This book was spooky and mysterious from beginning to end. I really enjoyed following Tierney through her grace year, from the engagement ceremony all the way through the end of the grace year for girls her age.

This story stunned me in the first third. It is very creepy and eerie while explaining how their world works, what the rules of the county are, and how Tierney feels about her position in the community. I was getting creepy vibes from the start but once the story moves into the second third and approaches the grace year camp, things really get eerie. I got a great sense of their world, the setting, and how the characters developed over time.

The second half of the story is where the twists come in a big way and the reveals are done really well. I had some idea of how the story would pan out but I was still surprised at some twists. I really liked how there was a sense of hope throughout, even though Tierney told the reader and herself that certain things wouldn’t end well.

Overall I was really impressed with this one. It feels very cinematic and there may be a film in the works, which would be very cool to see. I would probably read this book again in a year or two, as now that I know the end it would be interesting to see how things are foreshadowed and pick up on things I missed.

I would recommend this book to anyone who also enjoys The Handmaid’s Tale, The Village, survival stories, and stories that may involve witchcraft among teenage girls.

Great book and I agree with the likability to Lord of the Rings or Hunger Games. Tierney is a great character who wants more out of life and was easy to root for throughout her development in this novel!

Intelligent, haunting and mesmerizing emotional thriller

I loved this book so much. I wanted to stop at a few points and discuss with someone but I didn’t have anyone reading it with me or a book club to discuss it with. There is just so much worth talking about. I am feeling so much and out this book right now. I just saw that it is being made into a movie and I already can’t wait. I was totally engrossed throughout the entire book and it surprised me more often than not. Almost every time I expected something to happen, something completely unexpected happened instead.

It starts out with the main character Tierney who is about to enter her Grace Year. The county is set up with extremely misogynistic laws. They say that girls have magic in their sixteenth year and that they are dangerous so they send all the girls away to a separate colony in the woods for a year, and the girls from the previous year return on the same day as the new girls leave.

Before leaving they have a ceremony where the boys from their year choose from the girls who they want to marry and they give veils to the girls fathers the night before then at the ceremony. Each father bring the veil home to his daughter and at the ceremony the boy lifts the veil and the girl see who they will belong to when and if they return. The girls not chosen will either be sent to the fields or put to service for the remainder of their lives. Tierney isn’t like other girls, she doesn’t long to get a vail and get married, she actually wants to work in the fields. She feels being married is tantamount to being owned.

One strange part of the story is the girls that go away, they are at a colony-like place surrounded by walls and woods and there are poachers outside the walls. So if any of the girls stray from the path on the way there, try to escape while they are there or get banished by the rest of the girls for some reason, are almost immediately caught by the poachers. They skin the girls alive and put all of their organs and parts into jars to be sold on the black market. The poachers won’t come into the colony for fear of being cursed by the magic.

The poachers are men from the outskirts of the county. They are generally the sons of prostitutes. People (women or girls) from the county can get banned to the outskirts as punishment. Young girls are punished if their sisters go missing during their Grace year and their bodies are not accounted for by the poachers. Punishments are harsh, obviously and doled out by the council.

“In fact, the only time magic comes up is when it’s convenient for them. Like when Mrs. Pinter’s husband died, Mr. Coffey suddenly accused his wife of twenty-five years of secretly harboring her magic and levitating in her sleep. Mrs. Coffey was as meek and mild as they come—hardly the levitating sort—but she was cast out. No questions asked. And surprise, surprise, Mr. Coffey married Mrs. Pinter the following day.”
“But if I ever made such an accusation, or if I came back from my grace year unbroken, I would be sent to the outskirts to live among the prostitutes.”

What happens during Tierney’s Grace Year is quite a revelation. I couldn’t figure out for the longest time if the magic was real or not. Also we know that in certain ways Tierney was more prepared for the year than many of her female counterparts, because she was a tomboy and worked with her father as well as spent a lot of time in the woods with Michael, but she had so much going against her. Kiersten was the leader of the girls and she makes an awesome villain. She was evil from the beginning when she teased Tierney saying she would “pray for her to get a vail”.

