*** 4 Stars***
Expected Publication: October 8th, 2019

The Grace Year refers to the 16th year of a females life where they are sent to an isolated camp to get rid of the "magic" they have over men, If they survive the year they are then married off or assigned as a worker for life. Majority of reviews I've read regarding this book have been rave 5 star reviews and I totally get it, however, the beginning of this is what held my review back. The story just dives right in without any background information or character development so for the first 1/4 of the book I was kinda like whaaaa and whyyyy?? But if you sit back and allow the story develop, it's totally worth it. I had tears in my eyes by the end and totally loved this book. Highly recommend this!!

Special thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 ½ stars

This has to be one of the hardest most heartbreaking books I’ve read in awhile. Right from the start we’re thrown into a world where men rule and women are expected to fall into line, where 16 year old girls are thrown into a camp away from society to cleanse themselves of their magic.
This book has been pitched as The Handmaid's Tale meets Lord of the Flies meets The Hunger Games and it’s the perfect comparison.

Tierney James is about to start her grace year, the year when all 16 year old girls are thrown into the wilds in order to cleanse themselves of their dark sinful magic, a magic that can seduce any man but it’s not just the wilds or the poachers- men who are paid to hunt and kill the girls for there magic- they have to survive it’s each other to.

This book is horrifying and heartbreaking all in one the world felt so real that it could be set in reality and not just a dystopian novel. The grace year was a fast read despite it being more than 400 pages it’s fast paced, interesting and it kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened to everyone.

Tierney is a headstrong character she wants to be in control of her own future and not let the men decided what she has to do with her body, she’s clever but naive at times and I felt so much for her. The girls in the camp are terrifying the longer the year goes on the more ruthless and blood thirsty they get even going as far as maiming each other and it was like reading a nightmare I would not want to be anywhere near the camp these girls are in.

I’m not sure if this was a popular or unpopular opinion but I actually really liked the romance in the book and while I can see that it might not have been super necessary and seemed to slow the book down (I always wondered in the back of my mind what was going on in the camp with all the other girls) I did enjoy it a lot and liked Tierney and Ryker as a couple. There were a few parts between them that really spoke to me.

I thought the religious aspect was interesting and a terrifying they blame eve for the fall of human kind (no unlike some religions) and because of that women are seen as evil sinners who need to be watched and controlled.

“In the county, there’s nothing more dangerous than a woman who speaks her mind. That’s what happened to Eve, you know, why we were cast out from heaven. We’re dangerous creatures. Full of devil charms. If given the opportunity, we will use our magic to lure men to sin, to evil, to destruction.” My eyes are getting heavy, too heavy to roll in a dramatic fashion. “That’s why they send us here.”

the ending, that ending ripped me apart so hard I don’t want to spoil it for anyone but it shows that some things can’t be changed in big ways like in some books let’s say the hunger games but can only be changed in small ways the ending is heartbreakingly hopeful.

There’s so much meaning in this book I don’t even know if I can write about everything I would definitely recommend the grace year. I also want to add really quick that my favorite parts of the grace year had to be the dreams and all there meanings.

i want to thank Wednesday Books for giving me a copy though Netgalley

I am here to tell you that the hype for this book is real folks!

The Grace Year is a haunting combination of The Handmaids Tale and The Hunger Games and truly delivers on all fronts

The book follows a collection of sixteen year old girls sent to live in the woods as they enter their "grace year" which has an aphrodisiac quality. The political timing of this book could not be more perfect, and I found myself thinking often of the current sexist dress code restrictions we place on our own high schoolers in this country. Because if some men had it their way, showing your shoulders would get you a one way ticket into the woods for "distracting other boys"

I could not put this book down. So twisty and amazing. Feminist, raw, real, and magical. A true must read for any teenage girl.

The Grace Year brings me back to my dystopian vibes. It's a story that promises a society where women are oppressed and thrown, each year, into the unknown to rid themselves of their magic. But it's also a story of perseverance, love, and rebellion. It's been a while since I've read The Handmaid's Tale - which is one of the comparative titles for The Grace Year - but it has that same theme of women's oppression. There are dark secrets hidden behind closed doors and in lingering glances. It's a deeply repressive culture for women, where they are punished without proof and hurt without mercy. But we actually spend more time outside of the village, in the wild of the Grace Year. The mysterious year which returns girls scarred, hollow, and forever changed propels the beginning of the book.

It's a book that both terrifies and celebrates. While you cannot argue that the setting isn't terrifying for women - a village where the accusation of witchcraft means certain death - there are also moments where we remember the power of love and friendship. The little acts of resistance, the influence of knowledge (both good and bad), and the way we must think for ourselves.

