A review by bubblepricks
The Cellar by Natasha Preston
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I finished this book in a couple hours, I do not feel like it was “slow paced” as it’s categorized. I hated reading from Lewis’s perspective, he’s super boring- but I also get why his perspective was important to the story. It was fine, I guess?
I wish that for such a *heavy* plot it had a little more character development & soul. It felt more like reading someone else’s story about a horrible thing than actually feeling it from inside the cellar- from the girl’s perspectives. Like there was so much blood, gore, assault, & shock value on top that it didn’t bother diving any deeper. I wanna know more about the girls, we get summer’s perspective of living with them for nearly a full year & still know almost nothing about them.
I wish that for such a *heavy* plot it had a little more character development & soul. It felt more like reading someone else’s story about a horrible thing than actually feeling it from inside the cellar- from the girl’s perspectives. Like there was so much blood, gore, assault, & shock value on top that it didn’t bother diving any deeper. I wanna know more about the girls, we get summer’s perspective of living with them for nearly a full year & still know almost nothing about them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Gaslighting, Vomit, Murder, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Stalking