Review: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  This book comes out September 17, 2019.

I really enjoyed this. I'm debating between 3 and 4 stars. I found the plot really intriguing and I had a hard time putting this down. Everyone is going to have a different reaction to this misogynistic society and the message this book delivers. There is quite a bit of violence in this book, yet the main character never gives in. There are quite a few parallels to real life in this book and it is quite disturbing.

This follows Tierney, a young girl about to leave her home for a year for her grace year. In her society, which is called the county in the book, as girls turn 16 they are sent away to an encampment in the woods to rid themselves of sin and magic. When they return, those selected to be wives of the eligible men prior to their departure are married and the rest are sent off to become laborers of some kind. Tierney is your typical "not like the others" girl. Her father has raised her unlike other girls in town to have some survival skills and thoughts of her own. Women in the county are basically property and basically just there for men's whims. They are supposed to be silent, pretty, have children, and if they stray from the acceptable norm they are punished. Punishments can be a whipping, banishment, or death. Their society is based on the Adam and Eve theory that because Eve sinned women are the root of all men's sin, and men couldn't possibly be responsible for their own actions.

When Tierney and her group get to the grace year camp, she tries to get the girls to build things that will help them survive. Most of the girls aren't interested. As their stay progresses the girls start acting funny which is easily explained by them all coming into their magic. Tierney isn't convinced and is quickly ousted from the main group. She is exiled from the camp and must figure out how to survive on her own. Outside of the camp, there are poachers just waiting for the girls to leave the safety of the gates. Not only does Tierney have to deal with potential violence from the girls at camp, but she has to evade being captured and killed by the poachers. During a particularly brutal attack Tierney finds and unlikely ally in one of the poachers. During her recovery she gets to know him and they uncover what is really going on with the girls at the camp. Determined to save as many girls as she can before they return home, Tierney becomes a bit of a rebel. She decides she will take whatever punishment awaits her when she returns home, but she is determined to change the future for future girls.

What is never really explained is why the women were ever sent on grace years to begin with. I would have liked a little origin other than because of Eve’s sin. Overall, I really enjoyed this gritty and gruesome tale.


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