narrated by Emily Shaffer
Unabridged audio (11:42)
2019
416 pgs.
YA Dystopia
Finished 12/26/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.185 - 37,457 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: dystopian anywhere society
First line/s: "No one speaks of the grace year. It's forbidden."
My comments: A powerful YA dypstopian novel about a hugely patriarchal society where the women are nothing, and spend their 16th year "duking it out" in the wilderness where the slightest misstep could mean death. Not only was it hard to put down, it was hard to listen to in places, very hard. With a few clever surprises thrown in, this author has really flushed out a powerful story.
Goodreads synopsis: 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 sixteenth 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment