Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

El año de gracia by Kim Liggett

11 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.

”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

wordswithcolor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Gaslighting, Sexism, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Blood, Addiction, Misogyny, Violence, Pregnancy, and Suicide

ann_the_imp's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Vomit, Blood, Bullying, Murder, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Confinement, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Sexual content, Excrement, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Addiction, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

booksbyjess__'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Blood, and Addiction

Minor: Sexual content

reading_leaf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

Absolutely marvelous book extremely well written and beautiful if this is the last review you’re reading that is helping you decide either way on whether or not you should read this you should absolutely read this and then make everyone else in your circle read this. I was expecting something much more grotesque and dark and looming and instead I was left at the end of the book smiling and crying tears of much more mixed feelings than that . Many of them being positive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Rape, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Blood, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Gore, Religious bigotry, and Cannibalism

luminareads's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Death, Murder, Sexism, and Body horror

Moderate: Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Suicide, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Addiction, Death, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, and Physical abuse

This book is heavy, very heavy and has some additional warnings not on the lists: Childbirth, starvation, slut shaming, and forced marriage.

the_disreputable_dog's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was dystopian, female led, really well written, and suspenseful. This thing is like lightning in a bottle. It makes me happy, because every character has a purpose, and a face they show the world and a back they keep hidden, which is how you know it's a good book. You get the higher class men, see a little of how they're limited with what they can do (at the end), of course the middle class is apparent in how they're limited, and then you obviously see how the bottom class is restricted as well, instead of how some books just show an all powerful, all encompassing top tier of society where they can do whatever the fuck they want with no consequences. Also, there's the classic dystopian fight against oppression, but I like how Tierney realises she can't be on her own in everything if she wants to do good for everyone. The theme is about working together to do things better, which I love. It's less of an individual self determination oriented book, which is common among dystopians. If this were part of a series, I'd already be starting the next one (but it's definitely built to be a stand alone book, so instead it's on my birthday wish list and I'm off to search for recommendations of more like this). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Death, Sexism, Vomit, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Moderate: Stalking, Violence, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

Minor: Addiction, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

mjwilliamson's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

This book gave me serious The Village vibes from the start. I found it incredibly infuriating to read because the level of oppression just made my blood boil, especially because there were areas where I found the blind belief ridiculous. But that was the point of the book and I think it delivered its message incredibly well. Though some of the tropes were cliche and on the nose, I’m not too sure how else the development could have occurred. All and all a very entertaining read. I’m glad I picked this book up and will definitely recommend it to others. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Stalking

Minor: Excrement, Infertility, and Medical trauma

juliaseculture's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Dementia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Pregnancy, Blood, and Child death

witchxchild's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Fascinating story. I don't know why or how, considering the themes of most of it, but this book left me with a strange sense of hopefulness. I think everyone should at least give this book a try. Definitely not for the faint of heart though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Addiction and Suicide