Hooks you in
'I still don't feel powerful. I feel forsaken'
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.
