Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

El año de gracia by Kim Liggett

24 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was a lot and I am still sifting through my feelings. It felt like a mix of The Handmaid’s Tale, Lord of the Flies, and The Hunger Games. This story was gruesome and the oppression the women are conditioned for within this society is horrendous. Unlike The Handmaid’s Tale, this book was more bizarre and less relatable to our current day, definitely leaning more towards horror than pure dystopian fiction. There was a lot of mystery inherent to the plot since no one in the community talks about what happens during the grace year, and I think my lack of knowledge about the book beyond the synopsis helped me enjoy the reading experience more. There were a lot of twists and turns and I really didn’t know where the book was headed! I really hated reading about the magic/madness of the girls in the enclosure and almost DNFed because I was very unsettled and frustrated with the behavior. This book was also pretty gorey. The romantic subplot was sweet and wholesome but I wanted more depth/deeper connection between the characters; they seemed to jump from trusting each other platonically to becoming intimate. The last 50 or so pages broke me. This book also uses a lot of ambiguity, which was intriguing yet sometimes frustrating. I really liked the realistic approach at the end where the girls supported each other in public for the first time, and while the world was the same, the girls and women were not. A sequel would be really fun to read to see how this world changes overtime! Revolution doesn’t happen in an instant. Lots of interesting themes that make this a great discussion book for YA and adults alike, though some of the author’s choices seemed to be more for shock value than for furthering the plot. Reading about sixteen year old girls was also not my favorite because these are the worst sixteen year old girls I have ever heard of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Trafficking, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Suicide, Death, and Self harm

Moderate: Medical content, Ableism, and Sexual content

Minor: Infertility

curlyewe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Mental illness

Moderate: Violence, Sexism, Blood, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, and Gore

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy

mmestitches's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Death, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Blood, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Outing, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

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

tini_turtle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.75

I loved the first two thirds of this book! The world building is really engaging and thought through, and the beginning of the actual grace year is incredibly written and super gripping. I found the ending to be a bit rushed, and not as thoughtful as the rest of the book. I felt that the

love triangle with Ryker and Michael

really unnecessary and cliche, and I found the entire

pregnancy storyline

honestly quite hard to get through. It's such a shame because it could have been so so good but the ending was just disappointing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Blood, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Death, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Rape

stonefruits's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Confinement, Infertility, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gore, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

cjreadstoomuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexism, Misogyny, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Violence, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Outing, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

bookishchef's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.25

The first 50% of this is so so so good. 

But the rest...
Oh the rest...

I went into this book with low expectations. To be reminiscent of the Handmaid's Tale is quite a big claim, so my expectations plummeted to the lowest circle of Hell.

And that's where my expectations would have remained if the first quarter of this book wasn't so good. 

The mystery is interesting. And the flower language worldbuilding feels very unique and not too far removed from our own world at the same time. The author keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Is the magic real? Who are the Poachers and what motivates them? Why is Kiersten such a bitch? They're interesting questions, and the answers weren't bad either but the way we got those answers...

At about the 25% mark the story starts to drag a bit. This is made up for by Liggett's excellent writing. At this point, you don't know whether Tierney is spiraling into madness or whether the world around her is truly mad. The plot doesn't move forward, but the story remains interesting. 

Then at the 50% it all goes to shit. 
Suddenly, we get introduced to the most bland love interest I've ever read about. He has no personality and falls for Tierney for no discernible reason. And of course, Tierney loves him back despite him having the personality of unseasoned chicken. 

The author rushes us through a love story. And when I say rushes, I mean RUSHES. 

And then, after some shenanigans we're back to the plot and the mystery and the book is actually really good again until the last fucking chapter. 

What the fuck was that love story doing in this book? This story really really really did not need a romance plotline. The book would have been an easy 3 (or maybe even 4) star for me if the romance had not been there. It takes away from the themes of the book and undercuts its message. I don't understand how you write a book about sisterhood and fighting the patriarchy, and then have the MC only care about her male love interest for half of the book. Aaaaaaaaaaaaah. 

The book also has very white feminism vibes. Can't quite put my finger on what exactly rubs me the wrong way, but to begin with, the book has 0 characters of colour

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Murder, Death, Animal death, Blood, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Medical content

Moderate: Vomit and Lesbophobia

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Infertility

moodreader89's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Religious bigotry, Gore, Misogyny, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

elysianbud's review against another edition

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

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

3.5

Went into this expecting a bit more survival and a lot less love story, but overall I still enjoyed it. 
Quick read, finished it in one day. 
I do like that at the end of the book the main character hasn't magically fixed everything in society through the power of gutsy honesty, and that it takes a more realistic approach of showing small steps towards change instead. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Vomit, Confinement, Gore, Body horror, Death, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Stalking, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Lesbophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, and Homophobia