During the this time, I think I felt everything Tierney was feeling. The book was so well written. The characters all came alive, I could see the camp, the well, the cots, the tree it was all so vivid. I really can’t wait for it to be brought to life in movie form. I don’t like to give away any spoilers past the beginning 10-20% of the book, so I won’t go into more, but to say that Tierney finds a lot of truth about herself, her family, and her society as she is out there. It is a true physical and emotional journey and it’s awesome!

That to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC In exchange for an honest review.

I’ve had a lot going on lately and just could not concentrate on reading. It definitely was not the books fault. In the end I thought it was beautifully written with a great message and very relevant to the times we are in today. I enjoyed the main character, Tierney. Tierney is not one to bow her head and follow along. She is the badass female lead that the book needed to get its message across. Tierney wants life in Garner County to be different, she’s tired of feel like women are pitted against each other. She fights for the girls to work together and change the way the Grace Year has played out for years. I liked Tierney as a character and was rooting for her throughout the novel.
I have seen The Grace Year likened to the Handmaid’s Tale which I have not read (or watched) but I did get some feminine Lord Of The Flies vibes with a teaspoon of Hunger Games and a pinch of Lauren Oliver’s Delirium. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t what I personally needed to pull me out of my slump however I can definitely see why it has gotten so many rave reviews. I give this a 3.5 ⭐️ rating.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced e-galley.

***Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All my reviews are my own honest opinions of each selection.***

WOW! I finished reading this ARC about a week ago and it has taken me this long to process all the thoughts and emotions running through as far as this book is concerned. There are so many themes weaved together in that I am not even sure what to focus on for this review. I refuse to ruin this for anyone with spoilers so I am just going to highlight a few key points/themes.


Tierney James is a 16 year old girl living in Garner County, where the women are taught to be docile and obedient to the men. The men know what's best for everyone, especially the women which is why they have a grace year. The year the local girls turn 16 they are all banished to the outside of town to live in a camp together with no one else but each other for an entire year to rid themselves of their magic. They must get rid of it so they can't lead men astray with their charms and persuasion. Once the year is up any surviving girls are returned home to begin the rest of their lives as the perfect wives, mothers, or workers they are expected to be. The main rule is literally....."what happens in Grace Year stays in Grace Year". Unlike the rest majority of the girls, Tierney just wants to get it over and done with so she can find some sort of freedom by being assigned to work in the fields/gardens. Her best friend Michael changes all that for her in a second by forcing her to do the one think she never wanted to do.

During the grace year Tierney witness murder, torture, bullying, and some other very dark things. She also uncovers some disturbing information about her town, friends, grace year itself, and her own family that changes her whole outlook on life. The true test is simply surviving to see another day let alone a whole year. All is not dark in this story though. There are moments of real compassion, understanding and even love.

This book is set to be released on October 8 and it's already been optioned for a movie (which will surely be amazing). I give this one 5/5 stars because I found not one single thing I disliked or would change.

Like with Fight Club, I am going to break the rule: You do not speak of the grace year…. Well I won’t be giving specifics on the grace year…. To find out everything, you must read this book!

In this dystopian world we can say goodbye to “Sweet Sixteen” and hello to “The Grace Year”. When all girls turn sixteen, they are sent away to fend for themselves for a year….Wait! I mean the girls are sequestered together to cleanse themselves of the magic they possess that will drive men crazy with lust and women crazy in anger and jealousy. Once the girls are cleansed they are then ready to become wives, if they have been previously chosen. This is also if they survive their grace year, which not everyone does.

Our protagonist is Tierney and it is time for her grace year to begin. We go on her journey of preparing for her grace year. She knows what she wants her future to hold and knows it will be that way despite the grace year; but will it be as she wants? Tierney is a tomboy in a world where women are the ‘weaker’ gender, so she isn’t your typical female. I liked Tierney and was rooting for her to pull through and survive her grace year despite the odds against her.

The Grace Year is a mix of The Handmaid’s Tale and Lord of the Flies with a dash of The Hunger Games. This is a world that today’s woman would not want to live in. It is a dark, disturbing, and violent novel that also pulls you in and you don’t want stop reading. While reading it you will feel a variety of emotions and it also leaves you thinking about so many things. Then we have that ending which leaves you open mouthed and hoping that Liggett writes a sequel. Movie rights have been optioned and I hope they treat the novel right.
I would suggest this novel for ages 15 and up given the violence that occurs.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for granting me an arc copy via Netgalley. It was an honor to read and review The Grace Year.

When I first saw this book, I was intrigued. This book sounded like maybe, just maybe, it could finally be a breath of fresh air in the YA book world. Imagine my excitement when I received an ARC and could finally dig into the story. From the first few pages, I was enchanted by the story and the author’s writing. However, I made the mistake of reading it on my lunch break at work and was itchy and annoyed until I could go home and crack open the book again. Fortunately for me, it was a Friday that I started this book. Unfortunately, it was an extremely rare occurrence that I had to work the next morning. I did not want to put this book down. Ok, let’s be honest. I couldn’t put this book down. It was that good. Finally, I told myself that as much as I needed to finish this book for my own sanity, I had to get up in the morning. That was one of the longest shifts I think I have ever had at work. Eventually it was time to go home. I finished that book like a crazed bookworm.

Tierney James’s Grace Year has arrived. Her two older sisters have both survived, but it’s different when it’s your turn, knowing that you could walk away to your unknown destination and never return... well, never return alive or in one piece. Tierney struggles with her want for change; for things to be better for the women of her county. They are seen as nothing more than property for their husbands, and if they do not receive a veil, a promise of marriage, before they leave for their grace year, they will return to be used as laborers. The most unfortunate ones, the girl’s whose sisters do not come back alive or dead, are casted out to the borders to a life of prostitution. Sounds horrible, right? But there is hope. Where there is life, there will always be hope.

Before the girls arrive at the destination for their grace year, a leader is already forming. This leader believes only in herself and will lead the girls down a dark, dangerous path that nothing can prepare them for. There is blood, death, a loss of hope for some, and let us not forget about the poachers. If you are unfortunate enough to be caught, well, let’s hope you have a good pain tolerance because they do not give you the mercy you cry out for. This is a dark book, but oh so beautifully written. This is the kind of book all girls need to read. I wish this book was around when I was sixteen.

The women hold all the power. After all, isn’t their magic the reason that they are cast out for a year at sixteen years of age? They hold the power and yet the men suppress them. Fortunately for Tierney, there is love of many forms that she will find and learn to cherish. Tierney was the perfect main character for this story. I bonded with the goodbye with her at the end of the book was bittersweet.

This is a book I feel honored for receiving. The publishers entrust us reviewers to read their books and spread the word about them, to give them feedback on our read experience. This book though...this book I need, not want, need a physical copy of. I need to hold it in my hands, put it on my bookshelf and read over and over again.


Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett is one of the top five books I have listened to this year. I am blown away by how hard Liggett’s writing hit me. This story is one that will stay with me for awhile and definitely would be one that I am happy to revisit either via audiobook or physical print book. It is that good.

Liggett’s The Grace Year is set in this community where every year all of the sixteen year old girls are rounded up and set to live outside the community in this compound on their own. The reason being that everyone thinks the girls have this magic that makes them irresistible to men and so going to this compound allows them to use up all of their magic and return home ordinary.

Tierney is about to start her grace year and just wants to get it done and over with. She thinks when she’s done she’ll be working the fields. A wrench is thrown in her plans and she receives a veil, however, which means she’ll have to marry when she gets back from her grace year. It all mostly gets worse from there. So, anyways, what ends up happening is a Lord Of The Flies type situation where the girls are pitted against each other (this is the own doing of the girls) while they also have to fear these men outside the compound called poachers.

