Review: ENTANGLED by Cat Clarke

Entangled by Cat Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Seventeen-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with table, pens and paper - and no clue how she got there.
As Grace starts writing, pouring her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she's tried to forget: falling hopelessly in love with Nat, and the unravelling of her friendship with her best mate Sal. But there's something missing. As hard as she's trying to remember, is there something she just can't see?

Grace must face the most important question of all.

Why is she here?

A compulsive thriller of dangerous secrets, intense friendships and electrifying attraction.

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Entangled is the third book by Cat Clarke that I’ve read and I have slightly mixed feelings on it. On the one hand, this is an amazing book, tackling hugely important subjects in a very powerful way. But on the other, I just didn’t feel I connected to it on the same level as her other books—there were certain things I found hard to believe (all revolving around the character of Ethan) and Grace’s present-day storyline was one I didn’t find that engaging as it didn’t seem that believable. But the ending and the huge reveal about Ethan totally made it all make sense—the reasons behind why this character was written that way, and what was going on with Grace in the present-day scenes, became totally clear and made the book suddenly a lot deeper and more thoughtful. I now see that it couldn’t have been written any other way, and having this sense of disconnection with Grace and Ethan, and the confusion, made sense. It was a relief to know that Cat Clarke had been one step ahead of me the whole time.

One striking thing about this book is how it jumps from the past to the present tense, and how the words we read are the words the MC writes as Ethan encourages her to write. I really liked that. It was very much a story told through another story, and the non-linear narrative made it very interesting.

**minor spoilers in this paragraph** ENTANGLED deals with some difficult topics: self-harm, sexual assault, trauma, teen pregnancy, abortion, attempted suicide (and the suicide of a parent), self-worth, and betrayal, to name a few. You’ve also got complex familial relationships and an examination of communication.

The characterisation is strong. Grace, Sal, and Nat were all very rounded characters, believable and with realistic flaws. Due to spoilers, I can’t write much about Ethan—his character is odd, but that is explained and “redeemed”. My slight annoyance is how Si isn’t given much page-time, yet he’s revealed to be a crucial character by the end. In fact, I don’t even remember any scenes where Grace (the narrator) met him and thus I felt a disconnection.

This book is a page-turner though. There’s something deliciously compelling about the writing, and I read pretty much the whole book over night.