Reviews with content warning for Lesbophobia - The Grace Year

Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

The Grace Year, by Kim Liggett

36 reviews

savanhahope's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Wow wow wow wow wow. This is the best book I've read in a long time! It's handmaid's tale meets lord of the flies, (and maybe a little hunger games) and everything was so well thought out. Don't even get me started on the ending because I'll cry. Needless to say, you need to read this. This book was written for women everywhere who have felt like their voices haven't been heard. Check TWs!!

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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Overall, loved this one. Very lord of the flies-esque and like Wilder Girls. My only criticism is that the message is like don't let men decide the fate and everything of women (women are their own entity and should fight for freedom/equity) but a lot of the defining moments for Tierney, the main girl, is centered around men. I could've dealt without

Spoiler

two men being in love with her and her falling in love with a poacher. And the fact that her love for some dude motivated her for survival. The ending was giving me "Katniss learning to love Peeta" vibes with having kids even though in the beginning the main character didn't want any domestic life. The guard thinking she was his property and being entirely unhinged was a nice surprise moment in the book for me tho

. Well written and kept me enthralled the whole time. Couldn't put it down.

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purplepink951's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-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

4.0

The writing could have been better, at places it was confusing, but still held my attention throughout the whole book. The themes could have been handled better, felt a bit shallow.

It was a roller coaster of emotions. Did not expect that kind of ending. I really hoped that

Spoiler

Ryker would survive and they would live HEA, but now I'm just alive on the thought that atleast in the after life Tierney and him are happily living together. I'm choosing to think that she died, but I guess it's kind of left to interpretation or she was just hallucinating.

Either way it broke me and I'm left aching inside.

Favourite line: "Heaven is a boy in a treehouse, with cold hands and a warm heart"

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megan_j's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this. The start was slow but it progressed better towards the end. All of the characters are well rounded. At first it felt a bit TOO handmaids tale/hunger games esque but I feel like it lost that towards the end and felt more original. Although there were a lot of characters, they all had individual personalities and they didn’t get mixed around in my head like they sometimes can. Everyone was lovable and well rounded. A true piece of feminist fiction.

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jane_austyn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

Spoiler

pregnancy

Spoiler

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.5

Said to be a mix between The Hunger Games and Handmaid’s Tale, however it doesn’t deliver in the same way as these books. I feel like it should have been a series, even just a duology, because the author tried to do so much in one book. Maybe dystopian books just aren’t my thing anymore-especially when they’re by/about white women with zero intersectional feminism. They all just sound the same with a few tweetable, recycled “girl power” quotes.

Feels very white feminism-y as there’s zero discussion of intersectionality and how race has an impact. There’s absolutely zero diversity and a sad attempt at LGBTQ rep.

Everything “dystopian” that is mentioned has happened or is happening to POC and in some rare cases white women (like in the FLDS), so it just made me feel icky that it’s used in a fictionalized way applied only to white women. The narration and writing were meh, nothing special. The ending was rushed and the plot made zero sense by the second half. I ended the story with more questions than answers, and was unsatisfied with the ending.

The one positive I have:
I did enjoy the plot twists

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her_little_library's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

This book was marketed as a feminist "Lord of the Flies"/"Hunger Games"/"The Handmaid's Tale" retelling... it was definitely a LOTF retelling, that's for sure. The story beats were almost identical, it was eerie. I actually got my copy off the shelf and noted down the events and they matched up a bit too closely for my liking, especially when the author was trying to tell an original story.

Spoiler

I think the romance in this book was ridiculous and completely undermined the whole feminist aspect of this novel. You're telling me Tierney, who for the whole book has been determined to survive the grace year and return home for her sister's sake, is going to throw it all away for a poacher who has a map of her body and where he would cut her up if she died? Like, she admits that if she runs away with Ryker, her sisters will take the fall for her and be sentenced to the outskirts away from their family, and she's all "as long as I'm happy with the love of my life". You're joking. And for Ryker to go on this rant about how he's only a poacher for money (even though he admitted he's never actually done his job, so he lied) and he's doing it for his family, for him to pawn them off on Anders so he can be happy. Also, the fact that Kiersten, who caused most--if not all--of the deaths in this book, survived. Tierney had this like super-saviour complex, which made her insufferable AND stupid. I would've let Anders kill Kiersten. Her mind was so far gone that she couldn't even feel remorseful or apologise for all the pain and death she caused. She literally scalped a girl for daring to side with Tierney. Even when she was starting to get herself back, she made Tierney drink the well water mixed with another girls blood (?!?!). But Tierney had to be the hero in the end and spared her. When they said that they're the only gods on the island, I think the author took it literally and made Tierney too powerful. The Hans reveal was so stupid and contrived it made me want to eat rocks. Literally NOTHING pointed towards him being the worst person ever, and yet there he is at the bottom of the pit, bleeding out and yelling at Tierney for not loving him back. I was choking back venom. AND THEN THE PREGNANCY REVEAL? You're telling me Tierney is showing and had zero symptoms? And then Michael saved her????? I think her dying on the stake would've been such a poetic ending and would've absolutely started a riot against the men. Also, she literally said she's scared of Michael when she comes home and yet he's such a "good man" for taking care of her and burning the cabinet with the grace year girls in the apothecary. The fact that those girls were brutally murdered by men for men... for Michael to be the one to decide that they should burn (a dishonourable death for a woman in Garner County) instead of being buried is sickening. Every aspect of their lives were controlled by men, and they couldn't escape that in death, either. And then, when Tierney gave birth to the girl from her dreams... giving birth to the saviour. The god-complex in this novel is ridiculous. The fact that the magic was eventually explained to be giving life is disgusting to me and is literally just a "women are only good for having children" statement. It goes against the original idea of feminism existing in this universe.

All in all, this novel was a LOTF retelling, but worse. The feminism was barely there, and when it was, it was destroyed by ridiculous plot decisions. If you're looking for a Hunger Games retelling, look elsewhere.

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marselise's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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bookellys's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

For me, this book is the perfect kind of dystopia that makes it easy for you to envision the world being portrayed. A blend of the oppression of The Hand Maids Tale and the survival and friendship elements of The Hunger Games all rolled into one.

The County is a patriarchal society, despite women out numbering men 3:1 - to keep the women in check they get sent out on their grace year as they transition into womanhood, the purpose being to rid themselves of their ‘magic’. I love the way the story unfolds, and you learn more about the magic within each of the girls. But not everyone will return.

So many super strong female characters (I think Tierney’s Mum might just be my favourite, though Ryker’s Mum has a heart of gold) as well as some men supportive of these women 🙌🏻

Whilst the situations are different, it somehow manages to capture the struggle and journey women have been on for centuries, to be seen as more than just wives and mothers, and to just be seen!

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microbemom's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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