What ends up happening is that The Grace Year makes you think about the patriarchy. It makes you think of how women can be oppressed by society while also being complicit in that oppression. Yet, you also end up having empathy for them as well. Personally, there’s one character who is not all that nice who drives a lot of the horrible things Tierney goes through, yet I could totally understand how she became that way and why.

The audiobook is narrated by Emily Shaffer. It is 11 hours and 42 minutes. My goodness, those 11 hours go by quick. This is one of those audiobooks that I felt compelled to always be listening to. I appreciate that so much because I had been in a bit of a funk and this audiobook helped me get out of that funk. Shaffer is a perfect choice for Tierney and narrator. Of course, production values are on point. If you need a recommendation for your next audiobook pick this one out.

“𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚎’𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚞𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚜, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗.”

𝙺𝚒𝚖 𝙻𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚛

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 stars!!

It took me a few days to properly get my thoughts together to review The Grace Year, but I’m still thinking about this book days later!

Compared to The Handmaid’s Tale, (while I myself have yet to read, I know.. I know..) I can’t comment since I haven’t read, but I loved this society that exists in the fictional town of Garner County, as we see a group of young women, on the cusp of their sixteenth year embark on a journey to unleash their magical powers.

With a mix of suspense, empowerment, and survival, The Grace Year delivered in a big way, and I loved it! The writing grabbed my attention and never let up, and I was so curious about this mysterious, secretive Grace Year that the girls were not allowed to speak of afterwards.

This book is dark and twisted, with atmospheric, seasonal elements. I can see how this novel is compared to Hunger Games, based on the girls being in the wilderness, with the height of “poachers” on the outskirts of the encampment, and the uncertainty of what is actually going on, but it was also so different from anything I’ve read.

Main character Tierney shows all the signs of a feminist, but there are also shades of “mean girls” in some of the other girls, where I was hoping for more themes of the young women building one another up.

*thank you to publisher, netgalley and Libro.fm for this gifted copy

3.5/5 stars

**thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free eARC of this through netgalley. all thoughts are my own**

WOW. this was a RIDE.

I firmly believe you should go into this blind but I will say that the grace year is the handmaid’s tale meets lord of the flies and it is an absolute PAGE TURNER.

this book is so eerie and creepy and unsettling but I could not put it down. and that ENDING !! whew so good.

the narration was a lil all over the place at times, especially near the end but, again, I just couldn’t put this down. It was so entertaining and chilling.

if you’re looking for a book that will send shivers down your spine this is the one.

In the grace year it's told they can"lure grown men from their beds,make boys lose their minds,and drive the wives mad with jealousy""their skin emits a scent of youth and they are banished on sixteenth year to "release magic into the wild" the events were too off the wall for me.#netgalley

The Grace Year
By Kim Liggett

Read: August 2nd-3rd, 2019
Edition: ARC e-book, NetGalley
Pre-Ordered: YES


I was provided a free copy of The Grace Year through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I regret that it has taken me this long to write my review for The Grace Year, but this book isn't like other books. The Grace Year has now become apart of me. It happened slowly, I didn't even realize it was happening at first, day after day, week after week The Grace Year kept digging into my subconscious, ingraining itself with my inner soul, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Grace Year is a mystery. I mean, seriously, we have NO IDEA what is going to happen in this book. All we know is that 16 year old girls have to go into the woods for a year. That's it. Well, color me intrigued. I requested the book upon immediate discovery and the rest is history... No no no. I got the book, I read it in less than 24 hours and I'm still thinking about it over a month later. The Grace Year is multi-layered, and sewn together perfectly, it's no wonder the rights have been sold for a movie. With extreme highs and extreme lows, The Grace Year will take you on a ride for your life. It will open your eyes, frighten, and inspire you. The Grace Year is made to make you look at your inner self and how we interact with the people around us. It also teaches us about love and loss and the secret language of flowers. 5/5 everyone and their families should read The Grace Year.

