Thank you to Net Galley for my e-arc!

Was so excited to get an arc of this book, I had been paying attention to the buzz and it did not disappoint.

The dystopian society where Tierney comes from is absolutely frightening and I loved following her journey as she unraveled the secrets and rebelled.

This book is perfect for fans of The Handmaid's Tale.


Review also posted on Goodreads.

The Grace Year is a brutal look into human nature in its raw state. Manipulation at its finest. While the entire premise of the book is of course fictional, I felt that it wasn’t far from a bizarre reality. I see how it coincides with the “feel” of a handmaids tale setting. The lengths men will go to oppress women just to act on their desires is also a reality. Ultimately the message of the book is pressed through “Women must stand together”

THIS WAS ABSOLUTE PERFECTION.

The Grace Year was an unexpected tale of feminism and how together a group of people can make a positive change to societal norms. This was a book that I didn't even know I needed and fully expect many woman to find comfort in Kim Liggett's words.

"Why must the boys get to decide everything? As far as I can tell, we all have hearts. We all have brains. There are only a few differences I can see, and most men seem to think with that part anyway."

This may be categorized as a dystopian but you can't deny how powerful that quote feels within the current state of our government. It wasn't just the beautiful words within this story that made it so special though...

The plot was addictive, suspenseful, and forced me to feel a full range of raw emotions. There were so many twists woven throughout the story that even when I guessed something was going to happen, it was then followed up by something else that left me in complete shock. On top of that, each character was so well-developed and displayed tremendous growth.

In the end, the story came completely full circle and concluded on such a beautiful note. I seriously can't wait for The Grace Year to be released later this year so I can gush over all the details with everyone else! (Also can we PLEASE get a companion novel in the future?!)

The Grace Year is an extremely disturbing and amazing book that deals complexly with the relationship between girls and and how they grow up. Forbidden to speak of this grace year that happens every year, girls who come of age are banished to the forest to release themselves of their magic. Girls are believed to possess power that can lure men and destroy lives.

This book surprised me and shocked me a lot. The way with which the author dealt with the theme of girl power in a dystopian and magical setting truly mesmerized me. It was heartening and shocking, and yet not so untrue after all.

Tierney’s friends, the girls banished along with her, all believe in the magic within them. They believe that they are cursed, and it drives them all mad. Because they want to release it, they want to survive. One by one, girls start dying. Snapping. It’s all blood and chaos. All turning against each other.

Ryker’s character was probably one of my favorites. I loved his broodiness and his helpful, soft nature. He instantly grew on me, and that little bit of romance added some lightness to the otherwise dark book. It, of course, did not end too well, and I can only commend the author for staying away from the cliche here.

The Grace Year is a highly distributing book, what with the amount of violence it contains. And yet, I found myself unable to keep the book down. I was hooked, totally engrossed, and couldn’t rest until I had reached the end.

This is a story of how women, girls, in the society are looked down upon. They are merely thought as objects whose worth is only in marrying and producing babies. Of how these girls are pitted against each other in order to survive. Of how much men fear the youth of the girls. It is harrowing, disturbing, and yet full of hope and romance and light.

Perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale, The Power and Divergent, The Grace Year is a book you definitely need to read this year!!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed are fully mine.

I know I will be thinking about this book for many years to come. It is so overwhelming, horrifying and has such strength in the story that I am shook to the core.

This story is about beliefs. It is about what you will do for your beliefs, what can be taken away, what can grow from those beliefs whether good or bad. The ending brought be so much hope because honestly I was incredibly heart-broken and incredibly frustrated and angry for these girls. Being put through something as horrible as the Grace Year, even seeing their every day life, makes me want to cry and scream. Whether or not the magic is real doesn’t matter. If someone believes it is real, then there is no telling if it will bring hope or madness.

Tierney is a holy-crap-strong-badass-kind character and we should be more like her. She is a fighter until the end but shows mercy and dare I say grace in her actions. She shows compassion and reason when everyone else is too scared to find it in themselves.

I love the hope in the end. Without seeing that people can be brought together to show a bit of mercy and kindness I think this novel would have made me so depressed. This world is so far from perfect but it also so real in many aspects compared to the world today. There is hope. There is fight left in them. I kind of hope for another novel to see it all come together in an even bigger way.

Such a thought-provoking read, my mind will be reeling for a long time to come.

What a strange and wonderful book. I love when I run across a gem of a novel like this one. I immediately connected with Tierney James. Her character got under my skin and stayed there throughout this unique and compelling story. I can't say too much about the plot without giving away too much, so I'll concentrate instead on the mesmerizing prose, the haunting characters, the extraordinary story, and the mystifying setting. It reaches out to you on so many levels and I hated to let these people go. There are myriad stories to be told here and having taken this journey with Tierney, I feel like the book itself was a metaphor for my own grace year. Hopefully there will be more to come in this universe.

The Grace Year is a wonderful young adult fiction that really works well with the current times. It has undercurrents of a Handmaidens Tale with an almost Hunger Games Twist. The main character is strong and true to herself and the elements of romance help the story along. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast-paced riveting story.

