The Grace Year

June 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-At the age of 16, all girls are banished so that they can release their magic, which "lures men from their beds, makes boys lose their minds, and drives the wives mad with jealousy." Before they are sent away, the chosen girls are given a veil signifying that they will be married when-and if-they return. Tierney dreads this "grace year." She has no desire to be married. She has seen the condition of the girls who return. She has no fear of the menial labor she will be assigned if not chosen as a bride. She does receive an unwanted veil and leaves with the rest of the girls and the guards who are to protect them from the poachers who will kill them, dissect them, and sell what's left of them back to the settlement as medicine. The poachers are dangerous, but so are the dynamics of the girls themselves as they fight one another and struggle to survive. This dark tale, often reminiscent of William Golding's Lord of the Flies and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, is both disturbing and uplifting. The cruelty shown by self-appointed leader Kiersten contrasts starkly with Tierney's desire to maintain peace and keep everyone alive. When Tierney is forced out of the encampment and must survive on her own, her resourcefulness proves that magic is not all that they were told it was. While main characters are well drawn, minor characters lack real development. The plot, often harsh and violent, builds to a surprising conclusion, a paean to feminism in some respects. VERDICT This is a novel that will appeal to those who like dark stories with fairy-tale elements; highly recommended as a book group discussion choice.-Janet Hilbun, University of North Texas, Denton

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 10, 2019
Women are submissive, girls are pitted against each other, and misogyny is the governing principle in this heavy-handed mash-up of The Handmaid’s Tale, The Hunger Games, and Lord of the Flies. Clever narrator Tierney James lives in a community where men hold absolute power over women, who greatly outnumber them; a woman’s only value is as a wife, unmarried women are sent to workhouses and fields, and punishments (hanging, sexual slavery) are doled out on a whim. When young women turn 16, they embark on their Grace Year—banishment to an isolated compound to purify themselves of their “magic” before returning to forced marriage or work. As Tierney begins her Grace Year, she and the others must survive with few resources while poachers prowl the compound’s perimeter, hoping to rape and dismember captured girls (they’ll bottle and later sell their parts, which are believed to possess magical, medicinal powers). After Tierney is banished from the group by a cruel ringleader, she falls for a kindhearted poacher, whose interest in her threatens his position. Though the prose is evocative and the pacing well done, gratuitous violence and flimsy characters eclipse what seems like intended commentary on women’s perpetuation of misogyny. Ultimately, the many malignant forces at work in this bloody, over-the-top novel fail to become more than the sum of their parts. Ages 14–up. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media.

Starred review from July 15, 2019
A rebellious 16-year-old is sent to an isolated island for her grace year, when she must release her seductive, poisonous magic into the wild before taking her proper place as a wife and child bearer. In gaslit Garner County, women and girls are said to harbor diabolical magic capable of manipulating men. Dreaming, among other things, is forbidden, and before girls embark on their grace year, they hope to receive a veil, which promises marriage. Otherwise, it's life in a labor house--or worse. Strong, outdoorsy, skeptical Tierney James doesn't want to be married, but a shocking twist leaves her with a veil--and a dangerous enemy in the vindictive Kiersten. Thirty-three girls with red ribbons symbolizing sin woven into their braids set out to survive the island, but it won't be easy. Poachers, who trade in the body parts of grace-year girls, surround the camp, and paranoia, superstition, and mistrust rule. Not everyone will make it home alive. The bones of Liggett's (The Unfortunates, 2018, etc.) tale of female repression are familiar ones, but her immersive storytelling effortlessly weaves horror elements with a harrowing and surprising survival story. Profound moments lie in small details, and readers' hearts will race and break right along with the brave, capable Tierney's. The biggest changes often begin with the smallest rebellions, and the emotional conclusion will resonate. All characters are assumed white. Chilling, poignant, haunting, and, unfortunately, all too timely. (Dystopian. 14-18)

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August 1, 2019
Grades 9-12 Liggett prefaces this with quotes from The Handmaid's Tale and Lord of the Flies. Add a heaping spoon of The Hunger Games, and you've captured the essence of this provocative, sometimes disturbing story. It is Tierney's Grace Year, when the 17-year-olds are sent to the wilderness to expel the magic the men of the community fear they possess. The older women don't speak of what they've all endured, so everything comes as a shock. The scarcities, the dangers, including poachers?ready to strip them of their skin?are matched by the cruel power that group leader Kiersten wields over them. Tierney comes up against it all and emerges as a fully developed heroine whose brushes with danger, both physical and emotional, have a real impact on readers. But this also does a good job of exploring the dark undertones of relationships between women that can be as destructive as the machinations men pursue to keep women down. A dark love story adds tenderness. Although this often recalls other stories, it nevertheless grabs and holds on.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)