HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Loading...

Grace Year (original 2019; edition 2020)

by Kim Liggett (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,1849916,514 (3.85)9
Suspense. Science Fiction & Fantasy. Thriller. Young Adult Fiction. HTML:

"Emily Shaffer delivers a dynamic performance of this dystopian audiobook... She masterfully connects listeners to the characters' emotions, creating passionate and realistic performances." â?? AudioFile Magazine
/> This program includes a bonus conversation with the author.

A speculative thriller in the vein of The Handmaid's Tale and The Power. Optioned by Universal and Elizabeth Banks to be a major motion picture!

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 lifeâ??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.
Praise for The Grace Year:

"A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel and an absolute page-turner." â?? Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author
"The Grace Year seethes with love and brutality, violence and hope. It is a remarkable and timely story of the bonds between women, the cost of breaking those bonds, and the courage it takes to defy a patriarchy intent on crushing feminine strength." â?? Sabaa Tahir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes
"This book is harrowing and absolutely riveting, an insidious journey from reason to madness that manages to completely refresh the concept of the patriarchal dystopia, with a beautifully realized ending that goes to a very different, and even more believable, subtle, and unexpectedly satisfying, place than I expected." - Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel W… (more)

Member:HouseOfApex
Title:Grace Year
Authors:Kim Liggett (Author)
Info:Wednesday Books (2020), Edition: Reprint, 416 pages
Collections:Ms R's Classroom Library, Your library
Rating:
Tags:None

Work Information

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett (2019)

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 9 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 99 (next | show all)
A fairly intriguing if familiar-sounding plotline, with side characters more interesting than the main ones and a writing style that is solid although suffers from lack of concise editing. "The Grace Year" is a brutal YA dystopian novel that takes a look at girls who are coming of age and a society that pits women against one another, and honestly I thought this would be a bit more empowering.

There are little bits scattered throughout the story that say "hey, women fighting each other because of men wielding power over us is BAD and we need to change this" yet so little is done to actually do so. The ending promises a vague hint of uprising at some unknown point in the future, but that does nothing to save the lack of change that actually occurs on page. Despite being action-packed at points the story DRAGSSSS in the middle and often repeats itself. Readers see the same scenes, similar dialogue, and ideas presented over and over again until it feels like walking in circles. This is made even more frustrating because the main character is quite flat, although does become more interesting and fleshed-out as she seeks out other female friendship. Finally, I was very confused and sad to see the underlying queer storyline dropped totally? It sort of felt like Liggett wanted to go places with this and then just forgot to do so.

Again, the core story is intriguing, and I binge read the book in a couple of days, but I think it could have done with heavy editing in the middle and some rewriting to really make everything coherent and more punchy. A younger reader who hasn't read something similar might enjoy this more! I found it to be very similar to books such as "Gather the Daughters" by Jennie Melamed (2017) which I enjoyed totally but definitely made "The Grace Year" less exciting for me personally. ( )
  deborahee | Feb 23, 2024 |
This book is very reminiscent of Hunger Games. I kept thinking of the parallels while reading it. It's an interesting concept, not really one I've read before, but the whole 'lock them up and watch them murder each other' thing feels a bit old. It's not a bad book, just really not my favorite, it feels like it had room to be way better but it just kind of fell short. I did read it at like 1.9x speed as an audiobook, and that might have played into it a little because it seemed like a lot of it was rushed, but that might translate differently if you read it normally or listen at a slower speed. I could go on for longer about this book, but I'm not going to cause my point's been made as it is. If you enjoyed Hunger Games and want to relive that, read this. ( )
  NovaQueen27 | Jan 11, 2024 |
this book was bonkers. it was very good, a good mix of suspense, and dystopian world building. ( )
  lindywilson | Jan 3, 2024 |
Three stars, but it's a low 3. This is like "A Handmaid's Tale" meets "Lord of the Flies." Not in a good way. I was sucked in but also quite annoyed most of the book. So ... Yeah. ( )
  karenhmoore | Jan 1, 2024 |
recommended by Heather Beaton (I think)
  pollycallahan | Jul 1, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 99 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors (2 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Kim Liggettprimary authorall editionscalculated
Cheng, Hsiao RonCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Resnick, KerriCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere,
as long as it stays inside the maze.
—MARGARET ATWOOD,
THE HANDMAID'S TALE
Maybe there is a beast … maybe
it's only us.
—WILLIAM GOLDING,
LORD OF THE FLIES
Dedication
For the daughters of the world, and those who revere them.
First words
No one speaks of the grace year.
Quotations
The open water, the breeze, the unobstructed sun glaring down on us—it feels like freedom, but we know it's a lie. This is how they break us. They take everything away, our very dignity, and anything we get in return feels like a gift.
We hurt each other because it's the only way we're permitted to show our anger. When our choices are taken from us, the fire builds within. Sometimes I feel like we might burn down the world to cindery bits, with our love, our rage, and everything in between.
The things we do to girls. Whether we put them on pedestals only to tear them down, or use them for parts and holes, we're all complicit in this. But everything touches everything else, and I have to believe that some good will come out of all this destruction.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

Suspense. Science Fiction & Fantasy. Thriller. Young Adult Fiction. HTML:

"Emily Shaffer delivers a dynamic performance of this dystopian audiobook... She masterfully connects listeners to the characters' emotions, creating passionate and realistic performances." â?? AudioFile Magazine
This program includes a bonus conversation with the author.

A speculative thriller in the vein of The Handmaid's Tale and The Power. Optioned by Universal and Elizabeth Banks to be a major motion picture!

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 lifeâ??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.
Praise for The Grace Year:

"A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel and an absolute page-turner." â?? Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author
"The Grace Year seethes with love and brutality, violence and hope. It is a remarkable and timely story of the bonds between women, the cost of breaking those bonds, and the courage it takes to defy a patriarchy intent on crushing feminine strength." â?? Sabaa Tahir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes
"This book is harrowing and absolutely riveting, an insidious journey from reason to madness that manages to completely refresh the concept of the patriarchal dystopia, with a beautifully realized ending that goes to a very different, and even more believable, subtle, and unexpectedly satisfying, place than I expected." - Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel W

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.85)
0.5 1
1 4
1.5 1
2 11
2.5 3
3 60
3.5 12
4 82
4.5 9
5 68

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,228,199 books! | Top bar: Always visible