Book Review: The Grace Year

The Grace Year 

by Kim Liggett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When a story takes you from annoyance, to tolerance, to friendship, to love you know it’s special. I really didn’t get this book to start. But I realize now, that’s on purpose. Liggett has given us a journey to experience, much like Hunger Games, we may not understand the constructs or the challenges entirely at first (and our lead gal doesn’t either); but as we progress with our leading gal into the dark trenches of reality and truth, we realize that we knew all along we just didn’t want to believe it. The truth is messy, dirty, bloody, and not flattering; just like real life.

Women’s Competition
This is a powerful story about girls, women, mothers, and childless crones. It is a reminder that we as women are taught to compete; not to further ourselves but to keep us apart, because apart we are stronger.
I tell my husband all the time about how meeting new women is terrifying for me and how I hate the competition. He tells me I imagine it, but I know that it’s my imagination. Especially because over the years I’ve carefully talked with other women and found out we all feel the same. And so we gain progress inch by inch by quietly discussing our realities. The Grace Year shows us how to start (or continue) the work that these girls begin. It lifts the veil (or the shroud) and tells us that not all men are evil, women don’t need to compete, and ultimately that change may be slow and our patience is required.

Change Comes with Sacrifice
From the early chapters of The Grace Year we are shown that not everyone survives, and most return broken or changed so much it’s difficult to recognize them. As our lead gal progresses through her own Grace Year we, of course, start to see why that is. The knowledge or questions our gal starts with aren’t even the most important ones she answers throughout the story.
Everyone in this story sacrifices something in someway. It’s not romantic, pretty or bittersweet. Instead it’s harsh, bloody and stark as bone. Yet each sacrifice made, and the ultimate ones made at the end, are essential for the progress of our story and characters. Liggett has intertwined them so well that I didn’t even realize what was happening to my thoughts and emotions until after I had tears in my eyes.

Romance
Very few real life relationships are fairy tales. In fact I have yet to meet someone with the perfect fairy tale spouse or life. It’s because it doesn’t exist and we are reminded of that in The Grace Year; sometimes the best you can hope for is that it not be awful. Thus when a small speck of hope and love shows up it’s all the more powerful. Liggett takes that knowledge of the poignance of love and how we all crave the fairytale and uses it against us. Watch for your emotions to be twisted and at times you won’t know what you want to happen, or even have a clue what is next. I recommend staying on the ride and letting yourself be immersed in the difficulties of living in an imperfect world (to say the least).

Overall
While the premise is intense and grabbed me quick; it’s the main character that nearly broke me off from this novel. Thank goodness I didn’t give up on it. If you hate our lead gal at the start, find her annoying or just inconsistent that’s okay. There’s a purpose to it. Were I to make a suggestion about edits to Liggett, I’d recommend that she tweak the introductory chapters to focus more on our lead gal and her male friend; and theorize less about the magic. Give us something to at least respect about this girl (and keep us reading) before she’s torn to shreds and rises back up in the most unlikely of ways.
I wonder on a reread how I’d feel about the beginning. Maybe I’d see more to it? Maybe I’d see what seemed obvious wasn’t as clear as it was portrayed? All I know is there is power when a shift happen. My brain, heart and soul shifted while reading The Grace Year, almost without my knowledge. I felt myself recognizing so many of the things said as true to my own life and experience. It’s a treat we get insight into our own lives and makes this a perfect story for the YA/Teen genre.
One of the first books as a pre-teen to make a strong impression on me was The Giver; when the apple flies through the air and changes to red. That moment in The Grace Year isn’t as clear cut, making it even more impactful in the end, but it’s there. Hidden under some small YA tropes; but once you uncover it, and keep on reading, you’ll suddenly know that this isn’t your average YA girls versus girls book. It’s got some magic of it’s own.

Note: I wrote this review within minutes of putting this book down. I may not feel as strongly tomorrow; and normally I allow myself time to digest a book. But I felt like I needed to capture this emotion I have right now before it disappeared and was replaced with the depression of headline news and our own reality. I’ll be intrigued to see how I feel about this book in a week, a month or a year. Do I remember it? Does it stick like The Giver, like Black Panther, Red Wolf, like Hunger Games, like Station Eleven, or so many other dark(er) dystopian books I’m drawn to. Only time will tell.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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Book Review: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me first address the 'issues' many reviewers who didn't like this book have. This is a horror genre book. This is a genre known for scariness, playing off extreme stereotypes, gory passages, and (usually) some sort of magical realism. If you weren't expecting that Grady Hendrix would: a) delivery just like he did on all his other books, b) use those genre tropes to his advantage, c) write a book just like promised in the blurb; then I'm sorry the problem isn't with the book, the author, publisher or the readers whom love it. The problem is with you. Just like those who condemn S&M activities because they aren't 'into it'; I look upon them with disgust and say 'you don't have to like it, or even be a part of it, but you should tolerate it's existence'. No one threatened your life or that of those you love to read this novel and it's existence is not hurting you in the least. It's a clear and obvious fictional spoof with horror thrown in to make it even funner.
For the record, I loved this book. It was exactly what I was hoping for a more. Gory, spine-tingling, and a chilling portrayal of the 'average housewife' in a upper middle-class suburban community. Which, for the record, is still scarier to me than fighting off a vampire; which is exactly the point Hendrix is making. The irony of those that don't get it is almost comical, if it wasn't so infuriating that they missed the point by miles and now it's somehow a 'problem' and must be stamped out.

The Women
Are all our characters 'typical'? Yep. I don't even need to see an episode of Desperate Housewives to know that these women are just like those. Or going back some years like the ladies in Melrose Place or even Dallas. These are women whose outward appearance is more important than anything. These are women who can't show weakness for fear of being chewed up (which is ironic given there is a vampire in this story, haha). These are the women so many of us (at least in my generation) don't want to be. We try to do everything in our power not to turn into these slaving housewives, mothers and/or caretakers of men and children. Hendrix hits the nail on the head with his archetypes of the different characters and gives us a glimpse into the fact, that we all have always known, being a mother and housewife isn't all it's cracked up to me. This isn't the 50's and there's very little thanks given to getting it 'right'. If you've watched The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Amazon Prime) you'll totally get what I mean. If you haven't seen this great, funny and ironic show I highly recommend it for any/all; but especially women.

The Horror
There's a lot of set-up. Similar to a Stephen King novel; we don't get much immediate excitement past a couple paragraphs to start. But don't worry the gore, fear, and terror are coming. There is a point during this book (and yes I was reading late at night while my husband slept next to me) where I had to put the book down and convince myself there wasn't a 'creature' on the roof of my own house. That's how well Hendrix writes. I remember this during We Sold our Souls as well; there's always at least once where Hendrix will drag you so far into the story that your own psychosis starts to work against you. Perfect horror and the contrast with the sunny morning eating breakfast with the children is genious.

The Ultimate Ending
The best part of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires (seriously longest title ever!) is the ending. Our ladies are pushed to their limits, and yet while doing so are laughing at themselves. They've realized their own faults and limitations; as well as recognized that everyone is lying around them, just like they are. If there is anything this book definitely says it's that everyone is lying about almost everything. A commentary on social media and our outward desire to seem 'perfect' if I've ever read one. Hendrix takes these women, their husbands, their money (or lack thereof) and their livelihoods and strips them bare to show us the reality of what should have been obvious (and maybe was) all along. The challenge being if you see the truth in others then you suddenly start recognizing it in yourself; and most of us aren't ready for that.

Overall
I am not ashamed to say that I absolutely loved this. Whether you are young or old, male or female, married or not, a mother or not; I believe you will find aspects of these housewives in yourself and perhaps even recognize that you've been fighting against being these exact people. I know I have. I never wanted to be like my Mom whom (I think) values what everyone else thinks far too much. And yet I get caught in that trap weekly (if not daily) still today. Hendrix reminded me that life is funny and that the iconic life is actually so ridiculously treasured it can't possibly exist or if it does it feels like more of a trap than the back of a vampires nondescript white van.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires is exactly what I expected; full of tropes, stereotypes, blood, gore, biting vampires, scared children, pompous men, and strong women. And leaves you with the solid reminder that you should never, ever invite someone into your home that you don't implicitly trust or know; because you never know what they do when you're not around and what mask they are showing at that moment, and you just might need some magical rule to save your life or that of someone you love. You'll laugh, you might cry, you'll certainly despair, and probably get at least a shiver down your spine as you watch these women fight against a vampire whose seemingly smarter than all of them combined.

