I was hooked as soon as I heard it compared to the handmaids tale. It definitely gave me similar vibes when I was reading this.

I can not reccomend this book enough. 1st of that ending..I just cant.. I'm an utter mess now. This was like The Handmaid's Tale, and The Hunger Games mixed. The writing was brilliant

Holy intensity!! This book was so fast-paced and intense from start to finish. It felt like a perfect mix of the Hunger Games and The Handmaid's Tale rolled into one firestorm. It is very plot driven, but keeps the personalities of the characters at the forefront at the same time. Highly recommend if you're looking for a wild ride!

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

My thoughts:
I thorouglhy enjoyed this book. It was quite different from what I usually read but It had hints of Hunger Games which I enjoyed as well. Can't wait to read more by this author!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

I am always reluctant to read books with so much hype because they usually lead to disappointment. I never seem to learn and still end up reading them...I seem to be the outlier again, with the unpopular opinion of not liking this book. Marketed as a'strong feminist tale', this gave me more 'Lord of the Flies' vibes with all the female characters hating each other. I prefer to read books where women lift each other up NOT tear each other down.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books for providing a digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review

This book is the granddaughter of The Handmaid's Tale. While it is hard for me to read a lot of dystopian literature, because it often feels like we are living in a dystopian novel, I enjoyed this one mostly for the way it surgically explained patriarchy and the way it pits women against each other. The idea that women had to rid themselves of magic that makes themselves irresistible to men was the perfect metaphor for rape culture.

While the book was conceptually perfect, oftentimes I felt like some things were being rushed and it might have worked well as a duology or trilogy. Altogether I enjoyed the novel and would recommend it to my students who are looking for something a little darker than The Hunger Games.

Oh wow!! I will be talking about this book for a long time and definitely recommending it to everyone. I knew from the start that this book would be a hit. It was so disturbing and and so powerful.

Thank you to Kim, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for an advance copy of The Grace Year.

When the girls in Garner County turn sixteen, they’re banished into the woods for one year to get their aphrodisiac-like magic out and return pure and ready to be married or take their employment…if they make it back alive. Out there they will battle their own mental demons, the elements, each other, and even poachers hoping to kill and sell their parts on the black market.

Tierney does not want this life. She doesn’t want a marriage. She doesn’t want the traditions, she doesn’t want to feel suffocated. She just wants to spend her days out in the fields and hanging with her best friend, effectively making her an outcast among the town girls. But when the marriage ceremony comes, instead of having no proposal as she expected, her best friend hands her a flower and pledges to marry her upon her return from the grace year. Now, on top of not really having any girl friends to confide in and take the journey with, she has also made some big-time enemies due to her new engagement.

This book was on my radar for so long, I have no clue how it took me so long to read when I had the ARC on my kindle, but life is full of mysteries.

I saw a lot of people comparing this to The Hunger Games and I can totally see that. It’s a weird twist on a feminist / mental battle of the Games, where the town or your belief system is the Capitol. There were so many ‘enemies’ in this book, and very few of them were real tangible things that you could physically address which I think was one of the most fascinating pieces to the idea. It’s such a hard thing to make people see what you see when they’re standing next to you going through the same experiences but receiving it in a totally different way. The struggle to prove you’re ‘sane’ when you feel crazy; to fight the literal man, to go against tradition. These are all things that real people are battling in everyday real life, thus making a dystopian story about something that feels far-fetched hit a little closer to home.

The story itself was good. I am always searching for a dystopian that, like I said feels far-fetched, but can also hit you with the ‘well, it could happen’ vibe. The world that The Grace Year is set in gave me Puritan, almost old-world feelings rather than a dystopian future, but I also could see a future where some societies have rejected. I also felt a strong influence from Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery.

Tierney was a good character, I had a lot of fun following her and watching her try to keep her rebellious nature in check while also remaining true to herself. There was a lot of ‘will she, won’t she’ when it came to her speaking her mind or standing up for what she was thinking/feeling and that led to watching an interesting internal battle unfold.

