The Grace Year by Kim Liggett is about - well, the grace year. It is a transition period from girl to womanhood. For their sixteenth year, a group of girls are banished into the wild to release their magic and return a woman; those who received a veil will wed, those who did not will work. No one speaks of the grace year. And some do not make it back alive. Sixteen-year-old Tierney dreams of a better society where her destiny is not determined by a man who marries. However, during her banishment, she realizes that she needs to survive on her own and her greatest threat is not what lurks in the wild but the other sixteen year olds.

Upon reading the synopsis of this book, the first book that came to mind was The Handmaid's Tale. Both books touch on women in society and their struggles for a bigger role. Overall, I wanted to like this book, but it was just not for me. But I did feel the author did a great job with the characters, especially Tierney. She was well-developed and had depth. The author had great writing.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for providing me with an ARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I am so excited to talk about one of my most anticipated books of 2019! This one definitely did not disappoint. There’s a lot of death and condescension but let’s do it. Thank you Wednesday Books and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Synopsis
In their sixteen year, the girls in Garner County gain the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women made with jealous. In order to keep them in their place, they’re sent out to live on an island in order to burn out all their magic.

Unfortunately for Tierney James, it is time for her Grace Year. And even more unfortunately, she can’t stop dreaming of a better life when dreams are strictly forbidden. Between the seasonal elements, the poachers out for the Grace Year girls’ blood and body parts, but also they need to fear each other.

Characters
Tierney James - the third daughter in the James family, who has reached her grace year. She wants to make it through alive and start her life in the fields.

Gertrude - A girl who suffered being punished prior to their grace year. She becomes Tierney's only friend.

Kiersten - Tierney's cousin. The county believes Michael, Tierney's best friend, will take her hand in marriage and become the leader of the community.

Rants, Raves, and Reviews
I adore Kim Liggett’s work. Ever since I met her at a panel in Books of Wonder, I have been excited to see what she’s writing. This book feels like her big break out book, and I am really excited to hopefully see her as someone more people I know recognize by name.

I also rarely talk about covers here, but this one is too gorgeously horrific to not talk about. The pink tones should make the book light and fluffy, but instead they’re giving off an air of something isn’t right. Add to it that red ribbon of the Grace Year Girl is dripping into blood….so good.

I am torn on how I feel about media being described as a “female Lord of the Flies. Libba Bray wrote a great book called Beauty Queens that I think tackles this concept in a more modern world very well. Are there still snarky girls? Sure. Is the entire group out to murder each other? No. However, does that mean I think that men are the ones that cause murderous rampages (hey I’ll be talking about Parkland soon, I’ll get more of those thoughts out soon)? Do women not have built up anger that would eventually cause them to explode? (At the very least, I think we can all agree that if there is a movie or TV show, it should be developed by women right?) Relationships between girls and women are incredibly complicated, and women and girls can be terrible to each other. While I am sick of seeing this done in media because it’s become so cliche, I really think this book handles that topic so well from beginning to the end. Not to spoil anything (which I try really hard to not do when I am reviewing) but I am guessing every single woman or girl that seems horrible has more depth than you realize.

I almost said “is a product of their environment” above, which…isn’t wrong. This book is being labeled a dystopia on Goodreads — I did as well — but we aren’t given any clues to whether this is a dystopia or just an alternate universe, or even a culture that existed in it’s own little slice of paradise hundreds of years ago. Or hell, a small society in the vast wooded areas today, a la The Village. Even by the end, we have no idea what it is, and that’s kind of amazing. The County is entirely low tech, and the people believe they’re essentially alone. Which is why it makes it so possible for the men to control the women as much as they do. It’s reminiscent of our witch burning days, but without giving women or girls any power. It is to the point that men can simply accuse their wives of witchcraft in order to get out of their marriages. Because you can’t just set a woman aside — she must die before you can remarry. So accuse, and she hangs. All that’s necessary is the word of a husband.

Yeah. It made me incredibly ill to read it too.

The book is broken up into seasons rather than chapters. It’s a little hard if you are someone who likes checkpoints in their reading (or more natural stopping points), but I think it works well here. The majority of the book takes place during our main character’s grace year, on a secluded island in the middle of the forest. Creepy enough for you? But wait — there is more! The island is primarily surrounded by a fence, with a little bit of space that is for the poachers. According to the community, only these girls can pass through that fence. If a man does, he risks being cursed by their magic, driven mad and needing to be killed almost immediately before it spreads to his family.

Okay. Isolated island? Check.
Men can’t get in, so no major risk of sexual assault? Check.

But what’s keeping the girls in? Oh, the fact that there are poachers waiting for them to step out of line, to leave the comfort of their cursed area. Poachers who are willing to slice the girls up slowly, because the more they scream, the more potent their organs are to be sold.

Oh, and the girls go onto the island knowing who has a marriage proposal waiting for them when or if they come back alive. And they don't get to turn it down.

Still not enough horrific-ness for you? Fine. If you die during your grace year, and your body cannot be brought back at the end of the year, then all your younger sisters are cast out of the community to live on the sidelines.

So survive, or it isn't just you who suffers.

(I am in some ways making this light because of how horrific this book is. And the movie rights have already been secured by Elizabeth Banks, so I am READY FOR THE TERRIFYING MOVIE.)

So the question is, do these girls really have magic? Is this oppression that they’re born into something to be expected? Or is it a lie that they choose to believe in because group mentality dictates they do or suffer the consequences? Obviously I am not going to spoil that. The “what’s real, what’s not” aspect is one of the best parts of the book. Tierney dreams — is this a magical power? — something we take for granted, something that is completely forbidden in this world. And I’m not talking about dreams like “aspirations” — dreams like nightmares and taking tests when you’ve never been to class. How do you oppress someone to the point that their subconsciousness responds?

Final Thoughts
Since I don’t want to spoil, I cannot talk about my favorite parts of this book. Liggett takes seemingly normal tropes — the Katniss trope, for example, and freshens it up. I love the ending of this book. If the horrific “who will survive their grace year” aspect doesn’t intrigue you, perhaps the discussion of the aftermath will. I doubt this book will have a sequel, but does a great job on implying the future the reader can expect.

Read this book. And if it is your first Kim Liggett book, go check out The Last Harvest or The Unfortunates too.

The Grace Year takes place in a misogynistic society wherein women are treated as property and 16 year old girls are sent away for their grace year to "get rid of their magic," thereby rendering them "safe" to men. We follow Tierney James during her grace year and learn of the brutality wrecked upon these girls by one another. They have the additional risk of being killed by poachers for their "potent" flesh if they stray outside the encampment. This book has undertones of Lord of the Flies and the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. It is brutal but a great read. I think it misses the mark on being superb by veering toward triteness in places, but it's well worth the read and I would recommend it to anyone. it is a timely reminder of how a world without women's rights can appear.

The Grace Year, by Kim Liggett, is a fast-paced, can't-put-down YA novel. Set in a secluded society where women have no rights and are feared for possessing magic, we follow 16 year old Tierney James who is setting off for her grace year. Tierney's always wanted something different than the other girls her age who aspire to be picked for marriage and childbirth before embarking on their grace year, she yearns to be free of the strict restraints her society has set upon her. However, talking about the grace year is strictly forbidden, so no one is certain what awaits them for their year away. All they know is that not everyone ever makes it home, and those that do are forever changed. The girls are led to the encampment by two guards to protect them from the poachers who are waiting in silence to sell their skinned alive bodies on the black market. Can Tierney make it through her grace year alive?



Written in beautiful descriptive prose, Liggett has given us a riveting novel that is sure to be a hit when it hits the shelves October 8th. Every page brings about new drama and new threats that leaves the reader on the edge of their seat, waiting to find out what happens to our heroine Tierney. While I wish I'd been given more of a back-story on certain characters and how this society evolved to become what it is, I literally couldn't put this book down and stayed up until 4am devouring the pages.

This book has everything you could ever want from the YA feminist fantasy genre! THE GRACE YEAR took me by surprise with so many unexpected twists and turns, and I felt so invested in our lead character, Tierney, as she navigated the influences of misogynistic terror, psychological manipulation, and violence. This is a heart-racing thriller on the level of THE HUNGER GAMES. I can't wait to read more of Kim Liggett's books!

