The Grace Year

A Novel

By: Kim Liggett

Narrated by: Emily Shaffer

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

"Emily Shaffer delivers a dynamic performance of this dystopian audiobook.... She masterfully connects listeners to the characters' emotions, creating passionate and realistic performances." (AudioFile Magazine)

This program includes a bonus conversation with the author.

A speculative thriller in the vein of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power. Optioned by Universal and Elizabeth Banks to be a major motion picture!

Survive the year.

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their 16th year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life - a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

Praise for The Grace Year:

"A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel and an absolute page-turner." (Libba Bray, New York Times best-selling author)

"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." (Sabaa Tahir, number one New York Times best-selling author of An Ember in the Ashes)

"This book is harrowing and absolutely riveting, an insidious journey from reason to madness that manages to completely refresh the concept of the patriarchal dystopia, with a beautifully realized ending that goes to a very different, and even more believable, subtle, and unexpectedly satisfying, place than I expected." (Melissa Albert, New York Times best-selling author of The Hazel Wood)

©2019 Kim Liggett (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

The Grace Year

I finished this book a few hours ago and now normally I will write my review and start something new. But I needed this book to settle inside me. I haven’t started anything new in fact I have just been thinking about this book.

The message is a powerful one. I think the message can be different for anyone. For me it was believing in yourself but also give yourself room to be wrong. You might not see the whole picture now but if you give it time it will come to you.

I think when it hit for me was the author’s note at the end. Women manly girls are never allowed to grow up without being viewed as anything but to be someone’s mother. Someone’s lover. This has gone one for years girls even attack other girls for their looks, for their brains, for where they come from, and for what? What really is the point?

The Grace Year, was written in a way that opened my eyes, kept me listening and learning.

I will admit, I wasn’t a fan of the romance aspect which is shocking because I am a romance junky. But the story stands without it. Either way I just really enjoyed the over all story and what it stands for.

The narration was perfect I loved the ins and outs of her voice she didn’t try too hard but gave everyone a voice. I would love to listen to more by this narrator.

Please make a movie...

I absolutely loved the story. I loved the dark themes, the dystopian society feel, and the characters 🥰. I am dying to know if there’s going to be a sequel and sincerely hope there will be. And I greatly, greatly wish ,hope, plead, beg this is turned into a movie!! Really, it would make an amazing dystopian themed movie.

It takes a minute to get into, then it gets cra

I’m a dude who was told to read book to understand the female version of Lord of The Flies.

The social commentary is brilliant.

Can’t wait to see the film!

An excellent, dark, yet empowering read.d

I love seeing a break away from over conventional and typical archetypes. This is a dark fantasy book with a slight twist in the ending that will leave you curious and empowered.

Amazing

This book is everything I have ever wanted a dystopian book to be. The message is so powerful and empowering.

Very thought provoking listen!

The story reminded me of other dystopian novels like A Handmaid's Tale and the Hunger Games, as well as The Lord of the Flies. I really enjoyed the listen and found the narration to be pleasant. The writing is not as polished as the above mentioned titles, but I found the book hard to put down.

Love love love!

This is by far the best book I have read in years. Oppression. Voices coming together. Smash the patriarchy!

FANTASTIC!

Loved everything about this book, it was gripping and twisty and all the great things you want from a binge worthy book. The narration was the cherry on top. 5 stars!!

Lives up to the hype

This book was amazing! It rips your heart out but puts it back together. It has a little bit of everything, violence, romance, plot twists and surprises.. Tears were shed, it was just so good. Worth all of the hype and I give it a 10/5⭐️

Just a heads up: The characters are all straight aside from 2, one is a lesbian and another girl is bisexual (at least it seems that way). This is just a background thing, there is no relationship and is not talked about often. However, the main character and relationship is straight.

⚠️some graphic violent content and some sex though not super detailed.

Fantastic Exploration of Women, World, Humanity

the greasier turns out to be very reminiscent of Lord of the flies, but it is an exploration of how women are treated by Men, by other women, and how they treat themselves. it is at times dark, hopeful, frustrating, tear jerking, but at all times it is insightful and emotional.