Response to The Cellar by Natasha Preston

The book "The Cellar" by Natasha Preston is without a doubt one of my favorite books ever. It is an incredibly gruesome story involving power and anger and revenge. "The Cellar" is a thrilling story about a 16-year-old girl named Summer who is abducted by a strange man who says his name is "Clover" and who keeps her and 3 other girls named Poppy, Rose and Violet locked in his basement for months. He changes Summer's name to "Lily" and calls the girls his "flowers" and abuses and rapes them. He even forces them to clean up, after he slaughters young girls that he kidnaps every night. The girls have no choice but to do whatever clover says and endure these petrifying experiences. Poppy, Rose and Violet try to help "Lily" adjust but "Lily" is busy trying to figure out how to escape. The only thing getting her through each day, is her boyfriend Lewis. Trapped in this basement with nothing to do but read and knit, Summer feels more alone than ever. Poppy and Rose who have been in the cellar the longest, have been so destroyed emotionally and mentally after watching Clover carry out horrifying actions for so long, they don't seem to acknowledge that what Clover is doing is wrong. Summer is terrified that if she doesn't escape soon she will end up getting used to her life in Clover's basement.

As the narrators vary from chapter to chapter, the story becomes more and more creepy. Lewis is going crazy looking for Summer and Clover explains what happened in his past to make him the way that he is. Summer's family frantically searches all over the country for her, but as months go by people begin to lose hope. The police have stopped looking for Summer and everyone is starting to think that she's dead. Filled with flashbacks from Summer, Lewis and Clover's past, this story is full of romance, tragedy, death, and how far someone will go to save the person they love.