A feminist dystopian YA story self-described as “in the vein of The Handmaid’s Tale,” The Grace Year tells the story of Tierney. Like her mother and sisters before her, she gets to go away for “the Grace Year” along with all other 16 year old females in her county. They are secluded “to burn off the magic” that otherwise would wreak havoc among men. Nobody talks about what happens there, but it’s not pretty. I liked the story, it really drew me in, but I found its message too heavy-handed. Maybe it’s because it’s YA and younger people need to be hammered over the head with strong ideas but it was too much for me. It’s refreshing how not all men are horrible. Most are, but some are either misguided or really good. Women are awful to each other but they can change. Some characters are hiding secrets. I liked how self-reliant Tierney is, and the twist that explains what was going on was actually surprising, but the rhythm was a little too slow to really engross me completely. The chapters are very, very long and it’s hard to figure out where to take breaks. This is not a bad novel; it’s just not for me.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/St. Martin's Press!

I picked this book up because I was intrigued by the premise of this book. I thought, YES!!, a story I can get behind. But then I finished reading and was left with a feeling of disappointment. The execution just wasn't there for me.

We get little to no background on why the county's society is set up the way it is. I felt like I needed to know who decided to send these girls to camp for a year. What happened in the past that made this necessary before they were to be married? What was this "magic" that is so dangerous? Why have these women not revolted? So many questions, not a lot of answers.

I had high hopes for Tierney as soon as I met her. I thought, this is the girl that will change the world, or at least the world of Garner County. But then she gets to camp and it's a whole new girl we find ourselves reading about. Which I guess is the point of the Grace Year but I needed more from her. I needed her to stand up for herself and just have a little bit more grit and determination. I think the only time I felt this was when she was in the tree house truly fighting for her life. Then in a few short days, weeks, (not completely sure since jumping ahead with times was huge for this author) she falls in love. Ummmm, where is the girl from the beginning of the book who just wanted to be free?

By the end of this one I think I was doing more eye rolls than anything. It is just not what I was expecting and the end just was a huge let down. I expected a bigger revolt from the girls but I felt like we got exactly was <i>The Grace Year</i> was made for.

This is a true page turner! I couldn’t stop reading! This gave me Hunger Games vibes but EVEN BETTER. Upon their Grace Year girls are either vailed or not and sent out to ride themselves of their magic. It’s a fantastically woven story of magic, the power of women, and fighting to do the right thing. Do you get to choose your future is it all mapped out for you by the men?

I honestly loved this book. It was faced paced, thrilling and so interesting. Never quite sure what was coming next.

Thank you to netgalley and St. Martins Press for my copy in exchange for honest review!

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

FEATURING⇢

Dystopian Setting/Alternate World
Society Where Men Have the Power
Oppression Of Women
Horror-if-ic
Death, Lies, & Betrayals
Splash of Romance
Women Supporting Women
Stand-Alone


LINK TO SYNOPSIS (AUTHOR'S WEBSITE)


MY RATING⇢ 5+ STARS | GRADE A++




MY THOUGHTS⇢

Wow! This book...

This book is a lot of things...dubious, challenging, frustrating, darkly horrifying, curing, wonderful, loving, saddening, hopeful & most of all empowering.

I first started reading this about two months ago and had to stop because I just wasn't feeling it...I thought this is a premise that would never come to pass...or so help us all. I couldn't wrap my head around this society where women not only outnumber men, but their rights are so marginalized by these men, it's unthinkable, unbelievable. They are treated as property and made to go through a year away from everything they know to expel their magic. When they come back from this supposed magic-letting they are forced to marry the guy that chose them...and if no one chooses them (because women outnumber the men)...they have to work for the good of the community. This book will push your buttons...for sure.

The second time I started it, I found this enthralling...I devoured it in very little time. The Grace Year has earned a spot as one of my favorites of all time and I don't think I will ever forget it. I especially won't forget how it made me feel by the time I finished it. I was stunned, with everything that happens, and...So. Much. Happens. This one has all the feels, from the good to the bad, and everything in between.



