Kim Liggett

Emily Shaffer

A Novel

The Grace Year

Holly 

No one speaks of the grace year. It's forbidden. 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 power- ful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That's why we're banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the wild be- fore we're allowed to return to civilization. 

"Just weeds." she says. "They used to be everywhere. Couldn't take a step out your house without comin upon one. They got rid of em round here, but that's the funny thing bout weeds. You can pull em up by the root, burn the soil where they stood, might lie dormant for years, but they'll always find a way." 

"Your eyes are wide open, but you see nothing.

"But who's going to do the punishing?" Hannah asks. "At home, the punishers are men, chosen by God." 

“Look around," Kiersten says as she stares me dead in the eyes. "We are the only Gods here.

i’m not crying, you’re not crying 🥹

Heaven is a boy in a treehouse, with cold hands and a warm heart.

Lindsay

There’s no freedom in comfort. They’re padded shackles, to be sure, but shackles nonetheless.

That’s the problem with letting the light in— after it’s been taken away from you, it feels even darker than it was before.

The Grace Year quotes

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