The Cellar

I became emotionally involved with this masterpiece! I cried, I felt relief, I got mad. I could vividly imagine the characters and their experiences, their surroundings. It was like I was there. This book was very well written in the format that it was. Absolutely will be seeking out more of Natasha Preston's work. This book 'The Cellar,' was my first and I highly enjoyed it, it is an absolute must read! 5 stars *****

This book is fantastic. The suspense had me not wanting to put the book down. It story was believable scince the scenario would be your worst nightmare. WOW is all I an say. Buy this one and be prepared for an amazing ride.

This should be categorized for Young Adults, not adults. I honestly can't believe I finished reading it. Here's the lowdown (spoilers)
1) the main character, Summer, is lame and pathetic. She spends 6 months imprisoned. During this time she only manages to feel bad for herself, and think about her dreamy teenage boyfriend. Does not turn her brain on for one second to try to come up with a plan or strategy to escape.
2) The other characters are also pretty one-dimensional. No hidden past, secrets, no evolution/growth.
3) The book is written in this gimmicky format where each chapter is first person perspective from 1 of the 3 main characters. Not inherently bad, however each character's inner dialogue sounds like a pre-teen's diary. For example, multiple times each chapter Summer thinks to herself, "This is messed up!" (or something similar). Yeah, getting kidnapped sure is messed up. The audience doesn't need to be told this over and over, it's quite implicit.

I wouldn't recommend this book if you don't like creepy, non-mind-bleaching types of books. This book really freaked me out... And I had nightmares about a crazy physcopath trying to keep me from my family and eventually killing me for being a prostitute.

I never understood why people would say that 50 Shades of Gray was poorly written. I did not think it was a masterpiece, but it was readable and I could tell she could write decently.
That brings me to this book. It reads as though a 17 year old wrote it. Poorly written. Short sentences, weird voices, love story of a 17 and 16 year old (come on, seriously?) Also, a 17 year old boyfriend is not going to give up his life for months and months looking for his 16 year old girlfriend. It irritated me that the main character would describe murder and rape, yet could not say the word "ass", but used "arse". Again, really?
I could not understand the big deal of flowers dying either- either the psycho did not bring new ones fast enough or the girls failed to take care of them sometimes. He was not beating them because flowers died on a weekly basis- so what really happened?
With that said, it was a quick read (especially since I skipped the boyfriend's chapters almost entirely) and intriguing. I would recommend it to people, but with some special notes along with my recommendation.

I have no words to how ‘The Cellar’ by Natasha Preston, impacted on me. It was a truly emotional and pivotal book that was emotional exquisite and just a gripping read. I really fell in love with reading the whole narrative. It was real, it was the truth that has gone untold in so many stories.

I loved that the characters were dynamic and we understood their vulnerabilities. Summer was just courageous, strong and had the will like the other girls to survive. The characters spoke to the heart and soul of the reader and going through the novel it was such an emotional journey, you have to feel for the characters especially the other girls with Summer.

I loved how Natasha was able to create a Young Adult book that touched so close to the raw emotion of the truth. It was pure in that it showed the teens through a traumatic experience and how even though it was tough they never loss that fight.

The point of view perspective was another gripping angle within the narrative. How Natasha was able to show the point of view of Summer’s boyfriend Lewis and how he dealt with the emotion of the kidnapping. The experience with Clover’s perspective I didn’t really know how I liked. It gave great insight into the mind of someone who is unwell and has tendencies to abduct. I think Clover has emotional and is obviously dealing with some serious issues, but as a Young Adult and emotional book Clover’s perspective didn’t hit a cord as much due to my age.

Overall, I really enjoyed seeing the perspective, narrative and emotional grip of such a tell tale novel. It was written with so much heart and emotion. It is definitely recommended for those 18+ as it does deal with some horrific stories and scenes that are emotional. The embarrassment of such an important story, developed into heart and soul with angst, emotion and heartbreak. It was a truly breathtaking story and one definitely to read. I rated it a 5 Lit-Love because it hit chords, strong words that were powerful and shined light on teenagers who have the will to survive even at the toughest of times.

Very intriguing story line. Some parts were a little "teeny" but hey if you're reading a book with the main character being a teen you're gonna have to expect that high school feel to it. The ending did feel rushed and would have loved to read more about her recovery after being found but overall it was a good fast read. It took one night to read.

I wouldn't recommend this book if you don't like creepy, non-mind-bleaching types of books. This book really freaked me out... And I had nightmares about a crazy physcopath trying to keep me from my family and eventually killing me for being a prostitute.

I never understood why people would say that 50 Shades of Gray was poorly written. I did not think it was a masterpiece, but it was readable and I could tell she could write decently.
That brings me to this book. It reads as though a 17 year old wrote it. Poorly written. Short sentences, weird voices, love story of a 17 and 16 year old (come on, seriously?) Also, a 17 year old boyfriend is not going to give up his life for months and months looking for his 16 year old girlfriend. It irritated me that the main character would describe murder and rape, yet could not say the word "ass", but used "arse". Again, really?
I could not understand the big deal of flowers dying either- either the psycho did not bring new ones fast enough or the girls failed to take care of them sometimes. He was not beating them because flowers died on a weekly basis- so what really happened?
With that said, it was a quick read (especially since I skipped the boyfriend's chapters almost entirely) and intriguing. I would recommend it to people, but with some special notes along with my recommendation.

I have no words to how ‘The Cellar’ by Natasha Preston, impacted on me. It was a truly emotional and pivotal book that was emotional exquisite and just a gripping read. I really fell in love with reading the whole narrative. It was real, it was the truth that has gone untold in so many stories.

I loved that the characters were dynamic and we understood their vulnerabilities. Summer was just courageous, strong and had the will like the other girls to survive. The characters spoke to the heart and soul of the reader and going through the novel it was such an emotional journey, you have to feel for the characters especially the other girls with Summer.

I loved how Natasha was able to create a Young Adult book that touched so close to the raw emotion of the truth. It was pure in that it showed the teens through a traumatic experience and how even though it was tough they never loss that fight.

The point of view perspective was another gripping angle within the narrative. How Natasha was able to show the point of view of Summer’s boyfriend Lewis and how he dealt with the emotion of the kidnapping. The experience with Clover’s perspective I didn’t really know how I liked. It gave great insight into the mind of someone who is unwell and has tendencies to abduct. I think Clover has emotional and is obviously dealing with some serious issues, but as a Young Adult and emotional book Clover’s perspective didn’t hit a cord as much due to my age.

Overall, I really enjoyed seeing the perspective, narrative and emotional grip of such a tell tale novel. It was written with so much heart and emotion. It is definitely recommended for those 18+ as it does deal with some horrific stories and scenes that are emotional. The embarrassment of such an important story, developed into heart and soul with angst, emotion and heartbreak. It was a truly breathtaking story and one definitely to read. I rated it a 5 Lit-Love because it hit chords, strong words that were powerful and shined light on teenagers who have the will to survive even at the toughest of times.

Very intriguing story line. Some parts were a little "teeny" but hey if you're reading a book with the main character being a teen you're gonna have to expect that high school feel to it. The ending did feel rushed and would have loved to read more about her recovery after being found but overall it was a good fast read. It took one night to read.

2.5 stars. I feel like I just wasted valuable reading time on such a mediocre book. The first couple of chapters had me on edge but then it fell flat. Summer & Lewis' POVs drove me insane. They just seemed so dull. Colin/clover was very interesting to read about and seeing through his eyes. I found myself skimming the chapters and just wanting to be done already. It was almost like a broken record. Same thing over and over.

I didn't hate it exactly, but it was a constant eye roll situation. A lot of weirdness. Very confusing with all the flashbacks and change of characters if you aren't super on top of it. There were so many holes in the story and conclusions that come out of nowhere. The wording is annoying because she tend to use the same phrases again and again. It's an odd story. With the read? Eh. There's much better out there.

This book is terrifying. From all perspectives it is just all too real. The author does a great job looking at the situation from all the characters view points. What scared me the most about this book is how often this sort of thing occurs. I was please with the outcome of the story, for the most part, and glad it was ended the way it was. Definitely would recommend reading it. Hard to put down once you get started.

Extremely repetitive. I feel as if Ms. Preston really could have benefitted from a better proofreader. There were numerous errors, from using the wrong word (something spelled similarly to what she obviously wanted to say), to words being omitted from sentences (which were small enough to still figure out).
I would not recommend this book. It sounded so intriguing, but really bored me.

The summary on the back of the book gives enough hints to make the story line pretty obvious. Since this was a YA book, my naivete kicked in...thinking it would be a mild version of what my imagination cooked up. Nope, it was nearly as graphic as I imagined it would be. The Cellar has many emotional triggers so read with caution -- it's a traumatic situation with salt in the wound, over and over. Tragically, the story is not unlike something you'd hear on the news. In some ways, it serves as an important reminder to use caution and good judgment when traveling about. The Cellar gets big psychological thriller points, serving as a kind of fictional case study. The creep factor is high in this book, and it's going to be a while before I can get it out of my mind!

