If you have heard the buzz about Kim Liggett's new novel, The Grace Year, then you know it is being touted as a cross between Lord of the Flies and The Handmaid's Tale. While similarities between these novels certainly exist, The Grace Year is its own story with its own set of rules and peculiarities.

In this dystopian world, girls are sent off to live at an encampment in the woods for a year when they reach the age of 16 - the grace year. Why is the grace year so significant? It is believed that magic exists within women - magic that is used to bewitch men. Yes, it is still a man's world, but even more so within this novel. The magic is believed to be strongest at the age of 16, a time when girls are reaching maturity and coming into their own. The "Grace Year Girls" are supposed to purge themselves of this magic during their time in the forest, but what happens at camp, stays at camp. That is, no one really knows what goes on during the grace year, except that many girls never return home. Not only are the girls a danger to themselves and each other, there is also a band of poachers hoping to snare one of the Grace Year Girls - their skin and body parts sell for a high place on the black market.

The Grace Year follows Tierney, who wants nothing less than to return home alive from her grace year only to become a demure and devoted wife to her future husband ... if she is "lucky" enough to be selected for marriage. Only a select few of the Grace Year Girls receive husbands - the rest are relegated to the fields, the outskirts, or even prostitution. The thing is, Tierney doesn't want to be married. To her, she might as well be dead, as wives are merely servants of their husbands, bending to their every wish and whim. Tierney has dreams of rebelling against the men in her village; breaking away from their ways and living in a world where women have rights.

As Tierney travels with the rest of the Grace Year Girls to the camp deep within the woods, she doesn't know what to expect for her year out in the wilderness. She just knows that if she wants to survive, she is going to have to try her hardest to protect herself. The group's resident "mean girl" Kiersten has her sights set on destroying Tierney, but it should not be forgotten that Tierney is a fighter. Just who will return from the grace year alive, and who will end up dead?

The Grace Year's stand-out areas are its beautiful prose and raw emotion. The book is better towards the end, allowing the readers to feel and experience what it truly means to be a Grace Year Girl. The relationships that Tierney has with the other characters is perhaps the truest part of this novel, which suffers from lack of world-building and clear plot development. There is a relationship with a boy that is the most genuine and intriguing part of the novel, and Tierney's friendship with another of the Grace Year Girls is sweet and endearing.

As stated above, there is a severe lack of world-building within these pages. Readers are thrown into this time and place, but without much background information on the how or why. This makes it difficult to understand or empathize with the girls' plight, and also causes much confusion - readers may feel lost in many places throughout the story. It is important when creating an alternate version of the world to give readers as much information about this new world as possible to make it easy to compare it to the one we know. It also helps to build compassion and concern in the reader for the characters. As a lover of the dystopian genre, this is what I found to be most lacking in The Grace Year and it left me sorely disappointed in a book for which I had great expectations.

In all, The Grace Year is a worthy read, but I didn't love it because it could have been so much more. Readers should note that there are some rather horrific scenes within these pages - this isn't a sugar-coated dystopian novel. Be prepared to read some graphic descriptions, a la Lord of the Flies.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book surprised me. From the premise, I knew it would be right up my alley, but I didn't expect to feel as I do. I found it next to impossible to put down. This was so well-written, so deep and harrowing, that I suspect it will haunt me for years. The voice was strong and intense, burrowing into my mind and heart, completely taking me in. While there were some twists I expected and storylines that were obvious to where they'd lead, there were also turns that I didn't see coming. And even the ones I did see coming, they were done in a way that just stole my breath. The slow bloom of the relationship between Tierney and Ryker was beautifully executed and utterly heartbreaking. The revelations the girls faced, realizing their entire existence had been based on lies, the way that they silently took part in the rebellion they'd been overlooking, added a glimmer of hope at the end. This has been added to my all-time favorite books, and I'll be pre-ordering the hardcover to add to my bookshelves.

There's been a lot of buzz about this book but somehow I missed the fact that it's YA which, if I'd known, would have qualified my expectations somewhat. It certainly revisits many of the tropes of other YA feminist dystopia: it reminded me especially of The Hunger Games but with a better romance. Needless to say, any similarity in literary terms to The Handmaid's Tale is negligible: this lacks the depth, the subtlety, the complexity, the sheer intelligence of Atwood - for all that, though, this is powerful in places with a more realistic ending than some books in the genre.

Where I think this could have done with more work is in the world-building (what is The County? how did it come to be? how big is it? what is outside? ) which seems to draw on puritan settlements with the talk of 'magic', the punishment of burning women alive, the hair, but which doesn't have much substance about it. How, for example, is it that 'we're not allowed to dream. The men believe it's a way we can hide our magic'? This is a community that understands vaccination, for example, so how does it propose to control and police an involuntary human process like dreaming? I appreciate that this is supposed to be symbolical of the patriarchal oppressions imposed by the society but it's just niggly when it doesn't seem literally possible.