THE BREAKDOWN⇢

Plot⇢ 5/5
Characters⇢ 5/5
The Feels⇢ 5+/5
Pacing⇢ 4.8/5
Addictiveness⇢ 5/5
Theme or Tone⇢ 5/5
Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 5/5
Backdrop (World Building)⇢ 4.5/5
Originality⇢ 5+/5
Ending⇢ 5/5 Cliffhanger⇢ Not really...
_____

Book Cover⇢ Love it. It's absolutely perfect.
Setting⇢ Garner County & a remote island within a great lake.
Source⇢ I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
eBook Length⇢ 416 pages

No one speaks of the Grace Year, to do so is forbidden. Once the young women receive veils from their intended spouses, all of the sixteen year old girls are sent outside of the community to burn through their dangerous magic so they may return the following year to be good wives, mothers, workers. Tierney James is sixteen and will be a grace year girl this year, but she dreams of being free, of not having to be a wife and mother, of not being trapped by rituals, traditions, and punishments.

I found The Grace Year to be a fascinating speculative dystopian novel that was dark and horrifying in all of the right ways. The plot is excellent and I found myself staying up late and getting up early to burn through this page turner of a book to find out what ultimately happens to Tierney and her fellow grace year girls. The dark, multi-layered threat of poachers who hunt the girls, a society that treats women as property, and the horrors that young women inflict upon one another ratcheted up the tension over and over. The world-building was excellent and I found I wanted much more of it. I would eagerly read an entire additional novel with the same setting as I found myself wishing for more stories of what was happening with the poachers, the women in the county, and women on the outskirts.

Fans of dystopian fiction like the Handmaid's Tale, Lord of the Flies, and the Hunger Games will fly through The Grace Year and be left wanting more.

The downside to early review copies is I want everyone I know to be reading this right now so we can talk about it. I've convinced my closest friends to get their copies but we have to wait until October. Meanwhile I have to contain myself so I don't spoil anything :)

I knew as soon as I started I was going to love this book, I didn't want to put it down but I wanted it not to end. I think everything was beautifully written and paced, I felt like I was part of the story and could picture it all perfectly. And there were subtle parts that just hit the right emotion so well.

On an aside I will be recommending this to my library. This would make an awesome book club pick, not just because it's good but because it has so much to discuss.

This book had it all in terms of themes covered. There was a great sense of survival and adventure, romance, it had the feel of a dystopian novel and yet written with the feel of the something in the past.

This book was intense. If time allowed - I would've consumed it in one sitting.

It was dark, descriptive, gruesome at times, but also beautiful with rays of hope throughout it all.

The writing is breathtakingly beautiful, it is fast paced and gripping and will literally make you never want to put this book down, even when real-life is calling your name and your responsibilities are shouting at you from afar.

If you're up for a gripping tale, one that speaks of hope, friendship and believing in the beauty of the future, that doesn't shy away from gore and doesn't ignore the ugly bits, then this book is 100% for you. If you enjoyed the Hunger Games, you will be sure to enjoy this novel that has a very dystopian feel.

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading this book review.

I received a free e-copy of The Grace Year by Kim Liggett from NetGalley for my honest review.

I don't normally read YA books, and I didn't realize that was what this book was until after I was asked to read and review it. Well, I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it.

This book is a very intense and very raw book that is full of violence. At the same time that it is violent and disturbing it is written so beautifully.

This book is about Tierney and her Grace Year. A Grace Year is an annual ceremony that all sixteen year-old girls go through in order to cleanse themselves of their magic. Magic that affects men and makes them fall in love with them. After a year they come back purified and ready to wed. During this year the are sent off to a campground, where they are forced to live under horrible conditions and have very few resources. They are also told that if they try to leave that poachers will get them, kill them, skin them alive and sell their parts. These girls start out strong and confident but come back broken and ashamed.

This is a very rough read but the writing is a work of art and the symbolism involved is absolutely amazing. You will feel the pain, hurt, anger and disgust in each written word.

Tierney James is dreading her grace year. Being one of the few girls to receive a veil, signifying she had been chosen to be married when – or if – she returned home after they were all purged of their magic, she tried to organize the girls into making the best of their forced isolation by improving the conditions of the distant camp. The other sixteen-year-old girls were enthralled by Kiersten, who managed to convince the girls that her magic was strong, pitting them against Tierney and her efforts. After several horrendous events, Tierney flees the enclosure, managing to survive with the skills taught to her by her father. As the year rolls on, Tierney is changed in ways she had never imagined, though her return to camp is less than triumphant, with death and heartache weighing heavily on her conscience.

The book is broken up by season, as opposed to chapters, and it was a bit of a slog getting through autumn. I appreciate that the scene needed to be set, but I almost abandoned the book part-way through. I’m glad I didn’t, because the other three seasons move quickly and are an enjoyable read. I loved Tierney’s strength and her attempts to improve the situation for all the girls, even though she wasn’t in their inner circle. I found this to be an interesting story with parallels in our world that were difficult for me to overlook.

