Review: Stolen by Elizabeth Gilpin
By Diana Tramontano
After getting caught up with the wrong crowd, or so her parents thought, Elizabeth was sent to a behavioral modification program. Her parents listened to a behavior consultant and made up their minds about Elizabeth, but they failed to see the internal turmoil she was experiencing. Her undiagnosed depression tore down her life, leaving her to face a nightmare of programs in her future. She spent three brutal months in the woods until she was “reformed enough” to then be sent to a correctional boarding school that really functioned as a prison.
As we follow Elizabeth on her journey to “rehabilitation,” we see just how traumatic these experiences were. As Elizabeth writes about her childhood, she really takes the reader on her emotional journey and exposes the injustices inflicted upon her. She faced so much trauma and loss that would leave anyone in emotional turmoil. Instead, Elizabeth took the opportunity to reclaim her life and find her true identity, as it was stripped from her at such a young age. I absolutely loved this book. It read so quickly, and I was emotionally invested in Elizabeth’s journey. While at times it was hard to read, I loved the honesty and truth behind each word.
No matter what genre you prefer, this is a must read!
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Diana Tramontano is a graduate of The College of William & Mary, where she competed on the Division 1 swim team, and the post-grad publishing course at Columbia University. She is a consulting editor for Zibby Mag and the associate publicist at Zibby Books. She lives in New York City. Follow her Instagram account for more book reviews and recommendations: @99livesofabookgirl
