The Grace Year: A Novel
The Instant New York Times Bestseller! Kim Liggett's The Grace Year is a speculative thriller in the vein of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power.
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.
“A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel and an absolute page-turner.” – Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author
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Community Reviews
A provocative novel about young women being sent into the woods to release their power, the power the men claim over them. It is a tragic and empowering novel all at once because the novel focuses on the power these women have, or rather do not have and the voices they inside them.
History has proven that men like to base their weaknesses on women. This novel capitalizes on that idea in a setting like that of the Salem Witch Trials. However, instead of condemning a woman to death for their “magic,” although that does happen, here they send them off at sixteen to fend for themselves in the world and rid themselves of their so-called magic. Living alone in the wild gives the girls a chance to release any frustrations they have because, after this, their lives become nothing more than glorified prisons. The young women in this novel live in a society reminiscent of that in The Handmaid’s Tale, one where they are only valuable if they have children and become the voiceless wives they were meant to be, women with no thoughts of their own. That is what is so provocative about this novel because it is relevant to today. However, for Tierney, she fights and goes against the notion. Tierney does not believe in the magic she is a girl of science and fact, and that is what makes her stand out as a character. As a character, Tierney is both fierce and willful, but the part that resonates with the reader is how she pulls herself out when she falters. In these moments, when she thinks of breaking and conforming to the social norm bred out of a culture of misogyny and sexism, the reader sees the strength she has as a female character to fight against it.
That is what makes this novel so compelling the fact that these girls are put into a box and yet, even those who do conform, want nothing more than to escape the boxes. These girls want to express their frustrations, their anger at the world and share their opinions and ideas to make the world a better place. Ultimately, all these girls want to strive for is a world of equality, a world where they do not have to fear the men persecuting them.
As a story, it is compelling and thoughtful. The rising tension keeps the reader rooted to the story, and the story itself, the magic aspect, it keeps the reader guessing as to whether this “magic” is real or just a powerplay used to keep the women subservient. It leaves room for so much discussion and so much thought-provoking nature. It has great twists and turns, as well as incredible character development. Ultimately the tension in the novel and the gripping nature following the brutality of these girls who are so forced to fit into this little box and still live and die every day, much like Schrodinger’s cat, brings a resounding message to the story.
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that had elements of Yellowjackets. The writing was captivating & I felt so uncomfortable the whole time, like I was right there with all the girls. I could not put this book down. The ending shocked me completely. This is one of the most beautiful stories I’ve ever read.
Amazing, heartbreaking and some parts are tough to read! The only reason i didn’t give it 5 stars is due to the ambiguous ending…I am a big fan of closure and did not get it here!
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