- Title: The Grace Year
- Series: No, Standalone
- Author: Kim Liggett
- Publisher & Release: Wednesday Books (October, 2019)
- Length: 407 pages
- Rating & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ yes
Here is the description from GoodReads:
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.
Thankfully I finally picked this one up! It was a buddy read with two Instagram friends and we had a great time talking about the book. There are a ton of good points for Book Club discussions and a lot of aspects left open to interpretation/imagination, which makes The Grace Year an ideal buddy read pick.
The plot is absolutely unique to me. 16 year old girls are sent out during their “Grace Year” to lose the magic that they are allegedly born with. There is a definite Salem Witch Trials vibe as the men have total control of the society and can accuse women of magic at any time, resulting in hanging.
The book is definitely a bit violent at times, everything from bullying to hanging to men harvesting girls for body parts. There is scalping, missing fingers, and more than a few bloody crazy people to deal with. I didn’t find it terribly graphic though, the grade 9+ (high school and onwards) actually seems appropriate.
Tierney is the main character and a black sheep of sorts among the other Grace Year girls. She has survival skills and finds a nemesis in Kiersten, the leader of the pack of girls and….. I’ll argue that she’s the main antagonist too. I didn’t really love the characters though and found the plot/story itself to be my main point of enjoyment.
The pacing is fantastic as well. I read the first half steadily and the second half in one sitting. It just got too good to put down, even if I wasn’t connecting with the girls. The little mysteries and end of exile, building team work, then the conclusion were all pretty engrossing.
I had a LOT of questions though, which again all make great book club discussions. Where is this isolated town with such a Handmaid’s Tale type society? One main and lovely recurring theme is the use of flowers for language, since apparently a bunch of immigrants converged at some point, so where did they come from? Was this a planned, constructed society and how did it evolve? Also what time period is the book taking place in? Is the recurring life from death theme enough to explain the ending? Did the love story really make any sense at all?
I liked the grim outlook of the book. A lot of young adult books aren’t written to be so desolate with only little shoots of hope poking through. I liked the grim realizations that the women and girls were too busy clawing for standing to help each other and have unity. It is a very good but not very happy book and I think it’s absolutely great.
I guess the biggest question is – is the magic real?
I totally recommend for anyone 16+. I think it’s a little too much for younger readers but teens, definitely, and adults alike can enjoy this. Be warned away now though if you hate open endings.
Thank you as always for reading! Have you read The Grace Year? Want to discuss it? Drop a comment!
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