This book was fantastic! Full of intrigue, great plot, and writing. Everything about this book made it hard to put down and made me want to read non-stop.

I won't lie ... I initially thought this book was going to be really immature and a knock off of the Hunger Games. Boy was I wrong. The horror in this book is so well done and, for me, it was an unexpected surprise. I wish the romance was amped up a little bit and at times the dialogue seemed forced. But, overall, I think this was a smart spin on a theme that scratches an itch for people who grew up on the Hunger Games.

I really loved this book and I ended up giving it a 5 stars! I can't wait to add this book to my collection! I adore this book so much! I loved the main character so much and felt for her! I liked the ending but I wanted a happy ending in this. The main character is helping make a change and I love that too.

This book was hard to put down! And the ending made me really emotional.

The Grace Year is such an exciting mix of horror, survival and the best of YA dystopias from 5-10 years back. It really is like a darker, more feminist version of The Hunger Games. I had a really busy week, but I looked for every opportunity possible to sit down with this book and get sucked back into this ugly patriarchal world. Nothing gets my blood pumping and the pages turning like a heavy dose of infuriating unfairness.

It's dark and gory. It's very much a tale of survival against the odds. But what is so odd about The Grace Year is that it’s about women going wild, being jealous, viciously hurting each other, and yet it somehow manages to be a celebration of women and the ties between them. Mothers and daughters. Sisters. Friends. It's quite incredible how Liggett takes these women to their very worst so that we can eventually appreciate them at their best.

When girls turn 16, they're banished so they can release their magic during their "grace year," in order to protect men from being lured by their power. At the mercy of nature, with few supplies, and surrounded by dangerous poachers, the girls who survive return to either marry or be banished to workhouses or fields. Tierney has dreaded this year, and now it has come for her.

Part Lord of the Flies, part Handmaid's Tale, this dark, twisted look at a world that seems both similar and dissimilar from the one in which we live is memorable above all things. The main characters in this one are well drawn, and the narration is powerful. Readers will keep turning pages to see what becomes of Tierney and the other girls, though the tertiary characters are woefully underdeveloped. The book's conclusion is surprising, and will offer readers much to discuss and think about. Perfect for book discussion groups and an engaging, feminist tale that will resonate with readers of YA, both old and young.

This book was hard to put down. Loved how dark it was. The writing was gripping and fast past. I appreciated the feminist tone to the book.

The premise of "The Grace Year" was interesting enough. Unfortunately, I feel the story fell a bit flat in overall execution. It was a little too predictable as well and I felt the story could have been a bit better.

I enjoyed this book. loved how the story was told and the plot. i will be looking for the next novel this author writes.

The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games: I loved the world building and had high hopes for this book. However, I think the addition of romance diminishes the message. Overall, I couldn’t stop reading!

This was like a twisted blend of "Handmaid's Tale" and "Yellowjackets" - I love a good dystopian novel with a strong, female protagonist and "The Grace Year" did not disappoint.

I won't go into the premise of the plot because I think I liked it better not knowing what to expect. Liggett did a fantastic job creating an entirely new culture and customs for this story. Even the language felt inventive and purposeful - adding an entirely dark new meaning to certain words and phrases. There were several twists in the storytelling that I appreciated (so that it didn't land in too-familiar territory) and I liked that there was so much more going on with each character than what meets the eye.

Have to say: I absolutely cannot wait to see what Liggett writes next. It'll be interesting to see what genre she tackles next. This was supposedly YA but it didn't read too juvenile to me at all. So, I think she can take on anything and it would result in another stellar book like this one. Heart-wrenching, fast-paced, and creepy as hell!

I unfortunately did not get a chance to post my review in time, but the ending to this book has stuck with me over the last couple of years. It is a great and thought-provoking book reminiscent of Lord of the Flies. I have recommended it to others over the years.

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this dystopian story of life, love, and friendships! Felt very much in the vein of Lord of the Flies. I have given this book to many patrons to read since we purchased.