Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

19 reviews

meghan_w's review against another edition

This one is a little too dark for me right now. I might come back and finish it down the road.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Bullying, Blood, Violence, Death, Confinement, and Physical abuse

yennn's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism, Death, Murder, Torture, Violence, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Suicide

geminisoul's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I don't think I even have words to describe how much I love this book. The author did such an amazing job of creating this world and even the unanswered questions seem purposeful. I think this is one of the best books I have read in a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Suicide, Cannibalism, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Violence, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Body shaming, Body horror, Gore, and Medical trauma

mmestitches's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Death, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Blood, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Outing, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

abidavisf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow. The Grace Year is so powerful and heart-wrenching, just a must read for everybody, particularly women but I urge men to read this to gain this perspective.

There were so many elements of The Grace Year that took me by surprise and so many that made complete sense to me like I’d been waiting for them forever. This dystopia is so real to me. Nothing feels out of the realm of possibility and that is terrifying. I’ve only just finished listening so I can’t gather my thoughts right now but please read this book.

[Edit] I've had time now to process so here are my thoughts!

Every sentence in The Grace Year is purposeful. Everything sits just where it needs to. The premise of The Grace Year is that all sixteen-year-old girls are sent away for one year to 'rid themselves' of their 'magic'. It is evident from the start that this 'magic' is clearly the fact that the girls have gone through puberty and are now attractive to the men of their county. They must therefore be sent away so as not to 'seduce' the men. Upon their return, they are either married off to men of the county or sent to work as labourers, if no man chooses them.

It is rare for a baby boy to be born, and so not all girls will be married, making those who are chosen 'worthy' and 'superior'. It is an excellent interpretation of classism, as well as the misogyny that women can feel towards each other, having been raised to compete against each other. Yes, this is a dystopia but it feels very real.

Our protagonist, Tierney, spends large portions of the book in isolation, meaning that Kim Liggett relies on internal monologue and description to tell this story. It can be hard to feature strong character development in such tales, and yet The Grace Year does this beautifully. Every character you meet has their own journey, particularly the Grace Year girls and it is testament to Liggett's story-telling that, as a reader, you love them all, regardless of their flaws.

I truly recommend The Grace Year to everybody. If I hadn't have had work, I would have blitzed through this in a day. I can't wait to reread.

”The things we do to girls. Whether we put them on pedestals only to tear them down, or use them for parts and holes, we're all complicit in this. But everything touches everything else, and I have to believe that some good will come out of all this destruction.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism, Classism, Gore, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Blood, Bullying, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Confinement, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Torture

Minor: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Addiction, Cannibalism, Classism, Infertility, Drug use, Lesbophobia, and Torture

tini_turtle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.75

I loved the first two thirds of this book! The world building is really engaging and thought through, and the beginning of the actual grace year is incredibly written and super gripping. I found the ending to be a bit rushed, and not as thoughtful as the rest of the book. I felt that the

love triangle with Ryker and Michael

really unnecessary and cliche, and I found the entire

pregnancy storyline

honestly quite hard to get through. It's such a shame because it could have been so so good but the ending was just disappointing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Blood, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Death, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Rape

stonefruits's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Confinement, Infertility, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gore, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

angelino's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Pedophilia

moodreader89's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Religious bigotry, Gore, Misogyny, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

elysianbud's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Went into this expecting a bit more survival and a lot less love story, but overall I still enjoyed it. 
Quick read, finished it in one day. 
I do like that at the end of the book the main character hasn't magically fixed everything in society through the power of gutsy honesty, and that it takes a more realistic approach of showing small steps towards change instead. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Vomit, Confinement, Gore, Body horror, Death, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Stalking, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Lesbophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, and Homophobia