The Quick Cut: A girl works against the system that tries to make everyone believe that women are filled with an evil magic to seduce men that must be expelled during their 16th year in the woods.

A Real Review:
Thank you to St Martin's Press for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As women, we're commonly told we have the powers of persuasion and seduction. However, what if we lived in a society that believed these powers were magical ones? In the world that Tierney lives in, this is a reality where all women are treated as the bringers of wrong doing.

The Grace year is something that no one talks about, but everyone knows the truth of. For their 16th year, all girls go into the woods and are exiled in order to dispel their feminine magic. Like Eve in the Bible, women are believed to be the source of all problems and are treated as such in society. Including their year of exile, women are required to wear their hair braided at all times (except their husbands), the men select who they will wed, and anyone who does not marry is sent to do difficult work in the fields. Tierney thinks the magic isn't real and would prefer a life of hard labor to one of marriage. However, when plans go south and all goes wrong, can she adjust enough to overcome?

First and foremost, this book is brutally dark in it's content. Not only are the women treated as second class citizens blamed for all wrong, but the Grace Year landscape is very "Lord of the Flies"-esque. As soon as the girls get to their exile camp, they turn on one another and even exile each other from camp for ensured death by the poachers. Poachers roam the exile area to kill the girls and skin them (in all its detail). It's disturbing, it's dark, and it's a very chilling portait of what happens when you drink the kool-aid so to speak.

Tierney is a lovable narrator in how she wants more for her life than a husband who controls her every moment. She has spent her days doing all she can keeping all the boys at bay so that she isn't selected to be a wife before the Grace Year. The way she fights the system while attempting to navigate through it is intriguing.

Although slow at moments, this chilling book will leave you haunted long after it ends.

My rating: 4 out of 5

Definition of gritty: "showing something unpleasant as it really is; uncompromising."

I originally thought my one word to describe this book would be gritty. I believe I may have seen it described as such in a blurb.

Yet, the word I like even better is uncompromising. That is what this Young Adult read in this dystopian-like world where girls are feared, mystified and easily disposed of by both men and women alike exudes. It's uncompromising tone exposes the fear and ignorance of the power and beauty behind what makes a girl become a woman. So many roles a woman plays is explored; a daughter, a sister, a mother, a friend, an enemy, a lover, a wife, a victim...and each relationship has been distorted and exploited by this completely skewed by this almost cult-like setting. No bigoted, sexist view was held back. There was no way to make this palatable. There was no compromising for a comfortable safe read.

I thought it was brilliant and unsettling all at the same time. Tiereny James the main character is uncertain, vulnerable and confused. Yet her inner strength is breathtaking, thrilling even.

The Grace Year is one of those books we need to make room for on our daughter's bookshelves.

This book was not what I was expecting at all! Completely haunting and captivating. I will admit that it took me a bit to get into this book, but I never felt like I was willing to put it down. And once it hooked me, that was it, there was no way you could tear it from my hands.

Simply amazing.

I think I just found my new favorite book? This is easiest 5 stars I've ever given. From the moment I picked this book up I couldn't put it back down, which is why it's 2 AM and I'm writing this review. Everything about this book is incredible. The characters, the suspense, and the themes were all breathtaking and there isn't one thing I disliked. This book manages to be entertaining and keeps you on the edge of your seat while packing a punch with the overall message. So many passages of the book gave me chills and some brought me to actual tears!!! This book could easily be taught in school, and it should be. The things that this book is trying to convey have real world implications, and they are so relevant, especially right now.

"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."

Thank you, Wednesday Books, for an advance copy for review.

When they turn 16 girls of the county are sent to an isolated wooded area to spend their "Grace Year." To survive on their own and to rid themselves of the "magic" that comes with being a woman. I loved the use of the term "magic" as a metaphor for what makes women powerful. Whether women are being burned as witches, being jailed for expressing their sexuality or simply going against what society believes they should be, women have been treated this way for centuries. What women are capable of, their strengths, their minds, their bodies...these have, for too long, been seen as things that need to be broken. To be frank, people are frightened of strong women.

Too often women are pitted against each other and this book makes great reference to that. Don't shame another woman for who she is, for what she enjoys, her sexuality, her identity...because when women build other women up is when magic happens, it always has. Us men should play a major part in that as well but I truly believe that nothing is as strong as women helping other women. Don't let society make you believe you have to compete. There are already too many men trying to rip you apart.

