While it only took me a couple of days to read The Grace Year by Kim Liggett, I held off for a while before writing my review. This book was a lot to digest, and unpack. The comparisons to Handmaid's Tale and Lord of the Flies are not leading potential readers astray however, I do believe the depth of the story is closer to Atwood.

Liggett's main character, Tierney James, is a stubborn and intelligent girl with strong opinions. The concept of becoming a wife is repugnant to her yet she finds herself with a veil placed on her head before she heads off on her Grace Year. The fact that no one is allowed to talk about the Grace Year and that girls sometimes don't come back is enough to set the reader on edge. With the historical setting it is reminiscent of the Salem witch trials where any little perceived slight could end in a harsh punishment.

The book shows how a society can groom people for violence against those who should be their allies. It shows how strong relationships can still be shrouded with secrets all in an effort to protect each individual. Liggett does not shy away from all of the obstacles that make change such a daunting prospect.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Grace Year. Some sections did feel rushed however trying to take on the span of a full year can lead to dull filler which was avoided. The tone of the novel was haunting yet hopeful, if that's possible? And I am all about a good twist to send both the readers and characters spinning. I would be down for a sequel, just saying.

Kim Liggett puts her best foot forward with a fresh and gripping premise: The Grace Year explores a reality where girls are cast off in their 16th year to discharge their magical abilities in order to become more docile inhabitants within their patriarchal and panoptical society. We enter the novel through the perspective of Tierney James, a 16-year-old girl who lives in pursuit of questioning the assumptions passed down every generation. When she must undergo her own grace year, enduring the hostility of her own peers as well as preparing herself against the threat of poachers, Tierney begins to see what is truly at risk, as the beliefs that her community has staked it's existence on begin to unravel.

The Grace Year was a compulsive read. What I love about YA is how direct the writing can often be, making the most of its vocabulary without hesitating to move the plot forward. The novel's fast-paced style and positioning of the main character in precarious and compromising situations had me reading into the small hours of the night.

While the premise drew me in in a way that made me want to love the book from start to end, I ultimately felt that the book fell into certain YA trappings that at times make me hesitant to dive into the genre. As much as I wanted to align myself with Tierney's goals and her tough-to-break spirit, I couldn't help but find her character flat. While trying to be an independent, revolutionary character, Tierney's strong will became too easily compromised in the face of most adversity, making her character seem a bit self-contradictory. Despite not reading too much YA, I felt myself constantly thinking of The Hunger Games as I read on and was disappointed in the conventional love triangle embedded in the plot. While this book might hit a stronger note among younger readers, I think my prior familiarity with common dystopian/YA tropes made me a bit skeptical to absorb what this novel had to offer.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing an advanced copy of this book.

Imagine a world where women both young and old are believed to have magical powers, the ability to drive men and women crazy. That’s just the world created in this tale. When Tierney turns sixteen, she knows what’s coming. It’s time for her Grace Year. Banished to the woods for an entire year, she and her fellow female counterparts must find a way to survive. Very little food, minimal shelter, the constant threat of death from forces both known and unknown...it’s a battle to the very end. To make matters worse, they must also wage a psychological battle against each other. The question becomes, however, how many of these threats are real and how many of them have been perpetuated by society? Dark and deeply haunting, this was a compelling story right up to the very end.

Reviews comparing this to The Handmaids Tale are very much on point. This is a story where we watch as girls are constantly abused and disparaged by men in a multitude of ways- some obvious. some more insidious. This is a story where young girls are manipulated into believing in and actively participating in their own oppression. Perhaps the gravest manipulation is the leading of willing girls into a "grace year" where they will expend all of their evil feminine magic and return purified and ready for any form their future may take. That is, if they survive it.

Tierney is just one of these girls when her grace year comes up and going through that experience with her was horrifying and exhausting and often utterly disheartening. But watching her find strength for every next step reminded me of how powerful women really are and how important books like these are to remind us to never go docilely but to rage rage against all the would be oppressors and abusers determined to keep us down.

I'm quite excited to have discovered Kim Liggitt here and am looking forward into diving into her other offerings after I have a bit of time to recover from this one!