It was a little disappointing to see several typos in the text. I was surprised that they weren't caught in the editing process. The cover declares the author as a Wattpad writer, so maybe that's the reason for the errors. It wouldn't deter me from reading one of her other titles, though.

It probably had a good story line but all the books I started reading had the f word and other profanity. I threw them all in the trash. Wasted my money. If she and other authors would write clean books it would be great reading

I first discovered this story on the Wattpad App and bought the physical copy for the same price as the store at Barnes and Noble. With a better editing and writing this book could have been a best seller. My review is going to be broken down into three parts: the story, the writing, and the editing. (There will be NO SPOILERS in my review of the story!)

-The Story (4 stars):
The story is about a 16 year old girl named Summer who gets kidnapped and is forced to live in a celler with three other girls named Poppy, Violet, and Rose.
It starts out at a very fast pace and you are propelled right into the kidnapping by page 6. There is no easing into it or much character introduction at all. Throughout the book there are flashbacks to before Summer was taken so we eventually do find out a little more about the characters but still not as much as I'd like.
As you read, the story also switches viewpoints. You will find yourself reading through the p.o.v. of both Summer and Lewis as well as Clover. There is some character development but there isn't much detail, and there is so much repitition it's annoying.

-The Writing (3 stars):
Some of the writing wasn't bad and it did get a little better near the end but it definitely should have been revised again before being released. There was so much repitition if you were to take it out or revise it there would probably be 1/8 less pages in the book. I mean I understand when it's set in one place it might be hard not to repeat some things but it might not be so bad if it was worded differently sometimes instead of the same phrase over again.
There definitely should have been more detailed description too. I think if there was more meat to it the repitition wouldn't be so noticiblely irritating. Plus less detail in this case unfortunately means almost no suspense too.

-The Editing (1 star):
I don't even know if there was any editing or if it was rushed through to the printers. There are a TON of not only spelling mistakes but missing words as well. Some sentences didn't make sense and a few weren't even complete. It was almost painful to read sonetimes. I finished the book in 2 days but I could definitely have finished in 1 if the mistakes didn't nag me so much.

Overall it's an okay read. Very quick but lacking in suspense and detail. I would recommend if you can overlook the grammatical mistakes and don't mind using you're imagination a bit but if you can't and want a book with painless, effortless reading involved this one is not for you.

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher, which does not influence my review**

Natasha Preston’s The Cellar is a psychological thriller that is both disturbing and hard to put down. When Summer is kidnapped, she is forced into a utterly terrifying situation. Though not alone, Summer is coerced into playing the part of “Lily,” one member of her kidnapper’s imaginary family. Unable to escape, Summer is trapped in her kidnapper’s cellar with three other captive women. She quickly learns that Clover is not a man that should be trifled with. His growing unpredictability and willingness to silence anyone who speaks against him has crushed any hope any of these women have for getting out. In order to survive, Summer must play by his rules, but days are passing quickly and with them, the chances that the police will find her at all.

What makes this novel truly horrifying is how realistic it actually is. Summer doesn’t take any dangerous chances, but one evening she crosses paths with a deranged individual who sees an opportunity to take her when no one else is around. Confused and completely overpowered, Summer can do nothing but obey Clover’s every command if she wants to survive. Desperate for escape, she looks to her fellow captives for help, but it quickly becomes clear that they are too scared to try anything drastic. Rose, who has been kept in Clover’s cellar for years, seems to have accepted this new reality and in many ways seems content. Poppy is less so, but follows Roses’s lead. The only one that is just as desperate as Summer to escape is Violet, but Clover makes it very clear that he will not tolerate any kind of rebellion.

The Cellar was very effective when it came to its multiple points of view. The large majority of the novel focuses on Summer and her experience inside the cellar, how she learns to adapt to this new world, and her growing need to escape. We also get Lewis’s point of view, Summer’s boyfriend, and how he tries to cope with her disappearance. His perspective gives readers a look at Summer’s family and the police investigation surrounding his girlfriend’s disappearance. Though unnerving and sometimes difficult to fully understand, we get a glimpse of who Clover is and the twisted logic that motivated him to kidnap these women. Unable to discriminate between right and wrong, Clover, whose real name is Colin, has taken it upon himself to rid the world of evil and protect the makeshift family he has put together at whatever cost.

The Cellar is more horrifying with every page turned as Clover grows even more violent and the reader, along with Summer and Lewis grow more desperate for these women to be found before it’s too late.

Although I'm a "mature" adult reader, I was still intrigued by this book while perusing the YA section with my teenage daughter. I don't mind some light reading every once in a while, so I decided to give it a shot. Overall, the story is decent and interesting and has real potential to be great. Unfortunately, it falls flat in some areas, and ends up being mediocre at best. The biggest flaw is the lack of character development/backstory of the kidnapper - we got glimpses into what led him to his mental state but not quite enough to get the whole picture. On the other hand, some scenes were very repetitive and redundant that it went into overload in some areas. Maybe the intended audience for this book would not take such a hard look at these areas and would enjoy it for what it is, as is. However, due to some of the not-explicit-but-still-strongly-innuendoed parts of the book, and because my daughter is just newly a teenager, it will be a couple more years before I'll pass it on to her.

This book is terrifying. From all perspectives it is just all too real. The author does a great job looking at the situation from all the characters view points. What scared me the most about this book is how often this sort of thing occurs. I was please with the outcome of the story, for the most part, and glad it was ended the way it was. Definitely would recommend reading it. Hard to put down once you get started.

Extremely repetitive. I feel as if Ms. Preston really could have benefitted from a better proofreader. There were numerous errors, from using the wrong word (something spelled similarly to what she obviously wanted to say), to words being omitted from sentences (which were small enough to still figure out).
I would not recommend this book. It sounded so intriguing, but really bored me.

The summary on the back of the book gives enough hints to make the story line pretty obvious. Since this was a YA book, my naivete kicked in...thinking it would be a mild version of what my imagination cooked up. Nope, it was nearly as graphic as I imagined it would be. The Cellar has many emotional triggers so read with caution -- it's a traumatic situation with salt in the wound, over and over. Tragically, the story is not unlike something you'd hear on the news. In some ways, it serves as an important reminder to use caution and good judgment when traveling about. The Cellar gets big psychological thriller points, serving as a kind of fictional case study. The creep factor is high in this book, and it's going to be a while before I can get it out of my mind!

It was a little disappointing to see several typos in the text. I was surprised that they weren't caught in the editing process. The cover declares the author as a Wattpad writer, so maybe that's the reason for the errors. It wouldn't deter me from reading one of her other titles, though.

It probably had a good story line but all the books I started reading had the f word and other profanity. I threw them all in the trash. Wasted my money. If she and other authors would write clean books it would be great reading

I first discovered this story on the Wattpad App and bought the physical copy for the same price as the store at Barnes and Noble. With a better editing and writing this book could have been a best seller. My review is going to be broken down into three parts: the story, the writing, and the editing. (There will be NO SPOILERS in my review of the story!)

-The Story (4 stars):
The story is about a 16 year old girl named Summer who gets kidnapped and is forced to live in a celler with three other girls named Poppy, Violet, and Rose.
It starts out at a very fast pace and you are propelled right into the kidnapping by page 6. There is no easing into it or much character introduction at all. Throughout the book there are flashbacks to before Summer was taken so we eventually do find out a little more about the characters but still not as much as I'd like.
As you read, the story also switches viewpoints. You will find yourself reading through the p.o.v. of both Summer and Lewis as well as Clover. There is some character development but there isn't much detail, and there is so much repitition it's annoying.

-The Writing (3 stars):
Some of the writing wasn't bad and it did get a little better near the end but it definitely should have been revised again before being released. There was so much repitition if you were to take it out or revise it there would probably be 1/8 less pages in the book. I mean I understand when it's set in one place it might be hard not to repeat some things but it might not be so bad if it was worded differently sometimes instead of the same phrase over again.
There definitely should have been more detailed description too. I think if there was more meat to it the repitition wouldn't be so noticiblely irritating. Plus less detail in this case unfortunately means almost no suspense too.

-The Editing (1 star):
I don't even know if there was any editing or if it was rushed through to the printers. There are a TON of not only spelling mistakes but missing words as well. Some sentences didn't make sense and a few weren't even complete. It was almost painful to read sonetimes. I finished the book in 2 days but I could definitely have finished in 1 if the mistakes didn't nag me so much.

Overall it's an okay read. Very quick but lacking in suspense and detail. I would recommend if you can overlook the grammatical mistakes and don't mind using you're imagination a bit but if you can't and want a book with painless, effortless reading involved this one is not for you.

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher, which does not influence my review**

Natasha Preston’s The Cellar is a psychological thriller that is both disturbing and hard to put down. When Summer is kidnapped, she is forced into a utterly terrifying situation. Though not alone, Summer is coerced into playing the part of “Lily,” one member of her kidnapper’s imaginary family. Unable to escape, Summer is trapped in her kidnapper’s cellar with three other captive women. She quickly learns that Clover is not a man that should be trifled with. His growing unpredictability and willingness to silence anyone who speaks against him has crushed any hope any of these women have for getting out. In order to survive, Summer must play by his rules, but days are passing quickly and with them, the chances that the police will find her at all.