I have been procrastinating a lot with writing this review the last few days. Mostly because I still don't know what exactly I should write, and I don't want to come off as super gushy where it's not really a review. But honestly, if I gush, I can't help it, because I absolutely LOVED this book! I quickly became obsessed with the story, thinking about it when I couldn't read it, constantly trying to guess what was coming next, what the ending would be like. I really got into the story and the characters, I felt like I personally knew each character. The author did really well engaging the reader and drawing us into the story. I seriously devoured this book, and I still want more. SO. MUCH. MORE. I need all the information, all the details, everything that happens next. I NEED MORE. I was both completely satisfied and yet not satisfied at all by the ending of this book; even days later I am still thinking about it, wanting more, wondering what would happen next to all the characters I grew to know and care about. I have been thinking about it, and I really has been a good while since I have had a book affect me so much, and I think that's partly why I have been so reluctant to do anything with this book after finishing it. The Grace Year is one of my favorite reads of 2019, possibly my top favorite. I only had ONE issue with it, which is why I didn't give it a full 5 Stars. There was one scene towards the end of the book that just completely destroyed my heart. and I'm sorry but I just can't forgive Liggett for killing my feels like that. But isn't that how the best books always go? You definitely need to give this book a shot, because it could become one of your favorites, too.

This book was fabulous! It’s been almost a month since I’ve read it and I still can’t get it out of my head. The female empowerment in this book just puts it way above the 5 stars that I can give.

I don’t want to give much away because if I’m being honest it will be easy to do when all you want to do is hush and brag about this story and the writing. The story itself is unique and the characters have depth. I was so invested in The Grace Year and I cried when it was over. I can only compare it to The Handmaid’s Tale. Only the show because I have yet to read the book.

If you want a book that shows women stepping out of the shadows of men and what’s expected of them then read this book. If you want a story that will suck you in and leave you speechless then read this book. I’m so happy I did.

"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."

Haunting, harrowing, beautifully tragic. This was so very, very good. I usually find myself disappointed in YA books as I feel like they lack the substance I am looking for (to be clear I am in my early 30s) but I couldn't put this one down. This book is described as Lord of the Flies meets Handmaids Tale, and while that is definitely an accurate assessment, there were also major Hunger Games vibes happening here.

Sixteen year old girls spend their year away in an encampment in the woods, what is known as the "Grace Year." The county people feel they have a certain magic that would be used for lustful, indecent purposes, and are forced to take a year in isolation with only the other girls in their year (no supervision) to expel their magic and become a pure, virtuous woman. Before leaving, single men claim them as their brides. No if, ands or buts or choice for the girls. The other problem being, the women outnumber the men, so those not "Selected" are forced into labor houses.

The book follows Tierney, and how she wants to take on a role being helpful in the encampment, creating shelters, water bins to collect rain, but is overruled by Kiersten who all the other girls treat as a god. What ensues is a fight for survival, as the girls go mad with their "magic" against each other. But not only do they have to save themselves from each other, but the Poachers outside of the encampment who will be paid handsomely if they can capture them, skin them alive, bottle and sell their body parts. Back in the county, their body parts are believed to bring eternal youth to people. If the girls don't return after their year, accounted for (whether in jars or alive), their female siblings are banished to the outskirts. As Kim Liggett wrote, the things we do to girls....

So yes, this book deals with a lot of brutal deaths, a lot of savage young girls, and even cannibalism. But it ended with such an encouraging message about feminism, and fighting for what is right. I loved Tierney, she reminded me of Katniss Everdeen in the sense she is smart and sharp, has good outdoor skills, but was naive enough for her to be believable.

This book crossed a fine line of being both very unrealistic, but so very realistic at the same time. Huge praise for this book and I think all age groups would benefit and enjoy this read. So excited to hear it's been optioned for a movie as well!

As I read The Grace Year, I was sad to have a full-time job I had to devote time to, as I really wanted to read it cover to cover in one sitting.

The world described in the novel is dystopian, yet it feels so real, real enough that our society could get there within decades. The characters are three-dimensional, believable, and relatable. I'm hoping it is only the first of a series from this author, as I loved it that much. Highly recommend.

I received a galley copy of The Grace Year from the publisher and leave this review willingly.

What the H**L did I just read?!! I flew through this in a day. I couldn't put it down. It was horrifying. Part The Handmaid's Tale, The Hunger Games, The Crucible, Lord of the Flies..... but still brand new. It was a horrifying dystopian thriller.

The pacing of the book felt off at times, and I'm not sure if it's because the formatting was a little off since it was an ARC but overall. WTF, man. What a ride. I'm not sure I loved it, but it was a book that knew how to throw a punch and leave a mark.