I'd say, too, that the pacing needs a bit of a tweak: the first 50% is slow, slow, slow - not helped by the fact that the girls are barely characterised: we have Tierney (the rebel/saviour/heroine), her Mean Girl nemesis (cray-cray crazy!) and Gertrude, the put-upon victim. Everyone else is just a name.

And then there's Ryder - now, I have to say, everything perks up once Ryder makes an appearance! Even the writing gets clearer and more involving. And this is where Tierney suddenly understands the power structures and literal means by which patriarchy is practised in her world.

So despite some caveats, this is a books which I'd have probably loved as a teen - but as an adult crossover, it's too familiar, too simplistic for me: 3.5 stars for the good bits, though.

THE HANDMAID'S TALE meets LORD OF THE FLIES in this dark, atmospheric, and sweeping YA dystopian. Tierney James is 16-years-old, an age when girls are thought to come into magic that makes men lust for them and women jealous. In fear of this dangerous magic, the sixteen-year-old girls are sent off into the wilderness to release their magic, away from everyone else, for their Grace Year, a year when everything is secret but many do not return alive.

Girls are branded with their father's symbol at birth, marking them as property. Before their Grace Year, the boys of the same age and men whose wives have died or been sentenced to death (for hoarding/using their magic), can claim a bride through barters with their fathers. Tierney has never wanted to be a wife, even though this is considered the best fate, and she knows that she will go to a grueling manual job if she is not married. However, this has its own freedom, and Tierney longs for that freedom- even though many of those girls are sexually assaulted and physically worn down. The alternative fate is to be cast out of the county where they will work as prostitutes.

As Tierney and the other girls are forced into a brutal struggle for survival, hallucinating and punishing each other, Tierney begins to see bigger truths about the world around her. As her mother says, even though her eyes are wide open, she sees nothing. The Grace Year changes that and robs her of any innocence she had remaining. With poachers- men who slowly skin and dismember the girls who stray to sell to the county for youth serums- waiting at the edges, Tierney learns that the greatest threat may be from within as the girls turn on each other.

This book was dark, enthralling, and lyrically atmospheric. Impossible to put down, this book contains themes of feminism, survival, and social justice. The ending is a little open, and I would love to see a sequel to this book. A powerful read, this is one that will stick with the reader for long after the last page is turned.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

The Grace Year is a highly symbolic novel with dark, disturbing, action-packed, and engaging story! This book is definitely one of my best read this year!

The Grace Year started with a dream, which intrigues me immediately. The author provides detailed information, and it helps me in visualizing the story. I felt like I'm watching the characters from their side, but I'm only invisible to them. How the story will go to is unpredictable. I might get some bits of ideas, but it would still surprise me. And the anticipation I get just to know what will happen next is always killing me. As the mysteries around starts to unveil, the small pieces that I get from the beginning start to connect.

The Grace Year also reminded me of The Hunger Games. I saw Tierney's struggles to survive this grace year, the same with Katniss trying to stay alive in the hunger games. The only difference is that this is about women and how long they can stay alive. How they will spend their grace year in an encampment and how they will last without being killed by the poachers that lurk near them.

The story also covers some issues that we know still exist until now - the inequalities the women are receiving in society. It has been resolved already by giving us the same rights as men, but we can't deny that some of us still feel it. This novel also reminds me of the lessons I had in Sociology & Anthropology this last semester about how the women fight for their rights and how it all started.

The story also shows how a person changed in a given situation. Will they still be the same? Will they change? If they will change, is it for the better or for worse? What will they do if envy and fear eat them up?

The characters have distinct traits that set them apart from one another. I like Tierney's toughness because she handles every situation well, even though some scenes somehow makes her weak. And, I think that is normal as sometimes, in our life, we will come to the point of almost giving up, but we will still fight and walk forward. Even though there was not enough exposure for the other characters, I was still able to know them because of how they were described and talked to by the other characters.

The story ended wonderfully. This novel brought me different emotions that I won't forget. It pains me and hates to see how they got in those situations. They don't deserve those but what could they do, that's how everything works in their county. But, I'm glad that it is slowly changing and this year's graces made a great impact on it. I still want more, though, to know what that little girl in Tierney's dream will do, but I am already satisfied with the ending.

This novel is quick-paced, and the readers will immediately get immersed in the story. I am recommending this book the most to my fellow women out there! Please note that this book has disturbing and brutal scenes.

