Looking for an unforgettable collection of books you’ll devour if you liked Stolen by Lucy Christopher? As an award-winning author and blogger, I know the magic of a book so engrossing it keeps you up at night. Here are my top three recommendations:
Junior Missing by Khristina Chess - A seductive and chilling thriller about a runaway teen, drawn into an intoxicating relationship with an older man who takes her in—and won’t let her go!
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - a hypnotic coming-of-age mystery about love and the secrets people keep.
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell - a wildly unpredictable novel about a missing girl, a desperate mother, and the bizarre lengths people will go for the people they love.
You’ll find detailed reviews of these and many other favorites below.
So which books similar to Stolen should you read next? Discover your next great read in this roundup. All of them share the complex emotions of loving the wrong person and the fog of truth and untruth. I hope you find something that catches your interest. Happy reading!
Junior Missing by Khristina Chess
“He kissed me again and again, and I began bargaining once more with the wind. I vowed to do better and try harder to keep this Quentin who loved me and kept me safe. The Quentin who I loved. Who loved me. Who didn’t treat me badly. Sex was the one place where he was always himself. His very best self. “― Khristina Chess, quote from Junior Missing
Wow! Readers who love the intense chemistry and unsettling seduction of a dark romance won’t be able to put Junior Missing down. What makes Junior Missing so special is the slow-boil depiction of how Grace’s forbidden attraction turns into a trap set by an older man who takes her in—and won’t let her go!
The story starts as sixteen-year-old Grace Keegan, darling of the child pageant world with a bright future, is missing. At first, police assume she ran away. But when they find her abandoned phone along the highway, the truth becomes far more terrifying.
No one knows about Quentin Brock—the musician she met online. He’s charming, funny, and perfect.
Until he isn’t. Until she’s trapped in another state with no way out.
She doesn’t even have shoes.
If you devoured Stolen by Lucy Christopher, I recommend this mesmerizing, authentic novel that depicts how someone can so easily be manipulated and hurt in a toxic relationship. Junior Missing will stay with you after the final page. Worth the read!
In fact, Khristina Chess is on my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited because she has so many suspenseful novels.
Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood
“How sad was it that grief had a shelf life, he thought. It’s only fresh and raw for so long before it begins to spoil. And soon enough, it would be replaced by a newer, brighter heartache - the old one discarded and eventually forgotten.”―T. Greenwood from Rust & Stardust
I never read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, and after reading Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood, I never want to.
Both novels are based on the real abduction of 11-year-old Sally Horner in 1948. T. Greenwood's book, "Rust & Stardust," depicts the events primarily from Sally's viewpoint over the two years of her captivity and trafficking from New Jersey to Texas and finally California. What horror. What evil. It's unspeakable. Indescribable. I kept turning pages, hoping for it to be over, hoping for her to escape, but it just went on and on.
There are other characters, including her mom, her sister, her brother-in-law, and others who met Sally along the way, suspected something wrong, and sometimes tried to help her. Rescue her. The whole thing is heartbreaking, for everyone, but especially for dear young Sally.
At the end of the book, the author includes two pictures of the real girl, a "before" and an "after." I stared and stared into her eyes. I hurt so much for this little girl and the trauma she experienced at the hands of Frank Lasalle, a 50-year-old mechanic and pedophile. Sally was not his only victim. And this same despicable creature, Frank Lasalle, inspired the narrator of Lolita. No thank you.
But Rust & Stardust is a deeply moving novel and worth the read if you’re looking for books like Stolen by Lucy Christopher.
Verity by Colleen Hoover
"Some families are lucky enough to never experience a single tragedy. But then there are those families that see to have tragedies waiting on the back burner. What can go wrong, goes wrong. And then gets worse."—Colleen Hoover, quote from Verity
Colleen Hoover is a mega bestselling author of both adult and young adult fiction. Verity is my personal favorite. The hot (hot, hot) romance was definitely a big part of the appeal, but the spicy sex wasn’t the only part. This is more than a romance novel. I loved the twisty, dark, and disorienting plot that kept me guessing until the very end. In this novel, the characters aren’t who they seem to be, and that multi-dimensional layer was the aspect that made Verity so wonderful for me.
