The feeling of being watched and observed from a distance. The thought that something equally as bad of death is about to happen. Well, that’s the feeling Summer felt one night when she went out searching for a missing friend when she turned around to find a towering man stalking her from behind the trees. Natasha Preston reaches a whole new level when she published her book “The Cellar” on the reading app Wattpad. This E-book was later published into a book that can be bought on the shelves of people’s favorite store. The book got its title because of Collin, the kidnapper, kept the four girls in his cellar. Her writing style and the two most prominent themes perseverance and awareness are what keep readers reading this amazing book.

Natasha Preston chose to write in a unique style that I haven’t read many books with. Right away in the story, she tells who is going to be introduced and what part they play in the story. She also writes her story with a multi-point of view with every one of the main characters telling the story of what is happening to them as the book progresses. The main characters that tell the story are Summer, who was kidnapped, Collin, who was the kidnapper, and Lewis, Summer’s boyfriend. Preston made it especially fun to read by having some of Collin’s chapters being about his past and how he got to be the person he is, which helps the reader to understand why he takes teen girls and keeps them in his cellar. By Preston writing this way it really helps the reader to connect with the characters in a more personal way, while also helping them to take away lessons from her themes.
Along with her writing style, Preston has a great choice of themes for her books. The first theme she uses to keep the reader interested is awareness. This theme comes from how Summer wasn’t being very aware of her surroundings as she wandered off to find her missing friend. She didn’t pay much attention until she realized she was in a part of the town that she didn’t know. She looked around and then that is when he walked out. The tall, dark figure who was hiding among the trees who she didn’t notice. He called her by the name Lily, she corrected him and said her name was Summer, he then reached for her, pulled her into his arms and took off with her. If she had been aware of where she was headed maybe, she wouldn’t have gotten into that mess. Then we have that the four girls trapped always looked and listened for when Collin was coming down to see them. They would look for a way out when the door opened and something they could use to injure him so they had a head start. This shows that with using senses and being conscious of surroundings that could help people escape a very dangerous and scary situation. Along with having awareness as a theme of this story the characters also have the next theme which is perseverance.

The next important theme she uses is perseverance. Throughout the book, Summer is continuously fighting while she is trapped down in the cellar. She meets three other girls while down there Rose, Poppy, and Violet, which were names given to them by Collin.  He has an obsession with having to have the perfect family which he compares to flowers. “His perfectly pure flowers” as it says in the book. He gives all of the girls he takes a new name, which is always a type of flower. Summer was turned into Lily. All of the girls stay strong together and believe that one day they will escape Collin’s grasp on them. Summer specifically never gives up hope that Lewis will find her. By reading Lewis’s chapters, who is Summer’s boyfriend, the reader finds that he feels the exact same way. He will never give up looking until he finds her. By Preston writing about perseverance, it shows that girls can fight for themselves and be the heroine of their story.

Sadly, Preston didn’t make a sequel to the book. Though, she did write two others with a similar theme and suspense aspect to them. They are “Awake” and “The Cabin”. She hasn’t gotten much recognition for this book from people buying it from stores, as much as she has by how many reads it got on Wattpad. With her unique writing and choice of these two themes maybe it will catch the eye of more readers. Hopefully, she will continue to write more and more books so we all can continue to read them and fall more in love with her as an author.