Disclaimer: I got the advance reading copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book BLEW my mind to pieces.
Just when I thought I had something figured out, I quickly realized I had no idea.
Firstly, the main character, Tierney James, is a heroine from THE GODS. Like, she could not be more of a perfect, badass, strong woman for us all to look up to.
The whole thing could not have been written more perfectly. It was written and executed so beautifully and flawlessly that I have to wonder, is Kim Liggett some kind of writing WIZARD?!
Okay, but seriously - this was such a thrilling, moving, emotional roller-coaster of a story. I felt every word of it pressing into my soul as I devoured it. I felt the pain, the frustration, the suffering, the love, the beauty, the empowerment, I felt it all!
After reading this book I honestly have never felt so proud to be a woman. I think everyone should read this immediately.

Also I hate to do the whole inevitable comparison thing, as this book is ENTIRELY it's own, but I was getting serious Lord of the Flies meets The Handmaid's Tale meets The Hunger Games vibes? Weird but SO GOOD.

All girls are filled with a wild and dangerous magic. A magic that blossoms in their sixteenth year of life. That is why all girls must be sent away for a year to expel this magic and return to society as purified women.

At least, that's what everyone believes.

This is the story of Tierney James, a "grace year girl", who is about to face her own year of isolation and magic in the wilderness outside her small community. But Tierney isn't sure she believes everything that she has been taught her whole life about the dangerous magic of women. And she keeps having dreams that may or may not confirm her suspicions.

This book wasn't even on my radar, but I got an email saying it was available for 72 hours as Read Now on Netgalley and the premise sounded interesting, so I downloaded it. Can I just say a huge "Thank you!" to Netgalley for sending that email! This book was incredible, y'all! I loved the premise. The world that we are introduced to is rich and the mythos is well laid out so that we can quickly follow all the weird beliefs these people hold in Tierney's home town. The writing flows so well and pulls you in from page one. The pacing is excellent, keeping you on your toes and keeping you turning the pages. I seriously tore through this book, reading it within two days. I probably would have read it in one if I had uninterrupted reading time! The characters were well developed and I absolutely loved Tierney and her fierceness. This book was also an interesting look into a world where women are lesser than and what happens when you try to suppress their will.

I think my one gripe with this book were some of the plot points were a tad easily guessed, but that still didn't take away from my enjoyment of this book that much. Overall, this was incredibly enjoyable, fast-paced, and a beauty of a book!.

I'd describe this book as a Lord of the Flies if they were all girls. I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out what the "magic" would turn out to be. The girls from the town get sorted into wives, farm hands and basically prostitutes, but before they begin their "careers" they go away to an island where they try and survive for the year. It is all pretty gruesome and for that reason alone I would give it only 3 stars. If I could have read through my hands covering my face I would have. If you like horror, you'll give it a 5.

Unlike anything I've ever read before. The author definitely has a knack for transporting you into her world. Very talented and I will look for more of her work in the future!

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43263520-the-grace-year" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Grace Year" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1548518877m/43263520.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43263520-the-grace-year">The Grace Year</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6693411.Kim_Liggett">Kim Liggett</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2848837733">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Wow, interesting book. I received an advanced copy from NetGalley for an honest opinion. I enjoyed this book about young women (16 and older) coming into their womanhood or "magic power" so they are hurried and married off (if chosen) then sent off to a camp to survive for 1 year and rid them selves of their "magic". Of course, there is drama and the picking of sides. At times I felt I had missed something but kept reading and hoped it would make sense later. Despite this I liked the over all effect of the book. I would highly recommend this to those who like survival instinct books and young adult themed.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/5483119-sherry">View all my reviews</a>

THE GRACE YEAR is dark and chilling, familiar in theme and execution to its comps, while placing the characters in a uniquely isolated (but not unobserved) setting. This story was one in which you can often see what is coming next (such as why the girls are (in part) behaving the way they are), but that knowing did not take away from the narration. I sped through this book, drawn in by the main character and the author's capable storytelling.

whoa what the heck this book was fantastic! This book takes you and grabs you and doesn't let go until the very last word! If you feel hesitate towards this, don't, its awesome and is gonna be the new teen crave!
Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

