Description

‘. . . seethes with love and brutality, violence and hope . . . a remarkable and timely story of the bonds between women’ Sabaa Tahir

‘An incredibly important and empowering read’ Natasha Ngan
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THE RESISTANCE STARTS HERE.

No one speaks of the grace year.
It’s forbidden.
We’re told we have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive the wives mad with jealousy. That’s why we’re banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the wild before we’re allowed to return to civilisation.
But I don’t feel powerful.
I don’t feel magical.

Tierney James lives in an isolated village where girls are banished at sixteen to the northern forest to brave the wilderness – and each other – for a year. They must rid themselves of their dangerous magic before returning purified and ready to marry – if they’re lucky.

It is forbidden to speak of the grace year, but even so every girl knows that the coming year will change them – if they survive it…

A critically acclaimed page-turning feminist dystopia about a young woman trapped in an oppressive society, fighting to take control of her own life.

‘Beautiful, devastating, and deeply moving’ Samira Ahmed, New York Times bestselling author of Internment and Love, Hate & Other Filters

‘A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel . . . I couldn’t stop reading’ Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author of The Diviners and A Great and Terrible Beauty

Publisher Review

Part coming-of-age tale, part adventure story; this is not a cry against oppression - it's a bold, beautiful howl. * Heat Magazine * An incredibly important and empowering read * Natasha Ngan, New York Times bestselling author of Girls of Paper and Fire * A crazy mash-up of Vox, The Hunger Games, Lord Of The Flies and The Handmaid's Tale. * Daily Mail * A must-read for fans of The Handmaid's Tale and The Power * Bustle * Harrowing and absolutely riveting, an insidious journey from reason to madness that manages to completely refresh the concept of the patriarchal dystopia, with a beautifully realised ending. * Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of THE HAZEL WOOD *