Review: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett @Kim_Liggett @WednesdayBooks
The Grace Year
by Kim Liggett
Thank you Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this copy.
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publish Date: October 8, 2019
Kindle Edition
407 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopian
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.
My Review:
Ah, it's been a minute since I've read a YA Dystopian novel. I do miss these types of reads so this was perfect for the mood that I was in yesterday and got to finish this morning. I've seen cursory reviews that say this is like The Hunger Games. Let me be the first (or not) to tell you that it isn't. These teens aren't sent to some game place to kill each other off for one lone survivor. OK.. got that? Good. (don't let the braids fool you)
What we have is a place where the girls are sent at the age of 16 for a YEAR. A year to survive... to burn the magic that is so evil within so they can come back, pure. Come back... to the men who have *claimed* them for their wives upon their return (for the *lucky* ones). Men, who can proclaim some type of magic towards a woman who defies them and ultimately sending them to their death so they can then get a new wife. Um. What. Not only do these girls have to survive this year, they have to do so among their own mean girls peers. They are forced to lay, legs apart, eyes towards god, in marriages they may be so *lucky* to have as they are veiled by men/boys staking their claim.
This year they are gone are reminiscent to Lord of the Flies - all survival. Someone taking the lead. Dealing with the elements - only they know, if they survive, they'll be heading home. Unless the poachers get them first. Is it better to get skinned alive and bottled up for parts? WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE.
I love the concept of this novel. I adored Tierney and everything she stood for. The little things peppered within the read that you realize as Tierney does. Brilliant. (I could've done without the instalove but hey, it's YA so it was BOUND to happen! *wink*). Now I'm curious about what's happening in the rest of the world - or is it just the outer area as they proclaim it to be? Is Garner County, The Grace Year's Gilead?
A fantastic read. I'm not quite sure what happened there at the ending completely. Not *quite* but I can say that I loved the entire concept around this book and how the author brings us into this world. The crazy that ensues and how everything manifests within this crazy stew of a read. While there are things I could probably nit pick on, over all, I don't care. And I want more. Hey Kim... is there more?? ❤
★★★★
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