This book absolutely blew me away! It was haunting and left me with quite the book hangover. On a girls sixteenth year - their "Grace Year" they are banished to fight for survival in order to purge themselves of their dangerous "magic". The Grace Year is set in this oppressive and claustrophobic little world. I think the world building was exquisite, it was vague but very fitting for the story because you never quite knew what is lurking and was going to come next. I just thought it was amazing and a rare opportunity to see world building done right.

I really like the metaphor this book told and was a unique take on describing the patriarchy, that is forces women into a position where they are enemies, constantly competing and measuring themselves against the other. It can make women automatic enemies that have to tear down and consume one another get ahead. It's powerful because it's all too true.

I wish would could have gotten a little more storyline revolving around the inner workings of the camp. I was just so curious to know what it was like. Other than that small thing, I thought the novel was amazing and haunting. I would highly recommend it.

It is rare that I read a book that has been compared to other books and agree with the comparisons. This book has been compared to The Handmaid's Tale and Lord of the Flies. It certainly combined themes from both, but honestly I enjoyed it more than either.

I thought the storyline was interesting and the writing was engaging. I liked the characters even though they were not perfect and I worried for their safety. I did not agree with all of their decisions, but was not rolling my eyes at their stupidity because even though I didn't love a decision, I could see how the character could make that choice, which made it believable. I loved how you slowly got to know things about different characters and your perspective changed regarding some people. I also loved watching the growth of the MC as she also discovered these different aspects of people.

I expected some of the things that happened in the book, but there were plenty of parts that I didn't see coming as well. It was a difficult book to put down and I continued to think about it long after I stopped reading.

The only issue I had with this story was that I didn't love the end! Without giving anything away, it is a type of ending that I generally can't stand, but it worked in this book. However, even though I think that it worked, I just still didn't love it.

Overall, I think this book is absolutely worth a read and I will be looking for future work from this author. I definitely recommend this one to anyone interested in YA dystopian stories. 4.5★

If you ever wanted to read the love child of Lord of the Flies and Handmaid's Tale, this is your book. Fantastic read in a macabre style that this author is fantastic at. I felt like one major part was kinda rushed as it just hits you in the face without subtle clues leading up to it, but still a great read with a thought provoking provocative and relatable content for the current climate women are going through. Very power story.

Thank- you to NetGalley, Libro.Fm and  Wednesday Books for my copy. All opinions are my own. The Hunger Games meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this haunting and disturbing tale. At the age of sixteen, all women must go into the wild for a year to release their magic.  The people of Garner County call this the Grace Year and speaking of it is forbidden. As Tierney James Grace Year approaches, she dreams of a world in which women aren’t pitted against each other in a battle to survive.  This book is eery, completely creepy and I could not put it down. More than just another psychological thriller, this book has a deeper message in a well-written unputdownable book.

I’m not sure what irked me more in the world The Grace Year, the fact that women were not allowed to socialize with one another, or that women were not allowed to dream. Set in a dystopian reality, the Grace Year follows sixteen-year-old Tierney James, as she enters into her “grace year”, where she and the other sixteen-year-olds are sent away into the woods to rid themselves of their “magic”. Facing the perils of poachers, wildlife, and most of all each other, the girls must find a way to survive and return home.

I devoured this book. On multiple occasions I stayed up much later than I should have, glued to the page, ravenous for more. The book is set up in 5 sections, a prologue, and the four seasons. It was difficult to find a stopping point because there were not traditional chapters, and the plot just continued propelling me forward.

I loved Tierney’s character. She knows the society she lives in is not the life she wants for herself, yet she’s acutely aware of the consequences to others, especially her sisters, if she steps out of line. She tries her best to keep her wits about her while in the encampment (the area the girls are sent during their grace year), even as the other girls lose their minds and turn against her.

I’ve heard this book referred to multiple times as The Handmaid’s Tale meets Lord of the Flies, and while I think that’s an accurate description, it doesn’t quite do it justice. The Grace Year is entirely original. Set in a society that’s expertly designed to favor men, and turn women against each other, it completely marveled me by its depth and complexity.