I also found that toxic masculinity played a huge role in the story. Men deem themselves stronger, smarter and all around better than women, who are expected to cook, clean and have babies. And they want to pass these ideals on to their sons. It only takes one man to stand up and break that cycle and so many of the male characters fail these women, but a select few don't. I also found it interesting that desperation played a part here. The bad guys are bad, yes, but they aren't just one dimensional beings.

The prose are nearly perfect, the narrative pacing of the story is fantastic, once I began reading I found it difficult to stop. Liggett's use of metaphor is masterful from the punishment tree to the "beautiful little bottles" to the meanings of different flowers...it's beautiful. But it's also heartbreaking. And really quite brutal at times.

I can't think of anything I didn't like about this book. It's a feminist Lord of the Flies meets The Hunger Games with a dash of romance and outright horror thrown in. I truly loved it and I cannot wait to see what Kim Liggett can do next. She's a powerful voice.

Stand out. Be rebellious. Be strong.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts:
Darkly, intricate and twisted from beginning to end. Totally original, the most buzzed about book of the Year lives up to expectations!!

“A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel and an absolute page-turner." Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author.

Liggett’s thrilling, and suspenseful book brilliantly explores the high cost of a misogynistic world that denies women power and does it with a heart-in-your-throat, action-driven story that’s equal parts horror-laden fairy tale, survival story, romance, and resistance manifesto, I truly couldnt stop turning page-after-page!!! Absolutely thrilling, and gritty I hope y'all love it like I have cause wow!! Each character was so unique to the storyline, and the author just nailed it!!

I finished "The Grace Year" about 30 minutes ago- I realize I should take some time to process what I just read, but I really want to talk about it.
That's a pro- I want to talk about it... not yell at it or argue about it, which is the way I've felt about a lot of YA dystopian fiction lately.
This was really good.
Things I really liked:
-It was a fun concept. I don't feel the need to summarize the story at all- there are so many outstanding reviews for this book :)
-It was a one shot. I see the potential for another in order to make it a series, but it ended in a way that I could live happily without there being a second one. It's rare for me to find a good one-shot type story like this.
-It was entertaining. I got through this really quickly. It's slated to be a movie produced by Elizabeth Banks. SO ENTERTAINING.

THING I didn't really like:
-Whyyyyyyyy oh whyyyyyyy does YA fiction have to center around a romance? I was so good with this book until the unnecessary PG-13 'steamy' romance. I loved the relationship building (or destruction of) between the women. It really made the book stand out and I liked how the author portrayed women that hurt each other, rather than build each other up (this point kind of ended up being part of the "things I liked" category, oops). I feel like the story could have been the same, if not better, without the romantic interlude.

"The Grace Year" was a satisfying read. As for the romance that I mentioned not liking, I have to admit that I would have eaten it up as a teenager. As a 31-year old reader, it's not really my demographic anymore.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy of this book for an honest review :)

The comparisons between The Handmaid's Tale and The Grace Year will be inevitable. Both showcase a dystopian-like time when women are seen as little more than vessels for fulfilling the desires of men. That's where those comparisons should end. The Grace Year does a masterful job of showing the effects of this society on multiple generations of women. The characters are well-developed and I couldn't put this book down!

I loved this book from start to finish. It grabbed me from the first page and never let go. I loved the development of the characters and the environment. Kim Liggett's writing is so amazing. She was able to create an existence that I could clearly see in my mind. I connected with the main character and felt some strong emotions during the reading of this book. There were some surprises along the way and that made me want to keep reading.

First I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher house for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Let me start by saying I don't normally read much YA, or dystopian novels for that matter, but this was a very good book. Especially for the era we are in now where there are serious threats to women's rights. This book is what happens when a society allows the men to be considered "the chosen ones from God" and the patriarchy cares more about pride and ego then it does about the well-being of its people. Especially the women. There were references to a "punishment tree" in the middle of the town where women were punished, beaten, hung, burned alive. It is a book about what happens when a group of people beliefs outrank common sense and logic and the fear induced controls the women, even the 16 yo girls who leave this "society" for one year so they can get rid of their "magic". (It happens around puberty). Before they leave, the men choose their wives and give them a veil. If they survive the year they come home to be married or sent to the fields or the "outskirts". There are poachers around the encampment where the grace year girls stay. They skin the girls who try to escape into the woods and sell their skin and body parts back to the people of the town who believe they pieces of the girls are full of "magic". You see, the best thing a woman can do is marry and make more men.
The main character is very easy to like. She doesn't think things need to be the way they are. She thinks things can change for the better.

The Grace Year is a YA Dystopian novel which is being compared to The Lord of the Flies, The Handmaid's Tale, The Hunger Games.

