4.5/5 Stars

Author: Kim Liggett

Publisher/Imprint: Wednesday Books

Edition: e-ARC, 227 Digital Pages

Hardcover Publication Date: October 08, 2019

A Spine that Shines? Definitely!

*This review is based on the e-ARC edition provided via NetGalley. All quotes used in this review come from the uncorrected proof. These are my honest opinions. Thank you.*

We’re told we have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive the wives mad with jealousy. They believe our very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood.
-Tierney, The Grace Year

Initial Thoughts:

Wow. The Grace Year is a pretty wild book! It’s a crazy mix of The Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies. I’ve also heard people say it has elements of The Handmaid’s Tale. I haven’t read that book yet, but based on the synopsis, I see where the comparison comes from. I also got some Nathaniel Hawthorne vibes from The Grace Year. After I finished reading The Grace Year yesterday, my mind was spinning.

So, what is The Grace Year actually about? Garner County is run by men who misuse the Bible to maintain societal control and instill fear in all of the women of the county. For their sixteenth year, the girls of Garner County are sent away, isolated, and given one year to rid themselves of their sinful “magic.” During this “Grace Year,” these young girls are hunted by “poachers,” supposedly because the grace year girls’ body parts have aphrodisiac and youth serum powers. Tierney James, our main girl, must find a way to survive the year.

Here are some elements of the novel to appreciate:

This novel really gives you something to think about and stays with you for a while after reading it.
That ENDING! I hardly ever cry while reading a book. (The Fault in Our Stars didn’t even make me cry.) But I was tearing up a bit at the ending of The Grace Year. Originally, I was planning to rate this book 4 stars, but after reading the ending, I knew I had to bump it up to 4.5 stars.
The Grace Year is a survival story with tons of action! It will definitely keep readers on their toes!
The author does a good job writing the characters in a way that makes you feel for them and sympathize – even with some of the mean characters. The society in which they live has really messed with their minds and their way of thinking. It’s difficult not to feel something.

‘My father always told me that it’s the small decisions you make when no one is watching that make you who you are. Who do we want to be?’
-Tierney, The Grace Year

Characters & Romance:

Let’s discuss some of the characters. I won’t go into too much detail here, because I don’t want to spoil the plot.

Tierney is a fierce, strong main character! Her determination to survive despite so many challenges is admirable. The other grace year girls in isolation with her do some terrible things to her! Tierney has a good heart and does her best to help the other girls survive even though they are really vicious. She wishes things could be different in the county.
Kiersten, one of Tierney’s enemies during the Grace Year, is a piece of work. She essentially claims a leadership role during the isolation, and she is determined to turn all of the other girls against Tierney. She convinces the girls to do eerie, crazy things to “embrace their magic” in order to rid themselves of it before the end of the year.
Tierney’s love-interest is another important character, but I won’t name him due to spoilers. I think it works best as a surprise. (Although, their relationship could still be considered slightly predictable.) The relationship that develops is an enemies-to-lovers relationship, and it eclipses the second half of the novel. While the first half of the novel is more of a survival story, the second half is romance-heavy. Perhaps the love-interest could’ve played a slightly larger role in the first half to make the romance feel more evenly distributed. But I liked Tierney and the guy as a couple and enjoyed seeing their relationship grow over a period of time. However, the romance does get a bit steamy – steamier than I would normally prefer for a YA novel. So it may be better suited for older readers on the YA spectrum.

The magic is real. Maybe not in the way they believe, but if you’re willing to open your eyes, open your heart, it’s all around us, inside us, waiting to be recognized.
-Tierney, The Grace Year

Final Thoughts:

Here are a few other things to note about The Grace Year.

The text is not divided into chapters, which I think I would’ve preferred. It is instead divided by seasons. I think I understand why it is divided this way, but I often prefer chapter divisions, because chapters can indicate where a good reading break might be and also help the story move along.
I would’ve liked to have learned more about what lies beyond the county.
There is one character death near the end that happens rather quickly. I think it could’ve been slowed down in that scene, because this person’s death does have an important impact on the story.
I don’t know where or when this story takes place. All we get is Garner County, the outskirts, and the “encampment” where the grace year girls are sent. That’s it. But is this post-appocalyptic U.S.? Or what? It does have a dystopian feel, but I’m not certain. The Bible, something from our world, appears in this story. (No sane characters would misinterpret the Bible in such a way, but these men are obviously not sane characters.) So perhaps it is supposed to be our world? I just don’t know where or when.

Overall, I’m giving The Grace Year 4.5 stars for leaving such an impact on me! If you’re looking for a thought-provoking, dystopian, survival/romance story, I’d recommend checking out this book when it releases on October 08th! Happy reading!

*Content Warnings: Lots of violence, bloody wounds, violent deaths, part of a girl’s scalp is ripped off, talk of girls being skinned alive by poachers, hallucinations, girls are forced to make babies and don’t get to choose the father, unwanted touching, nudity, sex. This novel definitely seems aimed at a more “mature” audience level.*

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

Grace Year is one part Lord of the Flies, one part Hunger Games, and one part Handmaid's Tale. I think that sums it up perfectly.

Garner County believes that girls possess a magic that lures men. It is believed that this magic heightens during their 16th year. So when they turn 16 they are sent to the woods to rid themselves of the magic that men accuse them of possessing. Before they leave those who are chosen by a boy (or man) are veiled (picked for marriage) and those who are not will be sent to work in labor houses. The twist is not all of them make it home alive.

Tierney James, our main character, wants a different life. She doesn't want to be veiled she just wants to survive her grace year and go to work in the fields. It doesn't exactly work out this way and we are taken on an adventure of survival from the elements, the poachers in the woods who hunt them, and most of all from each other.

This book was wild ride and I need to know what happens after the ending!

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

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!

I flew through this dystopian young adult novel because I couldn’t tear myself away. Admittedly, this was gruesome and violent and sickening at times. But there were also moments of hope and friendship and loyalty. The fact that this takes place in a dystopian society is the hint to the overall dark tone of this book. My suggestion is to go into this one with as little plot knowledge beyond the book blurb as possible.

This is a book that could be frustrating because there is no background explanation or logic to how, why, or when this society came to be. There is no indication of where this society is, and that is something readers must be able to accept. However, I think this is going to be a popular young adult novel.

When it is good, it is very, very good. It truly is a metaphor or allegory for today's world and I appreciate any time that women can get together and fight the system. I don't love that the focus was so much on the love story--it felt very Stockholm Syndrome-y and I wish more time had been spent with the girls. Because there were so many we hardly knew them beyond a name, although I suppose that too can be allegorical to today.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC

Can’t say enough good things about this book it was brilliant! Easily hands down my favorite read so far this year. The writing is amazing the story was gripping and the characters and world building fantastic! I would love to see this made into a movie. I’ll be on the look out for more books by Kim Liggett. The Grace Year Publication date October 8, 2019 looking forward to buying my copy.

Upon coming of age, all the girls in Garner County are sent into the woods for a year to rid themselves of their dark powers and may only return if they are deemed safe to rejoin society. Not all the girls come back, and those that do are scarred and subdued. Speaking of the grace year is forbidden, so 16-year-old Tierney James has only whispered rumors to prepare her. What she discovers is that there's nothing more frightening than a group of young women pitted against each other for survival.

Once you start, be prepared to stay up late to finish reading Kim Liggett's THE GRACE YEAR. It's fierce in its examination of a patriarchal society and what it does to girls and women, and men and boys alike. It's ruthless in building a world where young women face dire choices. Amid it all is the fight and heart of Tierney James, a young woman who refuses to simply survive and challenges the status quo. This story is subversive and immersive, and simply unforgettable.

OH MY GOD. This book was absolutely amazing. It took my breath away and it left me with tears in my eyes.
Heartbreaking and so emotional "The Grace Year" is a must read.
From the very beginning I was hooked. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what will happen next.
Every time I opened the book I was transferred into this dystopian world ruled from men and women didn't have a say at nothing and yet they hold so much power...or a magic?
I found myself holding my breath at so many parts. My heart felt emotions so strong for all those girls who had to brace their destiny. For Tierney who was so brave through out her jorney..
Gosh that book was brilliant. I have never read this genre before but now it becomes one of my favorite. The writer's words touched my soul. She did a great job with this book and I really hope they make it into a movie.
I will always remember THE GRACE YEAR. I highly recommend it and I think everyone should read it. It teach us some great lessons.
Thank you so much Net Galley and the publisher for my copy.

This book is getting a lot of hype; and the hype is well deserved. It’s definitely a mix between The Handmaid’s Tale and Lord of the Flies, and it’s just brilliant. The writing was gripping and poetic, and all the characters were fleshed out. The plot was also just so intense, and there were a few twists I did not see coming. And the ending was perfection. I’ve read some great books recently, and The Grace Year is definitely near the top. 5/5 stars and a new favorite!

This book only has five chapters which is something that would normally freak me out and make the book feel never-ending. This book, however, skipped along and made me stay up LATE to the point where I had to wake up in four hours because I couldn’t stop reading. At first, the book was creepy and mean, my head broke for the people living in that horrible world. But once things became clearer, and the book moved along, I was happy to see the glimpses of kindness and hope especially for the women in the society. The book was not at all what I expected which was a pleasant surprise. Overall, I loved the writing style and everything else about this unique novel and can’t wait to read more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Grace Year is already receiving a lot of buzz. Touted as a mix between The Handmaid's Tale, Lord of the Flies, and The Hunger Games, it was quickly snatched up by Universal and Elizabeth Banks to be made into a film. I didn't even read all of the synopsis before I hit request on Netgalley. But even if I'd read all the way to the end of the synopsis, it wouldn't have helped much. The synopsis barely scratches the surface, which I'm sure is the intention. And while it does have threads of those three great novels previously mentioned woven throughout, it also has some problematic issues that I found hard to ignore.

The first half of this one was slow for me, and I felt confused for most of that half. We jump right into the story, but without much explanation as to why things are the way they are in this town. And ambiguity can be good in a story, when it's done correctly, like in the aforementioned, The Handmaid's Tale. But here, there are already too many other mysterious issues piled on top.

There is a character introduced about halfway through that I actually think is a well-rounded and engaging character, but by the end, only seems to serve one purpose, which makes me sad. Unless there's a sequel and something changes. Which is always entirely possible--especially with the ending the way it is. (Which I still haven't decided if I love or hate.) Like I said, too much ambiguity for me.

But let me talk about the pros: The writing is superb, and I highlighted many beautiful lines. I love how flowers and their meanings are woven throughout, even becoming clues at times. And I love how the main character consistently embodies strength and bravery.

If it's done well--and maybe some plot points are tweaked--The Grace Year may make a better film than a book. Which is very rare.

This book was pretty slow in the beginning and the pacing of the book is really hard to follow. BUT if I look past those two issues, this book is intriguing as all get out. It's definitely disturbing, but still a very compelling read. The Grace Year is very much a dystopian book where women solely exist in their society with either the role of child, child-bearing wife, or working in a field. It centers around Tierney and her Grace Year, the year when all the sixteen year old females go off to live in a camp to "burn off" the magic that they are born with so that when they return to their town they are ready to wed and they can't bewitch the men in their lives.

Tierney James is living in a world that believes girls and women possess a magic that will drive men to do anything. When girls are sixteen years old they are forced to go live in the woods for a year on their own to release this magic and become ready for marriage. They call this the grace year and it's shrouded in mystery.

This book has echoes of other stories - the Handmaid's Tale, The Hunger Games,and Lord of the Flies. It wants to be a story about feminism, but doesn't quite get there. Tierney is a loner who refuses to engage with the other girls in her grace year. She instead spends her time with her father learning skills usually only boys are taught. Her best friend is Michael, son of the head of council. She shuns her sisters, mother, and other girls basically. Then she must spend a year with all girls in the woods.

This had great promise, but for me, the characters were just not well developed. It also felt like I was missing parts of the story. I think part of the problem was formatting the in the ARC I was reading. There was probably a break, but it just all flowed together instead. I would be reading about Tierney in the lodging house with the girls and in the next sentence she was back in the woods. I hope the final copy makes the breaks a little more clear.

There was also a chance for the girls to come together and change things away from the men being in charge, as we learn the women outnumber the men two to one. Yet that doesn't happen in any big way. Tierney also gets derailed with a love interest that makes no sense. This was a quick read, but left me wishing it had been executed differently.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

The Grace Year is another chillingly terrifying feminist novel in the likes of The Handmaid's Tale and The Natural Way of Things. With an achingly familiar message of strength and resilience, The Grace Year adds its own spin to the classic feminist tale of resistance.

The Grace Year begins with main character Tierney, on the eve of her Grace Year. In order to remove the evil magic that so tempts men, girls on the cusp of womanhood are sent to an encampment in the wilds to last a year. There, strange occurrences happen as their magic arises and burns out, and nobody knows who will last the year as poachers try to hunt them, selling their parts back to the county.

The Grace Year is a familiar yet new story about finding the strength to resist. It's a tale about trust and forgiveness. Although we open in the county with their strict control of the women, the majority of the book is set in the encampment. The setting is so beautiful and made for such a haunting and creepy atmosphere throughout. With ghostly stories, there was always an edge to everything, as if we didn't quite understand what was true and what wasn't (which we really don't). I loved the uncertainty - the mysterious atmosphere and magic of The Grace Year affected Tierney so much that it was hard to know what was real and what wasn't. I loved that at the end of the day, the most danger came from the girls themselves as opposed to the men of the county, or the poachers. So caught up with the power granted to them during the year, they become mad with the power, the last sliver of 'freedom' before they are forced into marriage or work.