This was an excellent new dystopian world to dive into. It has been a while since I dove into a story like this one but I really enjoyed it. I cannot wait to see what comes next from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book. The premise sounds a bit ridiculous but I thought the same of Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” and I was obsessed with that series long after finishing it. The writing and word choice are stellar. It was artistic without being to wordy or out there. Also I love the cover. It’s simple and elegant. The color will likely discourage boys from reading it as other’s opinions matter so much to teens.

Received via NetGalley for review.

The Grace Year is a year where all young women, at the age of 16, are sent off to the wilderness to "get rid of their magic," which ensnares men and is uncontrollable. Speaking of it is forbidden, even amongst other women and the women who they've undergone it with. Women are not to be trusted, and must be strictly controlled and managed lest they bewitch any unsuspecting man. However, there are many more women than men, and only the lucky few are able to be married and become a wife. All others are sent to be the workforce on which the County depends. Tierney is your typical tomboy, who would rather work in the fields than get married after her Grace Year. What she doesn't realize, however, is how much this will hurt her when the Grace Year finally comes.

What the Grace Year actually entails is a well-kept mystery until it actually begins to happen, which is a great choice on Liggett's part. The reader is as curious and apprehensive as Tierney, especially as little hints escape. When it does finally arrive, very little time is wasted before we get into the violence and manipulation that such a society demands their women hide.

While I wish more time had been spent on the encampment and the girls rather than the romance, I appreciated that nothing is truly settled, even though small steps are made. This is truly how societies change: small changes of attitude and behavior, not huge collapses overnight, as much as we might wish it.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan publishing for the E-Arc copy of The Grace Year.
A dark dystopian novel about a world where women are to be seen and not heard. The novel has a very adult tone to it and younger teens may not relate as those over the age of 15. I was a little disappointed in the ending that we come to once it in it's climax. I think that it's very well done and gripping just be prepare for the originality of the story it's very dark and driven.

I wish I could give this book more stars, because the premise is incredible. But it failed in too many ways for me - underdeveloped world building (where are they? When are they? What happened before this with the resistance and what could happen after?). It was very predictable. Fell prey to the YA low triangle trope. The writing felt stilted - to be honest, like the author was trying to hard to emulate The Handmaids Tale. It kept me reading because I was fascinated by the plot though.

A very interesting book. This book kept me interested the whole time. This definitely shows just how brutal and violent girls can be when placed together for a year on an island. This book lived up to it's description and more.
I still can't wrap my mind around some of it.

Riveting but not unique. I had to keep reading but I never felt the joy of a truly unique book. I wanted more at the end and less of the romance. I feel like somethings missing, though I ddI enjoy most of the book.

I’ve been craving a well-written, unique story that I can get lost in...and this was it for me. This book won’t be for everyone, but there are elements that we can all relate to. It’s a cross between The Crucible, Lord of the Flies, and The Handmaid’s Tale, but wholly original. It may be too intense for some readers and will appeal more to female readers.

The Grace Year is a gripping read, but I feel a bit let down by its ending -- though it comes together with what the writer has foreshadowed, its end is one big anticlimax. I really didn't need another dead teenage girl to motivate one more link in the cycle, and I found the collaborative secret rebellion to be overly convenient to the plot. This is a shame, because otherwise this is a rip roaring sometimes gory never dull adventure. If only the end had lived up to the rest!

Misogyny, subjugation, but above all the horrible things girls and women do to each other out of fear and Envy are the cautionary themes in this gorgeous, dystopian tale set in an undefined time in an undefined place. Absolutely one of the best new books I’ve read in a long time, imagine a beautifully written mashup of the Handmaid’s Tale and the Lord of the Flies, with the page turning excitement of the Hunger Games. It is packed full of tears, fears, friendship, love, joy, and hope. No YA fan will want to miss this gem of a book. I am telling everybody I know to look out for it! Well done!!!

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC.
In this dystopia, girls allegedly have magic when they start menstruating and they are promised in marriage, but must survive a year in the wild to "lose their magic". The girls are incredibly cruel to one another and of course, ignorant of what is really going on. This is Lord of the Flies with girls playing the parts. Interesting concept.

The Grace Year is a story for every girl and every woman who has ever wondered why we tear each other down, why we stab each other in the back, and why it’s so hard to stand together against a world that sometimes wants to break us.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. Another reviewer described The Grace Year described as “A Handmaid’s Tale meets Lord of the Flies with a hint of The Village” which may be the most accurate (and awesome) description of a book to ever exist.

There wasn’t a moment of this book I didn’t love, even the ones that made me ugly cry (and there were a few). Liggett gave us a YA heroine who is smart, strong, defiant, yet still willing to learn and grow. Unlikely friendships forged in fire. A strong, silent rebellion based on hope and faith. Twists and turns that keep you on your toes. And yes, a little romance as well.

There are books that make you feel something, then there are books like this that make you feel everything. Rarely do I ever have the kind of visceral reaction to a book like I did with The Grace Year. It’s the kind of book that stays with you long after you finish, the kind you can pick up again and again and it never loses its potency.

5/5 stars for the anger, the heartbreak, the redemption, and the hope.

I read this book pretty much in one sitting, I need to know what happened next..

Tierney lives in a community where each year, all sixteen year old girls are sent to live in isolation for 13 months so their 'magic' develops and is dissipated. At the end of this they return home to be married or enter a place of work..Any girl who tries to escape is at risk from being killed by Poachers and rendered into miracle cures, the sisters of girls who cannot be accounted for at the end of the year are banished.

We follow Tierney on her Grace Yer which turns out to be Little House on the Prairie meets The Handmaid's Tail meets Mean Girls meets The Revenant meets Lord of the Flies meets Picnic at Hanging Rock meets Battle Royale meets Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

The main character is likable and sympathetic. Over the year we see how her relationship with her parents changes as she realises that all is not what it seems.(just as any daughter gradually realises that her mother is pretty much right about most things).

The relationship between the group of girls is scarily accurate, with the dividing into cliques and head games. There's a lovely moment when Tierney realises that all the time she was climbing trees as a tomboy that she should have made time to cultivate female friendship to be able to weather the transition to adulthood. Obviously her attempts to unite the group and concentrate on survival fail and chaos ensures!

The horror unfolds deliciously and the fear felt by the girls is tangible.

A great read with a strong message.

A big thanks to NetGalley for the ARC I was given of The Grace Year in exchange for a fair and honest review.

You might be wondering: what would a book that blended The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games look like?

That’s a very simplistic read of Kim Liggett’s beautiful, haunting novel, but the similarities are there. Every year, the girls in Tierney’s village are sent away to a secret destination to be rid of the “magic” that women have in order to allow them to successfully step into their roles as wives. Of course a shrewd reader will know from the beginning that “ridding the girls of magic” really translates to breaking their spirits to form obedient wives. As you might imagine, The Grace Year (which is shrouded in mystery because it is protected by a Fight Club level rule of secrecy) is not fun. It is designed to break the girls down in unimaginable ways.

So, what would it look like? If Kim Liggett wrote it, it would look a lot like a masterpiece and no, I don’t think I’m overselling this. The book was hauntingly written in a lyrical, almost hypnotic style, but still managed to keep the tension physical and thick. I could not stop reading this book. First and foremost, this is the story of women and how we are taught from birth to see each other as competition. It is about our internalized misogyny. But it’s also about the way that can and will change if people continue to make changes when they can. Even the “villain” was well developed and deserving of sympathy. I fell in love with these girls and their pain, but man, Tierney. I was obsessed with Tierney and her story: she was strong and brave, but also beaten down by life. She was flawed: as her mother says early in the novel, “[her] eyes are wide open, but [she] see[s] nothing.” It is her experience that creates a deep inability to trust that at times really blurs her ability to see truth.

Small spoiler alert: there’s a love story here and it’s really, really lovely. Normally I hate love stories in this kind of book. Like, you’re dirty and starving and maybe gonna die, but why not take some time to get all swoony? This is not that. It felt authentic and natural, yes, but it also gave the first glimpse of hope in a novel that was readable bleak.

I know it’s only February and this is slightly premature, but this is for sure on the short list for my absolute favorite book of the year. It has been months since I’ve read anything that hit me this physically, this stayed with me this long, that affected me so profoundly. I truly loved this book.

5:/5: Must Read.

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I was pleasantly surprised by this book and its fierce feminism. The Grace Year takes place in a misogynistic world where men will go to any length to keep women down and deny them power. The setting and character growth in this novel were really well put together and watching women band together to survive gave me all the feels. It was nice to see a fresh take on this genre and I look forward to more books by this author.