📚Book Review 📚
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Release date: (10/8/19)
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
OH. MY. FREAKING. GOSH. First off, this is my ALL TOME FAVORITE READ this month and probably ever besides @therealsjmaas books. Second, I NEED MORE of these words and I need them NOW. This book was insane and . . . Maddening. There were parts were I was like “Stick up for your self or.” “Chop her arm off!!!” ( I’m not sorry about how hyper I am about this read.) One thing that irritated me was the part in the book where the men dictated EVERYTHING except the Grace year, but then you almost die in the Grace year so it’s a lose lose world for the women . . . Or is it? (Mwahhaha) Anyway I LOVED THIS BOOK. It was like no book I have every read but I heard it’s like The Handmaids tale.
📚Book Review📚
In Garner County, girls are lead to believe they have powers to lure men to sin and drive women mad.They are believed to be sin. That’s why they are sent away for there sixteenth year, so thy can return magic free and ready for the men to claim. But not every girl will make it back from there Grace year alive . . . Or at all. Tierney dreams of a new world. A world where women are there own and friends aren’t against each other for self gain. A world where she is her own. But as her Grace year draws near she realizes she had more to fear than coming home. She will deal with control crazed girls, poachers would would love to skin her alive, and the love of her life. She must learn how to survive and how to hold onto herself when everyone is pulling.
If you love books involving Science Fiction or dystopian this book is for you but WAIT . . . Did I mention forbidden romance? Ahh.
My favorite character was Micheal because honestly he was the sweetest and just adorable.

Clear and fairly striking prose, but the plot and characters and relationships felt as if they were rolling off me rather than sticking with me. Even in the scene where Ryker is murdered as they're preparing to escape I lacked the emotional connection with the characters to experience much horror or even significant chagrin. I felt as if I wanted it to have gone through another set of revisions to tighten up the story.

With hints of the The Crucible, Handmaids Tale (aka one of my favorite books of all time), and Lord of the Flies The Grace Year is a masterful look into a girl's journey into womanhood.

It's fresh, feminist, and violent The Grace Year reads like a journal entry straight out of a Handmaid’s Tale Dystopian hell hole.

The veiling ceremony alone had me sure this book was 100% on my list of 2019 favorites for sure.

The writing feels prescient to today, and oh so grown up.

A quick read, its feminist and gritty its well worth picking up even if you aren’t a YA fan.

At the age of 16, the girls are marched out of town to a wooden enclosure, where they will spend a year. The Grace Year, is the time where the girls embrace their magic, and release it back into the wild, so they can return spent of magic and ready to marry. Tierney, a tomboy who has shied away from the other girls, is one of the Grace Year Girls. She quickly discovers that it is not just the wild and the poachers that she must fear, but also the other girls.

I could not put this book down. It was utterly fascinating. Both the story and characters drew me in immediately. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Okay. Wow. It’s honestly hard for me to even put this review and brief summary into words without feeling like I’m in no way shape or form going to do this book justice. If you read one book this year, yes I said it PICK UP THIS book. My only suggestion would be starting early in the day as I started it later in the evening and had to stay up all night to get through it. I devoured this book and I have a feeling that this book is going to have a lot praise coming its way.

The Grace Year is a dystopian novel that represents woman, oppression, determination, and SO much more. Garner county is a place of rigid rules where woman’s main purpose is to bear sons. When they turn 16, they are sent off to rid themselves of their magic only to return either a wife or a labor worker of sorts. Don’t let the YA genre fool you, this book is graphic and at points very very violent. It was necessary in order to make the reader more emotionally involved in this world. This honestly just made me remember how much I love a good dystopian.

This is some of the best writing I’ve ever been so honored to get to lay my eyes upon. Definitely The Hunger Game vibes but so so so much better.

The novel begins with quotes from Lord of the Flies and Handmaid's Tale. This is exactly the vibe of this story. Tierney is a great character and I really enjoyed the story and how it unfolded.

The Grace Year is dystopian fiction about a society that believes women have a powerful magic that they grow into when they get their first period and that they must be sent away for a year to burn off that magic before they can be welcomed back into the community as wives. It’s a total wild ride that had me enthralled from the very beginning. It’s a dark read with a lot of violence, but unlike some other books I’ve read, the violence achieves something. Liggett uses that violence to make powerful social commentary on the roles of women in society, the way we treat one another, and how things could be different.

The Grace Year refers to the year when the girls are sent away to live in the woods and burn off their magic. The society is very much controlled by men who believes women need to be punished for Eve’s original sins. The Grace Year is never spoken about in the community, but is a grim time in every women’s life. Many come back missing body parts or emotionally scarred, and that’s just the girls that return. Many never return and are instead taken by poachers who harvest their body parts because the community believes in the medicinal properties of the dead girls magic.

