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popthebutterfly 's review for:

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
5.0

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc from the publisher but then bought my own copy when the book came out. Support your authors! All opinions are my own.




Book: The Grace Year




Author: Kim Liggett




Book Series: Standalone




Rating: 5/5




Diversity: f/f romance mentions, possible lesbian or bi character




Publication Date: October 8, 2019




Genre: YA Feminism




Recommended Age: 16+ (nudity, sexual content, sex, Suicide TW, death, violence, animal death, gore)




Publisher: Wednesday Books




Pages: 416




Amazon Link




Synopsis: 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.




Review: Holy cow this book was absolutely amazing! I loved the story and the plot kept me intrigued from start to finish. The writing was absolutely fantastic and the characters were amazingly well developed. The world building was also well done, the book definitely passes the Bechdel Test and I can’t say enough good things about this novel. It’s definitely one of my top reads this year!




The only issues I had with it is that sometimes the writing was a bit unclear. The author writes the book almost in a prose like manner, but that means that sometimes her meaning is really unclear. I didn’t know, for example, that something happened to the main character until towards the end of the novel and I feel like that could have been better explained. I also feel like the ending was unclear as to what happens to our main character.




Verdict: Definitely recommend this feminist novel!