"Liggett's 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. Chilling, poignant, haunting, and unfortunately, all too timely." — Kirkus (Starred Review)
"Beautiful, devastating, and deeply moving, THE GRACE YEAR is a testament to the power of finding your voice and speaking your truth. This story of hope and resistance reminds us of what authoritarians and strongmen throughout history have always feared—that a single light in the darkness calls all other lights to shine, that a lone whisper can give rise to a thundering chorus. This haunting, lyrical book is required reading, full stop." — Samira Ahmed, New York TimesBestselling author of Internment and Love, Hate & Other Filters
"A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel and an absolute page-turner. Liggett's deeply suspenseful book brilliantly explores the high cost of a misogynistic world that denies women power and does it with a heart-in-your-throat, action-driven story that's equal parts horror-laden fairy tale, survival story, romance, and resistance manifesto. I couldn't stop reading." — Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author of The Diviners and A Great and Terrible Beauty
"A dark fairy tale of a book that speaks to the time that we live in." — Kelly Link, author of Get In Trouble
"The Grace Year seethes with love and brutality, violence and hope. It is a remarkable and timely story of the bonds between women, the cost of breaking those bonds, and the courage it takes to defy a patriarchy intent on crushing feminine strength. Everyone should read this book." —Sabaa Tahir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes
"The Grace Year is a book for every woman who has ever screamed at the top of her lungs and still felt like no one heard her. A book for every person who has ever been made to feel small or less than. A book for all of us who have been told to sit down and be silent, to grin and bear. Tierney's captivating story reminded me that sometimes existing is itself an act of bravery—and this book's existence is an act of courage that I'm very grateful for. Brutally smart, devastatingly lyrical, and so capital i-Important, I want everyone to read this book!" — Jasmine Warga, internationally bestselling author of My Heart and Other Black Holes and Other Words for Home
"It is a top ten book of the year for sure and maybe the best YA novel this year. If you like The Handmaid's Tale and Vox, this book is for you." — Red Carpet Crash
★ 2019-06-18
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)
