The Grace Year

The Grace Year is a thought provoking YA novel with a blend of A Handmaid"s Tale and The Hunger Games with a splash of Lord of the Flies. In a near/distant future society, 16 year old girls are banished to an isolated camp for one year in order to control or vanquish their "power". I was drawn into the story very quickly and liked Tierney James right away which isn't always easy with the style of first person narrative that was used. I did find that the book lagged for a short bit in the middle but picked up again. It was not enough to put me off continuing to read the book. One thing that tells me a book is "good" (in my humble opinion) is if I end up feeling emotional at the end of the novel. Well, I cried when I finished reading. It wasn't just the story itself but the parallels to the lives of women and girls today. Mind you, the ending leaves many questions which was done very nicely.

4/6 Stars