While all the other girls are concerned with landing a husband before their grace year, Tierney is perfectly content to labour in the fields when she returns, not wanting the be controlled by a man. But once the girls begin their grace year and discover the freedom they have for the first time in their lives, they start to turn on one another and realize the real danger is not the poachers, but the pain they will inflict on one another.

It’s a dark book and I did struggle with it at some points, but like I said, I think the violence serves a purpose in this book, which is why I was able to read through it. Liggett has an interesting writing style and the book itself has a really interesting structure. The girls take out their frustrations on one another because they’ve never been allowed to express emotion before or learned healthy ways to deal with their anger. They have allowed the men to control them for so long that they’ve completely lost any sense of compassion and have never experienced the beauty of female friendship and empathy.

Liggett keeps us guessing throughout the novel and I thought she did a great job with world building. At first things are a little confusing, but the confusion makes it more engaging because you don’t really understand the terrors lurking in the woods or why they exist. The narrative doesn’t follow the traditional storytelling structure, yet the concept of moving through the seasons of the grace year provides enough structure to guide us through the story.

I’m not sure if this is meant to be a standalone or not. I went into it thinking it was a standalone, but now I think it could go either way. It still works as a standalone, but I could also see the author expanding the story. There’s lots of room to continue developing the ideas of this book, but sometimes it’s not needed. The ending is ambiguous and I kind of like it that way.

This book was definitely a page turner. I couldn't stop reading it. The story had so much emotions. I didn't expect the plot twist but it was really good. I cried a lot. It was definitely a wonderful story to read. 4.5/5 stars.

My feelings about this book are mixed. There was so, so much to love about it, but definitely some parts that I felt made the whole weaker. The worldbuilding is incredibly confusing at times, there's an incredibly cliché insta-love story, and about halfway through the plot just sort of came to a drag. THAT BEING SAID, I adored the message at the heart of this. It's a clever reflection of so many aspects of our society today: the way it's structured to benefit a few, and disenfranchise everyone else; how women particularly are victims of this; and in particular, how society is desperate to make enemies out of women, and how their solidarity is the most powerful thing there is. The ending (which I won't give away!) leaves us not with a sense of everything being fixed—these things, as the main character frequently ruminates, will take time—but with an incredible, definite sense of hope.

Hey there, bookworms and dragons! I was lucky enough to snag a physical arc of The Grace Year as a prize for the summer learning program at my local public library and, since my semester ended last week, I was finally able to dive into it. Trigger/Content warnings will be at the end of the post, especially since one of them is a potential spoiler for a side plotline. Let’s dive right into my review!

Character development… I’m almost sad to start the review here, but I have trouble shaking things up sometimes and characters always come first in my reviews so I’ll just say it: there was little to no character development in all of the 400+ pages of this book. I honestly have very little idea of what any of the characters look like and I had trouble caring about anyone other than the main character. Other than Tierney and maybe three other characters, everyone was horribly flat. It was disappointing, but that’s honestly the worst thing about this book so take it as you will.

The Grace Year is set in an unknown time in and near a place called the colony. It’s a world steeped in religion that has been twisted so that women have become dangerous possessions for men to own and punish as they see fit. It really reads like a cult and it was just as creepy and disturbing as it sounds. The teenage girls are sent off into the woods to live in the encampment for a year to burn through their magic, which felt similar to the concept of concentration camps but where the ones with power over the imprisoned are the other imprisoned. It was an uncomfortable world to slip into, to say the least.

The novel is very plot-driven, which works out since the plot (and most of the side plots) are really interesting. I especially love the way everything pulls together at the end into something I was not expecting. There was a bit of the plot that I think the story could have done without, but overall the plot was extremely interesting and flowed somewhat well.

What I like most about The Grace Year is how it examines human nature. It’s bold and honest and it doesn’t shy away from the darker sides of us. It highlights the power of belief. It shows humanity at it’s most caring and at it’s most violent. While I’m not sure how I feel about the ending, I definitely enjoyed reading The Grace Year enough that I had trouble putting it down. I definitely agree with the comparisons I’ve seen to The Handmaid’s Tale, Lord of the Flies, and The Hunger Games and I honestly think it’s a modern combination of the three. I hope to read more of Kim Liggett’s work in the future.

TW/CW:

• Suicide Attempt
• Suicide
• Stalking
• Stockholm syndrome
• Blood