Unfortunately, this wasn't a good match for me. I've loved Kim LIggett's other books, but had a hard time connecting with this one and won't put a review on YABC (as our policy is to only post 3+ star reviews). However, two of our reviewers absolutely loved it (yay!) and have reviewed. I've included their link and star rating below. Thank you for the opportunity!

The Grace Year is the first book I've read by Kim Liggett but it certainly won't be the last. The Grace Year is rated as Young Adult and I am far from that age, but I enjoyed this story so much I'm hoping there is at least one sequel! This book is difficult to put down and I found myself thinking about the characters when not actually reading it. I was given an early copy to review.

THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING!
Tierney is such a strong, fierce and human character. This book is about hope, change and the will to stand up for yourself. Tierney experiences uncertainty, unspeakable horrors, first love, heartbreak. But the heartbreak is healed. She loves Ryker, who healed her when she was wounded and showed her how to give life to her fears, her dreams. Then there's Michael, the boy who fell in love with a girl who defied the odds, who became a beacon of hope and who he'd never ask to change for him. Honestly the love in this story is incredibly beautiful. The strength Tierney shows is beautiful as well. Her will to live, her will to survive the Cruel conditions she's been forced to face, simply because she was born a girl is empowering.
And this quote: "That’s the one thing they will never be able to control in me. My wild, wild heart."
It needs to be on every girl's wall.

"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. But everything touches everything else, and I have to believe that some good will come out of all this destruction."

I've seen this book compared to plenty of other YA novels and dystopian novels alike but I feel it definitely stands on its own. It's so many things - magical and reminiscent of a time when women were killed for being 'witches', a love story - both of one's self and others. It's hard to tell if it's set during a time in the past or after civilization has devolved so far that they've reverted back to these old notions.

It's difficult to fully gather my thoughts because there was just so much that I loved about it. I can't say I enjoyed every minute of the story because certain characters and their choices disgusted me. I love the way everything was written and the way things played out even the characters that were detestable and that you knew were nothing but trouble.

The book follows a sixteen-year-old girl named Tierney James from right before she's sent away with girls the same age as her until months after they've returned. She's dealt so many bad cards and somehow manages to stride through everything with this unparalleled grace and strength. She definitely grows up in her year away and comes home with the knowledge that she already knew plenty before picking up what she did.

Human nature can be bad but don't test Mother Nature because she can be just as ruthless, if not, more so. This book drove me to tears a few times. I felt my heart breaking for these girls and these women who haven't figured out how strong they could be as a group - that the rules and regulations set by the men who 'own' them isn't the only way to live a life.

Handmaids Tale meets The Hunger Game meets The Lord of the Flies. After knowing all that how could you not want to pick this up. The Grace Year is about 16 years old girls who are banished into the forest for a whole year to get rid of their magic before they are married or sent to the fields to do labor. Our main protagonist is named Tierney and she is playing survivor of the fittest. While trying to keep the girls she came with alive. If they are not killing each other there are poachers out there killing these magic infested girls to sell their parts.

I enjoyed this read it's been a while since I read a YA Dystopian. I enjoyed reading about the world. I also liked the characters and the author did a good job at keeping me turning the pages. A great read overall!

This feminist dystopian YA novel is brutal, unflinching, and thought-provoking. Initially, I kept waiting for the "chapter" to end until I realized there were no chapters, just sections separated by season. It makes sense, given the way that you lose track of time when you're abandoned out in the wilderness. I was propelled to keep turning page after page out of curiosity, becoming more and more horrified as I understood the simplicity of this county's method to prevent women from being men's equals. This novel is about the challenge of breaking free of ideas that have been ingrained generation after generation, and the slow path to change. It's about learning how to see the world around you. I found the main character Tierney's arc to be very believable. She's sixteen-years old and I don't expect her to be able to single-handedly change things in their county. I appreciate the inclusion of a perspective from someone outside the county, but still part of the vicious cycle, and their impact on Tierney. Perhaps the only issue I had was that the last section of the book felt rushed. Time passed so quickly, but I was curious about how those months had passed. Overall, a great read!

The Grace Year is another of those rare books that has left me speechless. This is what I knew about this book going in…
“Survive the year.

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.
Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.
With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.”


