The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
An amazing story. Tierney has grown up in an isolated county where men have all the power and women are sent away at age 16 for a mysterious rite of passage known as their Grace Year, where they will rid themselves of some terrible and self-destructive “magic” that they realize at this brink of womanhood. Before leaving, some will receive a veil from a local boy, meaning they’ve been chosen as his wife and will wed upon return. Those who do not get veiled will either be put into labor or sent into the Outskirts, of which little is known. Tierney has tried to learn what she can about the Grace Year, but knowledge is scarce. Women who return — and many don’t — are silent to what they’ve experienced, save for visual scars such as missing fingers and ears. It is Tierney’s turn, and on the cusp of leaving she is shocked to be veiled by her longtime best friend, who was supposed to select the village mean girl, who now has it out for Tierney. The book follows the girls as they embark on this terrifying, mind-altering, life-changing year, and really this is a book about female power and relationships, about fear, finding your voice, group think, fear, hysteria, and love. I could not put this book down. SO GOOD.
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