It is such a dark and brutal journey, one where a happy ending is never certain - and the definition of happiness can really be debated as well. I loved some of the secondary characters - the way Tierney's mother comes to life throughout the book is wonderful, and I loved the slow reveal of Ryker. There are many twists and turns, some utterly shocking which I never saw coming but which are just so clear afterwards! I feel like this is a book that will shine even more in a reread, with so much foreshadowing more noticeable.

Although a dark novel, there are moments of hope and joy. There is fierce love and friendship and ultimately, there is such resilience and strength in these characters. This was a brilliant read, and one which follows its predecessors shoes very well!

Wow!

The Grace Year was absolutely stunning. It was powerful, thought provoking, haunting, and impossible to put down.

It was property described as a bit of The Handmaid’s Tale, The Power, and Lord of the Flies. Not only were the themes powerful and well executed, but the plot itself was enjoyable to read even without all it represented.

So many books market themselves to the theme, try too hard to send a message, and fail in the execution. This book took a solid plot that hammered the message home, but the story was complex, drawing me in for more than just the theme. I felt invested in Tierney’s story and never got the feeling that anything was happening to further send the message. It never felt heavy handed or manipulative and I felt that the characters mattered, were well developed, and their struggles were felt authentically.

The Grace Year was haunting, shocking, and so completely messed up at times. The setting was wholly different, slowly described throughout Tierney’s journey as the reader pieced together how it all worked, why girls were sent away, what that meant, what everyone’s place was, etc. It was fascinating, but also terrifying. I loved Tierney’s account throughout the grace year and her experiences with the other girls, the conflict and power dynamics of their group, the struggles she went through, her survival in the elements, and everything else.

I cannot rave enough about this book. I already decided that my book club MUST read it and it doesn’t even come out until October. I want to discuss it. I want to reread it. I want to see it on screen. I absolutely recommend it.

Wow. Wow. I don’t know how to put my thoughts about this book into words. It’s a good sign when a book leaves me speechless.

Read this book now!! But it should also come with a warning. WARNING: start this book when you have some time because you won’t be able to do anything else fully until you finish.

The Grace Year is the story of Tierney, a 16 year old about to leave her family for her grace year. She doesn’t know exactly what that means. No one does. It is forbidden to talk about it. But girls are all banished for their 16th year - out into the woods. They don’t know what happens there - but they know they don’t all come back and those who do have been fundamentally changed.

While there are valid comparisons to The Handmaid’s Tale and Lord of the Flies - this is a story entirely its own. I was fully drawn in right from the opening pages - and while I had to put the book down at times to live my life - Tierney was always in my thoughts. This book will stay with me for a while. I expected a great story - but was surprised by all the emotion I felt reading it and finishing it.

I alternated between reading and listening (and sometimes both at the same time). The audiobook performance is phenomenal and I highly recommend if you are looking for a great audio - and stick around for the author interview at the end. This will be one of my favorite reads of 2019.

Thank you to the publisher Wednesday Books, Netgalley and Libro.fm for the advance reading and listening copies.

I agree with all the other reviewers that this is a mixture of The Handmaid's Tale and The Lord of the Flies. This was so good that I flew through it in two sittings. The plot is fast-paced and, at times, brutal and terrifying.
At sixteen years old, girls come into their "magic", which is their ability to seduce men. They are sent away to a compound for a year to supposedly release their magic into the wild before returning home to marriage, if chosen, or to work as a laborer.
The main character, Tierney, is strong young woman--both mentally and physically. I loved that she knew what she wanted and that it wasn't marriage. She didn't want a veil (which means marriage), but she ends up receiving one. Because of this, her time in the grace year was more than she had bargained for due to a vindictive woman.
4.5 stars

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This summer has been the season of feminist books for me and I have loved each and every one of them! Adding to the latest feminist reads is The Grace Year by Kim Liggett. I have to admit that it was labeled as a "young adult" book but everything about this book is geared toward women of all ages. It is phenomenal!

In this dystopian novel, the women live very subjugated lives along side men who rule with an iron fist. They are not allowed to gather and talk with one another in public, not allowed to hum or sing believing that they are using their "magic" to seduce or trick men - because we all know that men are easily seduced or tricked. Yes, we do. When they sixteen years old, the girls are sent away to a camp far in the woods to survive on their own for a year in order to rid themselves of their "magic" and come back pure and ready for marriage. The woods surrounding them are filled with "poachers" who are waiting for the girls to make a wrong move so they can skin the women alive, capture their magic and sell it back to the men in the county. There are outcasts and usurpers and these girls know that they do not want to become either of those women. Only a few will survive their "grace year" and those who do never breathe a word about what transpires in the woods. Until now. Tierney is determined to survive this year and prove there is no magic at all. As the girls become more insane and more of them are dying and being killed by the poachers, Tierney is targeted as one who much be cast out. Survival becomes her only goal - will she succeed?

The Grace Year has been compared to The Handmaid's Tale and The Power but in all truthfulness I found The Grace Year far more interesting and realistic. We live in a world where women who once were gaining ground, marching on the road to equality, suddenly find themselves at the mercy of very angry, emphasis on very, men. Not just in the US but in so many countries all over the world. We now are marching backward with no say over our own bodies, no say over the world in which we live as we watch strong, intelligent women being mocked by those with half of their intellect. We are, literally, just shy of the ignorance that the males portray in The Grace Year. Sadly, we women are allowing this to happen without whimper.

However, what I found most refreshing was the end of this book. Without giving away what transpires, the women who were raging against one another form a bond. They begin making subtle changes to themselves and toward their group as a whole. They discover that there are men in their county who are willing to stand up for them, who help them and those who have been outcast. While the story itself is extremely dark, horrifically brutal - this really is a story of hope. If only we, as women, could or would bond together as a whole, stop tearing one another down, just imagine the power that we would have and the good that we could do for the world. That is the essence of this book: Hope.

This is a long-ish book and I thought, at first, that perhaps it needed editing to make it more palatable to those who no longer read longish books. However, there is nothing to edit. This book is perfect as it and well worth the time it takes to read it. In fact, I stayed up all night to finish it because I had to know the ending. It was beautiful! If you do not read another book this year, I encourage you to read The Grace Year and then follow it up with Athena's Choice by Adam Boostrom. We'll make a good feminist out of you yet.

My thanks goes out to #netgalley, @WednesdayBooks @StMartinsPress and #KimLiggett for allowing me to read and review this incredible book on sale October 8, 2019.

This was a 3.5 star read for me, that I’m rounding up because it did most things well: female friendship, sisterhood, parent-child relationships, and dystopian worldbuilding (in the vein of The Handmaid’s Tale). The book revolves around a sixteen year old girl who longs to avoid marriage and work in the fields...once her “Grace Year” is over. The Grace Year is the period where all 16 year old females are sent away to an encampment to “release their magic” in preparation for their lives as mothers or laborers. There is no supervision, but there is the threat of murder at the hand of poachers if the girls stray from the encampment. As you’d expect, things deteriorate quickly.

There’s the expected mean girls, followers, rebels, and drama. There’s also the concept of magic and madness, and quite a bit of horror. That said, it would have been at least a 4-star, possibly even a 5-star for me, if it weren’t for the instalove. The author does a good job of building out the female characters, but the men (and arguably the most important man in particular) are cardboard cutouts. There’s no meaningful development of relationships, even when the story relies on us believing in them. This was a compulsive read, and highly recommended for fans of dystopian lit with a feminist bent, but I wish the romantic plotline(s) had either been developed more or removed altogether.

"In the county, there’s nothing more dangerous than a woman who speaks her mind..."

The Grace Year is everything I wanted from a YA Dystopian. The story was gripping and while I was listening to the audiobook and not reading a physical copy, I found it difficult to press pause and take out the headphones. The audio was fantastic and by far one of the best audiobooks I've listened to lately. The story played a huge part in that, of course. But the narrator also did a spectacular job voicing the characters, especially the nuances between Tierney, Kiersten and Gertie, and really made me feel immersed in the story.

The details regarding the Grace Year are kept a secret to all in the county. Similar to Fight Club, the number one rule is, "we don't talk about the Grace Year." Which serves to keep a shroud of mystery wrapped around the entire rite of passage until the girls reach their own personal Grace Year. However, they quickly begin to discover what the year is about, and while I won't spoil it here, I really enjoyed discovering it right along with them rather than from an omniscient narrator with heaps of background information.

My second favorite thing about the book was how the author handled the twists. I won't go into more detail, but Kim did a fantastic job giving the reader just enough information to just begin to suspect a few things... and I'll stop there letting you read the book for the rest.

It's difficult to describe how I felt reading the book without taking away your own experience. But suffice it to say that I still have goosebumps when I think about this story and all the amazing things the author made me feel.

I will definitely be purchasing a physical copy when the book is released and rereading it again soon. And it will always hold a special spot on my shelf right next to The Giver.