The Grace Year

By: Kim Liggett

Narrated by: Emily Shaffer

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

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!

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

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 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 their 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.

©2019 Kim Liggett (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic Reviews

"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)

Excellent narration and great message

I could not stop listening to this! It was such a dark, chilling story without being too dark for older teens. It was like a mashup up The Crucible + The Lord of the Flies + The Village + The Handmaid's Tale and I was here for it. I was particularly moved by the message the story was sending about how we treat each other as women and how much stronger we can be when we choose to support one another. This is what truly makes this book worth reading and sharing with others. Also, big shout out to Emily Shaffer for doing a great job with the narration! The audio book includes an interview at the end between her and the author and it was interesting hearing Kim talk about what inspired her to write The Grace Year.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

More satisfying than Handmaid’s Tale

Fabulous book! Kim Liggett delved into so many issues. Her character development and story were riveting. She gives us a beacon of hope for the future.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful