Top Ten Books Read This Year that weren't Published This Year

This will probably end up as a top 20 books I read this year...the best published this year, the best published beforehand. Up first, the oldies! Some were first published in the UK this year, but I'm going by their original publication date. Titles link to Goodreads, if the word Review is linked, it's to my full review. 

Title: Out

Author: Natsuo Kirino

Published: 1997

Review: Gory and a bit depraved, but excellent character development and motivation. 

Title: Saving June

Author: Hannah Harrington

Published: 2011

Review: Really emotional contemporary with a nice musical touch.

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood

Author: Kendare Blake

Published: 2011

Review: Fun gory ghost story.

Title: Entangled

Author: Cat Clarke

Published: 2011

Review: Intriguing from the first two words.

Title: Heartless

Author:  Gail Carriger

Published: 2011

Review: Laugh out loud from beginning to end. 

Title: Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline

Published: 2011

Review: 80s kid dream, full of both retro and futuristic technology.

Title: Good Omens

Authors: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Published: 1990

Review: Darkly funny apocalypse fic.

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak 

Published: 2006

Review: Powerful look at the Holocaust that gets you really attached.

Title: Ash

Author: Malinda Lo

Published: 2010

Review: Magical, beautiful retelling of Cinderella.

Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Author: Stephen Chbosky

Published: 1990

Review: Look at teen life, every single aspect of it, friendship, abuse, mental issues, fitting in, standing out, general awesomeness. There wasn't a full review because it's impossible to describe how amazing it was.

Book Review-Entangled by Cat Clarke

Title: Entangled

 Author: Cat Clarke

Series:  N/A

Published:  6 January 2011 by Quercus

Length: 372 pages

Warnings: Teenage pregnancy, alcohol, sex, self harm 14+

Source: Book swap

Other info: Cat’s other novel is called Torn. She has an upcoming one, but I’ve forgotten what it’s called.  Entangled won The Redbridge Teenage Book Award today.

Summary : 17-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with table, pens and paper—and no clue how she got there. As Grace pours her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she’s tried to forget. There’s falling hopelessly in love with the gorgeous Nat, and the unravelling of her relationship with her best friend Sal. But there’s something missing. As hard as she’s trying to remember, is there something she just can’t see? Then, in a story full of dangerous revelations, Grace must face the most important question of all: why is she here?

Review: Grace wakes up in a blank white room with pens, paper and nothing to do except write. And so she writes. As she does, she remembers more and one about her old life. Sal, the friend who grows distant and comes back. Nat, the boy she was in love with. Her cutting, what led her to it and where it led her. 

I was really intrigued by the idea of this. The first sentence of the blurb meant it could go any direction. And everyone else seemed to love it. A good start.

I love the fact that the first chapter is called Day Three. From two words, you're hooked, thinking about what happened to the two other days, and so on.

There's two separate storyline that later converge. Both Grace's being in the white room and Grace's life beforehand were equally intriguing, with new developments happening regularly.

You feel as though you're going through everything with Grace. I felt really bad for Sal and Grace, even if they're not good role models with perfect morals. All characters are flawed to some extent that makes you sympathise a bit for them, as well as making you want to tell them to get themselves sorted.

Grace goes through a lot. It seems like most of the issues in contemporary YA are addressed to some extent. Sometimes it gets a bit tiring though, and I would have liked to see more of characters like Sophie as a reminder that not everybody has really terrible lives!

I liked Ethan, even though he was a little annoying in that he provided for everything Grace wanted. He was very sweet, and Grace deserved him.  

The ending is really sudden and unexpected. It was a bit disappointing for somebody to suddenly get written out, but overall it works.

Grace's voice isn't ultra sarky or smart, but her character really comes through in the way that she tells the story. 

There's some little details that really make this book great. The irregular chapter numbers. Grace's notes to self. The constant variation. These kinds of things kept me stuck in this book from start to finish.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a beautifully crafted story covering so much in a little(ish)book.

 Links: Amazon |  Goodreads | Author website |