What makes this novel truly horrifying is how realistic it actually is. Summer doesn’t take any dangerous chances, but one evening she crosses paths with a deranged individual who sees an opportunity to take her when no one else is around. Confused and completely overpowered, Summer can do nothing but obey Clover’s every command if she wants to survive. Desperate for escape, she looks to her fellow captives for help, but it quickly becomes clear that they are too scared to try anything drastic. Rose, who has been kept in Clover’s cellar for years, seems to have accepted this new reality and in many ways seems content. Poppy is less so, but follows Roses’s lead. The only one that is just as desperate as Summer to escape is Violet, but Clover makes it very clear that he will not tolerate any kind of rebellion.

The Cellar was very effective when it came to its multiple points of view. The large majority of the novel focuses on Summer and her experience inside the cellar, how she learns to adapt to this new world, and her growing need to escape. We also get Lewis’s point of view, Summer’s boyfriend, and how he tries to cope with her disappearance. His perspective gives readers a look at Summer’s family and the police investigation surrounding his girlfriend’s disappearance. Though unnerving and sometimes difficult to fully understand, we get a glimpse of who Clover is and the twisted logic that motivated him to kidnap these women. Unable to discriminate between right and wrong, Clover, whose real name is Colin, has taken it upon himself to rid the world of evil and protect the makeshift family he has put together at whatever cost.

The Cellar is more horrifying with every page turned as Clover grows even more violent and the reader, along with Summer and Lewis grow more desperate for these women to be found before it’s too late.

Although I'm a "mature" adult reader, I was still intrigued by this book while perusing the YA section with my teenage daughter. I don't mind some light reading every once in a while, so I decided to give it a shot. Overall, the story is decent and interesting and has real potential to be great. Unfortunately, it falls flat in some areas, and ends up being mediocre at best. The biggest flaw is the lack of character development/backstory of the kidnapper - we got glimpses into what led him to his mental state but not quite enough to get the whole picture. On the other hand, some scenes were very repetitive and redundant that it went into overload in some areas. Maybe the intended audience for this book would not take such a hard look at these areas and would enjoy it for what it is, as is. However, due to some of the not-explicit-but-still-strongly-innuendoed parts of the book, and because my daughter is just newly a teenager, it will be a couple more years before I'll pass it on to her.

This book follows the narration of 16 year old Summer, Summer's boyfriend Lewis and Colin aka Clover. Firstly, the writing style is very unfavorable. It is repetitive, too descriptive and over-uses analogies leaving the reader unable to use their own imagination. In sum, it is VERY poorly done.

The writing style never changes from each perspective, meaning Clover (the kidnapper) sounds just like the 16 year old Summer he kidnapped. The best part of reading a book from another point of view is being able to feel where they're coming from, experience it differently, see inside their mind or thought process. Sadly, Preston fell flat with a book that had a lot of potential to be a thrilling read.

I couldn't finish reading this book, it's the equivalent of nails on a chalk board for me. This has to be among the worst books I've ever (started and couldn't finish reading) and wish I didn't force myself to get through the pages I did read. It took me nearly a month to go through 32% of a book because I dreaded to go back and could only read 2-3 pages before I was too annoyed and had to walk away.

I never had an emotional connection to any of the characters, never feeling an ounce of sympathy for Summer and I believe the cause of that is the horrible writing.

It's not worth the read. Run away now.

Sixteen-year-old Summer Robinson disappears without a trace. No clues, no preamble, no hope. Police investigation continues, but nothing brings them closer to finding her. This is unprecedented in the small town of Long Thorpe, England, where everyone knows each other and nothing much happens. Summer is a prisoner, locked in a cellar along with various other girls, where they’re forced to go along with whatever their kidnapper does and says. Colin is a monster, or is he? His murky past enables him to start his own family, and that’s what Summer and the other girls are to him. They are his “flowers,” petals without thorns. He even names the girls after flowers. Summer is “Lily” to him. But he can’t keep them imprisoned forever. These flowers need sunshine and freedom if they hope to survive. If Colin doesn’t let them go, then their petals will give way to thorns.

That’s the best metaphor I could come up with. I don’t want to give this story away. It’s so good! The Cellar was first published on Wattpad, and you can still find remnants of its former self on the app. This version is more refined, better developed, and better executed. The professional editing enhanced an already gripping story. It was disturbing and uncomfortable to read, especially when you feel sympathy for Colin, but that is the mark of a well-written novel. Natasha Preston earned her spot in the publishing world with this book, and the sequel is just as good. I give this four out of five caramel brûlée lattes. Read it.

I am stunned this book is posted as young adult or teen fiction. The book is full of rape, stabbings, violence against women, prostitutes, sexual references besides rape, and profanity.

On top of that, it is a poorly written book. It is written in a very childish tone, like a preteen wrote it, pretending to be an adult. The story is full of stereotypes and cliches, and the plot has holes a mile wide. The characters are mind-numbing and unlikable. It ends up being a teen romance story (between the main character and her boyfriend) with some trite attempt at a horror story tossed in unsuccessfully. The entire thing was just frankly awful.

This review originally appeared on my blog, herestohappyendings.com.

I've heard about this book a long time ago, and it's been on my list to read for just as long. I heard plenty of mixed reviews about it, which caused me to put off reading it longer than I should have, but when my mom offered me her copy to read, I decided to give it a go.

I wish I hadn't waited as long as I did. It was a good book - definitely a psychological thriller that lives up to its description. It was one of those books that messed with my head (and made me not want to go out by myself at night), and while I was happy (for the most part) with the way things wrapped up at the end, it kind of left me wanting more at the same time.

One night, when sixteen year old Summer goes out with her friends for a night full of fun and promises of a good time that turns into a horrible nightmare that Summer will remember for the rest of her life. When she goes to look for one of her friends, who has run off, she comes across a strange man who starts calling her "Lily." While confused at first, and as hard as she tries to reassure him that he must have mistaken her for someone else, she eventually begins panicking when the man throws her in the back of his van and takes her to his home - and straight down into the cellar, where three other girls are waiting - Rose, Poppy, and Violet.

Struggling to come to terms with what is happening, Summer is thrust into a living nightmare. The man who abducted her expects her to be part of his "family," along with the other girls in the cellar. Trying to bide her time until she can escape, the things that she encounters and is forced to deal with are more than just frightening - they are downright terrifying.

The way this book detailed Summer's hellish nightmare of being locked in Colin's (Clover's) cellar with the three other girls - Rose, Poppy, and Violet - was enough to make your blood run cold. There were some parts of this book (such as the violent parts) that were a little much to read, though. These girls lived through this nightmare (and it was definitely a nightmare), and eventually some of them even gave up trying to escape, because they were so afraid of Colin.

The chapters in this book had a lot of Summer's ordeal, told in both the present and in flashbacks. However, there were also some chapters told from Lewis's (Summer's boyfriend) point of view, as well as some told from Colin's point of view. The chapters that were told from Colin's point of view were incredibly helpful and really added something extra to the story, because we got to know Colin and learn what had driven him to do what he was doing, and why. The chapters told from Lewis's point of view, however, were not nearly as interesting as Summer's and Colin's - each chapter kind of just seemed the same to me, but they had their positive points that were also helpful to the story, so it was a nice touch to have written them in that way.

The amount of violence in this book was somewhat overwhelming at times, but I understand that it had a point in telling the story. However, if that isn't your thing, you might want to re-think picking this one up, because it's a little bit heavy on it.

I saw this book at a department store, read the back and bought it without reading any reviews at all, and Im glad I did. Some of the reviews were very bad and I didnt find the book to be bad at all. The only thing I didnt care for was the boring chapters told by her boyfriend and Summer herself, about their past relationship. It could have been replaced with more chapters from the kidnappers past, told by him, about his life with his mother. It would have helped the reader understand more of what he went through, to become the monster he was.
I found the story to be facinating, especially when Summer describes her life living in the cellar with the three other girls. The author did a good job describing the terror they lived through.
It took me one day to read this story, < I read very fast through the boring chapters>, because I was anxious to see what the kidnapper was going to do next.
I would recommend this book as a quick, need something to read thats different book.

I read this in one sitting. I had zero desire to read this solely because that I was in a reading slump. However, my little sister kept begging me (and everyone else in the world *eye roll*) to read it because she wanted someone to talk to about this book. So, I just picked it up with my "ugh books meh bleck" attitude and about 4 hours later I put it back down.

I'm not sure what it was but I was captivated. Yes, it's filled with grammatical errors but I didn't care. I cared about the story. I needed to know what happened next. Most importantly, it pulled me out of my reading slump! This book has that power! I recommend it!

I first read this book when it was created on Wattpad as more of a story than a published novel.
For those of you who do not know, Wattpad is a public website where it's users can create and publish their stories there.
The writing itself on the website looked as if an older teenager wrote it. While I do not say that in a degrading manner, the voice in the published book improved significantly for those of you who were wondering if this was any different than the Wattpad version.

Pros of this book:
The story is about a girl named Summer who is kidnapped and lives with three other girls. The book jumps right into the kidnapping almost immediately, as opposed to a slower starting book.
This book is thought out. It features three dimensional female characters, a strong antagonist, and a back story that I know surprised me.

Cons of this book:
The editing isn't the best, but the story is still readable.
The writing style seems like that of a young adult, which isn't too much of a con.
A teen romance that seems almost too strong (That one is just my personal opinion)

Just real quick, a few possible trigger warnings:
Kidnapping, Murder, Prostitution, and especially Rape.
If you're easily triggered in any way by any of these things, this might not be the best book for you to read.

Overall, I am able to read this book over and over again and not become sick of it, and I would recommend this book to any horror/mystery readers.

sixteen-year-old Summer Robinson disappears without a trace. Spending months inside the cellar of her kidnapper with several other girls, Summer learns of Colin’s abusive past, and his thoughts of his victims being his family…his perfect, pure flowers. Changing her name to Lily and the other girls to violet, poppy, and rose. finally Collin's paranoia of Summer's boyfriend, Lewis, somehow figuring out that he is behind her disappearance he gets sloppy and afraid.

The book was okay, I liked it enough to finish it and it did get me heart pounding at times, but you could tell the author definitely wrote fan-fiction. There were a couple of grammar errors and few spelling mistakes that slowed me down a bit but other than that, the plot was pretty good. I think the author handled the way Summer dealt with everything, especially the end very well, the emotions seemed realistic and what would probably happen to someone that had been kidnapped and brainwashed. In all, it was a good read, I liked it, the plot was interesting but it isn't the kind of book where you say it's amazing and all that. I'd recommend it to someone who'd be willing to read it.

I feel I don't have a choice but to give The Cellar 5 stars. After all it kept me riveted from start to finish and I read it in half a day. I was stuck shivering in the bathtub for the longest time without a good place to stop! I felt that the writing started off slightly awkward but it eventually evened itself out. The ending also felt a bit awkward but I think that was a necessary part of the story. Without giving spoilers I'll just say I'm glad it ended the way that it did.

Overall this was a good read, but let me break it down into more detail while trying not to repeat what has already been said in other reviews. I'll also skip any plot summarizing for the same reason.

PROS: This book kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next and the characters were interesting. I found myself caring about them, despite not knowing much about some of them, and I liked the POV switch between characters. The author gets inside the minds of three very distinct people, all experiencing something traumatic, but from different angles. Not an easy task, but she effectively gives readers a window into their lives.

CONS: The characters, though interesting, are not as fleshed out as they could have been. I wanted to know more about them and I was surprised with all the time the captive girls had on their hands that they didn't learn more about one another. And why, if Summer knew rape was inevitable for her, didn't she ask the girls what to expect from their psycho captor? Wouldn't her curiosity eventually overrule her fear of finding out what she was in for? Unasked questions (as well as unanswered ones) seemed to suit one main purpose, to delay plot twists. As a reader, I appreciated being kept in suspense, but perhaps it could've been done in a way that would've allowed for more descriptive dialogue. I was disappointed not seeing the girls bond more. Readers are told it happens and given examples now and then, but most of the focus seems to be on the routines of the girls' lives and their reactions to events.

THE MOST CURIOUS ASPECT OF THIS BOOK: I figured out the solution to the girls' problem on p. 20 and I spent the rest of the book waiting for somebody to figure it out! The girls could have used their captor's germ phobia against him by ambushing him with every bodily fluid they could collect, but somehow no one thinks of this, despite his childish helplessness just from getting spit in the face! I suppose it would have been a rather short book if they had thought of this. Despite this however, I really did enjoy this book and would definitely recommend checking it out. I was able to sympathize with all the characters, even (at times) with the bad guy, particularly during the flashbacks to his childhood. Some readers complained his motives were unclear or not believable, but I felt the author says enough about him to explain some of his behavior and the rest you can fill in with your own conclusions. She doesn't tie up every loose end and that adds more realism to the novel.

This book was just ok. The concept was good but sometimes things got a little weird and didn’t make sense. The story is about a man named Clover who kidnaps women and names them flowers. That is his perfect family. He also is a killer and wants to rid the world of all prostitutes.
Just kind of a weird read. I would not recommend.

I'm typically used to really intense books but this one was just beyond what I was expecting. I have read that many people feel a lot of questions were left unanswered, but I think the author was going for more of a realistic approach therefore, many questions will remain unanswered. When someone goes through this sort of thing all people involved (family, friends, and victim) spend the rest of their lives with unanswered questions. I personally hated the book, not because it is a bad book, I just hated the idea that this could happen to anyone. I hated many things about this book but if you love the torture of being in this situation I say the book would be for you. The suspense was torture to me. I'll admit. I cried. Many times. I did have trouble with a lot of the grammatical errors in the book but if you have half a brain I'm sure you can figure it out. The intensity of this book is immense. Read it if you are brave.

I loved this book. The plot is a completely genius idea that I wish I had thought of, so I'm jealous that Preston thought of it before me. However, there are continual spelling errors and a multitude of times where the plot moved too fast and needed me to re-read or it just overall made me wonder if it would be a logical circumstance, as in dialogue exchanges or period of events. The story line could use some fine tuning, maybe change up a few things to make it more complex and intruiging, but overall a great book that I could not put down. I cried - really - and laughed a bit, and ultimately was scared for Summer/Lily's life. Loved it a lot, but it could use a couple more drafts. I understand the frustration of wanting it to be published and the agony of editing, but this story could have used a bit more love.

Interesting book. The plot is something that happens all the time, some instances making national headlines. It felt like to me that I was like reading a script for Law and Order:SVU or Criminal Minds. I loved that there are 3 different POVs, but I think having the boyfriend as one wasn't a good choice because his were kind of boring to me. I would have liked the 3rd one to be one of the other girls Summer was locked up with, but maybe that would have seemed to repetitive if the same situation was going on. Or it could have been fine with just Summer and Clover's POV or even just hers. It definitely kept my attention and I did like how it quickly jumped into the plot. I think it was only a few pages or so to the moment Summer was kidnapped and I liked that instead of dragging it out. I've read similar books where the plot doesn't pick up until well after halfway in and then the ending is so rushed. With this book, it jumps right in and then tells the story, making it seem like the time Summer is held captive is how long you're held captive as well. It was easy to picture what was going on and at times made you feel like you were locked in there with them. This book was recommended to me by a friend and I did enjoy it overall. Yes, some parts were weak here and there, but it's still a good read. If you like mysteries, thrillers/suspense, and edge of your seat kind of books like me, then I recommend it as well.

REVIEW ON: [...]

A good book with the potential to be brilliant!

Reading the synopsis, this book had me REALLY REALLY excited! I’m totally into the whole kidnapping/ mentally ill people thing- especially after reading Heart Shaped Bruise!

I got through the whole thing in a single evening time sitting, and while I felt bored or that things were told at a pace that can be described at too slow, the ending was something I had to get to, if you can understand that.

Summer lives a perfect, idyllic life in a small town and gets abducted in a freak turn of events. And from there, this book only goes down.

There were so many things that were wrong about this. Okay, first, despite Summer saying she felt scared and hoped for a miracle, I just never felt it. I mean, sure I knew that she would me but Preston’s writing just never convinced me that she actually was. Come to think of it, I never really felt much at all- even the chemistry between Summer and her boyfriend.

Second, the way rape was handled. I mean, come on. It. is. Not. Okay. Despite everything, the other girls, the ones who had been there longer that Summer would be like- it’s okay, it will get over really soon. That. Is. Terrible. It was shocking, and I almost DNF’ed after this, but didn’t. The ending was okay, a bit more realistic.

My Verdict:

Not exactly a book I’d recommend.

I read this book in less than a day. Very impressed with this author. She knows how to weave a suspenseful story and kept me guessing and wishing for some kind of resolution. A little creepy and disturbing, but not anything I can't handle. Definitely recommend!

Really captivating to read and you found yourself rooting for unlikely characters through the whole thing. The characters were well developed and relatable and the story flowed really nicely. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Original tale of heading out alone fine wrong. Everything your parents warned you about coming true. It kept me reading too the end, and the ending wasn't the picture perfect ending like some authors do. Natasha kept it real. Ready to try anther of her books.

I couldn't find a new book to read that I felt would interest me. While walking around the store, this book caught my eye, the spooky cover and the single purple lily intrigued me. This book goes through three different points of view, the victim (Summer), the boyfriend (Lewis), and the kidnapper (Clover). When Summer decides to go out to the club one night with her friends, events take a turn for the worst. Follow the thrilling story of how Summer copes with how her life has drastically changed, as well as what he family is doing. I recommend this book for any reader who is not bothered by blood, since there is constant reference to it, as well as anyone who enjoys thrilling books. This is a very unpredictable story with many events that happen that you would have never guessed to happen. I really enjoyed this book, easy read for dedicated readers! -N.L.

This story has some great pieces to it. However, there were multiple times (close to 10) that I felt like I had missed an entire chapter. Random blasts of text with a huge action piece were dropped in with no real explanation. I got lost quite a few times which normally isn't an issue for me. I really connected to the characters. The setting descriptions were excellent. I think further research into mental illness is really needed for this book, though. There were so many inconsistencies in how the characters (mainly Summer and Colin) were behaving and thinking. My overall impression of the book was that the author started with a great idea and then rushed to meet a deadline, leaving out some crucial developing parts and information for the reader. Perhaps it is just the Kindle version of this book, but there were massive amounts of spelling and grammar issues.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that this was one of my favorite books. It is quite dark and tough to read. The content is definitely not something light and quite a few times I simply had to stop because it was slightly too much for me.