I was immediately lured into this world that was at once so bizarre and so familiar in theme. It has all the feels of The Handmaid’s Tale (a dystopian patriarchal society). The Hunger Games (sending away teens who may, or may not, return) and Lord of the Flies (the psychology of people existing under duress and away from the confines of society).
Tierney has just been sent to a remote location for her grace year, and survival against the elements isn’t the only thing she’ll have to endure. Almost immediately the power structure among the thirty-three girls is established and the cruelty of some of them becomes evident, with simmering grudges boiling over into vengeance. Danger also lurks outside the compound as poachers are waiting for the opportunity to kill the grace girls in order to sell their body parts to people looking to capture some of their magic.
From the start to the end my heart was pounding and my mind reeling at every turn of the storyline. Kim Liggett has done an amazing job of building this shocking world and weaving tension and hope amid world that seems so bleak. The Grace Year is available October 8, 2019 and I highly recommend it.
*I received a copy of The Grace Year from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review

I am absolutely obsessed with this book.

being feared and becoming fearless because of it. the rage in every girl’s heart. the flowers. the magic. the plot twists. the repression and the consequential revolution. the handmaid’s tale vibes. just.... the powerful and dreadful energy that this book irradiates—I literally love every single thing about it.

The Grace Year has, without a doubt, become one of my favorite books of the year. the characters are brilliantly built and fascinatingly written. the world they live in, no matter how horrid and repulsive, comes to live vibrantly and vividly in every page in a way that’s so rare, I could literally count on one hand the number of books that have made me feel so intensely involved in their universe that putting the book down feels like coming out of a fever dream. I haven’t read anything by Kim Liggett before but I definitely will be checking out the rest of her books because LORD, I AM DEAD. she's so good!! thank you St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday books for a free copy of The Grace Year!!

This book far exceeded my expectations! One of the best books I’ve read this year. The premise was a very extreme version of our reality, and could be called a cross between Handmaid’s Tale and Lord of the Flies, though the viciousness of teenage girls is to me much uglier and powerful and more frightening than that of boys. This book really got me thinking in the best ways. Loved the protagonist’s realizations at the book’s end. Excellent read.

The Grace Year is definitely in my top 5 books of the year. Its lyrical, harrowing, dangerously feminist, and a must, must, must add to your TBR.

So I absolutely LOVED this book. My top five for the year so far,

Grace Year takes place in a dystopian society where women are either wives or workers and have no say in anything. Being a wife and getting veiled is the most important thing and the highest status. If you aren’t chosen you get a job doing some kind of labor, working the fields or selling at a market. Before you can start you new life as a wife though, you have to go through Grace Year. A year where girls who are sixteen are sent to a “compound” outside of their city and its basically Lord of The Flies. Survival of the fittest, or in reality, survival of the most cunning. Girls who don’t survive must hope their remains make it back or one of their sister is banished to live outside the community. Then we have the poachers. Men who live in the woods and hunt the banished women and girls. The girls are supposedly sent away to “release their magic” so that they are “safe” and can be a part of society. Those who don’t or who are subservient are punished or hanged.


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

Tierney James is entering her grace year but unlike the other girls her age, the LAST thing she wants to do is get a veil. She would rather work in the fields then be a slave to a husband.

Michael is her best friend who she thinks knows her better than anyone until he makes a decision that will change Tierney’s life and make her grace year even more dangerous.

Ryker a poacher but one with some compassion, loyal to the core although his loyalties will be tested,

We never find out how society became what it is and that is a little frustrating but if you just accept that it is what it is, this is a wild ride of a book. Tierney Feels like there is more to the grace year. She doesn’t believe in magic or the way society is run. She wants to be different, to be a change. But first she must survive. Seeing friendships and loyalties change by the minute and what these girls are actually capable of doing to each other its a wonder anyone makes it home. Of course there’s the obligatory romance but it does actually play a part and is not your typical YA fluff plot point.

I highly recommend this book and give it 5 of 5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martins Press for a review copy of this story

Reminiscent of . . . Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies . . . City of Ember . . . maybe even a pinch of Plato's cave analogy. While the story line itself was engaging, I couldn't help being drawn to, and distracted by, thoughts of previous books and losing the focus on THIS story ("oh, yeah, just like in___"). Mostly, it seemed to be a female version of LOTF, but with a specific female premise. That being said, the story itself kept my interest and provided enough tension to propel the plot forward.

Not having chapters was distracting, especially for folks who prefer to place their bookmarks at chapter divisions. Perhaps because of this, the books gave me the impression of a draft rather than a final project.

