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The Grace Year
The Grace Year
Aug 6, 2025 6:49 PM

Author:Kim Liggett

The Grace Year

'. . . seethes with love and brutality, violence and hope . . . a remarkable and timely story of the bonds between women' Sabaa Tahir

'An incredibly important and empowering read' Natasha Ngan

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THE RESISTANCE STARTS HERE.

No one speaks of the grace year.

It's forbidden.

We're told we have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive the wives mad with jealousy. That's why we're banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the wild before we're allowed to return to civilisation.

But I don't feel powerful.

I don't feel magical.

Tierney James lives in an isolated village where girls are banished at sixteen to the northern forest to brave the wilderness - and each other - for a year. They must rid themselves of their dangerous magic before returning purified and ready to marry - if they're lucky.

It is forbidden to speak of the grace year, but even so every girl knows that the coming year will change them - if they survive it...

A critically acclaimed page-turning feminist dystopia about a young woman trapped in an oppressive society, fighting to take control of her own life.

'Beautiful, devastating, and deeply moving' Samira Ahmed, New York Times bestselling author of Internment and Love, Hate & Other Filters

'A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel . . . I couldn't stop reading' Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author of The Diviners and A Great and Terrible Beauty

Reviews

Part coming-of-age tale, part adventure story; this is not a cry against oppression - it's a bold, beautiful howl.

—— Heat Magazine

An incredibly important and empowering read

—— Natasha Ngan, New York Times bestselling author of Girls of Paper and Fire

A crazy mash-up of Vox, The Hunger Games, Lord Of The Flies and The Handmaid’s Tale.

—— Daily Mail

A must-read for fans of The Handmaid's Tale and The Power

—— Bustle

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 realised ending.

—— Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of THE HAZEL WOOD

Seethes with love and brutality, violence and hope. It is a remarkable and timely story . . . Everyone should read this book.

—— Sabaa Tahir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes

Readers’ hearts will race and break right along with the brave, capable Tierney’s. Chilling, poignant, haunting, and, unfortunately, all too timely.

—— Kirkus Starred Review

A book for every woman who has ever screamed at the top of her lungs and still felt like no one heard her. A book for every person who has ever been made to feel small or less than. A book for all of us who have been told to sit down and be silent, to grin and bear. Tierney's captivating story reminded me that sometimes existing is itself an act of bravery -- and this book's existence is an act of courage that I'm very grateful for. Brutally smart, devastatingly lyrical, and so capital i-Important, I want everyone to read this book!

—— Jasmine Warga, internationally bestselling author of My Heart and Other Black Holes and Other Words for Home

A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel and absolute page-turner . . . Equal parts horror-laden fairytale, survival story, romance and resistance manifesto. I couldn't stop reading

—— Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author
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