Can you believe I read three thrillers in October? Thrillers are a relatively new thing for scaredy-cat Carey! For me The Grace Year was right at the top in my newfound thriller relationship.
I know you’ve probably heard that The Grace Year can be compared to The Handmaid’s Tale. Yes, it is dystopian, but there are differences, and this book should definitely stand on its own. For me it was an easier read than The Handmaid’s Tale. There were two nights where I couldn’t put it down, thus making it a fast read for me.
In the county, girls are believed to hold power over men. They attract them with their magic. The community banishes sixteen year old girls to a camp where they’ll lose their magic so they can come back after their “Grace Year” ready to be good, weak, submissive little wives who serve their dominant husbands. Sadly, instead of girls “laying down their magic” they use it on each other causing horrifying bullying among themselves. Many girls can’t survive in the camp and leave. Outside there are poachers who consider the girls prey, and they sell them on the black market.
In this book you’ll meet the Grace Year girls, wives, mothers, husbands, fathers, guards, and poachers. There’s only two men in the book who are somewhat worthy of respect. I loved Tierney, a bad ass sixteen year old who strives to make friends with the other girls as well as make the camp a better place in which they can survive the year. I abhorred Kiersten, the wicked bully who rose to the top and used her powers to make the other girls sick, confused, and mentally incapacitated.
Liggett’s writing is stunningly beautiful, and will be enjoyed by women who consider themselves to be equal with men, and men who believe women should not be subject in any way to a patriarchal society.
NUGGET GAINED:
Be a woman who strives to be kind to other women, befriend them, support them, and love them. We’re all in this female circle together.
Careyloves 