Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

28 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

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

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

caitlyn_kittle_kinnick's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Murder

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Kidnapping

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

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

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

sierrabedwell's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.75

I loved this book! It was very good from start to finish and I couldn’t stop listening! (Audiobook) the plot was unique - a mix between the hunger games and the handmaid’s tale - and the characters were realistic!!! There wasn’t a time when I thought that something wouldn’t actually happen in the given situation. I won’t spoil the end, but it’s not the traditional happy ending, and I liked that, because it was realistic! I also loved the political relevance of the topic and the metaphors that could be pulled from this book while reading. The ONLY thing I didn’t like, was

that Tyranny falls in love. I liked that it was with a poacher because it showed us that side of the community, but the fact that she ended up getting pregnant, and she thought she loved him even though they only really knew each other for a few months… just didn’t sit well with me. I also didn’t like that she got cleared of the charges when she got back.

Overall, the ending was amazing. I never knew what was going to happen, and it was very smart the way that they used the Governor’s words against him to back up Tyranny’s excuse. I also liked that there was no major uprising in the end, because real change takes time, and I think the book does an amazing job at showing that. Amazing read. Would recommend to everyone!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Gore, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

megan_j's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Lesbophobia, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Suicide