Do not be fooled by the excessively pink cover, this is not a sweet story and the characters do not care to be likeable and cherished by the reader. It’s a wild, wild world and so are the girls in it. I have not read a YA dystopian in over a year, but this one reminded me why I used to actively seek out these types of stories. Because they are messy and ugly and dramatic and despite all that, or maybe because of it, I am fascinated.
In Tierney’s dystopian society, teenage girls are believed to have powers that are a danger to the men. Every year, girls are either claimed by men to become wives or unclaimed and left to find work. But before their status officially changes, they are sent as a group into the forest for a year to squash their unnatural powers. Some of them return, others don’t. This is what happens to Tierney.
This is a story of survival. You’d think it would be about women surviving men or the wild mainly, but actually, in this particular case, women need to survive one another. Indeed, in a society where women are not allowed to be mad at men, the only people they can turn their anger against are other women. It’s a sad and disturbing thought. But to make it more disturbing, women are such possessions that there are poachers who kill power-wielding girls in order to sell their parts to consumers who believe consuming these young girls will improve their health. Cannibalism, ladies and gents.
I’m not surprised Kim Liggett has written horror stories in the past after finishing in this book, and I’m sure more are to come, because this was terrifying. It’s unrealistic and yet very realistic at the same time. I couldn’t imagine this happening in our society, but I had no trouble visualizing everything the author described. This is a story that I will not soon forget.

I was given this book by netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was incredible. My very first 5 star read of the year. Everything about this book was amazing. The grace year takes you on am emotional journey of one girl who wants to change the world. I loved everything about this book. This is the best book of 2019 so far.

What began as a tale of arranged marriages turned into a futuristic story about mean girls. But instead of trying to blend in, Tierney rose above and stayed true to herself. After an outcasting in the middle of the settling in period of her Grace Year, Tierney chose to fight to survive. What she didn’t expect to find was a lesson about life, love and compassion.

The ending was surprising but very realistic. Nothing was tied up in a neat package, it represented life in its best form, raw and ever-changing. A great read that I devoured in a single day. Not to be missed for any fan of dystopian novels

When I was in high school, I was obsessed with dystopian. Dystopian was all the rage at the time and was really the only thing I would read during that period in my life. The thing is with those dystopians that I cherished in my early years of high school, they were always set in the future.
Nowadays, I feel like dystopians are becoming hot again, but this time they are a fresh breath of air to the books that came out in let’s say 2010.
A lot of these dystopians, like The Grace Year, are about either women being deprived due to a misogynistic society or discrimination to certain people who have magic.
The Grace Year is marketed as The Handmaids Tale meets Lord of the Flies, which I can see some aspects of those books sprinkled in it.
When a girl turns sixteen years of age, she along with her peers go to an island and try to burn from their magic so they can go back to either become wives or to do manual labor.
However, this island is not safe. They are being hunted by poachers and skinned alive so their body parts can be put in an elixir back in their county. That is not the only danger. The danger is the girls having their first and last taste of freedom and turning on one another.
When I first read the synopsis for The Grace Year, I thought I really need to read that now. I went on Netgalley and put in a request, but it stayed pending for a bit. Yet, one day when I got on to the website, I saw it was for read now and put a new request in to automatically read it.
Boy, am I glad I did. I could not put this down. It’s gripping, horrifying, beautiful, and just amazing. The character growth in all the characters and the society was really well done.
This is something I highly, highly recommend for anyone to read. Plus, this makes one of my favorite books of 2019 list!

I'm a huge fan of dystopian fiction, so when I heard about this book I was very excited. It's about girls who are sent away for a year when they turn 16 to eliminate their magic. I really liked the concept of the storyline. However, I felt it was rushed and could have had more world building and character development. Overall, I enjoyed the book and all the twists at the end.

I received this as an ARC through Netgalley.

Wow! I'm speechless! Such a trip, with so many elements that are scary, cruel, disturbing, distorted, etc.!!!!! The end is hopeful, which is always a plus! Something I will continue to think about for a long time!

In the Grace Year, sixteen year old girls are either chosen by a man of the county for future wifehood or sentenced with a future that is considered even worse than being treated like chattel to the one they're forever yoked to. However, before they can start their bleak sentence, they are sent out to be purged of their supposed magic. In what feels like a heavy mix of the Salem witch trials, Lord of the Flies, and A Handmaid's Tale, we witness the girls turning on one another with a savagery that is startling and frightening to behold.
Tierney has been treated as an outcast most of her life and she goes into her grace year with a heavy sense of foreboding. In what becomes the deadliest popularity contest ever, she knows from the start that her outcast status will put a target on her back. The lengths that the girls go to, both to prove their own magic and to undermine the other girls, has no limits. The stakes continue to escalate throughout the story. The reader knows there is no blissful happy ending, and yet you hope beyond all hope that somehow, some way, the county will see the gross error of its ways.
I was left shaken after finishing this book (which I consumed in less than two days). The dystopian world depicted left me enraged at the injustice the author so painstakingly described. This is a book that will haunt me for years if not, possibly, the rest of my life.

This was one dystopian novel I actually loved! I couldn't put it down, I read it in one sitting. highly recommend.