I FINALLY TALK ABOUT IT

It's that time of the year again-the time to reread my favorite book. Yes, I read this book every year, sometimes twice. I don't think love is a strong enough word to describe my feelings for this book, it's more of an obsession, to be honest.

Gemma Toombs is a 16-year-old girl from London, who gets kidnapped by a man name Ty at the Bangkok airport. She is drugged and wakes up in Australia's desert. Most of the book is about Gemma trying to escape and Ty trying to get Gemma to understand why he did it.

Now you're probably wondering, This is rather dark. What is wrong with you and why do you like it so much? Well, the writing isn't that special. The only "special" thing about this book is that it's told in the second point of view. It's an effective way to tell the story. Readers can see what's going on in the captive's mind, how she feels, her thoughts, etc. Whenever the captive says you it seems accusatory and really gets the captive's feeling. I thought it was effective. I usually criticize an author's choice of point of view, but I have absolutely no complaints. The rest of the writing was rather mundane with weird, cheesy lines. The dialogue, where there was, was awkward. Gemma doesn't speak much. 

The setting is very different and quite hard to work with. As aforementioned, the story takes place in the Australian outback. Lucy Christopher really applies her knowledge and love of the outback into the story. Living in a shack/house in the desert still seems ludicrous in my opinion because it seems impossible, but the setting is well developed and contributed to the story. It made the plot really intriguing. Are they going to die of dehydration, poisonous animals, murder... How?! When?! Will they? It added tension and a bit of suspense.

The characters. This is where the "magic" happens. This is hard to say and I'll probably get comments saying, wtf is wrong with you? but, I love Ty (he's the kidnapper).

Yes, as crazy as it is, I love him. He's a complex character and a bit crazy. He has an interesting past, but that doesn't excuse his actions. Kidnapping is not right. Sure, he's kind and caring, but he still kidnapped someone. You start to develop a love/hate relationship, you go back and forth. You think, god, he's so caring. He still tries even when Gemma hates him. Awww You kind of pity him, then he has an outburst, so you get angry and want to sock him in the face. But... ugh... so frustrating... you'll understand if you read it.

Gemma... you're scared for her, but you (slightly) hate her because she's not falling for Ty (sounds weird, but once you read it, you'll be "rooting" for them). She's attracted to Ty when she first meets him in the airport. She is forced to somewhere unknown and is expected to adapt to the place. She is also expected to love it [the desert] and love the person that brought her there. I wanted Gemma and Ty to fall in love and live in the desert forever/eternally when I first read the book. Now, I understand why everything happened the way it did, and I appreciate it. (Kind of like Titanic. My mom had to tell me, you shouldn't pity Jack and hate Rose, you should be pitying Rose for being alone after losing the love of her life.)

I think the reason why I always come back to this book is that I know what happens. I just want to relive my emotions. Whenever I read it, I start tearing up a bit. It really punches you in the feels. Each page made my heart break and I'm still deciding if Gem has Stockholm, or not. It makes me conflicted in a good way.