With that being said, that doesn't mean that the book is not good. I wouldn't have finished it if it was. It is simply not my type of a story. But if you like dark stories, then this one will probably exactly up your alley.

Okay, so I am usually a bit critical of these types of books, but I really enjoyed this one. I was reading some of the other comments and I disagree. Many people were saying that they found in repetitive or boring, but I could not stop reading it. I am a very avid reader and I typically have a book in my hands, but this was one that I read within a day because I could not put it down. I thought the plot was a bit predictable, as most mystery books go, but I still found it to be interesting. Preston does a great job of showing the different characters views and the irony in this book is insane. I loved Natasha's writing style and I would definitely recommend this book for someone looking for a edgy mystery.

I was incredibly excited to read this book when I first saw it at Barnes and Noble, however I couldn't even finish reading it before I took it to a used bookstore. It's so poorly written! I had to resist the urge to grab a red pen and start editing as I was reading. This book reads as if no one took the time to proof read it. Not to mention the story itself is meh. It's just...not as intriguing as it should be. The characters are one demensional, there's no character development, and the way that the author chose to do things with different povs doesn't flow very well. I only made it about half way through before giving up. So disappointed.

This book was really good. The book did get repetitive in some areas and I skipped reading the Boyfriends chapters as they were boring to me and I wish the ending would of been diffrent as I had questions I wanted anwsered but other than those complaints I really liked this book all the chapters with the girls and with Clover the (Kidnapper). I read this book in 2 days because I just didn't want to put it down.

If there's anything going for this book it's defiantly better than it was on Wattpad.
Unfortunately however- it is the general wattpad story, the characters while likable have little or very instant growth. Summer, while interesting at first soon turns to be a very annoying character. The kidnapper, Clovers meltdown happens way to fast and is almost humerous. The Lewis POV sections of the book are annoying and out of place with the rest of the novel.

Honestly, I would have rather read from any of the other captive womens point of views- they were more interesting, had better backgrounds to build off, as well as personality's.

This book was like watching an episode of Law & Order: SVU (Special Victims Unit). I honestly, could not tear myself away. It was so intriguing to me to read the sides of the captor, the captive, and the effects of the abduction on family and loved ones.

The story revolves around sixteen year old Summer who adores her boyfriend, but also wants to be her own person…which is why she refused to have him walk with her to meet her friend. Unfortunately for Summer, this is the night that crazyass Colin Brown aka Clover is on the hunt for his next perfect flower…Lily…and his search leads him to Summer.

Summer now has to learn how to live the crazy life that Clover wants to have in his cellar, and must somehow survive his irrational and erratic behavior that his caused him to kill others in cold blood. But as time goes by, Summer’s hunger to get away is still strong, but she knows she can’t do it alone…but whom among her new “family” can she trust? And will she survive long enough to even get a chance to try.

Lewis, Summer’s boyfriend, will stop at nothing to find the love of his life. Even if it meant risking his own safety. But will his frantic searches and wild ideas get him closer to finding Summer, alive? Or will it all lead to a dead body that he can only pray doesn’t belong to his true love.

Tormented by his past, Colin/Clover’s goal is to have a perfect family. And by that he means finding the perfect “flowers” to keep in his cellar and take care of. But memories from his past and the pressures of the present take it’s toll and Clover must work even harder to keep the family, or will one wrong move risk everything he’s worked so hard to keep a secret.

Clover is oneeeeeeeeeeee crazy dude! I could easily picture this creep in my mind as I was reading…and I was seriously freaking myself out! The Cellar by Natasha Preston is easily a parent’s worst nightmare come to life.

As your reading, you know what’s going to happen. But you can’t help but get caught up in the moment as the events occur. My heart literally started to beat faster, and my hands were getting a little sweaty. The way in which the fear and other emotions would easily come out in the writing was what made this a truly enjoyable read for me.

I just wish that more of Clover’s past was revealed. I wanted to know why he was so f’d up! We get little snippets here and there of what happened in his past, and just how messed up things were. But there wasn’t enough details to give me a picture of what caused his downward spiral to cray cray town.

Fans of thriller type reads will really enjoy The Cellar by Natasha Preson. I recommend reading it in the evening with very little light…set the ambiance and settle in for a great read.

Natasha Preston is the author of SILENCE and BROKEN SILENCE, as well as a handful of other teen romance/thrillers. Preston currently resides in the UK and is a young, up-and-coming author. THE CELLAR is a real treat for avid mystery and thriller fans; the storyline pulls you inside the world of a madman and the women he preys on.

Sixteen-year-old Summer lives in a small town and she loves her boyfriend Lewis unconditionally. Her friend throws a party one night but Lewis can’t attend; he isn’t too keen on the idea of Summer travelling alone at night, either. She reassures him it will be OK and tells him not to worry.

But as she walks through the woods, a tall man who Summer has never seen before steps out of the darkness and asks, “Lily?” Summer makes it clear that her name isn’t Lily, but the man doesn’t listen and repeats, “Lily, you are my Lily.” Then, he grabs Summer, muffles her screams with his hand and throws her into the back of his truck. When she comes to, she realizes she is in a fully furnished basement with four vases; three are filled with flowers and the fourth is empty. Summer also notices that she isn’t the only person down there --- three other women who are dressed the same are surrounding her. “Good night, flowers,” the man says to all four women, then walks up the stairs and bolts the basement door shut.

THE CELLAR is a page-turner and is filled with non-stop action. The story is told through three different characters’ perspectives. There is never a dull moment in THE CELLAR and Preston constantly has you guessing what will happen next.

From a 14 year old reading this book was very interesting for me. During The first couple of pages of the book really had me interested to now more of what will happen. Summer and Louis where one of the two characters that really got my attention because during the beginning i could really tell that they had a strong close relationship. But the thing that really frustrated me was when Summer wanted to walk to the party or club alone at night, not accepting help from her willing boyfriend. when i was reading this chapter I was like ok you know something bad was going to happen next if this teenage girl is walking to a party late at night all by herself. Wrong! Natasha Preston really got me she flips the story. This book was the kind of book that will make you feel like you are watching something happen but you can't say anything to help the character. Which really hooks me to this book. Especially when Summer barely gets a chance to walk to the door of the party before she get confronted to go help an friend find a friend. Man this was the part that really had me tripped up seriously, honestly i person would of never helped. But, Summers can't say "No" ego got her in a tripped up situation, the part of the book where "The Cellar" begins.

Now, the rest of the book is really crazy and psychological things going on "The Cellar". It really makes you see how crazy some people will go. How brainwashed the characters where, it made me fill back like the characters where real. How psycho "Clover" really was to kidnap women and kill them because he grew up being thought that women who are pimped are all evil but to be honest i think that was the most lowest harsh thing of the book. How every detail of each incident was given gave me the hibby ba gibbys really. when he renamed the girls names with Poppy, Lily, violet, and Rose that really was crazy. Also, the fact that he brain washed there names to be replaces with the names of flowers to represent purity and a how Clover viewed a perfect family. it was amazing how long they were all down there.

Louis love and determination to find summer really moved me how he never gave up one day of looking for his love of his life and Summer was missing all long time. all the adventurers he went through to find her along the way motivation how if you really love someone you will do everything in your power to protect them. Love moved Louis to never given up hope or the determination to stop searching for Summer.

At the end of the story made the characters feel really blind or slow because all of what they have been searching for was right there in front of their face the whole time. which makes me laugh for some odd reason.

so, this book is really a good book to read to me. like I said i am only 14 years old and this book was so interesting that it only took a week for me to read!

The story itself had its moments of suspense that made me want to get to the end. The one thing that I couldn't get over was how juvenile the writing itself was. There was a lack of vocabulary, lack of description, lack of character development. I didn't like the point of view style writing. There were other ways Lewis's dedication could have been described. Clover's past could have been revealed more in depth. I was expected to learn more about events that took place on his childhood besides his father cheating? It was a mediocre Norman Bates mixed with inspiration from the Austrian Fritzl tragedy. I also agree a stronger proof reader would have done wonders for this book.

Natasha Preston is an indie author who started out on Wattpad, which i think is pretty awesome! The Cellar is the first book by Natasha that I've had the pleasure of reading. I was very impressed by this hauntingly good read. The main character Summer Robinson is a sixteen year old girl with the overprotective loveable boyfriend and the normal teenage life. Her night out with friends does not goes as planned and she finds herself a victim of Clover. Clover is the ultimate psychopathic, narcissistic villain with the hidden cellar inside his house hence the title. The cover of the book is wonderful and creepy in itself. Summer finds herself with a new identity as Lily, one of Clover's special flowers. Clover's intentions are to make the world a better place in his own eyes and create the perfect family. I was very impressed with the main character's ability to think logically and stay strong. I don't think many 16 year old in her situation would be able to react the same. I enjoyed the side characters as well as Summer's boyfriend Lewis. Lewis never gave up searching for Summer and he was very admirable. This story is quite disturbing and definitely a dark read.