Um. Wow wow wow. I loved this book from the beginning to the very end. And I was pleasantly surprised. I don't usually go for dystopian novels but after loving The Hunger Games and watching some of the Handmaids Tail I figured I'd give it a shot by requesting an ARC. And I'm so glad it was approved!

You're following the main character, Tierney. Her and a group of teens must survive a year in a forest to 'rid their magic' before they are married, as all the men in her time are terrified of what a woman's magic can do.

I was rooting for Tierney the WHOLE time! She's such a strong and amazing character for young women, and all the way through the very end you can see how strong she is. Kim Liggett also did an amazing job at making you hate a character too hahaha. It was a VERY emotional rollercoaster and is now very high on my recommendation list!

Thank you Netgalley for they ARC of The Grace Year.

Do not let the sweet pink cover fool you. This is a dystopian horror story. Amazingly written with wonderfully characterization, it's amazingly hard hard to put down. And leaves you thinking long after you've finished the book. Stellar!

Wow, what a book. I haven't had a book that could make me to though so many emotions since Sarah J Maas. There are so many political undertones regarding women's rights blended in with old fantasy storytelling. It just works so well. It amazes me reading books about the injustices women faced throughout history and even to which we fight to this day. If you like hunger games type survival, fantasy, horror, politics with romance thrown in them i think you will really enjoy this read. I'll be grabbing a copy as soon as it hits the shelves!

Fantastic 5 star from me. Thanks netgalley and St. Martin's press for letting me read this awesome arc!

Well this was a step out of my normal book genre... I must say I was a bit captivated and read this book very quickly. Fans of dystopian fiction/YA will really enjoy this one!

The Grace Year.. "White ribbons for the young girls, red for the grace year girls, and black for the wives. Innocence. Blood. Death." At the age of 16, girls of the county are sent away in order to cleanse themselves of the magic they possess. Tierney was a strong character who was a bit different from the other girls and I enjoyed her character.

The tradition of the Grace Year is terrifying. Girls before Tierney have not returned, the ones that have are not the same. The girls have to survive on their own, against each other and the other evils lurking in the woods. "As my damp boots sink into the soft dirt, I think of my mother walking this path before me, June and Ivy, and Penny and Clara, who will be forced to follow in my footsteps."

This book was well written and deeply atmospheric. I wish more time was spent on the girls at their encampment rather than the romance part. For me, it detracted from the book. This part may be considered spoilery, so beware... I would have liked to see more resolution at the end with more defiance from the girls.. more fight, more change, more of a scene upon their return.

I would definitely be up for a sequel and/or a movie, if in fact this is made into a movie.

"They call it magic. I can call it madness. But one thing is for certain. There is no grace here.” “My eyes are wide open, and I see everything now.” 4/5 stars!

A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

4 / 5 stars!

I was torn between 4 or 5 stars for this one, but after sleeping on it, I decided to go with 4. This was an action packed and compulsively addictive dystopian novel with some important themes, but I felt like certain points, and the ending, weren’t as well executed as they could have been.

In the world of “The Grace Year”, girls are told they have magic - powerful magic that will lure men from their wives and make other women jealous. To purify and rid themselves of their magic they are sent away when they turn 16 to an encampment for their “grace year”. Here they must survive for one year in the wild with the other grace year girls. Upon their return those were given a veil by men before they left will become wives, and the others will become maids, laborers, or sent to the outskirts. Tierney James believes a better world is possible, one where women aren’t forced to turn on each other for the benefit of men.

First and foremost, this book had a ton of action. It’s impressive how much was packed into 416 pages, and even at its slowest points I was compelled to keep reading. Right from the beginning we’re pulled into this fascinating and all too believable world where women are treated like property with no control over their fate. There was never a dull moment, and part of this was due to Kim Liggett’s writing: it’s just the right mix of dreamy and atmospheric while still progressing the plot.

I also highly enjoyed the characters. These were not likeable characters. Even Tierney James, who I rooted for the entire time, had timeswhere I was taken aback by her actions and didn’t like her in that moment. But that’s okay. These girls have had to be submissive and quiet their whole lives, and the grace year is their one chance to be absolutely free for a year. They’re not likeable characters, and they’re not trying to be - they’re just trying to survive.

My only complaint was (spoiler for later parts of the book): The romance with Ryker. I felt like the romance was unnecessary, and didn’t add much depth to the story. If it hadn’t happened, not a whole lot would have changed. Still, I enjoyed most of it, they were just a few parts that made me shake my head because they didn’t seem to fit Tierney’s characterization. The ending was also a little lackluster, but the journey there more than made up for it.

Overall, I loved this book. I devoured it in two sittings, and after looking up the author, it’s no surprise to me that Liggett has also written horror novels. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a compulsive dystopian.

The comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale, Lord of the Flies, and The Hunger Games are all spot on. Although, The Grace Year is also very much it's own story. Fans of dystopian fiction will be thrilled to get their hands on Kim Liggett's new novel. The story will spark many discussions about the role of women and what it would mean to have no control over their lives. Fast-paced with phenomenal world-building, The Grace Year is set to take the world by storm. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy dystopian fiction.

