Grace Year

Major The Handmaids Tale vibes. In the best way possible. Here I am comparing books to TV series, or in this case, it's also a book to book comparison. Basically, if you took Handmaid's and you lowered it to a young adult graphic level. Obviously they are unique in their own ways. At their core you have women taken back to abuse and use for men and men only. It's horrifying, gripping, and aggravating. I was taken into every emotion from the beginning. It is SO good. SO SO good. Ugh, I just, I really can't even begin to express how good the writing is. I don't think I have anything but high praise to say about it. She took a story line that was terrifying and seemingly hopeless and gave us bravery, love, hope, and beauty as well. So, I'm going to only say this. I did not read another book in 2021 that compared. We know the story line. It's bleak. A bunch of girls go out every year to spend the entire year amongst themselves on an island. Their only other companions are the men outside the border of said island that hunt them and sell their bodies (bits, not as wholes) for the only profit they know. Again, bleak. Very bleak. There is so much going on in this book but it was made easy to follow. I was hooked from the start. I literally couldn't put it down. Not even to work. I had the ebook stashed behind my register so I could sneak pages in here and there. It never left my mind, not even after finishing it. The majority of our characters are girls. We get other characters of interests but mainly our story follows the grace year girls. All of them follow their own character arcs. Some are redeeming, others meet their end. You cant help but hate some of them the majority of the book. However, because of their circumstance you can't help but feel for even the worst of them. What would you expect from girls who are young, terrified of their present and the future that awaits them if they survive. It's not a rainbow awaiting you at the end of the tunnel. If you survive, you get to come back to a husband that you did not choose; expected to bare children and be the most dutiful, complacent wife, nothing more. Some lose their minds. Others take control. Some die. None truly come out alive. As women, we can be cruel to each other, more than we should. Rooted in jealousy, misunderstanding, miscommunication, or whatever the case, we can be absolutely cruel. It is not a shock or an understatement. However, we are our biggest allies. This book showed this in all its stages and for that alone it was beautiful. (but of course there are many other reasons this book is amazing) There is thankfully romance to keep you going. It is the spark in a dark, dark circumstance. The love that is found is beautiful and hopeful. It is a slight enemies to lovers (by miscommunication) romance. In the end, it was the ultimate symbol for hope for the future. Overall: 5/5 This book was by far the best and my most favorite of 2021. It was everything I could've wanted and more. It made me feel every emotion. It made me feel them so deeply. For being such a hyped book throughout the bookish community, I couldn't find one disappointment. It held up to all its expectations. I need more from Kim Liggett and soon.

THE GRACE YEAR BY Kim Liggett I bought this book vaguely knowing what it really was about but with so much hype and the fact I liked the cover, it was a must read for me. It’s a dystopian novel mixed with a little bit of Handmaid’s Tale, Wilder Girl’s and Hunger Games. Stir them all together and you will get an idea of what THE GRACE YEAR will be about. In Garner County, annually when woman reach their “magic” age of sixteen, they are prepared for a ceremony to either be veiled as a future wife by a suitor or if not chosen; they will endure a life of labor upon the return from The Grace Year. The “magic” is a viscous power to behold, it’s believed to entice men, drive women mad with jealousy and that all of the veiled and unveiled woman have it. The young women are then exhiled for one year, to a far away forest where they must rid themselves of their “magic”. They must remain in their encampment or risk their life being skinned alive by hired male poachers. The claim a small fortune for every Grace Girl they kill; not to mention they are hired by Garner County. The girls try to build up a camp with the sparse supplies they are given. But what makes it so that every year the girls turn on each other? What makes them start to go wild? Do some begin to go mad? All we know is not all return. Well this is Tierney James’ year and she was hoping to not receive a veil, but she did. She wanted to live free and work with the land and labor as she had learned how to by her father. This all comes in handy when it comes to her surviving THE Grace Year. And she’s not one to sit back and not ask questions or go in search of answers, even if it means risking her life. What she finds, she must change! And when never wanting love in the first place; she finds it and is then willing to die for that too. But can she make a change if she can’t save herself and make it out of The Grace Year alive? These are all the reasons why this book make reading it so worth while. I wasn’t all hyped like everyone else, in fact I found myself dragging through pages at points. One thing is for certain, Ms. Liggett’s writing is inspiring and symbolic. It is moving and has you emotionally invested in the living and the dead. There is so much negativity and hate in the story but you come out of it with such a sense of glory, grace and overwhelming sense of love that overpowers all!

🌑 Haunting, Fierce, and Unforgettable – A Dystopian Masterpiece 🌑 The Grace Year is a chilling, thought-provoking story that lingers long after the last page. Kim Liggett crafts a haunting world where young women are cast out to rid themselves of supposed magic, only to face brutality, betrayal, and the raw fight for survival. This book is dark, atmospheric, and beautifully written. The themes of control, resilience, and female empowerment are woven into a tale that feels both timeless and frighteningly relevant. I was hooked from the very first chapter—every twist made my heart race, and every moment of tenderness shone all the brighter against the shadows. If you loved The Hunger Games or The Handmaid’s Tale, this is an absolute must-read. The Grace Year is not just a dystopian survival story—it’s a searing reflection on strength, sacrifice, and reclaiming your voice. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – An unforgettable, gut-punch of a book.

This book feels painfully relevant right now. It is about fear, control, and power... about what happens when society decides girls are dangerous simply for existing. It is also about how women are conditioned to turn on each other, and what real strength actually looks like. It left me with a heavy, thoughtful feeling. Not quite happy. Not quite sad. Just aware. I am sitting with something I cannot fully name. It is sadness. It is anger. It is love. It is hope. It is all of it at once. This one stays with you.

4.5. In Garner County sixteen year old girls are exiled, forced to spend a year shut up together in a fortress like encampment deep in the woods. Why? Because that is the age they come into their magic, powerful enough to seduce and ensnare all men, and send women into a jealous frenzy. Year long isolation enables girls to rid themselves of their magic, and return to society cleansed, ready to be dutiful wives. But, The Grace Year is fraught with danger – poachers, illness, starvation, the elements, and most deadly of all – each other. Who will survive The Grace Year? The Grace Year is a blend of The Handmaid's Tale, The Hunger Games, and The 100. So you can imagine how bleak things got? A dark YA dystopian fantasy fairy tale focusing on womanhood, oppression, cruelty, control, and gender roles. Left to fend for themselves with no supervision, the girls quickly turned on one another, with the leader of the pack, Kiersten, and her bitchy clique preying on the weaker kids. A strong beginning immediately immersed me in the plot, and the plight of protagonist, Tierney James. The level of description and detail Kim Liggett used to create her brutal fictitious world, where the ruling elite manipulated, governed, and ruled its followers, was both imaginative and believable, and had me excited for what was to come. Since you were never provided with a backstory leads me to believe that Garner County was an imagined society rather than a futuristic one, but I could be wrong. The middle was where things took a somewhat, drawn out turn. I'm a huge supporter of the romantic subplot in any genre, would even go as far as saying it's my favourite kind since I'm not a big reader of novels that are exclusively contemporary romance. However, this one was too instant for my taste, the male love interest was one dimensional, and as a couple they shared zero intimate chemistry. But, and this is a big but, by the end of the book it did make sense why the relationship was rushed, and now I pretty much approve of why it was done the way that it was. I was dead set on a 4 rating, but then the pace picked up again, and finished on a real high note. I absolutely embraced the final chapters. How violent is it you ask? The physical torture tended to be described after the incident, rather than a scene depicting it, but not always. Details included, injury, mutilation, blood, and pain. It's not an uplifting story by any means, although there is hope to be found. Thanks for the intense, harrowing read, Kim Liggett. If there’s more to come, then I am so there.

The Grace Year was not at all what I expected. I went into it thinking it would be a more traditional dystopian novel, but it didn’t quite deliver on that front. While there are certainly dystopian elements, the world-building didn’t feel fully fleshed out to me, and I struggled to really understand the structure of the society or feel immersed in it. The premise is definitely intriguing—at sixteen, girls are sent away for their “grace year,” a time when they’re believed to possess dangerous magic and are expected to purge it. In reality, it becomes a brutal survival situation. The main character is positioned as the outsider from the beginning, and the others treat her with open hostility. The cruelty she endures is intense, and at times disturbing, as the group dynamics spiral into something dark and savage. One of the more surprising turns in the story is her connection with a man who is supposed to be her enemy. Instead of harming her, he helps her, and a romantic subplot develops between them. It was compelling, but ultimately bittersweet—this is not a book that ends in a happily ever after. Overall, it wasn’t a bad read, but it didn’t quite meet my expectations either. I appreciated the originality of the concept, but the execution left me wanting more clarity, more emotional payoff, and a deeper dive into the world. Worth reading, but probably not one I’d revisit.

Wow. This book is fantastic. The characters, the plot, the world. It is a binge-worthy read. I would recommend this book to any female I know. I want to read it again and again! If you liked The Hunger Games you’ll love this! I need more of Tierney’s world, I wish this was a series! Con: (Contains mild spoilers) My biggest complaint about this book is how the encampment is described. I never got a clear visual in my head of how big it truly was. First she describes that the fence is as tall as giants, yet, Tierney climbs it and jumps down the other side like it’s no big deal. There’s also the bear. I couldn’t understand why a wild animal such as a bear was in the woods of the encampment. How would a bear even survive fenced in a place like that? Why hadn’t it attacked the girls? Why was is it never mentioned again? Was it a dream/imagined? It seemed like the woods were meant to be a miles long and wide but Tierney ran back and forth all around the perimeter multiple times making it seem like it was really not all that big. Some parts predictable. Maybe bc this is a YA novel and I’ve become quite good at guessing plots... I knew immediately what was happening to the girls the moment it was foreshadowed. I guessed things pretty easily as I went a long but it was still a satisfying read. Only one plot twist surprised me. I also really wish we knew more about the world. It sounded like a Gilead type of situation that had lasted for many generations but without more info we could never really know. Pros: Aside from what I said above, I loved the pacing of this book! I felt that this book was so incredibly unique and one that YA has needed. The characters were all believable and it was so easy to feel like I was Tierney living in her world. I really enjoyed getting lost in this book and I highly recommend!!

I read this book in less than 24 hrs and all I can say is WOW. This will make you go through all the emotions....fear, horror, hatred, anger, love and then realization that it all comes together at the end like it is suppose to. I asked myself a couple of times "How does this end?" but then I discovered it ends in the best possible way!! Definetly would recommend this book and I was definetly sobbing at the end.

A mi chemin entre Hunger Games et la servante écarlate, si c'est votre style, foncez.

Me encantó este libro y ahora es de mis favoritos. Por momentos sentí que las cosas no tenían sentido pero todo se explico al final que me dejó procesando todo un buen rato.

This was very different from what I usually read, I don‘t even know how to describe it. Surprisingly great!

The book looked old and dirty despite being cling wrapped and the corners were dog eared.

This book deserves all of the stars!! I absolutely loved everything about it and it will forever hold a piece of my heart. It has now got a spot in my top 3 books of the year (The Nightingale and All My Mothers are the other two) It’s feminist dystopian fiction, which isn’t something I thought I’d enjoy but it is an amazing page turner from the very first, to last page! If you think of The Handmaids Tale and The Hunger Games this book sits somewhere in between. I adored Tierney she was a fantastic protagonist who seemed so much older than her years. She is well known in the county as being a rebel who never wants to follow suit. This ultimately doesn’t do her any favours when entering the encampment, but it makes for a fabulous story. The storytelling is exquisite yet brutal, there are a few twists and turns along the way that really add to the plot. The main characters are brilliantly written, there was a ‘bad gal’ thrown in for good measure who you’ll love to hate. The ending was everything I had hoped it would be, and more! As you can probably tell I adored this book and I think everyone should read it - I’ve already sent copies to two of my friends, who I hope love it as much as I did.