
Anyway, I have seen some reviews comparing this with Stolen and I can totally understand why as both have the same kidnapping theme, but what makes this story stood out is the heroine is a blind girl who have to rely on her cane or her guide dog through her daily life. Cheyenne Wilder is kidnapped while waiting in the backseat of her stepmother's car. Actually her kidnapper, a boy named Griffin didn't mean to kidnap her in the first place; he saw the car keys dangling in the ignition and decided to steal the car away, not stopping to check if there is anyone in the car. He is thinking that his stealing a Cadillac Escalade would make his father very happy, after all his father too steal cars and they would sell the car parts or replace the VIN numbers before selling off the vehicles again. Unfortunately he did not know of the complexity and the consequences about stealing a girl with the car too, and before he realised his mistake it was all too late.
Having no choice, he turns Cheyenne to his father once they are back into his house. Afterwards when Roy, Griffin's father learnt that Cheyenne is the daughter of Nike president, he decided to hold her captive and demand for a ransom. Before this happened, the relationship between Griffin and his father has never been good, but Griffin tolerate his father's hurling insults and abusive behaviour since his mother walked out of his life when he was young. He has no one to turn to, and he has no choice, so to speak. And after Cheyenne steps into his family and into his life, his attitude towards his stinking life has somewhat changed after witnessing her determination and courage to escape from their grasp. In the end, he decided to become her protector and accomplice for her escape. But of course I am not going to tell you anything beyond that, so let's just say this has been an intense reading experience for me.
Now that I have read Girl, Stolen, I felt that the plot and the style is very different from Stolen, despite that they share the same theme - kidnapping. Both of the emotional intense are wonderfully built, but their approach (direction) is different. Also, I find the thrill of this story is focused more on the escape than the relationship between the captor and the captive, while Stolen is leaning more towards the latter. Both are compelling read with a different reading experience, thus I cannot say which is better but if you are going for the thrill and suspense, Girl, Stolen will be it.