Not your average "coming of age" story. The fear of who you can trust--and who you can't--makes this all the more interesting, coupled with the girls in their sixteenth year battling the elements and surviving literal man-hunts. The story will grab you, the realism will keep you.

DNF @ 18%

I want to begin this by saying that the book was very well written. The world and the characters were explained in such a way that I felt like I was standing right there with them. But this is also why I couldn't finish reading. I read books to escape, but this book has dragged me back down with a ball-and-chain of iron into a reality that I truly wish to escape.

THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, and that is exactly what I am.

It's best described as Handmade's Tale meets Lord of the Flies, but worse, because I'm certain there is some cult out there that follows a very similar tenant as those of Garner County. While I want to know what happens, because I am invested in these characters and I'm truly interested in how it ends, I cannot bring myself to sit through something that pulls me into an unhealthy mental state. I will give the book 4 stars because it was very good, from what I could read, but I do not plan on finishing it.

The grace year is Hunger games meets Warrior of the wild. And it is the book we didnt know we needed!

The grace year is the girls sixteenth year. When they are said to come into their powers and have aphrodisiac powers over then men. In their sixteenth year the girls are banished to the woods to rid themselves of the magic. This book follows Tierney during her grace year and the struggles she and the other grace year girls face with their “powers” and out in the woods. They face poachers, the harsh elements and one of their biggest obstacles, each other.

I could not put this book down. So twisty and amazing. A little bit of girl power, a little bit of magic and a lot of love. This book is a must read of 2019!

I was truly stunned by "The Grace Year". I had never read anything by this author before but was intrigued by the plot and by the fact that it seemed to have been rated so well among early reviewers. Still I was a bit apprehensive diving into it. In fact the first few chapters I still remained unsure of where it was going and I almost felt like the book might be like so many others I have read in the last several years. I couldn't have been more wrong. This was unlike anything I've read before. In fact, without naming names, this book took a similar theme in YA literature (oppression of women, dystopian societies) and succeeded where so many others have failed. Besides a powerful message about women it also is completely entertaining. Once I was really into the book it was nearly impossible to put down. The premise is that in this particular world, girls turning 16 are believed to have bad magic and they are banned outside of town in the wilderness for their "Grace Year". When they come back at the end of the year, if they even come back, they are 'tamed' and the magic is gone. When the girls are left in a fenced in area (community seems too gracious) it turns into almost a Lord of the Flies atmosphere. The girls threaten to turn on each other or worse. What happens to them during Grace year? How can they stay safe from the poachers outside who are ready to hunt them down and sell their body parts? (Which is totally acceptable in this society). This is action packed and still has an emotional punch. I won't say it is overly gory but there is definite violence and description of what happens due to that violence. I am very impressed with this one. I hope it garners the attention that it deserves because I think this could blow up in the YA community.

😮 I’m not sure I know where to start with this one...Wow! ⁣⁣
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I saw hints of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games in this book, yet Kim Ligget created a new dystopian world that is all her own, but belongs to every woman.⁣⁣
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In this society, men hold all of the power over women. A woman’s purpose in life is to be a wife and bear children (specifically sons), or to work in the fields or workhouses. ⁣⁣
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⚡️When girls turn 16, they are sent out into the wild to live on a remote island for a year, The Grace Year, to rid themselves of their “magic.” Its obvious that the men of the county are simply terrified of the power that women have and aim to squash it down before it has a chance to grow. ⁣⁣
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🔪 There are many dangers on the island- the girls themselves and the poachers who aim to capture them, skin them alive, and harvest their body parts to be used in a medicinal concoction back in the county. Not to mention that many of the girls begin to quite literally lose their minds within the barrier. ⁣⁣
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💐At one point, the narrator, Tierney, is forced out of the fortified compound by a “leader” who has risen among them. She is forced into the wild beyond the barrier to fend for herself amongst nature, the animals, and the poachers. While clinging to life beyond the barrier, Tierney meets someone who changes her whole outlook, her whole life. ⁣⁣
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I can’t give away any more, but I can say that when I read the last page, I just couldn’t believe it was over. I wanted Tierney’s story, the story of The Grace Year Girls, to continue on.⁣⁣
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📖 Whenever you’re able to get your hands on a copy of this, DO IT!!! ⁣⁣

I wanted this to be similar to Suzanne Young, but it just didn't come off like that. I think I have maybe just had my fill of dystopian womens' YA fiction for a while - I suspect if I pick this up as a hard copy later, I might enjoy it much more.

In this dystopian novel, young women are forced from their small and conservative community to an island where they must spend a year fending for themselves and trying to avoid the hunters—called poachers—who would kill them and sell their body parts as elixirs of youth back to the community. Tierney has witnessed two of her sisters depart for and return from this rite, broken and scarred. She’s been raised with,live-sustaining and saving skills, and soon learns that her understanding of science, above the beliefs of the other women in magic, will save her and as many other women she can convince to believe her. The characters are well-drawn and evolve in interesting ways; the setting is original while not too alien to understand; and the writing is well-paced and vivid. In the end, Tierney’s discoveries hint at resilience and resistance among the women of the com, and with that, a hope for change.