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I recieved a digital copy free from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Grace year is a survival horror tale that nails it completely. It is dark, disturbing, and unsettling. It kicks off with just how grim the setting is as we meet Tierney James, our protagonist. We learn how women are forced in to a grace year at 16 to dispel their magic as they survive together and against each other, as well as other dangers lurking around them. We see how women who have gone through the grace year now comprise their roles as good, subservient wives, or they are shipped off to labor jobs, outcast, or even killed.
Tierney is a strong willed main character, who wants to buck the rules, be her own person, and lead her own life. Yet when she is handed a veil before she heads off in to the Grace Year, she now has a target on her. Thus begins a year of violence, backstabbing, survival, and just trying to maintain her own sanity.
I won't discuss the book much further, because I feel like a lot of details, even if small can give away a lot with this book. It is also a book I can describe in terms of just how dark, gritty, and horrific it is, but struggle to explain it to someone wanting me to tell them about it. It's one of those books where I just end up saying, "You just have to read it, you won't be disappointed".
The best way to describe it is, this book is a tale of strong women taking on a patriarchal society that has brutally kept the women in line. Learning to realize the true dangers surrounding them, which is not just the dangers of nature and The Grace Year, but the thoughts ingrained within them from birth, and the society built to keep them in line and benefit off them.
This is a can't miss YA title, that everyone should take note of and read.
Grace year is a survival horror tale that nails it completely. It is dark, disturbing, and unsettling. It kicks off with just how grim the setting is as we meet Tierney James, our protagonist. We learn how women are forced in to a grace year at 16 to dispel their magic as they survive together and against each other, as well as other dangers lurking around them. We see how women who have gone through the grace year now comprise their roles as good, subservient wives, or they are shipped off to labor jobs, outcast, or even killed.
Tierney is a strong willed main character, who wants to buck the rules, be her own person, and lead her own life. Yet when she is handed a veil before she heads off in to the Grace Year, she now has a target on her. Thus begins a year of violence, backstabbing, survival, and just trying to maintain her own sanity.
I won't discuss the book much further, because I feel like a lot of details, even if small can give away a lot with this book. It is also a book I can describe in terms of just how dark, gritty, and horrific it is, but struggle to explain it to someone wanting me to tell them about it. It's one of those books where I just end up saying, "You just have to read it, you won't be disappointed".
The best way to describe it is, this book is a tale of strong women taking on a patriarchal society that has brutally kept the women in line. Learning to realize the true dangers surrounding them, which is not just the dangers of nature and The Grace Year, but the thoughts ingrained within them from birth, and the society built to keep them in line and benefit off them.
This is a can't miss YA title, that everyone should take note of and read.
I was really nervous about going in to this book, but it turned out to be a great wrap up to the series after the disappointing mess that was Escaping Houdini. It got back in to what I loved about the first two books. There's some nonsense in this book tossed in to help push the plot along, but I honestly just can never get enough of Audrey and Thomas' relationship, that it didn't matter. What a rebound and a fitting end to the series.
It was going to be hard to follow up the second book, which was amazing, and it showed. This is my least favorite of the 3 books so far. There were a few issues I had with Audrey in this book, and it felt like it went on slightly longer than needed. It was still a fun read and the mystery surrounding the murders was definitely interesting, but it fails to capture the magic of the Audrey and Thomas relationship dynamics that made the first two such fun reads.
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I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
I'm always wary of books written by stand-up comics, as I would say 90 to 95% of the ones I've read since the 90s have been dreadfully boring. Most struggle to bring out the same voice and humor as they do on stage.
I have to say I am surprised at how well Ali Wong does this in the book. She brings the same unfiltered humor here almost perfectly. Don't expect her stand-up routine pacing for the book (which is the trap many fall in to when writing), but instead you find more detailed stories delivered. It's a book in which everything is written for her girls to read when they get older, but it works just as well for the reader.
The biggest drawback to my reading experience, was after awhile some of the usually funny descriptions she gives felt a bit overdone. This is most likely from me trying to read the entire book in one sitting, which unlike her stand-up, takes a bit longer than the normal 45 minutes to an hour. So I definitely recommend spacing this book out over a few sessions to not suffer from burnout.
Overall Ali Wong nails a book that many comics before her have failed. You'll learn about some things she never touched upon in her stand-up, and get an even better idea of how she was shaped as a person, and how it created her brand of comedy.
I'm always wary of books written by stand-up comics, as I would say 90 to 95% of the ones I've read since the 90s have been dreadfully boring. Most struggle to bring out the same voice and humor as they do on stage.
I have to say I am surprised at how well Ali Wong does this in the book. She brings the same unfiltered humor here almost perfectly. Don't expect her stand-up routine pacing for the book (which is the trap many fall in to when writing), but instead you find more detailed stories delivered. It's a book in which everything is written for her girls to read when they get older, but it works just as well for the reader.
The biggest drawback to my reading experience, was after awhile some of the usually funny descriptions she gives felt a bit overdone. This is most likely from me trying to read the entire book in one sitting, which unlike her stand-up, takes a bit longer than the normal 45 minutes to an hour. So I definitely recommend spacing this book out over a few sessions to not suffer from burnout.
Overall Ali Wong nails a book that many comics before her have failed. You'll learn about some things she never touched upon in her stand-up, and get an even better idea of how she was shaped as a person, and how it created her brand of comedy.
This was crazy gory, crazy dark, and at times strangely light in the craziest times. Wasn't sure if I would be continuing past volume 1, but I will be.