If you’re looking for books like Stolen by Lucy Christopher, you will want to binge all of Colleen Hoover’s books—but start with Verity.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
This novel is beautiful, thrilling, sad, surprising, and engrossing. Kya Clark is a resilient child who is abandoned by her mother at six. Her alcoholic father is barely a parent, and he soon leaves her as well. Somehow, she finds a way to survive on her own, even thrive, despite an aching loneliness.
But a beautiful young girl who lives in solitude in the woods is destined for danger. And heartbreak.
The mystery surrounding the death of Chase Andrews is the inciting incident of the novel, and it's soon clear that he was not such a swell guy. Foul play is suspected. Is Kya a murder? Or someone else?
There's plenty to love here, and the pages definitely turned quickly for me. Kya’s character and voice is compelling. If you enjoyed Stolen by Lucy Christopher, you won’t want to miss this coming-of-age mystery about love, nature, and the dark secrets people keep.
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
“You can tell a lot about a person by the way they act when they are left waiting too long.”― Ashley Elston, quote from First Lie Wins
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston is one of those psychological thriller / mystery books that grabs you from the beginning and never lets go.
Evie Porter is a free agent who handles various “jobs” for a mysterious Mr. Smith. She’s good at her job. In fact, she’s so good that she doesn’t trust Mr. Smith and sets safety nets around her to make sure that when she’s double-crossed (not if, she knows it’s coming), she’ll be ready.
About halfway through the book, I was certain that I'd figured out who the mysterious "Mr. Smith" was--but I was wrong! The ending had a great twist and surprise. After a modest start to the narrative, I had to sit down and read the rest of the book in a single afternoon. I loved the premise, the mystery, and the conflict. I can see why people loved this one. Excellent read!
If you liked Stolen by Lucy Christopher and want another twisty thriller, I think you’ll really enjoy First Lie Wins. Happy reading!
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
What more can I say about The Housemaid than has already been said? Fast-paced, full of surprises, chilling twist ending, compelling and unexpected characters -- this novel has all that and more!
"I'm going to let you out... Just not yet."
Holy cow! Yikes!
The Housemaid kept popping up as recommended reading for me, and since I've been seeing it everywhere, I thought, "Let's see."
I was delighted and entertained. In fact, I will definitely be reading more Freida McFadden novels! If you loved Stolen by LucyChristopher, you will devour this one.
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
"If she could rewind the timeline, untwist it and roll it back the other way like a ball of wool, she'd see the knots in the yarn, the warning signs. Looking at it backward it was obvious all along. But back then, when she knew nothing about anything, she had not seen it coming. She had walked straight into it with her eyes open." ― Lisa Jewell, quote from Then She Was Gone
This is an unputdownable novel. In fact, I was about 20 pages in when I realized I was going too fast and maybe, like the missing girl Ellie, I was overlooking important clues, so I went back and read from the beginning again.
I had to know what happened to Ellie, and then, bit by bit, new mysteries began to emerge. New horrors. The more I learned about Ellie and Noelle, the worse things became. The whole story became very... weird. Scary.
The relationship between Ellie’s mom and the American writer, Floyd, is where things take a turn. Floyd has a daughter who looks just like Ellie. I mean, how weird is that?
The ending was not predictable to me, and the path to reach the conclusion was not straight. I definitely loved this novel and want to read more of Lisa Jewell. Fans of Stolen by Lucy Christopher, will agree that this is a thrilling, twisty read.
Other Books You’ll Devour If You Liked Stolen by Lucy Christopher
If you are looking for other books like Stolen by Lucy Christopher, Goodreads offerss a great book list: Readers who enjoyed Stolen. You might also be interested in my post, Other Good Reads.
Khristina Chess is an award-winning author of a dozen young adult novels, including The Cutting Edge of Friendship, The Delinquent Hero, and Junior Missing. Hollow Beauty, her book about eating disorders, was named a finalist in the Next Generation India Book Awards. She tackles tough teen topics and writes binge-worthy books across multiple genres, including contemporary, thriller, mystery, and adventure.