You Are Mine by Janeal Falor - Best Book of the Year!

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. Sometimes that is a tricky situation - if the book is bad, how do you review it without hurting the author's feelings, but if the book is good, then people think that you are just saying that because you got the book for free. I try very hard to be honest in all my reviews, but this one is especially honest.

This is the absolute best book I have read this year! Everything that makes a great book was stuffed in this book and then some. The world building was phenomenal and believable. The characters were expertly drawn and full of life.

Currently I am taking a gender and children's lit class so this book's theme was an added bonus. It highlights the oppression that women used to live under and makes you think about gender equality in today's world. Serena is a perfect character to explore this through. She has just the right amount of rebellion to be believable and the perfect amount of fear for you to realize that things were bad for her. I also appreciated the pressure that Serena faces from the females in her life to conform. So many times we, in our modern thinking, assume that every woman was discontent with how things were. Serena's mom is one the biggest proponents to obey and toe the line.

The writing draws you in from page one to the last one. Janeal Falor has a gift with words as well as character development. I wish I could convey with my meager words how well done this book was. I think nearly every fantasy lover will find something to love about this book. I am going to recommend it to some of the daughter's friends. I am also going to purchase a copy of this book. I seldom buy books that I have a Kindle copy of. I reserve that for only the best of the best which this book definitely is.