I had such high hopes for this book but in the end, it was just okay for me. It's an interesting premise but nothing about it really stood out for me and I found myself bored at times. I definitely enjoyed the last half of the book more than the first half. There was an insta-love story thrown in. I'm usually a fan of romance in my books but this one was unnecessary for the story, in my opinion. The ending left me a little confused and wanting more.

I'm sure a lot of readers are going to love it. I can actually see it getting a movie deal. I'm sure it will be a big hit. It just wasn't for me. Maybe I've just read too many similar type Dystopian books?

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

The Grace Year--no one speaks of it after it happens. Women come back missing fingers, maimed, confused, some of them don't come back at all, or they come home in poachers' jars, their magic will be used by those later. We follow Tierney in her 16th year, as she gets ready for the grace year and then tries to survive it.

It's very Salem witch-y, in that it's all about girls and magic that may or may not truly exist, but definitely exists in the minds of the girls and the town. I love that, because I'm all about Salem witch-type hysteria, in a different story with very different stakes. The timeline of the ending is a bit of a mess, but otherwise, I really enjoyed this one.

Do not start this book before bed, I made this error and stayed up through the night to finish it in one sitting!

Similar to the other reviews this has a Handmaids tale vibe but I also got The Village a bit.

The story is focused on Tierney and her “grace year.” A year never discussed before nor after, when all the teenage girls go out to a designated area of the woods and must fend for themselves.

The book was thrilling and a great read. One of the best in 2019 thus far.

The publisher, St. Martin's Press, kindly offered me an advanced reader copy (ARC) of The Grace Year by Kim Liggett via NetGalley. Yet, this is an honest review of the book expressing my humble opinion.

The Grace Year is deliciously addictive and the very definition of 'page-turner'. Addictive prose. A tornado of plot twists. And a unique story-line that keeps you guessing at the edge of your seat.

The book is a speculative thriller, perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and Naomi Alderman's The Power. I adored The Power, so I was very excited for The Grace Year, and it obliterated my expectations. Fast-paced and with a wonderful heroine, The Grace Year is definitely one of the best books of the year, and an excellent example of its genre. There are so many plot twists, and it has an ending I couldn't have guessed. I've read many books, and this ending is one of the most delightful, exciting, and unpredictable I've ever seen. I didn't always agree with Tierney, the main character, but I always understood her, and that's rare.

Kim Liggett is a masterful story-teller, and I can't wait to read more of her books. She's an author to watch out for.

I urge you to buy this book immediately. You don't want to miss out on this. Trust me.

I devoured The Grace Year, and I'm certain other readers will, as well. Outstanding speculative thriller. Intricate, elegant, and effortless world-building. And a prose that keeps you craving for more.

5 stars – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Author: Kim Liggett
Publisher: St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books

This wasn't my favorite, personally. I just like my feminist novels to be contemporary and this story takes place in a dystopian world and has major Handmaid's Tale and The Hunger Games vibes. Those are both books I love so it was interesting to see them at play again. It took me a bit long to get into this story but when I finally did, it was a quick read and an important one. The writing is really unique, beautiful, and it really fit the tone of the novel.

This story really got me thinking and I just know teen girls will probably love this one and hopefully be changed by it.

I haven't read The Handmaid's Tale, but this has been compared in great lengths to it. The first 25% of the story hooked me. I loved how Tierney wasn't afraid to show her differences to the county; she has a guy as a best friend, she doesn't want to marry or have children, and she is adamant on how she wants to work in the fields the rest of her life. She refuses to be part of the sexist society they live in and doesn't care about the hatred it bestows from the residents.

Things change when Michael, her best friend, gives her a veil, proclaiming her as his property from that point forward. She didn't know Michael had been secretly in love with her and it destroys her because even though she shared her dreams of freedom with Michael, he still enslaved her to a future she never wanted.

Thus the Grace Year begins when all girls of a certain age are shipped off to an enclosed area in the middle of the woods to burn off their "magic". Things change upon arrival which I wasn't a fan of. The boldness and independence that Tierney encapsulated in the county quickly diminished. One by one the 31 girls turn against her, led by ringleader Kiersten who is vindictive since Michael chose Tierney as his wife instead of her. And Tierney just lets herself be abused and pushed around by these ridiculous girls that she wasn't afraid to stand up to back in the county. I know how personalities can change outside of familiar situations so I can only believe that that is what happened to Tierney.