The book does a fantastic job of showing how a real person would think in these scenarios. It reads like actually being in someone’s head. It’s disturbing, haunting, and tragic. This is a book for those ok with a mildly “happy ending” and those that love thrills and chills. I personally may never feel safe again walking alone (and I’m a man....)

Now I didn't buy this book here but I wanted to leave it a review this book is a page Turner I am not one that likes reading but I could not bring myself to put this book down I was reading 10 chapters a day because it was so good this is a great book if you're into horror and suspense books

Wow! What a read! I started this book and was glued to it for the 4 hours it took to read it. The suspense, the anxiety, the descriptions it was simply put, a masterpiece. You get to read the book from no only Summer, but her boyfriend and kidnapper as well. I'll admit, the love story line was a bit cliche, but nevertheless, a really good read!

Nothing ever goes in the small town of Long Thorpe, so everyone was shocked when sixteen year old Summer Robinson went missing without a trace. Her family, neighbors, and many police investigations couldn’t even track her down. Summer spent months in her kidnapper, Colin’s cellar with three other girls who were completely brainwashed by his ways. Because of the way the female characters were portrayed throughout the book I go against the ideas that Natasha Preston reveals in this novel.
As a feminist it is my job to note how the male characters talk about/ treat the female characters in the text. When Colin was younger his father ruined his family by cheating on his mother with a prostitute and this caused his parents to divorce. Because of that traumatizing experience Colin now views every women to be a prostitute which is why he acts so wicked towards females. He believes he is helping the four girls he kidnapped by keeping them pure, and saving them from promiscuous social trends. In Colin’s free time he goes out and finds females to lure into his cellar to physically abuse and torture them to death. Any other feminist would agree to go against this because Colin does not treat women in a respectable manner.
The four girls that Colin hold in his cellar are also very powerless towards him. When Summer first arrived to the cellar and met the other girls, her first intention was to make a plan with the girls to escape Colin’s captivity. The girls went against this idea and told Summer that this idea wouldn't have worked because they have tried it before and hurting their kidnapper resulted in death. I value when women in a particular text tend to have power, and since the female characters in the book were powerless and weak I am against this aspect.
While in control of the four girls Colin had a set schedule for them to follow. He made them wear certain clothes, and even eat and shower before specific times. When he would murder the prostitutes, he brought home, he would force the four girls to clean up the dead bodies. He would also make the girls excessively clean the cellar everyday. The girls were completely subservient to Colin and as a feminist I am against a female acting subservient towards males. Their routines were completely repeated and they never said anything about it no matter how miserable they felt.
When Summer was trapped in Colin’s cellar she would constantly think about her boyfriend finding her. This is an example on how women are traditionally portrayed to be dependent on men. As a feminist I also find this view to be wrong. I explore literature for portrayals of the concept that women and men are each incomplete without each other. I totally reject suggestions of only feminine incompleteness.
Although i would not approve of this book based on my perspective and bias, I would recommend it to anyone who’s interested in psychological thrillers. The Cellar was an amazing combination of creepy, enthralling, and simply messed up. While reading I saw myself hooked and I couldn’t put it down. The format also captures the reader’s attention. The book was mainly written in Summer’s point of view, but it alternated between Lewis and Colin’s as well. You also get a little glimpse of Colin’s childhood because the time periods also alternate within the book. Each character is described very well and this aspect helps the reader understand what is going on and why some of the characters act a certain way. I think this book is definitely one of the best books I’ve read and everyone should have a chance to pick it up and enjoy it as much as I did.

I did not expect this book to be so amazing!!! As soon as I started reading I couldn't put it down ... I like more romance books , but I wanted to try something different. WOW.... this book was just excellent

This book flatlined for me. It brings the reader in, and then dumps them on their heads with a boring, cliche ending. No character development, the ending was awful. The reader is left thinking something frightening or shocking is going to happen, and it just doesn't.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I remember this book when it was on Wattpad. I have to admit that I never read it, but my friend did, and she said that it was scary as hell and that I shouldn't read it in the dark at night time. Because of this, I expected something way more scary than what I got. Yes, The Cellar is creepy on many levels, but it wasn't downright scary. It didn't make me want to pee my pants. For some reason, scary movies and TV shows scare me way more than books do, and I'm seriously waiting for that one book to pop out and scare me so bad that I loose sleep over it (thank you to The Grudge for doing that to me. I appreciate it).

I honestly didn't care that the book didn't scare me; I just anticipated for it to scare me, and it didn't. It's not even a real problem that I had with the book. A real problem I had with The Cellar was the fact that the psychological issues weren't that severe for Summer. She was locked in a cellar for nearly a year, witnessed girls being murdered, and was raped. I just thought that the psychological impact on her mentality would've been worse that just, "Oh, I feel a bit woosey. Ooh, I can't really remember you. Ooh, I don't want you to touch me." I sort of wanted her to have a panic attack or something. Going into this book, I even thought she would develop Stockholm Syndrome. (She didn't.)

On the other side of the spectrum, the POV change was refreshing and nice. At first, I thought that I was going to hate the POV changes (I usually do), but I didn't in this case. I'm actually glad that the author decided to do them. If she hadn't, I would've gotten bored with Summer's POV after so long of her being locked in a cellar day in and day out.

If anything scared me in this book, it would be Clover's point of view. It showed that he wasn't completely all there. He honestly believed that murdering people was okay. I think that this part of the novel was done very well. Another part I thought was done really well was Rose's (Shannen's) attachment to Clover. It was explained adequately, which I appreciated (apparently I appreciated a lot of things regarding this book). Also, I really enjoyed watching Clover's obsessive compulsive disorder span out through the entire book. It was fascinating.

I have to admit that I didn't really like the flashbacks because they got a bit confusing at time, but as time wore on, I started liking them more often than not, and by the end of the novel I was completely fine with them.

Preston might have sort of glossed over the psychological aspects of the book, but she sure didn't gloss over Clover's murdering, which I also loved. In my search for a book that really scares me out of my wits (it's safe to say that I haven't read Stephen King yet...), I've noticed that books really don't scare me much, so I appreciated the fact that Clover did managed to creep me out more than I liked.

In the end, this was a solid novel for Natasha Preston, and I'm glad that I requested it on NetGalley to review. I'm really glad that I read it, and I learned to never go out at night in the dark looking for a friend because I might get kidnapped and shoved into a cellar. I'll most likely be ordering this online once it comes out so I can showcase it proudly on my bookshelf!

Memorable for a long time. I read this book several months ago, and I can still remember all of the intense feelings that came from each of the "flowers" in the book. I was surprised towards the end of the book, due to a glimpse into the perpetrators outside life.

Just got this book a day ago and already finished. That's just how good it is. It keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting more. I don't really read thriller but I honestly have to say this is one of the best books I have read. It gives you an insight on how people feel when they get kidnapped and what they go through. Would recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

I was interested in this book for several months before finally purchasing it. I usually keep the books that I will read again. This will not be one of them.
I was shocked that this was a Young Adult book and the adult content that was within it. Yes, I know most kidnapped victims suffer at the hand of their abductor, but this book had language and content that I did not feel was appropriate for a “young adult” reader. Several typos and my copy had some incomplete sentences going from one page to another. The storyline was interesting but not well developed and the ending was rather abrupt. I feel that the Clover character could have been fleshed out a lot more.

I. COULD. NOT. PUT. THIS. BOOK. DOWN...I seriously read the whole thing in one day! My husband said I was going to starve to death reading lol. I just carried my kindle everywhere so I wouldn't have to stop. I would recommend this book to everyone! It's that good. If you're not a fan of thrillers, READ IT ANYWAY!!! Now I'm going to read another Natasha Preston book, hoping it's even half as good as this one!

For the past couple of weeks I've been wanting to find a really good under-hyped mystery/Thriller book. One evening I was looking at the select titles that my local Walmart had on their shelves, when I came across a section where it seemed like a book was out of place. When I reached for the misplaced treasure(It was like I found a chest of gold) I was instantly drawn to the cover. The design was simple yet had so much detail. Immediately I knew I had to have the book, even if I had no clue what what it was about.

The Cellar is about 16 year old Summer Robinson, who was pronounced missing when she didn't come home one night from a gig she was going to see. Summer has been taken by a man who calls himself Clover. Clover forces Summer into his van and takes her to his cellar where three other when are already imprisoned. Each with names that are not their own.

As soon as I started this book I knew it was going to be one of those books I'm going to have to review. The action starts off from the very first chapter and I never got bored from it. The Cellar was very fast paced and if given the time I could have read it in one sitting. It's like Living Dead Girl meets Bates Motel and it doesn't disappoint. I am very interested in reading more of Preston's work and am anticipating a sequel.

Characters :
Clover : Clover is a very ironic character due to the fact that he is all about purity, but then he rapes the innocent and murders prostitutes and helpless innocent women.
He is very reminiscent of Norman Bates.
Summer/Lily : She is the main protagonist. Summer was taken by Clover when she was out one night.
Rose, Poppy, and Violet : The other three women in Clovers cellar that Summer grows close to.
Lewis : Summer's boyfriend who doesn't give up looking for her.