Book: The Grace Year
Author: Kim Liggett
Publisher: St. Martins Press
Date : October 8, 2019 (Canada)
Rating: 5/5

Review:

Haunting. The Grace Year is going to be the book that haunts my dreams, and my waking hours. There’s something about the writing in this story that creeps up my spine, crawls across my skull, and curls my fingers around the pages. Kim Liggett wrote something brilliant when she sat down to write the life of Tierney James and the rules that govern her every moment.

Every small thing that happens before the grace year sets up the consequences of every action or thought in Garner County. The men have the final say, the women have been broken into obeying and the girls are scared into obeying by witnessing these consequences.

Tierney James lives in Garner Country and is next in line to be one of the grace year girls. Stubborn, smart and level headed, Tierney is a complex character that recognizes when she can push back and when to stay silent, which makes her a great protagonist. Her character arc really set the tone for the book and pushes against the boundaries Kim Liggett sets in place. Tierney isn’t docile, she’d observant and clever and a sixteen year old girl who wants nothing more than to survive the grace year to make sure her family isn’t punished by her actions.

That one simple thought is all the drive that this book is about. Actions have consequences but sometimes consequences should be challenged.

The grace year is kill or be killed, learn or die, concur and adapt or die. This book is incredibly deep and painful. Dark but filled with so much light and rare moments of hard forged victories both small and large. I go from smiling to tearing up and the thought of throwing it across the room (in joy and frustration) is a frequent occurrence.

The ending was perfect in a way that left me angry, and heartbroken for Tierney. I can still feel the pain a few days after finishing The Grace Year. I feel like I’ll never really forget it.

*I received an e-arc from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Great book! I wasn't sure what to expect from this pink cover but it defiantly isn't for the faint of heart. This fast paced thriller was so well written it reminded me of something like hunger games meets handmaids tale. I have been behind on my reading list and this one got me right back into it. I couldn't stop page turning to see what happens next.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett was my surprise book of 2019. I read the blurb on Goodreads, and it did intrigue me somewhat, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was slightly reminiscent of Lord of the Flies, which I read probably over forty-five years ago. Ms. Liggett puts a modern-day twist on the dystopian genre showing us that women are not necessarily the fairer, weaker sex.

The Grace Year is not an easy book to read. It is gritty, disturbing, and dark but also uplifting and hopeful at the same time. This book will keep you thinking long after you have finished reading. The book is both beautifully and harshly written. That may seem contradictory, but it’s the only way I can explain how I felt while reading it. Harshly because of how all the women are treated in the country of this dystopian setting. The monstrous, nefarious acts the grace year girls inflict upon each other while in exile. Beautiful, at times, because amid the horrors these grace year girls endure some of them find joy in womanhood and friendship. The mental images the author paints with her words seize your heart and soul from the first to the last page. I loved the way the author incorporates flowers throughout the book as a way of communication; it showed pure ingenuity. The book grabbed me from the first sentence;

“No one speaks of the grace year.”

The Grace Year tells the story of a dystopian society where women are perceived to have magical powers that can control and lead men astray. When the women of the county turn sixteen, they are sent away as a group, to spend the year releasing their magic into the wild. Only after they release their magic and are deemed pure can they return to civilization to be wives or work in the fields.

I would love to tell you more of the story, but there are many twists and turns that I don’t want to reveal.

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

Tierney James, our main character, wants a better life for herself and the women in the country. Tierney is an easy character to relate to, she is strong and resilient, but she also is plagued by self-doubt. There are many other supporting characters, all of which the author does an excellent job of developing. My favorite was Ryker, and I loved the way he saw through Tierney’s hard exterior and saw her for the beautiful person she was.


“The men will never end the grace year. But maybe we can.”


Although this book is a work of fiction, the author’s writing is so vivid and realistic; I had no trouble visualizing the entire story. I would love to tell you more of the story, but there are many twists and turns that I don’t want to reveal. I highly recommend this book.

** Please note the quotes in my review are subject to change once the book is published**

*** I kindly received this galley by way of NetGalley/publisher/author. I was not contacted, asked, or required to leave a review. I received no compensation, financial or otherwise. I have voluntarily read this book, and this is my honest opinion.