The girls banish Tierney from their camp and leave her to wander the land and forage for food and water. Instead of rejoicing over departing from her crazy camp mates, she occasionally stumbles back to the camp just to be harassed and almost killed. I was waiting for her to reach her limit and snap back at the girls, but that never happened. Despite how the times they attempt to kill her on top of the nonstop abuse, Tierney kept trying to redeem the girls and would sweep in to save them before they met their demise. And each time she was rewarded with them trying to kill her. I guess that shows how strong and determined Tierney is as a person, but if I had been in her shoes I would have let the girls kill each other with their tainted water supply and leave them for the poachers to dispose of.

I enjoyed the inclusion of Ryker (the one and only good poacher), but the way it was written I did not. Their relationship went from enemies to info dumping life stories to instant love within days (I'm ignoring the weeks where Tierney was severely injured (due to her camp mates almost killing her) while Ryker nursed her back to health). I would have preferred to nix the chunk of Tierney wandering around the woods (after being banished from the camp) delirious from tainted water withdrawals because it took up too much of the story. With that cut, more time with Ryker could have been inserted to make their relationship more believable.

Some twists I saw coming while others were shocking to read, especially at the end. There's a death (that I honestly believed wasn't really a death because come on, no one stays dead in books, TV shows, and movies anymore, but alas, this character remained dead) and then a major revelation, and even though I saw coming it was still a shock because of the impact it had on the whole story and the society that was constructed. That way it was handled was also another shock since I expected Tierney to be burned at stake.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. This will be a story that sticks with me.

This was an intense read. Packed with drama and tension, The Grace Year is like Mean Girls meets Survivor. There are so many levels, so many shades and shadows that the girls are hidden in and from, that there is no way any of them could not come back changed, whether for better or worse.
As I read the story, what kept floating through my mind was how cultish the Garner County of The Grace Year is: how secretive people are, how the girls are only given enough information and knowledge to barely survive (but to return only as broken vessels), how dissent is violently discouraged. Scary to think of how easily people can be duped in a closed society.
But the heroine of The Grace Year, Tierney, is the one who questions, the one who wonders if the “truth” that has been fed to her is really the truth, the one who dares to believe that there is more to life than what those in power have told her all her life. What a wonderful heroine for young people to have! Someone to remind them that the established norms are not always what is best for you and that you should always search for the truth yourself.
The only issue I had with the novel was that the “chapters” were very long with no real breaks, making it difficult to find a place to stop or to figure out where exactly I was when I did stop. But, that is a minor issue in what was otherwise a well-written, emotionally powerful story.
The Grace Year releases in October of this year, so pre-order your copy now and know that you’ll enjoy it when it comes in!
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC of this novel for review purposes. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my very own!

The Grace Year is a good entry for the YA Dystopian genre. In the beginning it did remind me of a Lord of the Flies with girls. The difference is Lord of the Flies is a study of human nature, The Grace Year isn't. There is a reason behind what the County does as well as why the girls act as they do, and it is more than just human nature. I know others have likened it to The Handmaid's Tale, but I can't respond to that comparison. I received an ARC from Netgalley for my honest review of the book. I hope by the actual publication there are some changes to the formatting. Since it is about a year in the life of these girls, having it broken into seasons makes sense. However, there should be some kind of page break or indication that time has passed, or the scene has changed, instead of just continuing on paragraph after paragraph within those seasons. An extra line space between these paragraphs would be helpful when there is a change. Upon opening the book the author has you jumping into the middle of a whole new "world" and it takes several pages until the reader becomes comfortable that they actually understand what is going on. Stick with it, it is a moving tale. #TheGraceYear #NetGalley

WOW....I stayed up all night reading this book because I could not put it down! It is a mixture of everything that is my favorite in a book....strong women, danger, intrigue, passion, moments that take your breath away, worlds that are created entirely different from anything we've ever known....I could go on and on. This book WILL BE the next "big" hit. I have already told about 20 of my students to put it on their TBR list and I have already pre-ordered multiple copies of it. The world created by Kim Liggett hooked me immediately and never let me go. I am still thinking about this book and pondering on the many fascinating themes and ideas it presented. There are so many amazing plot lines in this book, it is one that will stay with me and continue to toil over in my mind endlessly. I cannot recommend this enough and I am so excited to see where she takes us with hopefully more to come! HIGHLY recommend!

I'm still not quite sure on my feelings for The Grace Year. It's very feministy and very dark. And it definitely wasn't the story I thought it was going to be. The cover is very misleading even if it is pretty. The Grace Year is an important and thought provoking read.
***I appreciate Netgalley and St. Martin's Press (Wednesday Books) for the opportunity to read it.***