A review by rinku
Das dunkle Schweigen der Mädchen by Kim Liggett

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.0

The Grace Year is honestly one of the creepiest and most intense books I’ve read in a while. Even though the world building is quite thin, what we see of the world is still terrifying enough. 

I don’t want to say too much about the plot because it lives from its surprises. From the little we see from the world; the author is able to create such a tense and dark atmosphere throughout the story that you just wait for the big catastrophe to happen. In this world, women are strongly oppressed, and are only there to get married and to bear children. The men claim that women have some magic to them which makes them dangerous – those talking points reminded of how witches were described back in the times. The main character Tierney and other girls have to go and live one her aware from civilization so that they lose their supposed magic. I don’t know why but books with inevitable things like this happening just have something about them that resonate with me. 

Thus, survival elements are a crucial element to the story, and they are executed so well here. They kinda reminded me of The Hunger Games, but I honestly haven’t read many survival stories besides them lmao. We see how the girls antagonize themselves and each other and we see how some of them lose their minds and start to believe the wildest things. It’s so terrible how the girls
conspire against Tierney, just as learning that the count is working together with the hunters,
and many other shocking things. 

Some moments were a bit predictable, like the fact that
it was Hans or that Ryker would die
. Then again, the ending surprised me, especially that
her mother is rebelling against the system and that Tierney is pregnant
. 

At the same time, The Grace Year is also a story about hope. Even though it takes its time, we also see solidarity between women, see how they try to find hope in this horrible world. The book shows well that the women are not inherently antagonistic to each other but the men pitting them against each other are the reason for it. This is also why I feel so ambivalent towards many characters: They treat our main character horribly, but you can still somewhat understand why they turned out the way they did. Talking about Tierney, there were some moments where I wished that she would just communicate a little bit more. 

The romance is for me the weakest aspect about The Grace Year. It gives me Stockholm syndrome vibes and came too fast for my taste. But on the other side, I can understand why
Tierney fell so fast in love since it’s one of the few moments she gets a choice since all other men in her life have patronized her
. 

Still, The Grace Year is some of the better feminist dystopian novels out there and a recommendation for everyone who likes to read about those elements. 
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