Review: The Cellar

I had been wanting to read The Cellar by Natasha Preston for a long time, so when I saw it at my local book exchange I couldn't pass it up. I finished the book in less than 24 hours and I have a LOT of thoughts about it!

The Story

Her name was Summer until he took her. They call him Clover and they are his flowers. Suddenly, Summer becomes Lily, a perfect flower in his perfect family. Trapped in a cellar with three other girls known as Rose, Violet, and Poppy, Summer must learn to survive in a place where perfection is the key to survival and wilting means punishment or death.

What I Liked

• Violet: While some of the characters fell a little flat, Violet stood out as someone who not only wanted to survive but wanted to save as many of the other girls as she could at the same time. Despite threats of torture and death, she fights to return to a world outside of the prison she shares with Poppy, Rose, and Lily (Summer).
• Summer: I did have a few issues with Summer, but I also admired her character. Although some of her companions abandoned hope of rescue, she continued to hold onto the idea of escape or rescue. During her time in the cellar, she contemplates various escape plans instead of succumbing to Clover's methodical charade.
• The Setting: Maybe locking prisoners in a cellar is not the most original idea, but Natasha Preston does an eerie yet spectacular job of building an underground prison which looks homey on the surface but contains little other than darkness, pain, and death.

What I Did Not Like

• Clover: He is just a tad too predictable. His motivations (like almost every other criminal) are fueled by his mother and a hatred for prostitution. Often, his dialogue feels as if it was pulled from a list of classic villain phrases,
  
• Lewis: Humans have flaws, right? Well, it appears as if Lewis does not. He is just too perfect of a boyfriend. Never once during the book does he have a single bad or negative thought. When his girlfriend goes missing, all he thinks about is saving her. He experiences very little character development, and I wish I could have seen more.
• The Kidnapping: Summer was taken in a van while walking alone in the park. It felt a little too stereotypical because when you hear kidnapping, what do you always think? That's right, a van.
• Rose and Poppy: I was at a loss with these characters. I know they were written to be robotic and frightened, but they bothered me a lot because they had either come to enjoy capture (Rose) or completely given up on hope (Poppy).

Overall

I know it looks like a lot under the dislikes header, but I generally did not mind reading this book. While certain aspects were a tad stereotypical for a kidnapping story, I became attached to some of the characters and did not experience boredom while reading. The Cellar may not be my favorite book in the world, but it definitely is not bad if you are looking for a thriller which is a quick and fast-paced read.

​Rating: 3.5/5

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