Man, I don't even know where to start with this magnificent book. The writing is absolutely beautiful, I couldn't stop reading it but I really didn't want it to end. Liggett managed to keep my attention throughout her whole book. Her writting is hauntingly beautiful yet captivating and disturbing. I couldn't imagine living in a world that these woman are forced to live in. Tierney's character was written perfectly, she was fierce as hell, yet witty when needed. If you're a fan of The Handmaid's tale and Lord of the flies then this is the perfect read for you. It reminded me of the Handmaids tale because of the way the women are forced to live and how the men are superior to them. Lord of the flies is simple, everything that happens in their Grace year is very Lord of the flies to me. Put those two things together and you get one hell of a book. Also, the ending was nothing short of spectacular, it was beautiful, tear-worthy even. I don't usually reread books but for this one, I'll be damn sure to make an exception. This is a must read and I do highly recommend it to everyone

Wow. Thats all i can say about this one. I dont want to go into many details because it would be so east to spoil the story. I can say, this is one of those stories that makes you stay up way to late reading without ever even realizing it. Then when you finally put the book down and crawl into bed, your brain wont shut off because its replaying the story over and over. I loved the characters. There was a few "big reveals" that were obvious before hand, but they fit seamlessly into the story. Other times, I had no idea what would happen next.

“But who’s going to do the punishing?” Hannah asks. “At home, the punishers are men, chosen by God.”
“Look around,” Kiersten says as she stares me dead in the eyes. “We are the only Gods here.”
* * *
“We all die, Tierney.” The corner of her mouth twists up. “In the county, everything they take away from us is a tiny death. But not here . . .” She spreads her arms out, taking in a deep breath. “The grace year is ours. This is the one place we can be free. There’s no more tempering our feelings, no more swallowing our pride. Here we can be whatever we want. And if we let it all out,” she says, her eyes welling up, her features softening, “we won’t have to feel those things anymore. We won’t have to feel at all.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Press) for sending me an ARC of The Grace Year in exchange for an honest review.

The Grace Year feels like two different books. The first 40% and last 10% largely take place in Garner County, an alternate history version of someplace in either America or Western Europe, with smallpox and Christianity and a real Hunger Games vibe. In the year of their 16th birthday, the girls in the village are selected as future brides (or else, future workers) the night before they are all sent away for a year to burn off their ‘magic.’ This portion of the story immediately calls to mind the world-building, themes, and symbolism of The Handmaid’s Tale, though the rules of this rather bizarre patriarchy get a bit muddled the deeper you get into the book. Still, this half of the book is really good, with lots to say: “The things we do to girls. Whether we put them on pedestals only to tear them down, or use them for parts and holes, we’re all complicit in this.”

The lead character, Tierney James, bears many similarities to Katniss Everdeen: solitary, strong, loyal to family, and clueless about the men who are interested in her. She’d rather work and be free than be in the “padded shackles” of marriage. So of course she’s selected for marriage, which puts a target on her back for the middle 50% of the book when the girls are away. For a short time, this section feels like Lord of the Flies. Girls vie for leadership, choose sides, and lives are quickly in danger. However, Tierney is soon separated from the rest of the group, and when that happens, the plot slows dramatically. This middle 50% of the book is unfortunately dominated by a romantic plot that did not work for me at all and felt completely out of place in this story. The best thing I can say about it is that it added parts to the world-building that I found forced and unnecessary.

There were parts of this book that I really liked. The writing flows, almost stream of consciousness at times. The book is divided into few broad sections, but there are no chapter breaks to let you catch your breath. And the better half of the book grapples with the fact that no matter how brutal the patriarchy, the greatest threat to women is often ... other women. But the other half of the novel, about the “boy in a treehouse with cold hands and a warm heart”? Hopefully you’ll like that part more than I did.

WOW. This book had me turning the pages non stop until the very end. I was so deep into this book, nothing got done around here until I finished.

Stop. Seriously. You want to read this book. It will leave you thinking for days and hit you to your core. Liggett has created something special here and I can't wait to read this again.

Very intruiging and captivating plot. Very atmospheric writting. Couldn’t stop think about this book. Second half of the book is based on a very underdeveloped relationship, which made me care less. Ending not completely satisfying.

"The Grace Year" by Kim Liggett is the story of Tierney, a 16 year old girl living in a dystopian community. In their county at the age of 16 the girls are sent away to have their "grace year." Tierney has had more freedom than the average girl and how she copes with the grace year influences all the girls. I really enjoyed this book, and I think there is definitely the possibility for more books! I would love to have a book that explains how this community came to be, and if there are other communities that are different. And what happens after this book ends?