When sixteen-year-old Summer Robinson goes missing one night, her family, friends and boyfriend are devastated. Nothing ever happens in Long Thorpe, so the disappearance of a school girl shocks the whole community. The police waste no time in launching a search and investigation, but with nothing to go on and no trace of Summer, hopes of finding her quickly fade.

Colin Brown, is a thirty-year-old solicitor living alone after the death of his mother. He suffered a traumatic and abusive childhood, and is left with no sense of right or wrong. Desperate for the perfect family, Colin, referring to himself as Clover, turns to drastic measures to get what he wants.

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.

1.What inspired you to create this story?
I started writing The Cellar after a dream I had where I was kidnapped and thrown in a cellar. Summer’s kidnap happened pretty much in the same way as my dream. When I woke up I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I asked myself why I (she) was kidnapped and what the abductor wanted. As soon as I thought about Clover and what he was doing I knew I had to write it.

2. It must have been difficult at times to write the grim scenes. How did find writing scenes that involved such hurt, but still move the characters forward?
Yes some of the scenes were difficult. While I was posting chapter by chapter on Wattpad a lot of people were mad that Summer at certain parts but I knew it had to be done to be realistic! Even though there are no details it wasn’t easy to write. The chapter after the rape was the hardest because I had to get inside Summer’s head. That was kind of a defining moment, Summer was sure she’d never let him near her but as time passed she understood that in order to survive and find a way our she had to play along. It showed how much Summer was willing to go through in pure hope of being reunited with the people she loves. In all honesty though, I enjoy the tough scenes.

3. The relationships the girls create within the narrative is a vital role to their survival, did you do research into the mechanisms of how to deal with abduction the emotions they may go through?
I’ve been asked a lot about my research and the only things I’ve researched (this is going to sound bad) are things like how long a body takes to decompose under water and where can you buy body bags from. I just thought about each girl and how she would react.

4. Did you plan out to show why Clover was the way he was and how he met the individual girls in the delivery pointed multi-point of view narrative?
Not originally. I just had Summer and a little Lewis but as soon as I tried Clover’s I knew I had to do more. The book seemed to come alive when I added chapters from his point of view.

5. What was the most important part of writing “The Cellar” for you?
The most important part for me was Summer fighting to keep a part of herself when she was in such a horrific situation. She was affected of course but I wanted her to be strong enough to survive no matter what. I quite like that message.

6. What is next in terms of writing? What projects do you have in the works?
Right now I’m working on a ‘should you really go there?’ NA romance, editing/re-writing the very first book I wrote and planning the companion novel to that. I have a lot of projects that will see me writing well into 2018.

7. Last question, if you could give one piece of advice to a new author looking into self-publishing what would it be?
Do it! It’s the best thing I ever did (career wise). Research, hire an editor and get a decent cover made – people do judge a book by its cover. Join plenty of Facebook and Twitter groups for book bloggers. Create social media pages purely for your novels. Sorry that was more than one piece of advice but I get carried away. I love being an indie author!

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UK native Natasha Preston grew up in small villages and towns. She discovered her love of writing when she stumbled across an amateur writing site and uploaded her first story and hasn’t looked back since. She enjoys writing romance, thrillers, gritty YA and the occasional serial killer.