Kim Liggett

Survive the year.

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

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life―a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

The Grace Year

Lindsay

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.

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

i’m not crying, you’re not crying 🥹

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

Holly 

I don’t know what his favorite color is, his favorite hymn, if he prefers blueberries over boysenberries, but I know the way he clenches his jaw when he’s thinking, the rise and fall of his chest right before he drifts to sleep, the sound of his footsteps on the forest floor, the smell of his skin-salt, musk, lake water, and pine.

 We come from completely different worlds, but I feel closer to him than I've ever felt to anyone.

I don't like that I can't see his face. It's disconcerting but maybe that's the whole point. The same way the veils dehumanize us, the shrouds do the same for them. One symbolizes pure innocence, the other pure death

"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.

Eyes to God. My skin erupts in goosebumps. This is identical to the plaque we have in the town square. They position the gallows directly over it so when our necks snap, it's the last thing we' ll see, which always struck me as especially cruel. If your neck is broken, how can you look up? Even in death we're a disappointment.

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

I stop to watch the horses in the paddock being groomed by the guards for the journey to the encampment, their manes and tails braided with red ribbons. Just like us. 

And it occurs to me, that's how they think of us...we're nothing for breedino

"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." 

White ribbons for the young girls, red for the grace year girls, and black for the wives.

Being married off isn't a privlege to me. There's no freedom in comfort. They're padded shackles, to be sure, but shackles nonetheless. At least in the labor house my life will still belong to me. My body will belong to me. But those kinds of thoughts get me in trouble, even when I don't say them out loud. 

Ferns, lady-slipper, and thistle, the mysterious red flowers dotting the path. Five petals, perfectly formed, like they were made just for us. One petal for the grace year girls, one petal for the wives, one for the laborers, one for the women of the outskirts, and one laborers, for her

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. 

Grace Year

I don’t think this book was ever going to be for me so I almost feel bad for rating it. This is female rage but the absolute worst sort and I got nothing from this other than immense amounts of eye rolls. Also teenage pregnancy??? gtfoh pronto 

Samantha Waterson

Emily Shaffer

A Novel

This was a great social critique on the role of women, and even the way women treat each other. I enjoyed that this story was dystopian but surprising and non-conventional in many ways. 

Content warning: Violence, Lesbian character 

Jeweliet Coffee

This was a great social critique on the role of women, and even the way women treat each other. I enjoyed that this story was dystopian but surprising and non-conventional in many ways. 

Content warning: Violence, Lesbian character 

I was enjoying the book up to like the 50% mark and then I got a little lost with where the book was going. It ended okay but it seemed like a lot of buildup for an almost non-answer to the main questions. Also wasn’t sure if Tierney actually dies at the end or not - seemed unnecessary to keep this up to interpretation. Overalls, a decent YA but felt like portions weren’t for me. 

Paige Paul

Great YA, I couldn't put it down.  More twists and turns than I expected,  dark, but some glimpses of hope.

Jenny Engel

So many feelings to unpack... I loved this book even though, at times, it also made me so angry. I loved the character development of Tierney and also how the grace year girls left the encampment better for the next year’s girls.

 The ending was devastating but also kind of fitting.. I interpreted it as Tierney dying and her mother giving her freedom by removing her black ribbon. It is sad, but I thought of it as a reminder that change is a long process. The changes we make aren’t things that we will always see in our lifetime, but the choices we make today have the ability to bring forth a better future. 

Side note: F*ck Kiersten 😒 I wouldn’t have been the least bit sad if they’d just let her die. 

Jessy Tatum

So many feelings to unpack... I loved this book even though, at times, it also made me so angry. I loved the character development of Tierney and also how the grace year girls left the encampment better for the next year’s girls.

 The ending was devastating but also kind of fitting.. I interpreted it as Tierney dying and her mother giving her freedom by removing her black ribbon. It is sad, but I thought of it as a reminder that change is a long process. The changes we make aren’t things that we will always see in our lifetime, but the choices we make today have the ability to bring forth a better future. 

Side note: F*ck Kiersten 😒 I wouldn’t have been the least bit sad if they’d just let her die. 

I don’t think Dystopian fiction is for me. There were parts I this book that peaked my interest. Other times, I wanted to be done with the book. It’s written well, just not my jam. 

Jeannie Gallagher

um.. wow. this is really dark and at times hard to read. the author did such a good job with obviously the big overlaying themes but especially the small subtle details of female solidarity/sexism that only women will ever understand. i did predict the big twist, but i also thought it would end differently. i’m happy it ended exactly how it did though. wow. hunger games, handmaids tale, and lord of the flies all braided into one crazy dystopian book. 

big ab

Anna 

u prokletého roku jsem měla veliká očekávání, která se mi nakonec splnila. a nejen to. myslím, že je kniha překonala.
děj nám začíná v nejmenované vesnici, které vládnou muži. když dívky dovrší šestnáctý rok života, jsou na celý jeden rok vyhnány na ostrov, kde se mají očistit od své 'magie'. 
zprvu se mi kniha až tak moc nelíbila; vše hrozně rychle utíkalo, já se v příběhu ztrácela a nebyla z něj úplně nadšená. ale když se dívky dostavily na místo, kde stráví celý rok, děj se začal někam posouvat a já byla unešená tím, jak je celé to místo popsané. knížka vám rozhodně nemaže med kolem pusy, dokáže vás vhodit do příběhu a vůbec se v ní nesetkáte s nějakými jemnými popisy. je plná násilí, vzteku, bolesti a pomsty. a já si to zamilovala. zamilovala jsem si ty popisy toho, jak tierney přežívala sama v lese, zajímalo mě, jak se tam učila žít a jak to všechno zvládala, a taky jsem se nemohla odpoutat od děje, protože se hrdinům příběhů pořád něco dělo. nikdy neměly klid. a to na knize hodně cením. autorka se se svými hrdiny nepatlala, dala jim tolik bolesti, že jsem je nakonec litovala všechny, i když nemohu říct, že jsem je měla ráda. hlavní hrdinku jsem nemusela celou knihu, ale i tak mi k srdci přirostla. moc se mi líbila celá ta pochmurná nálada knihy - a ano, zopakuju to znovu - tou náladou a popisy mi to připomínalo midsommar a hunger games dohromady. je to horor, je to hodně triggering a je to vážně krutý. ale já si čtení hrozně užívala. 
romantická linka mi nedávala moc smysl, přišla mi tam taková navíc, a příběh by se bez obešel, ale nakonec jsem pochopila, proč jí autorka do knihy chtěla dát. od hlavní hrdinky jsem čekala něco víc, ale opět jsem se na to podívala z jiného úhlu pohledu a pochopila její činy, i to, proč udělala to, co udělala a proč se se svým osudem sžila. 
konec mi přišel hezky vymyšlený a rozhodně na kvalitě knihy neubral.
.
mám jednu hlavní výtku, a to, že v knize bylo strašně moc chyb a překlepů. hodně často tam nebyla dopsaná slova, chybělo jim třeba písmenko. a nebo tam byla slova ve špatném pádě. na to, že je kniha humbook tip, se korektura měla provést mnohem lépe.
.
jinak ale úžasná kniha, kterou si musíte přečíst, pokud máte rádi drsné ya příběhy.

Caroline Williams

This book was WILD. Heard it described as as if the Hunger Games and the Handsmaid’s Tale had a baby and that was pretty accurate.

Megan Helberg Keiser

Elisavet Rozaki 

Lord of the Flies meets The Handmaid's Tale.

kitty 

wait no because this was SOOO GOOD and so potent w themes and messages .. yall read this rn!!

Hanna Rybchynska

I just loved and hated this book, and it was amazing!

[PT]
Bom, quando eu achava que a era das distopias já tinha acabado, em 2019 saiu o livro O ano de Graça, ou Grace Year em original. E devo dizer que isto foi uma das leituras mais psicadélicas e fascinantes que eu li. 

Voltamos à Era Negra modernizada, onde a religião predomina todas as decisões e a mulher é vista apenas como um "acessório" nesta sociedade patriarcal. Além disso, a mulher ao nascer já é impura pois porque tem a capacidade de seduzir o homem e isso é inadmissível. De forma as mulheres serem purificadas, elas passam um ano naquilo que se chama "Ano de Graça" quando atingem os 16 anos, no entanto, nenhuma mulher mais velha fala sobre esse ano e sabe-se que este afeta muito o estado físico e psicológico das mesmas. Sendo também que existem mulheres que nunca voltam. Acompanhamos então uma rapariga de 16 anos Tierney James que vai para o seu Ano de Graça para ser purificada. 

Devo admitir que este livro dispertou-me horror, sentimento de incapacidade e injustiça como poucos o conseguiram. Eu não consegui parar de ler até chegar ao final do livro, porque isto prendeu-me demasiado. A refleção das relações entre homens e mulheres são muito semelhantes daquilo que encontramos por vezes nos nossos dias, e também a própria relação entre mulheres pode ser aproximada às muitas relações atuais. 

É um livro horrível, mas muito bem escrito!

maia

fun to read sometimes but the plot went downhill real fast…

most “not all men” feminist book ive ever read

another day, another great book. Read it for second time and I love it so much. 

Eliška Lhotská

Kendall McClain

Omg shoutout book club this was an awesome pick!! I did not think I would like this but I am very pleasantly surprised by how thoughtful this book is! 
The plot of this book is crazy and I loved it, all the twists kept me very engaged. But at the end of the day I am a character over plot girlie so my real downside with this was how stereotypical the characters are in terms of the dystopian genre- each character perfectly matched an archetype and that was kinda frustrating for me. Plus the stupidly overused ‘closeted gay-homophobic bully’ trope is simply never gonna do it for me! There also was one aspect regarding the end of the main character that grinds my gears (although it’s not necessarily a bad ending, I just had a different vision) that I will not spoil but Tiffani it is my same critique for Jo March!
Despite these silly little downfalls this was a great book that I had a great time reading and am very excited to discuss.
Also Gertie is just a precious Angel I love her

Jessica Nekritz

Scariest book I’ve ever read. 4.5 stars

Predictable but I couldn’t put it down.

Sasha

Good concept, but some of the plot points fell flat. Still reminded me of the 2012 dystopian YA craze though so that was nice.

elissa

Wtf? I never thought that a feminist book would have the "childhood best friend who’s also the most popular guy in town vs the enemy" love triangle. A LOVE TRIANGLE???? Why 😭 especially with those tropes. Never thought I would prefer the childhood bestfriend (this one is actually super sweet and a feminist ally idc) over the enemy. But for my defense, HE KILLS GIRLS AS HIS JOBS!!!!! How is it feminist to make the mc super h*rny for a guy who murder girls to sell their remains as his job????? She even say it herself, she’s a prey and he’s a hunter or whatever it is in English (i read the french translation). And yet she could think of, wasn’t girls rights, but doing the devil’s tango with him. And she dislike her childhood bestfriend as if he did anything wrong??? AT LEAST HE’S NOT KILLING GIRLS

Lina <3

taylor

‘An incredibly important and empowering read’ Natasha Ngan, author of Girls of Paper and Fire A New York Times bestselling dark speculative feminist thriller, perfect for fans of The Power and The Handmaid's Tale. _____________________________________________ THE RESISTANCE STARTS HERE. 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. That's why we're banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the wild before we're allowed to return to civilisation. But I don't feel powerful. I don't feel magical. Tierney James lives in an isolated village where girls are banished at sixteen to the northern forest to brave the wilderness - and each other - for a year. They must rid themselves of their dangerous magic before returning purified and ready to marry - if they're lucky. It is forbidden to speak of the grace year, but even so every girl knows that the coming year will change them - if they survive it... A critically acclaimed page-turning feminist dystopia about a young woman trapped in an oppressive society, fighting to take control of her own life.

Tish

This book was everything. As if it wasn’t already perfect enough, the acknowledgments made me view it all in a whole new light. This book feels like a very extreme portrayal of how we view teenage girls coming into womanhood and it seriously made me look inward about the way I view them as well. It’s very rare that a book makes me take a long, good, hard look in the mirror and even rarer for a fiction book to do so, but I’m glad it did. It’s been a while since I’ve read a dystopia (for the first time anyway) and if that’s a genre you like then this is definitely the book for you!

In the county, theres nothing more dangerous than a women who speaks her mind.” 

This book was INSANELY hard to put down. Very slow to the start but had enough interesting plot I had to keep going. The vague world building of Garner County is so erie and sinister feeling I didn’t really know what to expect out of any of it, especially the characters. 

Because of the consensus of the men we had women going absolute wild and jealous and hurting each other because of what generations of Grace Year has told them. 

There was also a lot of analogies that were just so jaw dropping. Her dream, which has very big significance I did not see coming; The metaphor about cannibalism how patriarchy works when it forces women in a position to pit against each other to ahead and get the “good” ending. 

hunger games meets handmaide’s tale with a dash of feminism and a main character who will do everything but think how they want them to 

 “As they’re sizing us up, I’m sizing them up, too.” 

grayson gruber

In the county, theres nothing more dangerous than a women who speaks her mind.” 

This book was INSANELY hard to put down. Very slow to the start but had enough interesting plot I had to keep going. The vague world building of Garner County is so erie and sinister feeling I didn’t really know what to expect out of any of it, especially the characters. 

Because of the consensus of the men we had women going absolute wild and jealous and hurting each other because of what generations of Grace Year has told them. 

There was also a lot of analogies that were just so jaw dropping. Her dream, which has very big significance I did not see coming; The metaphor about cannibalism how patriarchy works when it forces women in a position to pit against each other to ahead and get the “good” ending. 

hunger games meets handmaide’s tale with a dash of feminism and a main character who will do everything but think how they want them to 

 “As they’re sizing us up, I’m sizing them up, too.” 

love love love

Lacy W

You can read this review and others like it at aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com

A special thank you goes out to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for giving me access to this egalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
 
tw: murder, major oppression of women, violence, pedophilia, poisoning, rampant sexism

Holy cow, what a fantastic book! Minus the end being a bit disappointing. I’ll get to that later. But this book is up there as one of my favorite books of the year. It had everything I was looking for in a dystopian novel. It reminded me of why dystopia will always be a favorite genre of mine.

Tierney was an excellent main character. She reminded me of Katniss but I think I like Tierney more. Nothing against my girl, Katniss, but there was just something about Tierney. She was so unlikable but in a good way. I found myself rooting for her, even in the times where she annoyed me. Luckily those were far and few in-between. Everything Tierney did was calculated and cunning. She was selfish but entirely giving at the same time, often risking her life for others. 

The concept of the world upset me but it was like a good upset. If that makes any form of sense. Honestly, I was just terrified the whole time. Terrified for Tierney and terrified for all the women in this book. One of the scariest things about this world was how much it could actually become a reality. It reminded me so much of the Handmaid’s Tale, which I think was where a lot of the inspiration for this book came from. As I type out this review, I get a chill thinking about this world and how truly messed up it is. I would love to have a prequel to see just how this world came to be. 

My one complaint about this book, which ultimately prevented me from giving it the full 5 (five) stars (but not enough to prevent me from buying this beautiful book) was the ending. I won’t give away any details or spoil it for you guys but dang, that ending sucked. I expected something major to happen, something that would tilt the world on its axis but nope. I was so disappointed. I hope that maybe Kim Liggett will write a second book and perhaps explain what happens after the events of the grace year but I’m not holding my breath. I will just have to sit in my disappointment. 

Overall, this book was fantastic. My only problem was the ending but other than that tiny issue, I highly recommend this book. If you enjoyed the Handmaid’s Tale (the book, not the show because I’ve only seen one episode of the show and I wasn’t impressed by it) or 1984 by George Orwell, I highly recommend you check this book out.

The Grace Year

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