The Cellar was an enthralling, quick read, but it didn’t feel completely polished in places, but the idea, and most of the execution was very well done.Looking out my bedroom window, I’m faced with yet another dull English summer day. The only other thing I wanted to know was more of Clover’s story – there are some very strong hints as to perhaps why he was crazy, but not all of the detail was fully explained, and I would have loved to know more. The ending however, I really liked – I thought it was strong, gutsy and not over too fast in comparison to the rest of the book.

I love English terminology and slang – and I’ll Google them if I don’t understand them. I don’t mean it’s necessarily a BAD thing, and I can understand why English authors Americanise their language and terminology to make it more marketable, but it feels contradictory and like it doesn’t quite fit. One other thing that I found a little jarring, was that the book is set in England but the language is very Americanised.

That’s the part that really didn’t ring true, I felt like there was just too much focus on her and Lewis, rather than all the other things she was being deprived of. What I’m not quite sure of is how I felt about Summer – at times shes strong and determined, a little impulsive and pretty up-front, but she also focuses completely on missing her boyfriend, not her family or other things about being outside the cellar, like, well blue sky for example, or sunshine. Which also makes it odd, because there are some very intense scenes, and Clover is completely insane. The Cellar doesn’t get REALLY dark – it does get pretty grim and in your face, but it’s not the kind of book that had me checking around at night to make sure there wasn’t a kidnapper under my bed or hiding in the garden.

I don’t think it was in any particular order, and the length/frequency of them varies as the story progresses – sometimes short and sometimes long, it was actually one of the best multiple perspectives I’ve read in a while – I was interested in all sides of the story. The Cellar flicks through multiple perspectives – Summer, her boyfriend Lewis and Clover himself. Clover is obsessed with flowers, and that’s exactly what he calls the girls, Flowers. Imprisoned in a cellar by Colin/Clover she finds there are three other girls with her that have been held for varying lengths of time – Rose, Poppy and Violet, and Summer herself is renamed Lily. Summer is a teenager who finds herself kidnapped on her way to a party. These are the three phrases that defined The Cellar for me. Stockholm syndrome, a twisted psychopath and a dedicated boyfriend.

The Cellar by Natasha Preston