Point of View :
The P.o.V. shifts between Summer, Clover, and Lewis. This is very useful in the story because we, as readers, get to see what is going on in all of the characters lives outside of the cellar.

I thought the story was great and kept me interested. However, it did get a little repetitive. Overall, it was a great book and I enjoyed the characters. The descriptions were vivid and the author was great at painting pictures for the audience.

I read this book in 6 hrs. It was such a page turned. I couldn't put it down. The author had a way of capturing you from the beginning. I've read each book she's published now. Worth the read and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys an edge of your seat page turner.

The first thing I would like to establish are my extremely mixed feelings regarding this book. The really good part of it was that it was a page turner, and the whole, "I couldn't put it down once" phrase applied. The bad part is that I was beginning to feel bored once Summer was kidnapped, which was about 40 pages into the book.

So how could I be bored and have this be a page turner all at the same time?

Well....I don't know how that could happen either. I credit my interest in this book to my not having read a book where the protagonist gets kidnapped in probably over a year. So that would credit a large portion of my like/dislike for this book. That book I read a year ago (January 8, 2014- according to Goodreads) was The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting. One of the reasons (okay, the only one) that my "Recommended For" section says "Fans of the Body Finder" is because of the parallels I drew between the two books.

BOTH books had kidnappings done by psychopaths that want to take care of their girlfriends

That fact might seem small and insignificant to someone who hasn't read either book, but that is the entire basis of The Cellar's plot. While The Last Echo had a lot more to its plot, I still think that its freaky how similar the two books are.

On a completely non-plot based factor, the covers are freakishly the same. The Body Finder Quartet has a theme where every cover has a simple picture of a flower. I'm not exactly clear why or what the significance of that is which may be because it was over a year ago when I was no where near book reviewing, so I had just floated through books like a little bee to multi-colored flowers (no pun intended). The Cellar's cover however does have a lot of significance because it was flowers that Colin/Clover renamed the girls he kidnapped and because of what flower symbolize in our world.

The cover of the version of The Cellar I read gives a much darker, grim feeling of something dark, dank, disgusting, and a soul-sucking void of torture. When in actuality, the cellar was fully furnished with a kitchen, shower, bedroom, etcetera. The title 'The Cellar' also seems misleading to myself. Preston truly delves into the horrors of a psychopath in this book, so much in a way that makes you question your own sanity, which is what a psychopath would want (I'm just guessing because I have never met, or wish to meet a psychopath). With the emotions she evokes, the thoughts she provokes, one would expect a more twisted title. Something double-meaning(ed), simple, silent, and deadly. Everything I'm obviously over thinking.

The narration was one thing I loved and hated with this book. The Cellar was narrated by three people -Summer/Lily, Colin/Clover, and Lewis- and perfectly interspersed with flash backs. What I loved was Lewis' desperation in trying to find his girlfriend, and Colin/Clover's inside look into the criminal mind. Summer/Lily's narration however seemed like nothing special. I feel an urge to call it flat, but as the same time she was full of desire to escape the cellar and wanted to get back home like any normal person would in her situation. I know she reacted the way she 'should' have (or was expected to), and there's nothing I can specifically pinpoint about her voice that I didn't like.

I just didn't. That's the truth.

This phrase is a guarantee to get me locked up in a mental asylum, or just a sign of Natasha Preston's good writing but, "I loved Colin/Clover". He wasn't on the villain-you-love-to-hate level, but something even deeper and subtler because he actually believed what he was doing was right. The same way you would say "McDonalds is unhealthy, and Exercise is good for you" is how he justified murdering 'dirty' prostitutes and kidnapping girls to keep them 'safe' and 'pure'.

Conclusion: This book made me very conflicted because of the narration, plot, and twisted mindset of 'the Flowers' captor that was gripping, yet not completely satisfying at the same time. I will definitely be rereading this in about a year to see how my opinion might change.

Maybe it's because I'm a criminal minds junkie, but I knew exactly how this was going to play out. In fact, there's an eerily similar episode that immediately came to mind after reading the first few chapters. Although it's very predictable, I had no desire to stop reading it.

I really liked Summer's relationship with her boyfriend, it was adorable reading the flashbacks. I smiled and giggled at two parts. Lewis seems like the perfect boyfriend. He was my favorite character in the book. This book has three alternating POV'S: Summer, Lewis, and Clover/Colin which I thought was great because we get to see the victim's side, the boyfriends, and the psychopaths.

I didn't understand the psychopath's strange obsession with flowers besides his deceased mother who liked flowers. He has actual flowers at home in the forms of Rose, Poppy, Violet, and Lily. He even refers to the four girls by that particular names too. He calls himself Clover which makes me laugh. He's clearly an educated man, his thinking of why the flowers, the actual flowers (not the girls) are dying is unreasonable. If flowers do not receive proper sunlight, they die. There is clearly a biological explanation for it! I don't understand why he doesn't know or ignores it. Psychopaths are usually smart. You cannot deny science.

The Cellar isn't that dark with explicit details, but it has a disturbing topic. There were some intense gruesome scenes, but they were bearable, and I strangely felt okay unlike I did with American Psycho. I had really high hopes for this book. I liked the concept, and I thought it had some potential but I felt let down. Clover was completely insane and stupid.

This was was engaging novel and a page turner for sure, I did enjoy reading the book though. It was engrossing, and I wanted to know what happened next, but it wasn't exactly well written. The suspense was amazing though. I liked knowing about Clover/Colin's past, it's nice to know why people are like they way they are. Also, this is one of the few kidnapping/abducted novels where the female does not develop Stockholm syndrome, which I thought was great. She has positive feelings for the girls she was with in the house, but not towards the captor. If she had SS, this novel wouldn't be in the Young Adult section. That mindset is just not for teenagers to read, it's too mind blowing.

There were four other girls with Clover, they weren't in a complete cell or a dungeon. They were in a giant, comfortable room. They weren't handcuffed or tied up in case they tried to run. They were free to move. There was a door that caged them in though. They had no weapons in the house, and no closed windows. I don't understand how four women together could not take down one man. He was lean, not big at all. I figured none of them could really fight that much. Cling to his legs, pull out his hair, gouge his eyes out, put salt in his eyes, do something! If they all worked together or even just three of them, they could have clearly took him down. He didn't carry weapons with him when he was around the girls. As much as I enjoyed reading this novel, I felt it was unrealistic and somewhat disappointing.

It's an engaging thriller, I liked the concept behind this novel. I loved Lewis character, Summer' boyfriend which is one of the reason's why I would give it three stars. It has two flaws mainly, hence the three stars. Summer was a cute character too at times. It could have been a great novel, I just felt this novel could have been improved much more - it did have some potential.

Disclosure: Review Copy was sent free of charge from Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.

Earlier this year, I remembered seeing this story on Wattpad, and I absolutely refused to read it until I bought an official copy of the novel (I'm weird like that). As soon as I read the description, I knew that I would love reading this novel, for it deals with a theme that I find very intriguing: insanity. As in, the word that primarily describes Clover, a man who kidnaps girls with the intent of "protecting them from the horrors of the real world."

Aside from the concept of the story, the first thing I liked was that not every chapter was of Summer's point of view. Some were of Clover's, or Colin's, and there were even some of Lewis's. Each chapter offered something new to the story, especially the parts that took place during the past. Overall, this novel kept me guessing until the very end, and I will not hesitate to read some of Preston's other novels.

I was interested in this book for several months before finally purchasing it. I usually keep the books that I will read again. This will not be one of them.
I was shocked that this was a Young Adult book and the adult content that was within it. Yes, I know most kidnapped victims suffer at the hand of their abductor, but this book had language and content that I did not feel was appropriate for a “young adult” reader. Several typos and my copy had some incomplete sentences going from one page to another. The storyline was interesting but not well developed and the ending was rather abrupt. I feel that the Clover character could have been fleshed out a lot more.

I. COULD. NOT. PUT. THIS. BOOK. DOWN...I seriously read the whole thing in one day! My husband said I was going to starve to death reading lol. I just carried my kindle everywhere so I wouldn't have to stop. I would recommend this book to everyone! It's that good. If you're not a fan of thrillers, READ IT ANYWAY!!! Now I'm going to read another Natasha Preston book, hoping it's even half as good as this one!

For the past couple of weeks I've been wanting to find a really good under-hyped mystery/Thriller book. One evening I was looking at the select titles that my local Walmart had on their shelves, when I came across a section where it seemed like a book was out of place. When I reached for the misplaced treasure(It was like I found a chest of gold) I was instantly drawn to the cover. The design was simple yet had so much detail. Immediately I knew I had to have the book, even if I had no clue what what it was about.

The Cellar is about 16 year old Summer Robinson, who was pronounced missing when she didn't come home one night from a gig she was going to see. Summer has been taken by a man who calls himself Clover. Clover forces Summer into his van and takes her to his cellar where three other when are already imprisoned. Each with names that are not their own.

As soon as I started this book I knew it was going to be one of those books I'm going to have to review. The action starts off from the very first chapter and I never got bored from it. The Cellar was very fast paced and if given the time I could have read it in one sitting. It's like Living Dead Girl meets Bates Motel and it doesn't disappoint. I am very interested in reading more of Preston's work and am anticipating a sequel.

Characters :
Clover : Clover is a very ironic character due to the fact that he is all about purity, but then he rapes the innocent and murders prostitutes and helpless innocent women.
He is very reminiscent of Norman Bates.
Summer/Lily : She is the main protagonist. Summer was taken by Clover when she was out one night.
Rose, Poppy, and Violet : The other three women in Clovers cellar that Summer grows close to.
Lewis : Summer's boyfriend who doesn't give up looking for her.

Point of View :
The P.o.V. shifts between Summer, Clover, and Lewis. This is very useful in the story because we, as readers, get to see what is going on in all of the characters lives outside of the cellar.

I thought the story was great and kept me interested. However, it did get a little repetitive. Overall, it was a great book and I enjoyed the characters. The descriptions were vivid and the author was great at painting pictures for the audience.

I read this book in 6 hrs. It was such a page turned. I couldn't put it down. The author had a way of capturing you from the beginning. I've read each book she's published now. Worth the read and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys an edge of your seat page turner.

The first thing I would like to establish are my extremely mixed feelings regarding this book. The really good part of it was that it was a page turner, and the whole, "I couldn't put it down once" phrase applied. The bad part is that I was beginning to feel bored once Summer was kidnapped, which was about 40 pages into the book.

So how could I be bored and have this be a page turner all at the same time?

Well....I don't know how that could happen either. I credit my interest in this book to my not having read a book where the protagonist gets kidnapped in probably over a year. So that would credit a large portion of my like/dislike for this book. That book I read a year ago (January 8, 2014- according to Goodreads) was The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting. One of the reasons (okay, the only one) that my "Recommended For" section says "Fans of the Body Finder" is because of the parallels I drew between the two books.

BOTH books had kidnappings done by psychopaths that want to take care of their girlfriends

That fact might seem small and insignificant to someone who hasn't read either book, but that is the entire basis of The Cellar's plot. While The Last Echo had a lot more to its plot, I still think that its freaky how similar the two books are.

On a completely non-plot based factor, the covers are freakishly the same. The Body Finder Quartet has a theme where every cover has a simple picture of a flower. I'm not exactly clear why or what the significance of that is which may be because it was over a year ago when I was no where near book reviewing, so I had just floated through books like a little bee to multi-colored flowers (no pun intended). The Cellar's cover however does have a lot of significance because it was flowers that Colin/Clover renamed the girls he kidnapped and because of what flower symbolize in our world.

The cover of the version of The Cellar I read gives a much darker, grim feeling of something dark, dank, disgusting, and a soul-sucking void of torture. When in actuality, the cellar was fully furnished with a kitchen, shower, bedroom, etcetera. The title 'The Cellar' also seems misleading to myself. Preston truly delves into the horrors of a psychopath in this book, so much in a way that makes you question your own sanity, which is what a psychopath would want (I'm just guessing because I have never met, or wish to meet a psychopath). With the emotions she evokes, the thoughts she provokes, one would expect a more twisted title. Something double-meaning(ed), simple, silent, and deadly. Everything I'm obviously over thinking.

The narration was one thing I loved and hated with this book. The Cellar was narrated by three people -Summer/Lily, Colin/Clover, and Lewis- and perfectly interspersed with flash backs. What I loved was Lewis' desperation in trying to find his girlfriend, and Colin/Clover's inside look into the criminal mind. Summer/Lily's narration however seemed like nothing special. I feel an urge to call it flat, but as the same time she was full of desire to escape the cellar and wanted to get back home like any normal person would in her situation. I know she reacted the way she 'should' have (or was expected to), and there's nothing I can specifically pinpoint about her voice that I didn't like.

I just didn't. That's the truth.

This phrase is a guarantee to get me locked up in a mental asylum, or just a sign of Natasha Preston's good writing but, "I loved Colin/Clover". He wasn't on the villain-you-love-to-hate level, but something even deeper and subtler because he actually believed what he was doing was right. The same way you would say "McDonalds is unhealthy, and Exercise is good for you" is how he justified murdering 'dirty' prostitutes and kidnapping girls to keep them 'safe' and 'pure'.

Conclusion: This book made me very conflicted because of the narration, plot, and twisted mindset of 'the Flowers' captor that was gripping, yet not completely satisfying at the same time. I will definitely be rereading this in about a year to see how my opinion might change.

Maybe it's because I'm a criminal minds junkie, but I knew exactly how this was going to play out. In fact, there's an eerily similar episode that immediately came to mind after reading the first few chapters. Although it's very predictable, I had no desire to stop reading it.

I really liked Summer's relationship with her boyfriend, it was adorable reading the flashbacks. I smiled and giggled at two parts. Lewis seems like the perfect boyfriend. He was my favorite character in the book. This book has three alternating POV'S: Summer, Lewis, and Clover/Colin which I thought was great because we get to see the victim's side, the boyfriends, and the psychopaths.

I didn't understand the psychopath's strange obsession with flowers besides his deceased mother who liked flowers. He has actual flowers at home in the forms of Rose, Poppy, Violet, and Lily. He even refers to the four girls by that particular names too. He calls himself Clover which makes me laugh. He's clearly an educated man, his thinking of why the flowers, the actual flowers (not the girls) are dying is unreasonable. If flowers do not receive proper sunlight, they die. There is clearly a biological explanation for it! I don't understand why he doesn't know or ignores it. Psychopaths are usually smart. You cannot deny science.

The Cellar isn't that dark with explicit details, but it has a disturbing topic. There were some intense gruesome scenes, but they were bearable, and I strangely felt okay unlike I did with American Psycho. I had really high hopes for this book. I liked the concept, and I thought it had some potential but I felt let down. Clover was completely insane and stupid.

This was was engaging novel and a page turner for sure, I did enjoy reading the book though. It was engrossing, and I wanted to know what happened next, but it wasn't exactly well written. The suspense was amazing though. I liked knowing about Clover/Colin's past, it's nice to know why people are like they way they are. Also, this is one of the few kidnapping/abducted novels where the female does not develop Stockholm syndrome, which I thought was great. She has positive feelings for the girls she was with in the house, but not towards the captor. If she had SS, this novel wouldn't be in the Young Adult section. That mindset is just not for teenagers to read, it's too mind blowing.

There were four other girls with Clover, they weren't in a complete cell or a dungeon. They were in a giant, comfortable room. They weren't handcuffed or tied up in case they tried to run. They were free to move. There was a door that caged them in though. They had no weapons in the house, and no closed windows. I don't understand how four women together could not take down one man. He was lean, not big at all. I figured none of them could really fight that much. Cling to his legs, pull out his hair, gouge his eyes out, put salt in his eyes, do something! If they all worked together or even just three of them, they could have clearly took him down. He didn't carry weapons with him when he was around the girls. As much as I enjoyed reading this novel, I felt it was unrealistic and somewhat disappointing.

It's an engaging thriller, I liked the concept behind this novel. I loved Lewis character, Summer' boyfriend which is one of the reason's why I would give it three stars. It has two flaws mainly, hence the three stars. Summer was a cute character too at times. It could have been a great novel, I just felt this novel could have been improved much more - it did have some potential.

Disclosure: Review Copy was sent free of charge from Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.

Earlier this year, I remembered seeing this story on Wattpad, and I absolutely refused to read it until I bought an official copy of the novel (I'm weird like that). As soon as I read the description, I knew that I would love reading this novel, for it deals with a theme that I find very intriguing: insanity. As in, the word that primarily describes Clover, a man who kidnaps girls with the intent of "protecting them from the horrors of the real world."

Aside from the concept of the story, the first thing I liked was that not every chapter was of Summer's point of view. Some were of Clover's, or Colin's, and there were even some of Lewis's. Each chapter offered something new to the story, especially the parts that took place during the past. Overall, this novel kept me guessing until the very end, and I will not hesitate to read some of Preston's other novels.

This is definitely a new favorite. I couldn't put it down. It tells such an insane, horrifying story leaving you on the edge of your seat the whole book. As soon as I finished , I was looking up more books by Natasha Preston. I finished the book yesterday, and still keep thinking about it. Highly recommended.

have a actually copy of this book it is a great book. I really suggest this book. I give this book ten out of ten stars. The author started out on wattpad. Wattpad is a great reading app and its free. You can write books and read books that other people have written

I started reading this on the app Wattpad and couldn't put my phone down. This is the best book I've read in 5 years!! I was hooked from the first page. I love the writing style, and being someone who isn't a big reader (I get bored pretty quickly with most books and I'm overly picky), I have read it probalby 20 times through. Great price for a greart book.

Main characters didn't feel developed, I wasn't connected to any of them until the very end and the main girl became complex. Okay book, I was hoping for something deeper. Luckily the ending gave way to some intricacies which earned the book a 3 instead of 2 stars.

I read this book while it was free on Wattpad, and I thought it was simply amazing! I'm happy the author finally got this published. The plot and story line are well formatted, and doesn't leave anything to still be desired.