Natasha Preston started out writing her hit novel, The Cellar, on Wattpad. The first copy of the book was published in 2014. She is a native of the United Kingdom who found her love for writing when she shared her first story on the internet. Natasha has written stories in a large variety of genres, including romance, thriller, and YA.

The Cellar is a thrilling novel about young 16-year-old named Summer Robinson. Summer’s life is turned upside down when she is captured and locked in a cellar with three other girls. All of them have been held in captivity for varying amounts of time, some for over a year.

Summer’s kidnapper, Colin Brown, forces the young girls to call him Clover. To Colin, flowers are the only pure thing left in the world. Because of this, he gives the girls new names: Lily, Poppy, Rose, and Violet, and calls them his flowers. The girls are forced to call each other these names in fear of being murdered and abused if they are caught misbehaving.

Colin kidnaps them in the hopes of creating the perfect family; he believes that he is protecting the girls from the bad influences in the world. During the eight-month period that Summer is locked away from the world, her boyfriend, Lewis, never stops looking for her. He reminds her family constantly that there is still a possibility that she is still alive. He could never picture her dead. It’s this possibility that she is still alive that leads him to her.

Overall, The Cellar is a well-written, suspenseful fiction book perfect for young adults. It’s the story of a twisted psychopath and a dedicated boyfriend. Preston has you constantly guessing what’s coming next for Summer and the others. One unique thing about the book is that it is written in three different perspectives. You hear the story from Summer of her being kidnapped, Lewis who is racing to find her, and Colin Brown with his motive of kidnapping the innocent women.

Even though the characters are well developed, in a matter of seconds they turn and you feel like you’re learning about a whole new person. For the most part, Summer is strong and determined, holding on the the hope that she will be found and that she will be able to escape if she needs to. The only thing outside of the cellar that Summer focuses on is her boyfriend.

Her feelings towards her family and other friends are never well explained in the book. She has centered her life in the cellar solely on Lewis. Even her feelings about seeing the sun and the sky for the first time in months are never mentioned. Normally, she would miss her mother, and her brother, and best friend, whom she did everything with. Even when Summer is reunited with them, she doesn’t want anyone but Lewis. In my opinion, there is too much of a focus on him.

The Cellar is an engaging, psychological thriller that will hold your attention from beginning to end. It’s a quick read that will grab you immediately.