Reviews with content warning for Torture - The Grace Year

Since I'm still processing this book, which I voraciously read in two or three sittings, I'd say I will recommend this book to everyone that loves dystopian fiction! Tierney was a strong, realistic, hopeful protagonist that inspired me to be more present with the conversations I have with my daughters and women around me.
The writing was very fast paced, broken into seasons of the Grace Year, so it reads more like a diary without marked chapters. There is an eeriness left in my imagination after reading this book about how similar our worlds are, or how precious the freedoms women have been "granted" by the men who owned them. Seeing good men represented in a feminist book, identifying what makes a great ally for women's rights, is great to see.
Like Tierney, we all have dreams of the world we want to see reality become. The ambiguous ending frustrates me but I do love getting decide what really happened.

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arsmagicalibrorum's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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sleepyreaderthings's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’m writing this immediately after I finished the book, and I am overcome with a range of emotions. I was not expecting this book to feel nostalgic at all, but it reminded me of The Handmaid’s Tale and Lord of the Flies, as well as other things I can’t quite place. This is a story about oppression and misogyny, but it is also about love, grief, and hope. The acknowledgement page is everything to me, and it shows where the author got the passion to write this. This story is for all the girls and women out there who have been made to feel less than men. This is for the women who were burned at the stake for witchcraft because men need to control everything.

There is something so special about this book that had me reading it in two days, and eating up every second of it. I didn’t come into this book thinking I would love it and resonate with the characters as much as I did. There were insufferable characters, and there were moments of extreme frustration on my end. However, all of that needed to happen. If I got what I wanted, the ending wouldn’t be the same and have the same impact. I was mad (

with Keirsten especially omg I wish she died

) and heartbroken at times (

Ryker

), but I’m still left with a bittersweet feeling at the end of it all.

One of the few gripes I had is a spoiler so blocking it.

Tierney and Ryker needed more development. I would have loved to see more of their relationship grow and their feelings bc it felt a little insta love. Also idk how old Ryker is? Bc she’s like 16 soo

I also saw the twist coming

with Hans. I enjoyed it and didn’t mind that it was predictable too much. Overall the message is there. He felt like he deserved her when he didn’t. He was a grown man and she was a child, but he felt ownership over her.

I didn’t take any points off bc the message of the story means everything.

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yennn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a very unique book which is reminiscent of the handmaid’s tale, the hunger games, the purge, and lord of the flies. We follow Tiernan and her experiences of The Grace Year, which all the women in the country will experience to rid themselves of their magic before they are married off – it is forbidden to speak about the grace year, but it's common knowledge that not all girls return from the grace year, and not all return in one piece.

This was such a gripping thriller, a real page turner that I could not step away from despite how graphic and horrific it could get (how is this a YA?) I was promised dystopian, and we get that and more. Overall, I really enjoyed this, and would recommend to anyone who likes a dark dystopian world that is brutal and battle royal-esque, but also there were elements of this that did not work for me, which I will spoiler below!

This is the first time I attempted to take notes throughout reading, and it’s been very helpful indeed.

Firstly, our main character Tiernan – she comes across initially as a bright cookie, an odd-bod and almost radically unique character in the county full of docile women and socially powerful men. Yet there are SO many instances where she was completely oblivious despite the reader seeing a twist coming from a mile away? She’s also so self-absorbed and selfish that it was so frustrating to read at times.

On the other hand, the men in her life (bar one) are actually so good to her, and so sweet. Chef kiss to them. The romance didn’t feel necessary, or have as much gravity to me as it ultimately did…also how old was Ryker? Since this is spoilered already, I’m just going to say I really thought that the twist was that the men of the county were the poachers – I thought Ryker was actually going to be Michael. That would’ve been exciting.

This may just be me, but there are also some physics in this book that just didn’t make sense to me. I don’t know if that’s because I just suck at visualising, or because I wasn’t given enough details to visualise, but they left me very confused. I can understand why a map wasn't provided, but I actually think a map of even just the camp would’ve helped a lot.

The ending also jarred me a little – without spoiling, it felt a little rushed, with all the loose ends and other plot points hastily being revealed and ironed out in time skips and vague sentences. Particularly the dreams and the flowers: it all just felt like forced feminist filler to me. I would’ve liked to have explored the usurper and their background and impact more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this, and would recommend to anyone who likes a dark dystopian world that is brutal and battle royal-esque.

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erinomaista's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The book was an enjoyable read and it had such an interesting concept! But I thought it could’ve been better executed. The entire plot essentially hinged on a relationship that seriously squicked me out,

Tierney and one of the Poachers who were literally hunting 16 year old girls so they could skin them alive

and I thought the ending was really disappointing

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catladymichele's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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