Reviews tagging 'Grief'

El año de gracia by Kim Liggett

44 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

mommah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

I enjoyed reading this story.

The men in this book are awful in their beliefs and the way they treat women. There are a lot of vivid imagery that is very graphic through out this book. My favorite character is Tierney. She is a very strong protagonist. She cares deeply about the other girls and her family. She becomes torn as to what she should do and struggles to come to the her final decision which made me love her even more. She endures physical and emotional things through out the entire story. I personally wonder if I was to face half of the things she faced, would I be able to handle them. Just something to think about .

Overall I really enjoyed reading from this author. I would love to read from her again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Grief, Violence, and Misogyny

Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy

planreadrepeat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

This book feels like a mix of so many others. Handmaid’s Tale mixed with Hunger Games spiced with Salem Witch Trials and Lord of the Flies. 

The overall theme of men ruling and women submitting is laid out with a nice bit of world building. How brutal the girls, and women, are to each other seems far fetched until you think of the Salem Witch Trials and other acts of mass hysteria. 

The ended was hopeful and sad at the same time. Good read to make you think of power in society. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, and Grief

Minor: Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

grace_lynn08's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexism, Torture, Misogyny, Suicide, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Incest, Violence, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gore, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Death

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

tays_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Blood, Death, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Violence, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Excrement, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Stalking, Pedophilia, Animal death, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, and Infertility

danibee's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

At first, I thought this was going to be a heavy-handed YA-with-a-message which can be hard to read even when you agree with the message. But after I realized this wasn’t a dystopian not like other girls love triangle, I really enjoyed it.  

The ending was very satisfying, and I liked that it confronted change within a system vs. outside it. Also - so fast-paced! I read the first 300 pages in 1 day and finished the whole thing in 2 days. 

But let’s talk about the ending? Who else was like, is her pregnancy a twist ending or did the author just completely forget to write in the details? Did I black out for some key hints? I know they kept calling here a wh*re, but they were throwing purity culture slurs around quite a bit. And did she get pregnant from having sex one time? ughhhhhhhhh. Has anyone noticed that so many female main characters who don’t think they’re special are actually the MOST fertile? That trope is so grating. I realize that Stockholm syndrome is probably the biggest cliché here, but somehow that is more palpable to me than fertility while under duress and recovering from starvation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Gore

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

bells_shelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

2.0

I was going to rate this book a 3.5 until I got to the very end. The book started out slow, too on-the-nose in my opinion, and then after page 200 I really got into it. The ending just really threw me for a loop & I thought that it went against the entire message of the book.

You’re telling me that Tierney chose to CONTINUE A DEAD MAN’S BLOODLINE over LIBERATING ALL OF THE WOMEN IN THE COUNTY - DEAD AND ALIVE?

A lot of the book felt rushed and super obvious. It was extremely YA. I’m disappointed because I think it could’ve been written better. All of this to say that I did read this book in 3 days. I was hooked. I’m just baffled by the ending. So many unanswered questions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Slavery, Blood, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Vomit, Animal death, Bullying, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism

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