4.5 stars rounded up. The Grace Year was... wow? I really don't have the words for it but I will say that it's probably one of my best reads of 2019! Whoever said it's reminiscent of The Handmaid's Tale and Lord of the Flies was absolutely spot on. It's dark and full of twists. It's mind-bending and insanely spooky and makes you question whether the magic is real or not. It's also surprisingly violent and gruesome--don't let that beautiful pink cover fool you. This book is not full of roses and fluff! It's a dark read that makes you think and question your role in perpetuating inequalities (whether you know it or not). It's set in a dystopian society but I have no doubt that elements of this story will ring true for many women because on some level, we have all experienced what these (young) women go through. It took me on an emotional and mental journey that I was totally unprepared for (lol) but hell, it was worth it! I didn't expect to find myself in tears by the end of this book, but there I was at 4AM crying into my pillow.

I loved (MC) Tierney's character and how she developed throughout the story. Most of the other characters were minor, but I still enjoyed the roles that they played too, especially Ryker, Gertie, Michael and Tierney's parents. The story was tense and fast-paced; I always felt as if some unknown horror was lurking around the corner waiting to be unleashed. There's a pervasive eeriness to Liggett's writing that had me sitting on the edge of my seat and goosebumps constantly rising on my skin, especially towards the latter half. I felt tortured throughout the read as the women in the county and the grace year girls kept pitting themselves against each other, feeding into the man’s idea that women cannot control or take care of themselves. I wanted to scream CAN'T YOU SEE THAT'S NOT HELPING YOU?! so much that I almost threw my Kindle in frustration (I didn't). But things do turn around and after everything the girls survived, what happens in the end brought me to tears. The defiance and camaraderie, the willingness to acknowledge the need for change, and to open their hearts to making it happen by taking just that small step against the patriarchy, made me emotional AF.

If there’s anything to critique it’s that: 1) I don’t think the romance was necessary. It also came off as hypocritical of Tierney, especially considering her strong stance on marriage throughout the story. And 2) I wish that there was more groundwork for how this society came to be. There were hints that things were different beyond the borders, but how did this county and the poachers come to be this way? I would’ve loved to know more of the backstory to this world. 3) This might be because I read the ARC, but there were some editing errors that I hope are caught before publication (such as when new paragraphs would start, signifying the passing of time etc.) because the way it reads right now, it goes from one sentence to the next with months skipped in between. Hopefully my explanation of that last point makes sense :)

This isn't a story that has a typical HEA, and it was a little bit open to interpretation (imo), but it does bring hope and that's just as important. I honestly can't wait until everyone gets the chance to read this because I’d highly encourage you to pick it up. I’m so excited to see what else Liggett has in store!

My review will be posted on my blog closer to the publication date. Thanks to NetGalley, the authors and publishers for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man...where to begin. I LOVED the premise of this story and how everything played out....seeing without seeing. Some complained of the execution, and while it wasn’t perfect, i found it didn’t really bother me. I’d definitely recommend this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
(Tw: death (so much death), talk of torture, severe injuries)
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett.
Wow.
This was a hard read for me to put down, I had so many questions and wanted to know what was going to happen next so bad.
At sixteen years of age the girls of Tierney’s village are banished from home for a year to burn out “the dangerous magic” that resides in them. Not all the girls return at the end of the year known as The Grace Year and no one talks about it. They’re not allowed to. When the girls come back though it’s like they’re different people. What goes on out there?
Tierney is about to find out.
Is the magic real? What is the greatest danger they face during their banishment? The poachers that will kill them if they leave the barrier they’re confided to? The wildlife? Nature? Or is it the girls themselves?
The story is a tough read, awful things happen to the girls. Lots of death. But it’s an interesting, provocative read. And very much a thriller.
There is a part where the story slows for a bit but once the story moves out of that bit it moves a long quite fast again. I feel like this is one I’ll have to read again at a later date to savor more of the detail in the story because this time I raced through it because I needed to know where the author was going to take us. (On a ride, Kim Liggett is taking you on a ride.)

An absolutely harrowing young adult dystopian novel with heavy themes of female empowerment, the Grace Year has stayed with me long after I finished the last page. It is very dark but also has tiny nuggets of hope put in here and there. It was horrible what the men of the village did to the women, but almost worse what the women did to each other. Many lessons to be learned.

This one was INCREDIBLE. So feminist in a quiet way that you don't really see coming, full of twists that I never expected. The Handmaids Tale x The Crucible x The Lord of the Flies is totally underway here. The last two notes I took for this one were: "What the fresh hell??", and "Wow that was a trip". HIGHLY recommend!