Note: I have a mental health disorder, am medicated for it, and did not find the use of anxiety and delusions to be out of context or insulting here. In fact I felt like it was well purposed to portray a hysterical woman...(spoiler - highlight to read) and provide convenient reasons for her to be 'dealt with'. This is what life was like for many women, and probably still is today. They are in fear of their husbands or others determining them to be 'crazy' and not truly listening. Of being shipped off to a psych ward or being medicated past conscious thought. I have been in the shoes of this woman and terrified of being locked up myself when my anxiety peaks and makes me (for real) delusional and (frankly) crazy. If you think this is a poor portrayal then it's only because you don't understand how society has historically (and still today) treats hysterical women.

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Stitching Post: One Alice Page, Three Motifs & A New Start

Somehow these days time is both lagging and flyin by! How odd eh? Still in the midst of pandemic land here in Canada, the government is slowly opening services back-up; much to my frustration as nothing significant has changed (except that the economy is collapsing) and so the 'reasons' they gave before for shut-down (to protect immune-compromised and seniors) don't seem to matter anymore? It's a whole mess frankly and just makes me angry. So I've been trying to focus on: 

1. New Job - week 3, I'm learning stuff
2. Stitching - Alice page finish, 3 moTtifs (of 6, new Canada mandala start!)
3. Reading - I'm doing the poorest here and am now leagues (okay 5-6) books behind on reading challenge. But let's focus on stitching here!

I also have three stitching updates for you (ironically):
One - Alice page finish!
This leaves one full page and a partial page left for the bottom row. Which means I am 4 pages complete of 45 pages (assuming I can do math). That just doesn't sound all that great; but I'm super happy about any page finish. Hubby wants to know when it will be 'done' and I keep telling him it might be before we die! If we're lucky! LOL! 

Two - Three little motifs
These beauties were started and stitched during the 'lockdown. I have three more of these Kelsyn's Itty Bitty's selected, with new thread colors, to put below the current ones. This was started on a whim with no plan project to keep me distracted during the chaos as my regular stitching projects weren't cutting it. I suspect this little beauty will end up being called the '2020 complication' or having some name related to covid. The full chart has 16 motifs but I just went with 6 as that's what fit this cute piece of fabric I had on hand. Threads are all Coloris from DMC which I'm crazy impressed with! 

Three - A new start! Canada mandala

Yes that is Aida you see. Crazy right? It's my first time on Aida in decades. So why Aida? Well because this square will be put on a memory blanket for fallen RCMP officers. I've been very fortunate to join an online group that sends beautifully put together quilts with cross-stitched squares on them to the family members of those RMCP (federal police) that have fallen in the line of duty. I know the topic of police enforcement is difficult right now; and I definitely support Black Lives Matter and what they stand for; but I also acknowledge that not every single officer of the law is racist (but there are many in Canada that are, no doubt in my mind). And no doubt the overall system itself is racist and we all need to take responsibility for that. Here in Canada it's directed more at Indigenous people than any other All that aside I'm super proud to be a part of this group and add contributions to the cause. This pattern is a personal favourite from Ink Circles. I hope to do it up on linen with variegated thread for myself one day. On 16ct Aida it comes in just below the 8" x 8" needed measurements for the quilts.

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Overall things are trucking along for me. I'm not reading nearly as much as I would like, but I am now working from home and that takes some adjusting as my reading time was previously on bus. However, I can now stitch from my chair, with my full set-up at lunch! So trade-offs. 

What is super good is that it allows me to avoid public transit or an office building for \ c(hopefully) a long time; and I cut down on my previous 2+ hours commuting per day to work. All that said, I'm a bit nervous as my husband is returning to his 300+ person office on Monday (not pleased he hasn't been given option to keep working from home as he has for last 3+ months); but he will monitor situation and if becomes dicey we have the option to say I'm immune-compromised and our household can't be subject to that much risk (which is true; but I feel bad claiming it as everyone should have a right to certain safety in my opinion). Hope you're all doing well and stitching up a storm out there! I know losing my job and the pandemic really made me focus more on stitching which I appreciate. And with far fewer events/activities in the near future I'm hoping to keep the stitching momentum up.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe!