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A review by claudiaslibrarycard
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
For fans of the Hunger Games and The Handmaid's Tale, The Grace Year is a must read.
Tierney James is 16 and that means it is time for her grace year, a time when all girls of that age are taken out of the County and into the wilderness to survive their together. No one speaks of the grace year, so it holds myriad secrets and terrors. Everyone knows poachers seek to capture and kill the grace year girls, and some people seek homeopathic medicine made from the bodies of grace year girls who died. In short, the year facing Tierney is a true nightmare.
Tierney has been raised "like a son" by her loving father, so she hopes to be more equipped for this challenging isolation than the other girls. In a society that controls women and values men, the only way a woman can gain status is to marry and bear sons. Tierney doubts anyone will choose her as their bride in the ceremony before the grace year begins, but is she right?
Once they are in the forest, will Tierney survive? How many of the girls will die and what sanity will remain at the end? The Grace Year is a book I both could not put down and did not want to end. The ending still haunts me and I hope and pray for a sequel. I even procrastinated about writing this review because it is a way of coming to terms with this book being over. It sits on my shelf now and I am sure I will reread it someday. Kim Liggett is an impressive author, layering in so much meaning and commentary throughout this novel; I know I will notice even more genius in it on a future reading. 10/10. Do not delay. Read immediately.
Tierney James is 16 and that means it is time for her grace year, a time when all girls of that age are taken out of the County and into the wilderness to survive their together. No one speaks of the grace year, so it holds myriad secrets and terrors. Everyone knows poachers seek to capture and kill the grace year girls, and some people seek homeopathic medicine made from the bodies of grace year girls who died. In short, the year facing Tierney is a true nightmare.
Tierney has been raised "like a son" by her loving father, so she hopes to be more equipped for this challenging isolation than the other girls. In a society that controls women and values men, the only way a woman can gain status is to marry and bear sons. Tierney doubts anyone will choose her as their bride in the ceremony before the grace year begins, but is she right?
Once they are in the forest, will Tierney survive? How many of the girls will die and what sanity will remain at the end? The Grace Year is a book I both could not put down and did not want to end. The ending still haunts me and I hope and pray for a sequel. I even procrastinated about writing this review because it is a way of coming to terms with this book being over. It sits on my shelf now and I am sure I will reread it someday. Kim Liggett is an impressive author, layering in so much meaning and commentary throughout this novel; I know I will notice even more genius in it on a future reading. 10/10. Do not delay. Read immediately.