At times I was positively infuriated at the events and the injustice in the book. At others, I felt hopeful and happy for the characters. I would recommend the Grace Year to anyone who likes dystopian stories and suspense.

5 out of 5 stars

"White ribbons for the young girls, red for the grace year girls, and black for the wives. Innocence. Blood. Death."

The sixteenth year of Tierney James life as she prepares to go on her Grace Year she dreams of a better life. A more promising life away from the county, in the outskirts working in labor as she would rather do that if she survives. You see, in the county each Autumn every sixteen year old girl is given the chance to receive a veil from a male in the county. Those who do not get picked are sent out to become laborers or become prostitutes to service the men from the county. After the veiling ceremony the girls are sent out to spend a year far from the county to fend for themselves and to find their magic and get rid of it. You see, all the men in the county believe that girls and woman are the source of evil. Eve was the first woman and she tainted all woman that came after her. She carried with her a terrible magic and the only way that the men of the county can feel safe is to send the girls off. Not every girl makes it back. There are poachers that will happily capture the girls and skin them alive to collect their "magical" blood to sell to the county. Plus they want the bounty. The girls that make it back are never allowed to even discuss the Grace Year.

When I read the premise of this book I was very excited to read this but as I started reading it took me a bit to get into this. I must say that after a little bit I was completely hooked. There is more to it than that though. There is something really special about this book. Even though this is a dystopian mystery in the climate that we are living now this is a very important novel. When I read The Hand Maid's Tale I remember thinking that could never happen, even in the distant future. Now, not so much. I can see this happening sometime. This is more than a cautionary tale. It is gruesome, bloody,bold and sometimes very hard to read but in the best way.

Let's start off with what I did not like about The Grace Year: The breakdown of the plot, mainly the main character Tierney. She was steady and relatable in the beginning but by the time she leaves for her grace year and new relationships and new motives form, personalities change. I really didn't like how things went.

What I liked about this book: I love dystopians and I really thought that this had a pretty unique concept. I love books with survivalist elements so I loved the grace year scenes and thought they were extremely well-written. And speaking of well-written, there were so many twists and turns in this book I could hardly keep my head on straight at times. Sometimes this was bittersweet but overall that's mostly what kept me reading.

This book was stunning, let’s just get that out of the way now. I adored every second of it and I know that it’s one that I’m going to read again. I was a fan of the other books that I’ve read by Kim Liggett, and this one sounded like the exact type of dark and creepy book that I love, and I’m so glad that it didn’t disappoint.

There’s so much going on in this story, but it’s so scary and twisted because it’s entirely about the characters and the patriarchy that rules this society. Women are believed to be full of magic that they use to manipulate and seduce men, so when they turn 16 they’re forced into the woods for a year in order to get rid of all their magic so that they can return to be good wives and mothers, or workers if they aren’t chosen to be a wife by one of the eligible men. They can be accused of anything and put to death without a trial and small things are forbidden like talking to other women outside of church, or dreaming, or leaving your hair down. It’s a really oppressive society and the tone of the book and the world these characters are living in is set from the very first page.

Tierney is the absolute best main character, she’s smart and resourceful and questions everything. But I also really like the way that she doesn’t automatically hate the other girls for not doubting things and for wanting to just be safe and carry on with the way they’ve been raised. She knows that she wants to change to happen, but also realizes that it’s dangerous and that it’s not something she can force. The other girls are really good characters as well, and they all play a different part in the story.

The book takes place from right before the grace year and all the way through it, and it shows the growth and the desperation and the darkness within each and every character. It was so heartbreaking watching the girls as they struggled through the year, and there are definitely some gory bits, so if you don’t like that beware. But it’s also a really well laid out and well written story. It’s a fascinating and terrifying premise but it’s also all about these girls and how they cope with the little bit of freedom that they’re given for once in their life.

So much happens in this story, and a lot of it will make you sad and angry, but it’s really hopeful and beautiful in the end. I could probably talk about this one forever and all the intricacies in the story but honestly, you should just read it. It’s beautiful and dark and heartbreaking and gruesome and I loved it.