The Grace Year

TW: homophobia, scalping, skinning (off page), pet murder, mention of torturing birds, pedophilia/statutory rape, cult mentalities
4.4

Everyone knows the story of Eve, she who refused to give up her magic and was burned at the punishment tree. At age 16 girls are flooded with their cruel natural magics, the ability to control others, to seduce, to fly. The Grace Year is meant to give them time to let it go- and give the county the distance to keep themselves safe from it. No one speaks about what happens during the Grace Year but Tierney is about the find out.

I wound up loving this book way more than I expected to, honestly. The Grace Year begins with two quotes- one from The Handmaid's Tale, one from Lord of the Flies. Those two stories together tells you most of what you need to know about this book.

There is a ferocity in this book, something that comes from the culture these girls are raised in- what is expected from them, what is held down until it needs to explode. And there is a mix of awe and horror to a lot of that. I loved the way the Grace Year itself begins (beyond the shroud of mystery) with something almost unassuming, and then spirals so badly, so intensely, because of the power of belief and rage and fear and maybe magic. While it is terrifying, you can also see how freeing it is, to be feral beasts.

The mystery of what exactly the Grace Year is doesn't end once the year actually begins, and the tension grown from that first question works so well as you continue in. The question of if magic is actually real is so compelling, because it's hard to say what you want the answer to be! Is it nature, something magical and uncontrollable, that's making these girls act this way? Is it power used incorrectly? Or is it all a lie, and this is the desperate yearning to seize control from those battered and oppressed?

And, beyond the dark confusion and taut tension, I thought the world building had beautiful moments. The implied history of the county is that it was a place founded by immigrants from all over. We don't know why, we don't know how, but we know that they were from countries in our world. And because they couldn't share a common tongue, they shared a language of flowers. Which is, honestly, such a beautiful piece of world building, and such a contrast to the harshness of the story. Yet, at the same time, also a fantastic nod to nature in a community so controlled and a place so caught in between both.

I wasn't a fan of the extra romance. I was so happy about how the "romance" aspect was treated in the beginning, because it ran true to me, and I loved how it didn't seem to set itself up for anything big and dramatic, any love triangles, and actual romance. Which, I have to say, set me up to like Tierney better too. Out of all the new-er YA dystopian novels, where every lead female gets comapared to Katniss Everdeen, Tierney is the only one who I feel actually deserves that direct comparison. She has no agenda but survival and protecting her family, she isn't caught up in a love story, she isn't trying to be anything, she's only trying to avoid what she doesn't want- such as death, or being forced to be a wife and mother.
Anyway, to get off of that tirade and back on track- the romance added made me full of dread. I saw it coming and hoped I was reading it wrong, and then I was disappointed. I thought it was unneeded in general and also just there to flesh out the middle section. However! I sort of take that back, because I enjoyed how it impacted the ending, and that ending couldn't have happened without the romance being added, so there's good and there's bad there.

Mostly, I felt let down by the rebellion aspect. I found the ending too passive, personally, and not hopeful enough in the idea of sweeping change. I can see what Liggett was going for, but I was hoping for something big and promising. That and the dissatisfying conclusion to the constant references to Tierney's dreams made that whole part of the story disappointing.

I think this was a well written, interesting, compelling dystopia, and one that doesn't at all feel commercial or like it's hoping for a big series. I appreciate that it avoid a lot of stereotypical pitfalls and is a stand alone- because Liggett put out what she wanted to say, and has left it there to be digested. I would happily pick up another book by her in the future.