Stolen

Author: Vivian Vande Velde
Title: Stolen1

Publication Date: 2008

Number of Pages: 198

Genre: Horror/YA

Synopsis: “A girl finds herself running through the forest at the edge of a village with no memory of anything, even her own name, and later learns that she might be twelve-year-old Isabelle, believed to be stolen by a witch six years before.”

I admit the reason or reasons that I picked up Stolen might seem a bit odd. I decided to give it a try because a) I was running low on books that I hadn’t read before, b) The creepy cover caught my eye, and c) the premise sounded interesting. I am happy to tell you that it was well worth my time (well, what little of it that was taken to read this very short book).

   I actually liked Isabelle, she was a fascinating character; she was also one of the least annoying female characters I’ve read in about in a while. I found her fascinating because she just should up one day out of the blue, running from the forest with no memory of whom she was or where she had been.

   What truly made Stolen such a great read would have to be the imagery and the vividness of Vivian Vande Velde’s writing. The story never once loss momentum (or got so far off base that you were left wondering, what on earth is going on) from the first page to the very last; in other words I could barely wait to finish the book so that I could find out how it was all going to play out for Isabelle.

  My favorite part of Stolen would have to be when Isabelle finds out the truth about her pass and how she is connected to the witch that the villagers ran out of town; I liked this part because I didn’t have the slightest idea what was going to happen or what the outcome would be.

Least favorite part of this book would have to be that it was so short; even though it ended up being the perfect length for the story that was being told (I just like long books).

Stolen was a great, fast paced read that I would certainly re-read or buy. I’m definitely looking forward to delving further into her writing and trying her other books as well.

Would I recommend Stolen? Absolutely!

Stolen earns 5 out of 5 pineapples

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1. Stolen was borrowed from the library.