Talk about a book that holds your attention more than you expected.
Sixteen years old young woman is terrifying enough when thinking of your future or what's to be expected by you in this life. When they have to go out in the wild and return to be married or have given a job, the girls don't know what to be scared more of what the future holds or what the envy, jealousy and greed holds more power over everyone's minds.
Yes, it's fiction but it holds so much reality in these scenes that sometimes i thought i can see this happening in real life with girls in my city.
There are a few things that i didn't enjoy but the ending was very unexpected and that's why this book is very different from many others and i will recommend it to all my bookish friends.

To begin, I’d like to thank Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing for sending me an ARC of this book, and to NetGalley for facilitating. And a huge thank you to Kim Liggett!

No spoilers as usual in this review.

Wow. What can I say about this book...? Wow. When I originally read what it was about I thought “oh, I’ll give it a shot.” Not thinking it was going to be my type of book but oh my gosh was I wrong! This was an edge-of-the-seat page-turner from the very start. It went straight into the story - no easing you in, no sensitivities spared. It immediately drags you into the world within the pages and doesn’t let you go until the end. Even then I’m not convinced that I’ve been completely let go yet as I find my thoughts wandering to Tierney and the world she lived in. I love it when books make me FEEL something as strongly as this one did. I was tense, sad, outraged, confused, desperate - and for brief shining moments, happy. And I came out of it feeling empowered - even though the story wasn’t mine. That’s the power of this book. I almost felt like I’d survived my Grace year at the end of it! Lol!

It feels a bit like The Handmaids Tale, a bit of The Hunger Games, and a bit of Animal Farm but really that’s just the feeling it evokes, as a book it is like nothing I’ve read before. But I hope to read something like it again. Ideally as a sequel because I want to bear witness to the dreams becoming reality. When you read it you’ll know what I mean by that.

5 stars from me. 10 stars in fact because I loved it so much I’m going to read it all over again (and that’s not something I usually do)!

The Grace Year was an interesting concept, it reminded me of The Handmaid’s Tale in all the right ways. I loved the different ways that the girls were categorised and the way that everything comes together really shocked me. I don’t know what I was expecting but it definitely wasn’t that, and I really loved that. One thing that I need to explain and it’s probably why this book didn’t get a 5-star rating is that the story is quite disjointed and it felt at times to be unfinished, as though there were a lot of threads that had been started but not properly worked through. I was a little disappointed in that, especially as it felt as though months went by and we weren’t privy to all those details and I would have loved to have been.

I’m not sure I know an awful lot about the characters to comment on them. I wish they had been a lot more developed but unfortunately, they all seemed to be a little two-dimensional, which I struggled with. I wanted there to be rich relationships and conversations about everything that was happening to them during The Grace Year but there just wasn’t that participation. I wasn’t sure why some of the characters were motivated to be the way they were and if I was sure it always felt a little superficial. Saying that I did like the fact that Tierney wanted better for herself but wasn’t sure how to get there, which was a nice change from the usual storming in and killing everyone.

The ending, and I won’t spoil anything here but the ending of The Grace Year blew me away. I don’t want to say too much but it really took my breath away, I have definitely not seen a more realistic ending in a YA book before. I really enjoyed the fact that there wasn’t a huge amount of closure in anything. I am really hoping that there might be a sequel coming and we can learn about more of the aftermath, but I’m thinking I may be dreaming a little here.

I do think the worst bit of The Grace Year would definitely have to be how disjointed the timelines were throughout this book. There was a lot that happened throughout and I felt like we missed a lot of it because it jumped around a lot. I also think this book could have benefitted from having multiple points of views, something that doesn’t always work but I think it would have given some more much-needed insight into the other characters and what they were thinking, it was definitely a one-sided story, unfortunately.

Yes, I would recommend The Grace Year, I think it has a really interesting concept and I loved learning about the world and the classifications. I just wish there had been less time jumping around and we would have had more time spent with the characters. It was a great read and I really enjoyed it.

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

This book will be stuck with me for a long time. The story touches on so many important issues and the rawness of it made me tear up on several occasions - I haven't cried reading a book in a long time. What these girls go through is so wrong and unfair, there are no words that could lessen the pain I imagine they feel, the loneliness and despair.

At first it reminded me of Delirium in a way. Secluded society which keeps the people in the dark about the outside world. But The Grace Year is so much more. It deals with much more important issues and it's brutal - Lord of the Flies brutal. The way the men dehumanise the women in this society is despicable and I'm angry for them.

I'm trying to make this review spoiler free but it's hard when you want to discuss a book where the main character is as clueless as you are about what's to come.

I saw it marketed as a mix between the Handmaiden's Tale and The Power and, although, I haven't read the later, I can see the similarities between the formerly mentioned and The Grace Year. It definitely made me want to read The Power now, because these books are important.

The writing is beautiful and the storytelling gripping. It's a dark and terrible story, full of gruesome and haunting imagery. It's a book about questioning your beliefs and empowerment when you feel the lowest, because you can't be selfish in a society like this. You must fight it, even in the smallest of way, such as carrying a red wild flower. The use of the flowers and their meaning was the thing I loved the most about this book. So clever!!

I've read so many books this year and none of them were as thought-provoking as The Grace Year. I recommend it to everyone who is looking for a book that'll stick with you for many years. I'm crossing my fingers that this book is a success and gets all the praise and love it deserves.

A dystopian YA book that looks at an isolated patriarchal society and the roles that women and girls have in this world. Seen through the eyes of Tierney, we meet her ages 16, just before a ceremony that will see whether she has been selected as a wife by one of the men, or whether she will be put to work. Before she can marry or start work though, she and the other 16 year old girls are first banished to an isolated camp where they will be purged of their ‘magic’. No -one knows what this camp will be like, it is a closely guarded secret, but it is known that not everyone will return, and those that do are changed forever. Any exuberance is tempered and those that were chosen become dutiful wives, the others obedient workers.
Tierney is rebellious and chafes at the injustices that she sees all around her. Men have all the power, and seemingly women have none. She is angry at the men, but also the women, who she sees as complicit in the rules of their society and has formed opinions of her parents believing them to display the worst qualities of everything that angers her. What follows is as much a revelation to Tierney as it is the reader. The camp is all about survival, seemingly from each other, as the girls slowly turn on each other. Prod a little deeper though, and it is evident that the girls are still being manipulated by the men. This is a story that really demonstrates the need for women to support other women if they are to challenge male oppression, and that sometimes rebellion can be in small acts of kindness. Tierney is drastically changed at the end of her time in the camp, but in ways that she could never have foreseen.
It’s a thought-provoking read, that I am sure will appeal to many teenage girls.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

An excellent dystopic novel with echo of the Handmaid Tales and Hunger Games.
The plot is gripping and entertaining but there's also a lot of food for thought. The characters are fleshed out and the world building interesting.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Labelled as The Handmaid's Tale meets Lord Of The Flies, I had high expectations for this book. There seems to be a lot of Island related books going around at the moment, which I love - I love the desert island themes and being stranded and secluded. This book was good, although I felt like there was more that could be done with it. I think it was good but I'm not sure if I'd read it again.

Engaging and exciting, although with the pitfalls of YA I feel like books of this nature can no longer be fresh and have that sort of excitement. A little too like all the others that obviously inspired it I feel

The Grace Year - touted as a YA book, although I would say more older teen than young teen, mainly as this book is very much a dystopia where women are feared and as a result of this fear they are controlled. Quite gory, parts of this I wanted to read peeking through my fingers! Unputdownable.

This YA book is set in a male dominated society where women are very subservient to men, and must be seen to atone for the evil/magic that caused Eve to tempt Adam.
Once they reach puberty, they are sent away for a year in order to lose the magic that may lead men astray, so that they may then become dutiful wives (if a man chooses them), workers in the fields, or in the worst case cast out of the village to live among other outcasts and probably survive by prostitution.
This year is traumatic for the girls, not all return, and many of those that do are physically and mentally damaged.
Tierney is an independent-minded girl who is about to set out on her grace year, she does not want a husband, but is shocked when chosen as a potential wife.
As she leaves, her mother tells her to trust nobody but her own instincts, and nothing is as it seems.
The girls’ camp is a desolate place, and they soon descend into chaos and violence.
When Tierney is evicted from the camp by her enemies, she realises that she has inner resources, that friends are not always in obvious places, and that life need not be as in the County.
The book started very well, but dragged in the middle section where Tierney spent a considerable length of time and a lot of pages badly injured, and existing on virtually no food, and nothing really happened.
It picked up again, and the final sections raced along, and it ended with the hope that there would be an end to such a society.


Thanks to Ebury Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This book is brutal and a really intense book to read. A world where women are oppressed and must go stay in a secluded camp in their sixteenth year to allow their powers to manifest without endangering the rest of the community. Many of these young girls don’t even survive the year there.

The first half of the book is really fast paced and a lot happens, we learn about why they have to go to the camp how the women are treated. It was really difficult at times to read about the way women are treated and how men see them as objects to own.

I felt it started to drag a little in the middle but it was still interesting to read about how the girls must learn to survive in these harsh conditions, how the dynamics of survival of the fittest cause mass hysteria and the strength they have to show in such adverse circumstances.

They learn about themselves and each other and how the men have set up a system which pits them against each other and how this ensures they won’t fight against them. It is quite violent at times too.

Overall I really did enjoy the book but I just wasn’t blown away by it. I do think many will love this book especially if you enjoy reading about female empowerment stories.

Shades of the Hunger Games, a superstitious male lead society scared of the power of women sends them off into the wilderness into a year of survival of the fittest. Our hero has had support from her family to prepare her for this year, as she learns in this poisonous and toxic environment. She breaks the rules, but will the other women support her or betray her? Interesting....

This harrowing story of grace is nothing short of brilliant. When your led into The Grace Year, anything can happen.
Tierney the Terrible is a juxtaposed protagonist, whose resilience, magic and grace are what make her so special. No matter what age or context every reader can learn from her attitude, morals and her strength. Truly a harrowing tale, which twists and turns which will open your eyes and make you see. Read, share and read again. #fullofgrace

Kim Liggett's THE GRACE YEAR is a beautifully told story of pain and suffering, as odd as that sounds. It studies a world in which teenage girls are feared and women are decimated - where every girl's sixteenth year is spent banished to the wilds of the forest. Sixteen-year-old girls are, you see, bursting with magic and power that must be excised before they take their positions of servitude in the community. Then this year, Tierney - who dreams of a mysterious girl from the forest and a different way of living - is among the banished; a group of girls who are desperate to survive or die, to save themselves and, occasionally, each other.

This is hands down the best new book I've read in quite some time - and by new I mean an author who is new to me. Kim Liggett's writing is deeply evocative and atmospheric, reminding me in many ways of Alice Hoffman, one of my favourite authors. Liggett details the wonder and brute strength of the forest and nature in stunningly beautiful detail. The psychological battle in the minds of the girls is heartbreaking in its exploration as their banishment feeds their insecurities, creating divides and sowing fear with every day that passes.

The story is satisfyingly long, with what's close to a three-act structure and a nice long span across the ending, so it doesn't finish up too quickly. (Although be prepared to shed tears through these final chapters.) With shades of THE HANDMAID'S TALE, THE VILLAGE, VOX and THE SCARLET LETTER, Kim Liggett's THE GRACE YEAR will stay with me for quite some time.

To summarise, in The Grace Year, every year every sixteen year old girl is sent to an encampment far away from the main county to burn through their innate womanly magic before coming back a year later to be harmless wives or labourers.

It's an interesting premise that leaves you wondering if it's a dystopia or a fantasy book and if that's the trick.

I spent the early parts of the book hoping for some girl solidarity eventually. The middle portion was interesting but a little off track and slower paced. The last quarter gave me everything I wanted from the book and more.

It was a very immersive book. There was good world building that wasn't overdone - enough to leave you wondering about a few things but fairly confident you could provide the answer yourself based on what else you've read. It had a few twists I didn't see coming and a few I did, which is not a negative, it's just that the foundations were laid out well enough to allow the twist or not if the author had chosen to go a different way.

I mean, we need a sequel now, in some ways. On the other hand though, it was ended very well and could easily be self-contained.

I was very reluctant to put the book down and really enjoyed it. It featured a lot of things I personally seem to like in books. The not 5 star rating is entirely because of that mid section.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for offering me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dystopian fiction is one of my favourite genres, and the Grace Year did NOT disappoint. Set in Garner County, the Grace Year follows Tierney, a sixteen year old girl. No one talks about what happens during the grace year, but the girls always come back changed, and not always for the better.

The storyline really drew me in. It was well written, and kept me guessing all the way through. Part dystopian, part thriller, part romance, I absolutely loved it.

One of the most stand-out books that I read growing up was THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood – so much so, I studied it at both A-level and then again at uni. Anyway, picking up THE GRACE YEAR by Kim Liggett, I immediately thought of that remarkable book. But then, I considered what a challenge that it would be to live up the Atwood's classic. But Liggett does not disappoint.

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 ...

What immediately grabbed me was Ligget's talent for world building, setting up the story in the context of the Gilead-like world. However, what was creepier was all I could picture were the eerie woods from M. Night Shyamalanfilm THE VILLAGE – I was bloody terrified of that film (which probably says a lot about my scary-movie threshold . . . anyway). We're plunged into Tierney's world and I was gripped by what was going to happen as the girls made their way to the camp for their grace year.

What was most poignant was the betrayal of the girl's behaviour in the camp, as things immediately start to get nasty and everything goes a little LORD OF THE FLIES. Oh and lots of blood!

An unnerving but compelling read!

I was immediately drawn in to this book. I knew I would be drawn in as soon as it came up on NetGalley. I really couldn't put it down. A story of survival, female power, traditional sexism in a frightening way. I thought the main character Tierney was very strong and I loved her romance and how her life ended up after the Grace Year. It was an enthralling book and I would definitely recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this feminist novel. Very good world-building and believable characters. Hope the author continues to write more in this universe.

A strong premise that definitely caught my interest (what’s not to like about a female-driven version of “Lord of the Flies”, so to speak?), but whose execution unfortunately didn’t work for me.

The story starts with a typical “dystopian place where women are expected to behave in certain ways, and are under men’s yoke without any recourse”. Bleak (and sort of over the top), but that’s why it provides for a good starting point: heroines aren’t born from cozy lives where nothing unpleasant ever happens, after all.

Tierney is that person: a girl on the cusp of her sixteenth birthday, after which she’ll be exiled for one year with all the other girls born the same year as her, to live in some remote camp in the woods where they’ll all have to expel the “magic” out of them. (A magic that is clearly threatening only because it is meant to have an impact on men, of course, such as the girls being rumoured to be able to seduce anyone if left unchecked, and so on.) So that’s where we start: on the eve of that fateful day, with Tierney disagreeing with it but not having much of a choice, and determined to make the most she can out of it—she knows that no boy in the county will give her a veail (= propose to her before she leaves), due to her being the local tomboy, so she wants to work in the fields instead when she’s back, to at least have some kind of freedom by working outdoors. To no reader’s surprise, things don’t go exactly as planned, and Tierney finds herself leaving with the promise of enmity in that camp, rather than of working together to survive the upcoming year.

The “grace year” is clearly not a good year for these girls, and I did like that part of the world described in the book. Again, not a rosy part at all, rather an infuriating one at that, for the girls having to live in that camp on an island was an obvious attempt at breaking them and better subdue the future wives and female workers of the county. Is the magic real? Most people in Tierney’s town probably wouldn’t be able to recognise it if it stared them in the face, but they are nevertheless quick to seize this as an opportunity to get rid of a wife judged as too old now, or to smear someone’s reputation. You want to root for Tierney here, hope that she, at least, will find a way out of this, or a way to turn the table and bring change to her society…

…But that’s where the book lost me, for several reasons:

- The camp setting could’ve been a perfect opportunity to show us young women having to cooperate in spite of their differences, and perhaps finding and retaking their own power in a place where no one else would see and judge them. Unfortunately, it went down another road, one I don’t care for much, in a “one vs. all the others” way, complete with mean girl extraordinaire and appalling behaviours. Although the latter was somewhat part of the very patriarchal society depicted here, the problem was how it only contributed to pitch girls against girls, even more than in their hometown, instead of giving them a common ground on which to build something else.

- Tierney was introduced as resourceful, but there were several moments when she was helpless in situations where she should’ve made more use of her skills, and let herself be bullied to an extent that could’ve been lethal. Maybe I was expecting too much here? I expected her to catch on much more quickly on how the others would behave towards her, and have, I don’t know, some backup plan?

- Following this: the huge problem, for me, of having the female lead placed in dire situations… and get out of them only because men helped. This completely underminded the feminist aspects, from the man who helps Tierney in the woods, to the one who lies to save her skin. Not only did it make her look helpless, but it also enforced the message that, all in all, men were deciding everything about her life. Again.

- The romance. Unnecessary in such a plot, and without any real chemistry anyway.

- The world itself. I’m still not sure whether it’s a fantasy world, or whether the county is located in England or the future USA or something (mention is made of people from varied origins with different languages, then of English having become the common language; Vikings are also briefly mentioned). It was pretty much a bubble world, with only the county and the one town in it, and nothing else beyond this. Still unsure whether societies in other counties was the same or not, if they had grace years as well or not, etc.

Conclusion: I filed this one as “it was OK” because I did finish it and it had a few points I liked, but it could’ve been so much more, and ultimately wasn’t.