'. . . seethes with love and brutality, violence and hope . . . a remarkable and timely story of the bonds between women' Sabaa Tahir 'An incredibly important and empowering read' Natasha Ngan _____________________________________________ THE RESISTANCE STARTS HERE. No one speaks of the grace year. It's forbidden. We're told we have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive the wives mad with jealousy. That's why we're banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the ...
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'. . . seethes with love and brutality, violence and hope . . . a remarkable and timely story of the bonds between women' Sabaa Tahir 'An incredibly important and empowering read' Natasha Ngan _____________________________________________ THE RESISTANCE STARTS HERE. No one speaks of the grace year. It's forbidden. We're told we have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive the wives mad with jealousy. That's why we're banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the wild before we're allowed to return to civilisation. But I don't feel powerful. I don't feel magical. Tierney James lives in an isolated village where girls are banished at sixteen to the northern forest to brave the wilderness - and each other - for a year. They must rid themselves of their dangerous magic before returning purified and ready to marry - if they're lucky. It is forbidden to speak of the grace year, but even so every girl knows that the coming year will change them - if they survive it... A critically acclaimed page-turning feminist dystopia about a young woman trapped in an oppressive society, fighting to take control of her own life. 'Beautiful, devastating, and deeply moving' Samira Ahmed, New York Times bestselling author of Internment and Love, Hate & Other Filters 'A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel . . . I couldn't stop reading' Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author of The Diviners and A Great and Terrible Beauty
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Add this copy of The Grace Year to cart. $8.81, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2020 by Wednesday Books.
Add this copy of The Grace Year to cart. $14.35, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2019 by Wednesday Books.
The Grace Year is a fantastic read - a real mix of The Hand Maiden's Tale meets The Hunger Games and The Lord of the Flies. It's written in a way that draws you in and keeps you hooked and is actually very quotable, but not in a way that feel pretentious.
Narrated by one of the Grace Girls Tierney throughout, the pace nicely ramps up and the tension is kept up well. Tierney starts off as a powerful tomboy who has no desire to fall in love or marry which is refreshing change from a lot of YA literature. The story is so tied to feminism, the power of women and not following social constructs created by the patriarchal society that it makes complete sense to have a strong heroine in the lead role. However, I felt this then fell a bit flat for me when she does actually fall in love with *someone* (no spoilers). When you are trying to portray such a strong message this felt a little like a stab in the back and deflated her as a character a little for me.
The world building was nice in some respects and you did feel drawn into world, however some things did confuse me a little. It's supposed to be quite a small village and yet they have about 20 girls each year turning 16? I did also think that a few of the revelations that are revealed about the origins of the Grace Year at the end of the book were skimmed over a bit - it hardly seemed to be the start of a revolution of kinds! Perhaps there'll be a sequel although it's a good standalone story as it is.
Overall The Grace Year is a great read which really hooks you in! Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House and Ebury Publishing - Del Ray for a chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
