• About Us
    • Disclaimer and Policies
  • Giveaways
  • Features
    • Pre-Order Deal Incentives!
    • Author Talk Podcasts
    • Flashback Friday
    • Whadda YA Know Wednesday

Fiction Fare

  • Banners
  • Reviews
  • Contact Us

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

October 21, 2019 by Erin Leave a Comment

The Grace Year by Kim LiggettThe Grace Year by Kim Liggett
(Website, Twitter, Goodreads)Also by this author: Blood and Salt, The Last Harvest, The Unfortunates
Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on October 8th 2019
Genres: Dystopian, Girls & Women, Thrillers & Suspense, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 416
Add This Book to Your Goodreads TBR
four-half-stars
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.

I love Kim Liggett’s stories and if you haven’t read one yet, you are definitely missing out.  The Grace Year is her newest and not only does it have a cover that I love, but the story itself was one I didn’t want to stop reading.  I’m definitely not going to tell you everything or give anything away so feel free to read on.

As the summary states, in Garner County, girls are told they have magic that makes men and women act out of character and the only way they can be cleansed and prepared for marriage is to be sent off for their sixteenth year to a remote area in the woods so they can release that magic.  Unfortunately, not everyone comes back intact…or even alive.  You’re probably wondering why they don’t just run away when they are on their own.  Unfortunately, they can’t because that would mean their families and younger sisters could be banished.

The world that Liggett created in this book was frightening.  Not only are these girls deprived of any kind of ownership of themselves, but they are forced to leave their families and attempt to survive in the wilderness with dangers outside and inside the fence.  Since no one is allowed to speak about their Grace Year, none of the girls headed out each year have any sense of what they are walking into or ability to prepare and as you can imagine, that only creates bigger problems.

Tierney is the main character and I loved everything about her.  Living in a very repressive (to women) society, she clearly saw where the issues were and what was wrong but as a young woman headed out to her own Grace Year, she doesn’t really feel like she can make a change in her village.  Lucky for her, Tierney’s parents and sister did everything they could to prepare her without breaking any rules.  Unlucky for Tierney, she is headed to her Grace Year with a girl (Kiersten) who is very angry with her due to the fact that her best friend, and the boy who will take over leading the county, Michael, has chosen to marry Tierney instead of her.  As you can imagine it doesn’t create a great start to their year.

Initially the things Tierney learned from her parents help to get some initial things set up but as the days go by, she finds that those who were initially behind her to make their space livable, eventually trickle over to Kiersten’s group who are only interested in expelling their magic and become crazed.  Just to make things even more interesting, the girls aren’t supposed to go outside the fencing because there are Poachers in the woods that are waiting to capture and kill the girls to then sell their body parts on the black market.  When something happens to put Tierney on the outs with the other girls, she finds herself in a position she never thought she would be in.  And no, I’m not going to say anything about it because you really have to read it to believe all the things!

The secondary characters in this book were all interesting and necessary.  Each one plays a critical part in Tierney’s story and get her from the first to the last page.  Trust me when I say that there are some you will love and some you will really hate…yes, hate.  I can’t even tell you everything about them because I don’t want to ruin any bit of this story.  As Tierney’s year comes to a close, she learns so much about herself and the girls around her.  She also finds herself in an unexpected position that she has to figure her way out of.

That’s about all I can say about this book without giving anything away.  It has a fast pace and a great story that once you pick it up, you won’t want to put it down until you get to the end.  Just brace yourself because Liggett doesn’t take it easy on her readers and if you’re like me, when you hit the end of this book, you’re going to be looking to see if there is more because I really wish there were.  Liggett has become an auto-buy author for me and if you enjoy a good dystopian, you should pick this book up when you can.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

About Kim Liggett

At sixteen, Kim Liggett left her rural midwestern town for New York City to pursue a career in both music and acting. While attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Kim sang backup for some of the biggest rock bands in the 80′s.

