Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

18 reviews

abidavisf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Wow. The Grace Year is so powerful and heart-wrenching, just a must read for everybody, particularly women but I urge men to read this to gain this perspective.

There were so many elements of The Grace Year that took me by surprise and so many that made complete sense to me like I’d been waiting for them forever. This dystopia is so real to me. Nothing feels out of the realm of possibility and that is terrifying. I’ve only just finished listening so I can’t gather my thoughts right now but please read this book.

[Edit] I've had time now to process so here are my thoughts!

Every sentence in The Grace Year is purposeful. Everything sits just where it needs to. The premise of The Grace Year is that all sixteen-year-old girls are sent away for one year to 'rid themselves' of their 'magic'. It is evident from the start that this 'magic' is clearly the fact that the girls have gone through puberty and are now attractive to the men of their county. They must therefore be sent away so as not to 'seduce' the men. Upon their return, they are either married off to men of the county or sent to work as labourers, if no man chooses them.

It is rare for a baby boy to be born, and so not all girls will be married, making those who are chosen 'worthy' and 'superior'. It is an excellent interpretation of classism, as well as the misogyny that women can feel towards each other, having been raised to compete against each other. Yes, this is a dystopia but it feels very real.

Our protagonist, Tierney, spends large portions of the book in isolation, meaning that Kim Liggett relies on internal monologue and description to tell this story. It can be hard to feature strong character development in such tales, and yet The Grace Year does this beautifully. Every character you meet has their own journey, particularly the Grace Year girls and it is testament to Liggett's story-telling that, as a reader, you love them all, regardless of their flaws.

I truly recommend The Grace Year to everybody. If I hadn't have had work, I would have blitzed through this in a day. I can't wait to reread.

Spoiler

”The things we do to girls. Whether we put them on pedestals only to tear them down, or use them for parts and holes, we're all complicit in this. But everything touches everything else, and I have to believe that some good will come out of all this destruction.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism, Classism, Gore, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Blood, Bullying, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Confinement, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Torture

Minor: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Addiction, Cannibalism, Classism, Infertility, Drug use, Lesbophobia, and Torture

rinku's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Torture, Gore, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Vomit

Minor: Infertility, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual assault

unicornofthesea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Bullying, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gore, Classism, Suicide, Death, Sexual content, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Confinement, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury

cyndi1966's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Death

Moderate: Violence, Child death, and Chronic illness

horangitiger8's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Religious bigotry, Violence, Classism, Homophobia, Sexism, Body horror, and Death

f_r_e_d's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 I LOVED THIS BOOK. So emotionally moving and so sweet. It had me feeling a full range of emotions from laughing, to literally sobbing. SOBBING. And the ending! I can not say any more than it was just to good to put into words.
So why did I mark it down? 
It was dark. Really dark. This book will 100% change your view on humanity, and the world we live in. The way I would describe it is as a feminist version of the Hunger Games, except the death levels and violence are on steroids. You grow such an emotional attachment to lots of the characters only for them to die in a really extreme way. For example,

Spoiler

Gertie (a character I loved,) Got scalped by Kirsten, because she believes she's a God. Laura drowns herself and a girl gets her eye cut out. Tierney gets a hatchet to her shoulder and almost dies, multiple times. Not to mention the fact that the Grace Year Girls go crazy because of the water and do some questionable things to lock into their "magic" 

I was reading the reviews for this book, and I definitely think that this is a book for older people. Its a mind moving, emotional, dark book. That deals with a lot of feelings and things that are more for adult readers. 
I did love this book though, and if your want a mysterious mind moving book to read, this is for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Classism, and Blood

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy

winnie_is_swag's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

i really liked this book. 'twas beautifully written, and it made me emotional. the main character is strong and independent. it's like Lord of the Flies meets a Handmaid's Tale. Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Animal death, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Gore, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Bullying

Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical content, Vomit, Sexual content, and Infertility

Minor: Sexual content, Rape, Classism, Abandonment, Homophobia, Cursing, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

archaicrobin's review

This book sound unique and like it might actually do something but instead it’s full of unlikeable characters, internalized misogyny, and toxic YA tropes that further romanticize the concept of young girls falling in love with the “bad boy”. Except this time the bad boy literally captures and skins young girls alive, but like it’s ok because Tierney is not your regular girl, she’s SMART. This book does not deserve 4 stars, it’s bad. If you’re looking for a feminist YA apocalyptic dystopian novel about female power, pass on this one and read Extasia by Claire Legrand instead. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Classism, Body horror, Murder, Gore, Cannibalism, Confinement, Misogyny, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Death, and Physical abuse

a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Pregnancy, Suicide, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Child abuse, Deportation, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gore, Grief, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Fire/Fire injury

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Tierney lives in a society where men are in charge and women are nothing more than men's possessions. It is believed that women develop magic and have the ability to turn that magic against men.  Every year girls who turn 16 are sent out on their Grace Year. During this year, the girls are sent to an isolated island where they are expected to rid themselves of their "magic". The girls must fight against the threat of poachers, starvation, and each other to make it through the year. The girls who make it back home, are either turned over to the men who claimed them as their wives or sent to work camps.  

Spoiler

I was really hopeful after reading about the premise of this book. I understand the message that was attempted in this book, unortunately it didn't quite hit the mark.

Tierney was shown as this strong, independent character. We were built up to believe that she would be able to fight for herself through her Grace Year. After all, she came armed with more skills than the other girls. Yet, her survival was heavily dependent on men. Without these men, she would have died. 

I hate the stereotypes that were heavily played upon - the mean girl clique, the meek girls, the outcasts... 

I feel like the storyline with Ryker missed the mark. We are supposed to believe that this fiercely independent girl all of a sudden wants to abandon her sisters in order to run off with and marry a poacher? I WISH the focus would have been on the girls in the camp instead of the storyline with Ryker. The love story was not necessary.  It would have played so much better has the girls come together sooner than the very last day. 

I did appreciate the ending. We were not given an unbelievable HEA. We were shown the small changes that were happening and how Tierney's dreams would become reality. I liked how we got to see the truth about Michael and how he would be instrumental in helping make changes. 

I wish that the feminist angle had been explore more. 
 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Blood, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting