I'm sad to say that I've given this book 1.75 stars. The concept was interesting, the ending was great, but the process of it was slow and boring.

This was one of my most anticipated books from that time and I'm really sad that I couldn't enjoy it the way I wanted to.

I think dramatically immature YA books don't excite me anymore.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the free ac of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Girls possess magic and come into their power at 16 and are sent into the woods for a year to burn the power they' have in a ritual called The Grace Year. The power drives men into fits of lust and attraction and drives older women to jealousy. Consuming their skin alone is considered to be an aphrodisiac in their community of Gardner County. Tierney James is now sixteen and must prepare for The Grace Year, but she just wants to come home and work the fields. She dreams of living not as someone's wife (the goal of most girls) but about living on her own terms. When she is sent into the woods she has nothing but her sense of self and determination to keep her alive as she must deal with the poachers a group of men who hunt the girls for their skin, and the others girls in the camp. Tierney the Terrible they call her and she's public enemy number one to popular girl Kiersten.

Tierney felt very reminiscent of Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice and I instantly related to her wanting to make her own way in life and resenting the men in her life who thought they knew what was best for her. Kiersten was the typical mean girl that I think every girl knew in high school. At the same time I just wanted to know why she was the way she was. This beautifully heartbreaking book demands to be read In one sitting. I could not put this down and I could not stop crying near the end. This isn't a book about magic so much as a book about what it's like to grow up female. The pressures society puts on you to look like an adult when you're still a child and then bashes you for being too sexually appealing and it's not men's fault for feeling that way. For the older women who are afraid of losing their significant other in a world full of people trying to replace what and who they have with a new younger version. Finally it's about what women can do if they're allowed to work together instead of pitted against one another.

Wow. Just . . . wow.

I did not know what I was going to be getting myself into. I just know I kept hearing how good The Grace Year was, and I don't usually buy into the hype or when I do it's nothing like what everyone was making it out to be. I have major black sheep syndrome.

However, this book was so much more than I anticipated. In so many amazing ways. It is such a raw emotions experience of reading about these girls going off to be secluded from their family and friends for a year, and fighting to the death . . . because that's how it's "always been."

This book has a lot of Handmaid's Tale vibes, but for younger girls. Being told what to do in society, being chosen for marriage, what job you'll have, etc. It's a very interesting take on society that I feel is slowly becoming a reality in today's world.

Several plot twists made The Grace Year a wild ride. I thought we'd be following along with the girls going at each other's throats and just waiting for them to kill each other off. Which, of course, they did. There was one scene that really bothered me, because it really sounded like one of the girls was raping another girl with a feather. However, I cannot be certain that is exactly what happened.

However, there was more to the story and a great plot twist with Tierney getting away from the other girls because they banished her. Tierney is a free thinker and very logical, and she was quick to take charge. The other girls saw this as a threat. The ending was a complete holy shit moment. I was shocked and then so moved by emotion. I might've cried.

This is a book about female empowerment, a twisted "coming of age" element, and a look into how girls can treat each other when left to their own. It's a book you'll want to read!

Kim Liggett presents a dystopian society that will chill you to your marrow. Tierney's society believes that sixteen-year-old girls have siren-like powers that make him susceptible to their allure, preying on their weakness as men. To solve this problem, the girls are sent away for a "grace year," during which they relieve themselves of their power and prepare to marry a man who selected them prior to their departure. The girls, I must emphasize, have no say in who picks them.

Tierney bristles against all of this, viewing it as nonsense. She has drive and a strong will, which put her at odds with just about everyone in her community. She also has a tendency to misread people, particularly those closest to her, believing she's smarter than them. Liggett builds toward her comeuppance, making them moments of growth for Tierney.

The girls' experiences during their grace year will remind you of The Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies, which ought to tell you how harrowing some scenes are. The grace year intends to break these girls, making them pliable, malleable wives. The more Tierney bucks, the greater her risk of harm or worse. She has to learn to play the game, which makes her an entirely different sort of future wife.

Love assumes different shades in this book, including a selfless love shown Tierney from an unexpected source. That particular character, by the way, deserved more than they were given in this book. Tierney lucked out with a friend who proved to be there for her when she least deserved it but desperately needed it.

Teens will love this book. It's dark and edgy yet hopeful, and it's even a bit swoony. There is much to discuss: what would you do if you were Tierney? How would you have adapted to the grace year? Why do you think Tierney's community started the grace year tradition? Why do you think they are able to continue it? Why don't more people question it?

Let me know what you think of The Grace Year. If a teen in your life reads it, let me know what they think, too. It's a book you will want to talk about.

So it took me a while but I finally got around to reading this and let me tell you it did not disappoint. This gave me so many different feels and I love the dystopian aspect to it and it really reminded me of the handmaid‘s tale which is one of my favorite dystopian tales. I really felt for the characters and this book wasn’t very predictable which was great because I never knew what was going to happen next. The ending really threw me and I’m still thinking about it. I definitely recommend this one if You’re a fan of dystopian‘s!

Really enjoyed reading this book. I enjoyed the idea of the story and how it was written. The characters were very well written and relatable. The description of everything in the book made it very easy to visualize what was happening. I loved the twists and turns and can't wait to read it again.

This was probably my most anticipated book of 2019, but when it came time to read it, I just couldn't get into it. As a result, I put it to the side to come back to read at another time. I am very glad I did that and didn't just DNF the book because The Grace Year was a very interesting read.

Don't get me wrong, there are some truly horrifying things that happen in the book, but the writing is just so beautifully done it really does a great job of conveying those elements. You feel what you are reading. You don't exactly feel that you are part of the story, but you feel like more than just a passive observer.

3.5 Stars??

This is a story about patriarchy, and I think the description of this being a cross between The Handmaid's Tale and The Lord of The Flies fits well. I appreciated Tierney's anger and how it was shown throughout the story, especially in the beginning. You can feel how much she wants to at least stare daggers at the comments that are made about her while she has to just sit and take it.

I thought the writing was well done, and the descriptions of the surroundings were very visual and atmospheric. We really get the feeling of being in this society where women can be killed at the drop of a hat for minor "transgressions" and the fear that these women deal with every day. I would like to point out that there didn't seem to be any women of color in this society. No skin colors are brought up (that I remember, I may have missed it), which may have been on purpose, but a society where all girls are required to wear their hair in a single braid down their back does not seem like one where black people are welcomed.

I was really getting into the story until about halfway through when the "love interest" came into play. I hated how it changed the course of the story. I did not think a story about women coming together and finding sisterhood needed a romance at all, much less with a man. I just incredibly disliked that part of the story, and it really changed how I read it. <spoiler> He had a schematic on how to skin her alive. You cannot convince me that was "love".</spoiler>

Up to that point I would say I was enjoying it, however much you can really "enjoy" a story about violent patriarchy. And there were parts without the romance that still felt haunting and well done, but unfortunately everything was tinged by it. Especially at the end where I felt like the men of this society got off too easily. I wanted a more I guess... violent ending? I don't understand how we could go through everything we go through and then end up how we did. Maybe that's not the story Ligett set out tell, I don't know.

Anyway I did incredibly feel for the characters as stories like this always pull at my heartstrings, there were just some logistical things I didn't like.

Wow, this was a beautiful book. The atmosphere it captures and the emotion it stirs in readers is definitely first class.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I love dystopian stories and this one seemed like it was going to be similar to The Handmaid’s Tale, so I was extra excited. It didn’t disappoint. Tierney and the other girls from her village are sent away for a grace year before submitting to marriages chosen for them by village elders. It’s a bit of a Lord of the Flies scenario with every girl for themselves. As Tierney encourages the girls to work together, others in the group do their best to sabotage each other. And all the while, they are in danger from something on the other side of the fence. This book is full of adventure and twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.

What a page turner .. I enjoyed this dystopian novel set in a colony where every year, sixteen year old girls are sent away into the wilderness for their “grace year” its a time where they are forced to live without much food, water, .. and a lot of danger..all due to the belief that at sixteen their bodies emit a powerful aphrodisiac that must be let go of to later return home and be docile and ready to marry.
Yes, there are comparisons to The Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games, I’ve read both of those books and still think this is very original.
I enjoyed it!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC!

This is set in a dystopia-like world where women are pitted against each other. On every woman's sixteenth birthday, she is sent away in order to release her seductive magic into the wild so she's doesn't harm those around her, but not everyone comes back alive.

A fever dream of a novel, keeping me turning pages later into the night until I finally finished, drained.

In the alternate reality story, girls are thought to have magic.  In an effort to cleanse them, they are banished to spend their sixteenth year (the grace year) in the wild.  
It is basically a female version of The Lord of the Flies and we learn the girls are no less horrible to one another than are boys.  I am giving the story 3.5 stars - it would have gotten 4, but for the ending.

I liked the story, but it worked better in theory than in practice with me. I just didn't connect with the writing or any of the characters.

This is not like many other books I have read. It fits into the fantasy genre, which I do not normally choose. I was hearing about it everywhere, so I gave it a shot, and I am so glad I did. This was a very entertaining and interesting read. A bit of fantasy, a bit of Handmaids Tale.

I would definitely suggest this book!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

A solid YA novel that was a good purchase for my library. Students have read and enjoyed it, and I purchased it because of this review copy.

THE GRACE YEAR is a wonderfully creepy gem of a book. Reminiscent of Angela Carter, this brutal look at interpersonal relationships between women is not one to miss. Liggett's treatment of brutal masculinity is visceral and unsettling, mirroring and amplifying real-world relationships.

When a story takes you from annoyance, to tolerance, to friendship, to love you know it’s special. I really didn’t get this book to start. But I realize now, that’s on purpose. Liggett has given us a journey to experience, much like Hunger Games, we may not understand the constructs or the challenges entirely at first (and our lead gal doesn’t either); but as we progress with our leading gal into the dark trenches of reality and truth, we realize that we knew all along we just didn’t want to believe it. The truth is messy, dirty, bloody, and not flattering; just like real life.

Women’s Competition
This is a powerful story about girls, women, mothers, and childless crones. It is a reminder that we as women are taught to compete; not to further ourselves but to keep us apart, because apart we are stronger.
I tell my husband all the time about how meeting new women is terrifying for me and how I hate the competition. He tells me I imagine it, but I know that it’s my imagination. Especially because over the years I’ve carefully talked with other women and found out we all feel the same. And so we gain progress inch by inch by quietly discussing our realities. The Grace Year shows us how to start (or continue) the work that these girls begin. It lifts the veil (or the shroud) and tells us that not all men are evil, women don’t need to compete, and ultimately that change may be slow and our patience is required.

Change Comes with Sacrifice
From the early chapters of The Grace Year we are shown that not everyone survives, and most return broken or changed so much it’s difficult to recognize them. As our lead gal progresses through her own Grace Year we, of course, start to see why that is. The knowledge or questions our gal starts with aren’t even the most important ones she answers throughout the story.
Everyone in this story sacrifices something in someway. It’s not romantic, pretty or bittersweet. Instead it’s harsh, bloody and stark as bone. Yet each sacrifice made, and the ultimate ones made at the end, are essential for the progress of our story and characters. Liggett has intertwined them so well that I didn’t even realize what was happening to my thoughts and emotions until after I had tears in my eyes.

Romance
Very few real life relationships are fairy tales. In fact I have yet to meet someone with the perfect fairy tale spouse or life. It’s because it doesn’t exist and we are reminded of that in The Grace Year; sometimes the best you can hope for is that it not be awful. Thus when a small speck of hope and love shows up it’s all the more powerful. Liggett takes that knowledge of the poignance of love and how we all crave the fairytale and uses it against us. Watch for your emotions to be twisted and at times you won’t know what you want to happen, or even have a clue what is next. I recommend staying on the ride and letting yourself be immersed in the difficulties of living in an imperfect world (to say the least).

Overall
While the premise is intense and grabbed me quick; it’s the main character that nearly broke me off from this novel. Thank goodness I didn’t give up on it. If you hate our lead gal at the start, find her annoying or just inconsistent that’s okay. There’s a purpose to it. Were I to make a suggestion about edits to Liggett, I’d recommend that she tweak the introductory chapters to focus more on our lead gal and her male friend; and theorize less about the magic. Give us something to at least respect about this girl (and keep us reading) before she’s torn to shreds and rises back up in the most unlikely of ways.
I wonder on a reread how I’d feel about the beginning. Maybe I’d see more to it? Maybe I’d see what seemed obvious wasn’t as clear as it was portrayed? All I know is there is power when a shift happen. My brain, heart and soul shifted while reading The Grace Year, almost without my knowledge. I felt myself recognizing so many of the things said as true to my own life and experience. It’s a treat we get insight into our own lives and makes this a perfect story for the YA/Teen genre.
One of the first books as a pre-teen to make a strong impression on me was The Giver; when the apple flies through the air and changes to red. That moment in The Grace Year isn’t as clear cut, making it even more impactful in the end, but it’s there. Hidden under some small YA tropes; but once you uncover it, and keep on reading, you’ll suddenly know that this isn’t your average YA girls versus girls book. It’s got some magic of it’s own.

Note: I wrote this review within minutes of putting this book down. I may not feel as strongly tomorrow; and normally I allow myself time to digest a book. But I felt like I needed to capture this emotion I have right now before it disappeared and was replaced with the depression of headline news and our own reality. I’ll be intrigued to see how I feel about this book in a week, a month or a year. Do I remember it? Does it stick like The Giver, like Black Panther, Red Wolf, like Hunger Games, like Station Eleven, or so many other dark(er) dystopian books I’m drawn to. Only time will tell.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

I LOVED this one. Easy to read and a decent story. I'd read further books by the author. I'm rating it 4.5/5 stars.