I quite literally couldn’t put it down, and despite the criticism I’ve heard, that says a lot about about how gripping I found it. Though I will say that if you are in your 20s and fondly remember the dystopian wave that hit YA there for a while, but want something with a more literary feel, this is for you. So here’s the thing - The Grace Year keeps getting compared to a lot of YA dystopians, but per usual, I hate the practice of comp titles in marketing (I know, I know) and think it really does this one a disservice. Purchase from Review of The Grace Year by Kim Liggett 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. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

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

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