After settling down to have a family, she became an entrepreneur, creating a children’s art education program and a travel company specializing in tours for musicians.

She’s married to jazz musician Ken Peplowski, has two beautiful teens, and a very neurotic dog that drags her through Riverside Park everyday on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Website • Twitter • Goodreads

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • By Kim Liggett
  • Same Genre
  • 4.5 Star Books
Fiction Fare
REVIEW: Made For You by Melissa Marr
Fiction Fare
#16thingsIthoughtweretrue By Janet Gurtler: Review & Giveaway!
Girl Against The Universe by Paula Stokes
Fiction Fare
Review: Time Between Us
Thumbnail
The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson Plus A Giveaway!
The Last Harvest by Kim Liggett
The Unfortunates by Kim Liggett
Thumbnail
Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett – Blog Tour
Waiting on Wednesday: The Light at The Bottom of The World by London Shah
Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi
Waiting on Wednesday: The Deepest Roots by Miranda Asebedo
Waiting on Wednesday: Bygone Badass Broads: 52 Forgotten Women Who Changed the World
Blog Tour: Spies, Lies and Allies by Lisa Brown Roberts
Flashback Friday: Amplified by Tara Kelly
An Assassin’s Guide to Love & Treason by Virginia Boecker
Calling It by Jen Doyle
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: Dystopian, Reviewed by Erin, Young Adult

About Erin

In no particular order, I love books, music, and sarcasm. Traveling is one of my most favorite things to do and there are 3 crazy cats that basically run our house. I sometimes talk about all of these things!

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • pinterest
  • bloglovin
  • custom1
  • goodreads
  • rss
  • custom2

Get Our Updates!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

E-Book Deals!

E-Book Deals!


Author Talk

 photo author-talk_zpscsw6iy8a.png

Archives

What We’re Currently Reading

Jaime's bookshelf: currently-reading

The Trouble with Destiny
0 of 5 stars
The Trouble with Destiny
by Lauren Morrill
The Beginning of Everything
0 of 5 stars
The Beginning of Everything
by Robyn Schneider
Forget Tomorrow
0 of 5 stars
Forget Tomorrow
by Pintip Dunn

goodreads.com

Erin's bookshelf: currently-reading

Endure
0 of 5 stars
Endure
by Sara B. Larson
The Unquiet
0 of 5 stars
The Unquiet
by Mikaela Everett
Twist
0 of 5 stars
Twist
by Karen Akins

goodreads.com

Upcoming Reviews

None yet!

Ebates Coupons and Cash Back

Challenge Participant

Recent Comments

  • Lisa Loves Lit on Waiting on Wednesday: The Queens of Innis Lear By Tessa Gratton
  • bookbunny68 on Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read
  • Kristy Petree on Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read
  • MischaS_ on Cover Reveal: Beyond Pain by Kit Rocha
  • Maggie @ ReadingDiva's Blog on Blog Tour: Tempests & Slaughter by Tamora Pierce

Recent Posts

  • People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
  • Flashback Friday: Blood and Sand by C.V. Wyk
  • Our Top Ten Most Anticipated Books to Screen Podcast Episode
  • Flashback Friday: The Highwayman (Victorian Rebels #1) by Kerrigan Byrne
  • Podcast Episode 81: #FicNews–March 2021

Recent Reviews

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Heiress Gets a Duke by Harper St. George
Crown of Bones (Amassia #1) by A.K. Wilder
Courting Trouble (Goode Girls Romance #2) by Kerrigan Byrne
Eventide by Sarah Goodman
All Scot and Bothered (Devil You Know #2) by Kerrigan Byrne
Deadly Curious by Cindy Anstey
Review: Rebel Spy by Veronica Rossi
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
A Dark and Stormy Knight (Victorian Rebels #7) by Kerrigan Byrne

Copyright ©2010-2015 Fiction Fare « All Rights Reserved « Site Design by The CreativeB « Login